London Grand Prix, Round 1: Gelfand Wins, Everyone Else Draws
That about sums it up! As I mentioned in the earlier post, Black was pressing in most of the round 1 games, but only Boris Gelfand managed to grab the full point. Hikaru Nakamura decided to test him in a sideline of Sicilian Sveshnikov, but Gelfand managed to achieve a decent position. The game seemed drawish, but Black was better in the ending with rooks and opposite-colored bishops, and after some inaccurate moves by Nakamura Gelfand was able to win.
So Gelfand is the sole leader after round 1 of the London Grand Prix; here are the pairings for round 2:
- Leko - Ivanchuk
- Adams - Mamedyarov
- Giri - Wang Hao
- Grischuk - Dominguez
- Gelfand - Topalov
- Kasimdzhanov - Nakamura
Let me add in conclusion that the event website is very good, and there are webcams on all the games, too, for those who like to watch the players in action.
Reader Comments (1)
Some pretty good post-game interviews here.