London Rd10: Nakamura beats Giri, Mamedyarov stays in the lead

The First FIDE Grand Prix is taking place from September 21 to October 3rd in Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London. The games start at 14:00h local time (= 15:00h CEST, 17:00h Moscow, 09:00 a.m. New York). The tournament has a prize fund of 240,000 Euros.

Round ten report

Round 10 on 2012/10/02 at 14:00
Leko Peter	2737	½-½	Gelfand Boris	2738
Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684	½-½	Grischuk Alexander	2754
Nakamura Hikaru	2783	1-0	Giri Anish	2730
Topalov Veselin	2752	½-½	Adams Michael	2722
Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725	½-½	Ivanchuk Vassily	2769
Wang Hao	2742	½-½	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov appeared very relaxed when he arrived at Simpson`s with his manager. Shakhriyar decided to play the Caro Kann Defence, his opening of choice for this tournament. Wang Hao prepared a surprise for his opponent, 5.Nc5, trying to defuse any preparation. “Shak” paused for thought, and then replied 5…e5!? which caught Wang Hao unprepared, as he had not expected Mamedyarov to know this variation deeply. The forced line that followed saw a quick exchange of queens which led to the endgame with a slightly better pawn structure for white. Hao-ever it was not enough and a draw was the result [pun in the official tournament report]

The main question was how Boris Gelfand (above right) would recover from yesterday's loss. Boris seemed in a good mood and was smiling before the game. Peter Leko went for a quiet line based on Nc3/Bc4 in the Closed Sicilian. Nothing much happened until move 20, after which some pieces were exchanged. White started to take the initiative by opening the f-file, and putting a strong bishop on d5. White started to control the black squares, and the knight on e3 defended the whole white pawn centre. Draw in 59 moves.

Almost all the players of the tournament want to avoid the Marshall Gambit. In this game there was no exception, as Rustam Kasimdzhanov (above left) chose the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez. White decided to open the centre and found a very interesting plan, putting the queen on b1 in order to push c3/d4. Sasha Grischuk took a long time to play the first 15 moves and had just 14 minutes left for 22 moves. However, the two times world blitz champion is quite used to time trouble. Taking the initiative on the kingside and centre, Grischuk increased his advantage, pressuring the f2 pawn. Kasimdzhanov survived the attack when Grischuk offered the exchange of queens with 38…Qf3? The rook endgame, which appeared, was finally drawn. A disappointment for Grischuk, who could have won and taken the lead.

The only chance for Veselin Topalov (above left) to catch the leader was to win today with the white pieces against Michael Adams. We saw one of the first Queen’s Gambit of the tournament, which looked pretty safe for Black. Veselin managed to double Black’s pawns on the b-file and took a small advantage into the endgame. But it was not enough to provide a win, and the draw was agreed after fifty moves.

Vasily Ivanchuk (above right) was in a good mood before the start of the game, looking at the pictures of Staunton on the wall of the Simpson’s in the Strand. The famous Immortal Game was played in the same building between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky on 21 June 1851. The Ukrainian player decided today to play a rare variation of the Ruy Lopez (4…d6). Leinier replied with a safe line, putting all his pieces in the centre and obtained a slight advantage, due to the doubled black pawns on c7 and c6. Ivanchuk managed to exchange queens and equalized by putting a strong bishop on e3. Draw in 40 moves.

Anish Giri (above right) did not not change his main weapon against 1.e4, and so the Petrov appeared once again on the board. Hikaru Nakamura exchanged queen after five moves and decided to play a long endgame. The white pieces had more space, but the black pieces found good placing. The bishop on b6 protected by the a5 pawn was controlling the queenside. Hikaru settled his other bishop on e6. The position of Anish was very solid, with the bishops on c6 and d6, but Hikaru managed to break through and finally won the game!

All photos by Ray Morris-Hill

All games of the round for replay

Game of the day analysis by GM Alejandro Ramirez

Video stream of the whole game

Commentary by Giri and Nakamura on the game, provided by Macauley Peterson

• Video stream and commentary of all games – Note that you can watch each of the games in full or get postgame analysis from the players as in the Nakamura-Giri game above.

Daniel King: Play of the Day – Kasimdzhanov - Grischuk

Post mortem with Rustam Kasimdzhanov

Interview with Kasimdzhanov

Standings after ten rounds

With one round to go Topalov, Gelfand and Grischuk all share the 2nd place, half a point behind the leader Mamedyarov, who has white against Peter Leko in the final round. Both Grischuk and Gelfand also have white, against Nakamura and Kasimdzhanov repectively, while Topalov play with the black pieces against Anish Giri. Please remember: the last round starts at 12 noon British time.

