London Rd8: Gelfand leads, Nakamura loses three in a row

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 eight report

In round eight Boris Gelfand's opponent Anish Giri decided to go for a sharp King’s Indian. Boris had to think for a while and opted for the bayonet attack. First moves were played very fast and after 22 moves, Gelfand decided to sacrifice a piece! The two white bishops were very dangerous and Anish decided to give up an exchange with 25…dxc5?! Boris took a good advantage but 30.Rf1 was an inaccurate move and gave the opportunity for Anish to come back in the game and eventually equalized. A disappointing draw for Boris who could have increase the lead.

The first game to end today was between Topalov and Mamedyarov. In a well-known line of Caro Khan, Mamedyarov equalized right after the opening. “Shak” didn’t know 18.Be1 but it was not a big danger for Black and after one hour of play, both players decided to repeat the moves. Draw in 31 moves.

Hikaru Nakamura decided finally to play 1.e4 instead of 1.Nf3. The American played chose the Exchange Variation of the Spanish. Vasily Ivanchuk decided to go for the endgame with 5…f6. After exchanging some pieces, both players decided to double rooks on the d-file. The endgame knight + bishop looked drawn but Vasily kept on pushing on the queenside and Nakamura started to makes mistakes in time trouble. Ivanchuk jumped on that occasion to win the endgame!

With a third loss in three rounds the top US grandmaster is now alone at the bottom of the table, with a minus three score and the prospects of losing 21 rating points from this event. Won't happen, of course, as "Naka" has three rounds to go and is known for his ability to fight back in dire situations.

Leko and Grischuk were in a fighting mood today, opting for the very sharp Sicilian Najdorf. White opened and attacked on the centre, forcing Black to react by giving an exchange, counter attacking with the knights on the white king. The Hungarian had the possibility to gain a big advantage by playing the computer move 22.g6! but preferred the more human and safest 22.c3 and then let his advantage slip away with 26.Rh3. Grischuk took his chance, played very accurate moves and drew the game.

The game between Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Michael Adams was much more peaceful with the English opening. Rustam had a pleasant position to play, pressuring without any big risks. The black pawns on b4 and c5 looked slightly weak in the middlegame. Adams managed to exchange his weak pawns, and everyone could expect a quick draw. 37…h5? was a mistake and Michael had to fight in a queen endgame a clear pawn down. The position got worse and the English GM was unable to defend it. Kasimdzhanov won in 47 moves.

Wang Hao surprised Dominguez by playing a Bd7 Richter-Rauzer Sicilian Variation. The position looked more like a typical Najdorf, White attacking on the kingside and Black on the queenside. The Chinese player went for a typical exchange sacrifice with 15…Rxc3?!, complicating the position. Dominguez reacted calmly, exchanging queens, putting his bishop on d5 and got a big advantage. The rest of the game was a matter of technique for Leinier, but the 37th move was a mistake and the Cuban player had to finally draw his game. A small miracle for Wang Hao!

• Video stream of all six games

Daniel King: Play of the Day – Gelfand - Giri

All photos by Ray Morris-Hill

Standings after eight rounds

Schedule and results

Links Official tournament site Live games and video from London All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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