Adams Wins 2008 Staunton Memorial

The final round of the 2008 Staunton Memorial was pretty much unexciting as Michael Adams drew with his opponent Loek Van Wely in just 15 moves to take his second straight Staunton Memorial by half a point. 

Quiet draws also ensued in the games Timman-Wells and Short-Werle, while Speelman-Sokolov fought out a tougher draw, which eventually culminated in a standard drawn rook ending.

The two decisive games involved the young Dutch GMs L'Ami and Smeets. The former beat Bob Wade as Black, wrapping up the game with a neat queen sacrifice, and Jan Smeets completed an great finish by beating Cherniaev after the latter blundered away a drawish-looking position.

Meanwhile, the Dutch team wrapped up a dominating performance in the team event. Kudos to Adams, Smeets, and Wade for their fighting performances.

Round 11
Adams 1/2 Van Wely
Timman 1/2 Wells
Short 1/2 Werle
Speelman 1/2 Sokolov
Wade 0-1 L'Ami
Cherniaev 0-1 Smeets

Final Standings
1. Adams (8)
2. Van Wely (7.5)
3. Smeets (7)
4. Timman (6.5)
5-6. Sokolov and L'Ami (6)
7-9. Short, Werle and Speelman (5.5)
10. Wells (5)
11. Cherniaev (3.5)
12. Wade (0)