Overnight sole leader GM Ivan Saric of Croatia suffered a tough 49-move defeat at the hands of Russian GM Ernesto Inarkiev in the 7th round of the European Individual Chess Championship 2016. The Inarkiev-Saric clash, that commenced with the ever-popular King’s Indian Defence, saw the White player sacrifice a pawn soon after the opening. A complex middlegame ensued, wherein Inarkiev masterfully outplayed his Croatian opponent. Saric found the going tough, throwing in the towel on move 49.
On the second board, top seed GM David Navara overcame the Georgian free-spirit GM Baadur Jobava. The former displayed exceptional endgame technique on his way to this crucial victory.
After 7 rounds of gruelling battles, GM Navara and GM Inarkiev are in joint lead with 6/7. The two will be up against each other in the 8th round of this 11-round swiss event.