Shakhriyar Mamedyarov took the helm yesterday for the first time and he keeps on leading the London FIDE Grand Prix after the tenth round as five out of six games were drawn.
The top seed of the tournament Hikaru Nakamura managed to win against Anish Giri after scoring four defeats in a row! So far, Hikaru was losing 26 rating points and was falling down to the 11th place in the World ranking but his situation improved today.
With one round to go Topalov, Gelfand and Grischuk share the 2nd place with “666” points, half a point behind of Mamedyarov. The last round starts at 12 p.m.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Wang Hao – Mamedyarov:
Mamedyarov appeared very relaxed when he arrived at Simpson’s with his manager. Shakhriyar played the Caro Kann defence – his opening of choice for this tournament. Wang Hao prepared a surprise for his opponent 5.Nc5 trying to stay away from the theoretical paths. “Shak” paused for thought, and then replied 5…e5!? which caught Wang Hao unprepared, as he had not expected Mamedyarov to know this line deeply.
The forced line that followed saw a quick exchange of the 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.
Wang Hao
Leko – Gelfand:
The main question was how Gelfand will recover from yesterday’s loss. Boris seemed to be in 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.
Gelfand eventually found the counter-play and started activating his pieces. White was forced to exchange and finally a drawn rook endgame was reached.
Boris Gelfand
Kasimdzhanov – Grischuk:
Almost all participants in the tournament want to avoid the Marshall Gambit. This game was no exception as Rustam chose the exchange line 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 took a long time to play the opening and was left with only 14 minutes for the remaining 22 moves. The two times World Blitz champion is quite used to time trouble… Taking initiative on the king’s side and in centre, Grischuk increased his advantage, pressuring on the f2 pawn.
Kasimdzhanov escaped 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 taken the lead.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Nakamura – Giri:
Giri didn’t change his main weapon against 1.e4 and the Petroff defence appeared once again on the board. Hikaru exchanged the queens after five moves and went to play a long endgame. White enjoyed greater space but black pieces found good placing.
The white bishop on b6 protected by the a5 pawn was controlling the queen side. Hikaru settled his other bishop on another strong square e6.
The position of Anish was very solid but Hikaru managed to break through with a nice exchange sacrifice and finally win the game!
Topalov – Adams:
The only chance for Veselin to catch the leader was to win today with 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 in the endgame but it was not enough to convert into something more.
Leinier Dominguez
Dominguez – Ivanchuk:
Vassily was in good mood before the start of the game, looking at the pictures of Staunton on the Simpson’s in the Strand walls. The famous Immortal Game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky was played in the same building on 21 June 1851.
The Ukrainian played a rare line of the Spanish opening (4…d6). Leinier replied with a safe development, 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 the queens and equalize by putting a strong Bishop on e3. Draw.
Replay the games with computer analysis
Vassily Ivanchuk
Round 10 results:
GM Leko Peter 2737 ½ – ½ GM Gelfand Boris 2738
GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684 ½ – ½ GM Grischuk Alexander 2754
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2783 1 – 0 GM Giri Anish 2730
GM Topalov Veselin 2752 ½ – ½ GM Adams Michael 2722
GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725 ½ – ½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
GM Wang Hao 2742 ½ – ½ GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
Round 10 standings:
1. GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729 AZE – 6½
2-4. GM Grischuk Alexander 2754 RUS, GM Topalov Veselin 2752 BUL and GM Gelfand Boris 2738 ISR – 6
5. GM Leko Peter 2737 HUN – 5½
6. GM Wang Hao 2742 CHN – 5
7-9. GM Adams Michael 2722 ENG, GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684 UZB and GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2769 UKR – 4½
10-11. GM Giri Anish 2730 NED and GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725 CUB – 4
12. GM Nakamura Hikaru 2783 USA – 3½
Round 11 pairings (on 2012/10/03):
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729 – GM Leko Peter 2737
GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2769 – GM Wang Hao 2742
GM Adams Michael 2722 – GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
GM Giri Anish 2730 – GM Topalov Veselin 2752
GM Grischuk Alexander 2754 – GM Nakamura Hikaru 2783
GM Gelfand Boris 2738 – GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
Photos by Anastasya Karlovich