Schedule and results

Round 1 on 2012/09/21 at 14:00
Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684	½-½	Leko Peter	2737
Nakamura Hikaru	2783	0-1	Gelfand Boris	2738
Topalov Veselin	2752	½-½	Grischuk Alexander	2754
Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725	½-½	Giri Anish	2730
Wang Hao	2742	½-½	Adams Michael	2722
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729	½-½	Ivanchuk Vassily	2769
Round 2 on 2012/09/22 at 14:00
Leko Peter	2737	1-0	Ivanchuk Vassily	2769
Adams Michael	2722	½-½	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729
Giri Anish	2730	½-½	Wang Hao	2742
Grischuk Alexander	2754	½-½	Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725
Gelfand Boris	2738	½-½	Topalov Veselin	2752
Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684	0-1	Nakamura Hikaru	2783
Round 3 on 2012/09/23 at 14:00
Nakamura Hikaru	2783	½-½	Leko Peter	2737
Topalov Veselin	2752	½-½	Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684
Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725	½-½	Gelfand Boris	2738
Wang Hao	2742	½-½	Grischuk Alexander	2754
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729	1-0	Giri Anish	2730
Ivanchuk Vassily	2769	½-½	Adams Michael	2722
Round 4 on 2012/09/24 at 14:00
Leko Peter	2737	½-½	Adams Michael	2722
Giri Anish	2730	½-½	Ivanchuk Vassily	2769
Grischuk Alexander	2754	1-0	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729
Gelfand Boris	2738	1-0	Wang Hao	2742
Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684	½-½	Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725
Nakamura Hikaru	2783	½-½	Topalov Veselin	2752
Round 5 on 2012/09/25 at 14:00
Topalov Veselin	2752	½-½	Leko Peter	2737
Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725	½-½	Nakamura Hikaru	2783
Wang Hao	2742	½-½	Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729	½-½	Gelfand Boris	2738
Ivanchuk Vassily	2769	½-½	Grischuk Alexander	2754
Adams Michael	2722	½-½	Giri Anish	2730
Round 6 on 2012/09/27 at 14:00
Leko Peter	2737	½-½	Giri Anish	2730
Grischuk Alexander	2754	½-½	Adams Michael	2722
Gelfand Boris	2738	½-½	Ivanchuk Vassily	2769
Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684	0-1	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729
Nakamura Hikaru	2783	0-1	Wang Hao	2742
Topalov Veselin	2752	1-0	Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725
Round 7 on 2012/09/28 at 14:00
Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725	½-½	Leko Peter	2737
Wang Hao	2742	½-½	Topalov Veselin	2752
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729	1-0	Nakamura Hikaru	2783
Ivanchuk Vassily	2769	½-½	Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684
Adams Michael	2722	0-1	Gelfand Boris	2738
Giri Anish	2730	½-½	Grischuk Alexander	2754
Round 8 on 2012/09/29 at 14:00
Leko Peter	2737	½-½	Grischuk Alexander	2754
Gelfand Boris	2738	½-½	Giri Anish	2730
Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684	1-0	Adams Michael	2722
Nakamura Hikaru	2783	0-1	Ivanchuk Vassily	2769
Topalov Veselin	2752	½-½	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729
Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725	½-½	Wang Hao	2742
Round 9 on 2012/10/01 at 14:00
Wang Hao	2742	½-½	Leko Peter	2737
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729	1-0	Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725
Ivanchuk Vassily	2769	0-1	Topalov Veselin	2752
Adams Michael	2722	1-0	Nakamura Hikaru	2783
Giri Anish	2730	½-½	Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684
Grischuk Alexander	2754	1-0	Gelfand Boris	2738
Round 10 on 2012/10/02 at 14:00
Leko Peter	2737	½-½	Gelfand Boris	2738
Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684	½-½	Grischuk Alexander	2754
Nakamura Hikaru	2783	1-0	Giri Anish	2730
Topalov Veselin	2752	½-½	Adams Michael	2722
Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725	½-½	Ivanchuk Vassily	2769
Wang Hao	2742	½-½	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729
Round 11 on 2012/10/03 at 12:00
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2729	-	Leko Peter	2737
Ivanchuk Vassily	2769	-	Wang Hao	2742
Adams Michael	2722	-	Dominguez Perez Leinier	2725
Giri Anish	2730	-	Topalov Veselin	2752
Grischuk Alexander	2754	-	Nakamura Hikaru	2783
Gelfand Boris	2738	-	Kasimdzhanov Rustam	2684

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