Nakamura Beats Kramnik In Dortmund Finale
Having already won this year's Dortmund tournament with a round to spare, Vladimir Kramnik could have coasted past the finishing line with a quiet draw in the last round.
Fortunately for chess fans, he decided to throw caution to the wind against Hikaru Nakamura in an exciting finale.
But Nakamura was able to defend against Kramnik's sacrificial attack and spoil the Russian's big finish.
Both the other games in the final round ended in draws.
The final standings:
| 1 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2781 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 |
Le, Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | ½ | ½ | * | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5½ |
| 3 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2764 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5 |
| 4 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2701 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5 |
| 5 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2770 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | 1 | 4½ |
| 6 | Meier, Georg | GER | 2656 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | * | 3 |
Kramnik uncharacteristically played a speculative piece sacrifice and paid the price
10-times Dortmund Champion, Vladimir Kramnik
More information on the Dortmund 2011 chess festival can be found at the official website (in German).
Photos: Georgios Souleidis (official website)
