Mamedyarov’s impeccable record in the event did not come handy when he was ousted following a draw against Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine. In an all-Russian duel, Svidler could not conjure up enough play to fight for survival against Vladimir Malakhov and was also shown the exit door by the latter after the peace was signed.

Both Svidler and Mamedyarov had lost the first game of the quarterfinals and the opponents needed just half a point to proceed to the next round of this knockout event. Top seed GM Boris Gelfand of Israel played out a draw with Russian Dmitry Jakovenko.