Ivanchuk, Kasimdzhanov Win In London Grand Prix Round 8
Yesterday, in round 7 of the London Grand Prix, Vassily Ivanchuk and Rustam Kasimdzhanov played a mere 11 moves before agreeing a draw. Well, the rest must have done them good, because they both won their games in round eight - the only players to win in the round.
Vassily Ivanchuk defeated Hikaru Nakamura, making it 3 losses in a row for the American who came into the tournament as top seed, but now lies in clear last place.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov won a queen ending with Michael Adams. It was the first win of the event for Kasimdzhanov, and the second loss in consecutive rounds for Adams.
Leader Boris Gelfand had good chances against Anish Giri, but the game ended drawn. Nevertheless, Gelfand maintains his lead with a score of 5½/8. Tomorrow is rest day, so round 9 is on Monday.
The standings after 8 rounds
| # | Name | Fed | Elo | Pts |
| 1 | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2738 | 5½ |
| 2 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2729 | 5 |
| 3 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2754 | 4½ |
| 4 | Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2752 | 4½ |
| 5 | Leko, Peter | HUN | 2737 | 4½ |
| 6 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2769 | 4 |
| 7 | Wang, Hao | CHN | 2742 | 4 |
| 8 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2730 | 3½ |
| 9 | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 2725 | 3½ |
| 10 | Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 2684 | 3½ |
| 11 | Adams, Michael | ENG | 2722 | 3 |
| 12 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2783 | 2½ |
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Hikaru Nakamura and Vassily Ivanchuk
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Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Michael Adams
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Boris Gelfand and Anish Giri
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Leinier Dominguez Perez and Wang Hao
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Peter Leko and Alexander Grischuk
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Veselin Topalov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
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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 schedule for the London Grand Prix:
| Arrival & Opening | 20th September |
| 1st Round | 21st September |
| 2nd Round | 22nd September |
| 3rd Round | 23rd September |
| 4th Round | 24th September |
| 5th Round | 25th September |
| Free Day | 26th September |
| 6th Round | 27th September |
| 7th Round | 28th September |
| 8th Round | 29th September |
| Free Day | 30th September |
| 9th Round | 1st October |
| 10th Round | 2nd October |
| 11th round & Closing | 3rd October |
| Departure | 4th October |
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Rounds start at 14:00 local time (13:00 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.
Look out for coverage at Chess.com/TV!
