Nakamura The Only Round 10 Winner In London
Hikaru Nakmaura ended his disastrous string of four consecutive losses at the London Grand Prix by beating Anish Giri in the 10th round. However, the top-seeded American still lies in last place with just one round remaining.
The other games in this penultimate round were evenly fought draws. Alexander Grischuk had the best chances for a win, but Rustam Kasimdzhanov survived the Russian's attack and escaped into a drawn endgame.
So Shakhriyar Mamedyarov leads by half a point going into the final round. The 11th round pairings are: Mamedyarov v Leko, Ivanchuk v Wang Hao, Adams v Dominguez, Giri v Topalov, Grischuk v Nakamura, Gelfand v Kasimdzhanov.
The standings after 10 of 11 rounds
| # | Name | Fed | Elo | Pts |
| 1 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2729 | 6½ |
| 2 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2754 | 6 |
| 3 | Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2752 | 6 |
| 4 | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2738 | 6 |
| 5 | Leko, Peter | HUN | 2737 | 5½ |
| 6 | Wang, Hao | CHN | 2742 | 5 |
| 7 | Adams, Michael | ENG | 2722 | 4½ |
| 8 | Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 2684 | 4½ |
| 9 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2769 | 4½ |
| 10 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2730 | 4 |
| 11 | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 2725 | 4 |
| 12 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2783 | 3½ |
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Hikaru Nakamura turned around a 4-game losing streak with a win against Anish Giri
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Shakhriyar Mamedyarov leads by half a point into the final round
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Alexander Grischuk (right) had winning chances against Rustam Kasimdzhanov
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Leinier Dominguez Perez (left) and Vassily Ivanchuk
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Peter Leko (left) and Boris Gelfand
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Veselin Topalov (left) and Michael Adams
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The London Grand Prix is the first tournament of the 2012/13 FIDE Grand Prix series. After London the series moves on to Tashkent, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin and Paris. Each tournament is a single round-robin featuring 12 out of the 18 players in the Grand Prix, and each player competes in four of the six events. Details of dates and participants can be found here.
The overall winner and runner-up of the Grand Prix qualify for the March 2014 Candidates Tournament.
The final round starts 2 hours earlier, at 12:00 local time (11:00 UTC). The time control is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in 1 hour, then an extra 15 minutes to a finish with a 30 second increment after the second time control.
Draws can only be claimed for triple-repetition of position, theoretical draws, or 50-move rule.
The official regulations for the 2012 FIDE Grand Prix can be found here.
Official website here. Games via TWIC. Photos by Ray Morris-Hill.
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