I have been watching the games closely with today's round likely to be explosive. I think Aronian has been playing more or less at the same level for about two years. His leading the SC is less to do with his play than to do with off form play from Magnus, imo. The loss yesterday by both Nakamura and Carlsen were a bit strange. Nakamura played right into Aronians strength with the white pieces. That makes no sense. And Carlsen, while he could have drawn the game, it is not so easy when there is so little time on the board, and the moves were subtle. Magnus is getting into time trouble because he is mixing it up in the opening even more than usual. He should expect a bit of time trouble and some unexpected losses. When you spend so much energy in the opening day after day, it eventually takes its toll on a player. So, in conclusion, Aronian is having a good tournament, but I don't see the fire it takes to become WC in his play. Nakamura on the other hand is playing balls out constantly putting pressure on the opponents the way Magnus does. Nakamura is clearly the top candidate to play Magnus in a match for the WC.
Chess player caught 'using Morse code to cheat' 9 hours ago From the sectionEurope Image captionTournament officials were suspicious of Arcangelo Ricciardi's blinking during games An Italian chess player has been kicked out of one the country's most prestigious tournaments after allegedly using a camera and Morse code to cheat. Officials at the tournament became suspicious when Arcangelo Ricciardi, who is ranked 51,366 in the world, began beating far better players. Mr Ricciardi was reportedly blinking in an unusual manner and holding his hand under his armpit. Confronted by referee Jean Coqueraut, he refused to open his shirt. Officials believe the 37-year-old was using the camera, hung around his neck, to transmit the game to someone with a chess computer program, who was feeding back moves using Morse code. Mr Coqueraut said he began to suspect something was wrong early on in the competition. "In chess, performances like that are impossible," he toldLa Stampanewspaper. He said Mr Ricciardi did not get up at all during hours of playing and kept his thumb tucked in his armpit. The 37-year-old player was also "batting his eyelids in the most unnatural way", Mr Coqueraut said. "Then I understood it," he said. "He was deciphering signals in Morse code." When Mr Ricciardi refused to open his shirt, officials asked him to pass through a metal detector which picked up a pendant hanging underneath his shirt. The pendant contained a tiny video camera connected to a small box under his armpit, officials said. The incident follows a high-profile cheating case in Moscow in April,where a chess grandmaster was expelledafter he was discovered using a smartphone in the toilet to check his moves. Gaioz Nigalidze aroused suspicions when he repeatedly used the same toilet cubicle each time for 10 minutes or more. When officials checked the stall, they discovered a smartphone wrapped in toilet tissue buried in the bin. The Imperia Chess Festival is Italy's longest running open event and attracts some of the biggest names in the sport.