Staunton Memorial Rd.7: Adams misses win

Round 7
Werle 1-0Wells
L'Ami 1-0 Smeets
Timman 1/2 Van Wely
Wade 0-1 Sokolov
Short 1/2 Speelman
Cherniaev 1/2 Adams

Round 8
Wells vs. Adams
Speelman vs. Cherniaev
Sokolov vs. Short
Van Wely vs. Wade
Smeets vs. Timman
Werle vs L'Ami


Adams missed a win in the endgame yesterday. He should have pushed the f-pawn, and though Cherniaev could get two rooks on the 7th, the king could escape on the f-file. Wade played well, had an easy draw, but it slipped away. He joined 4 other former British Champions (Keene, Adams, Short, Speelman) for a photo shoot.

Werle had a very nice finish against Wells (Rg7!!) and the Timman-Van Wely game was an exciting main line theory battle. L'Ami was impressive against Smeets. Jon Speelman made me happy by holding in my favorite Caro-Kann line.

The spectator gallery was overflowing but once again remained utterly silent. I've never seen such a well-behaved crowd at a chess event. Rumor has it that the Dutch contingent went clubbing last night so maybe the home side will have a good day today.

Round 7 games: