Consolation win for Nakamura

The last round combat (official site)
Hikaru Nakamura finished with a win over Vladimir Kramnik. After having a rough time in Dortmund, two late wins have certainly improved the American's overall performance. The other games were drawn and the standings remain unchanged, with Kramnik still a comfortable victor overall.

The game of the round was definitely the complicated King's Indian between Kramnik and Nakamura. In a Bayonnet Attack, White advanced rapidly on the queenside, while Black reacted with kingside pawn advances as well as a more unusual counter ...b7-b6 on the other wing.

Kramnik hit back by sacrificing a piece on the kingside, activated his pieces and obtained dangerous play. Analysis suggests that he was doing quite well, but he lost the thread and Nakamura gradually took control.

The Reti between Meier and Ponomariov was similar in many respects to both a Catalan and a Semi-Slav. In any case the game was fairly balanced throughout.

The hybrid Catalan/Bogoljubov, in Le Quang Liem versus Anish Giri, was also uneventful. Black liberated with the thematic ...c5 and White couldn't obtain anything special.

White Rating Result Black Rating Moves Openings details
Vladimir Kramnik 2781 0-1 Hikaru Nakamura 2770 50 King's Indian Classical
Le Quang Liem 2715 ½-½ Anish Giri 2701 38 Catalan/Bogoljubov
Georg Meier   2656  ½-½ Ruslan Ponomariov  2764 44 Reti Opening

The standings after the final round:

Rank Name Country Rating Kw Kb Lw Lb Gw Gb Pw Pb Nw Nb Mw Mb Points Perf.
1 Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2781 * * ½ ½ 1 ½  1 ½  0 1 1 1 2870
2 Le Quang Liem VIE 2715  ½  ½ * ½   ½ 1 ½ ½  ½  ½  ½  5½    2770
3-4 Anish Giri  NED 2701  ½  0 ½  ½  *   *   ½  ½  1 ½  2737
3-4 Ruslan Ponomariov UKR 2764 ½  0 ½ 0 0 * * 1 1 ½ ½  2724
5 Hikaru Nakamura   USA 2770 0 1 ½ ½  ½ ½  0 * * 1 ½  4½  2687
6 Georg Meier GER 2656 0 0 ½  ½  ½ 0 ½  ½  ½ 0 * * 2597

I estimate that Vladimir Kramnik gained 12 rating points, naturally a fine result by any standards. However, he actually required a win (rather than a loss!) in the last round against Nakamura in order to regain his 2800 status.

The time limit was 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 in 20, and finally 15 minutes for the remainder of the game. The players also received an increment of 30 seconds per move.

Official site:  http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/2011 


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