Nakamura Wins Tata Steel 2011
Hikaru Nakamura has won the 2011 Tata Steel tournament, surely the best tournament result from an American since Bobby Fischer graced the 64 squares many decades ago.
In the best result of his career, Nakamura finished with a tremendous +5 score, beating a world class field which included the top four ranked players in the world; Carlsen, Anand, Aronian and Kramnik.
Quoted at the official website, Nakamura gave his reaction:
“I was sort of jumping up and down around the room. I was so happy. Winning a tournament is always nice but winning an elite tournament like this is something completely different. I cannot remember the last time an American won a major tournament. I hope my victory will make for greater interest in chess back home in the States.”
“I have become more serious about chess. No more 2.Qh5, no more crazy openings for me. My results have improved. Hopefully, I can keep it going. I hope to break 2800 by the end of this year,”
In the final round Nakamura achieved an early draw against Wang Hao, which left Vishy Anand trying to win his game against Nepomniachtchi to share first place. However, Nepo managed to establish an unusual blockade to keep Anand at bay and ensure the Indian had to settle for second place.
With all the other Group A games also ending all-square, Carlsen and Aronian finished with a share of third place in what has been an event filled with lots of fighting chess in all three groups.
Luke McShane drew a hard fought final round game with co-leader Navara and is the winner of Group B by virtue of a superior tie-break score. Both McShane and Navara will be invited to participate in the A Group next year.
In Group C, Daniele Vocaturo also held on in a thrilling game with leadership rival Illya Nyzhnyk to earn the draw he needed to claim first place and an invite to Group B in 2012.
Nakamura won €10,000 euros for first place in the A Group, which seems a rather modest reward for his efforts but all the players also receive appearance money (the amounts are not disclosed). Mcshane and Navara share €5,500 and Vocaturo gets €1,000.
Nakamura earns a final round draw against Wang Hao...
...and Nepo escapes against Anand to prevent the world champion from sharing first place
A determined McShane holds Navara to a draw to take first place in Group B
A thrilling end in Group C as Vocaturo hangs on for a draw to take first place
All the final round games can be found at the official website www.tatasteelchess.com
The final-round results and final standings:
| Group A | ||
| Aronian, Levon | ½-½ | Smeets, Jan |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | ½-½ | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime |
| Giri, Anish | ½-½ | Ponomariov, Ruslan |
| Nepomniachtchi, Ian | ½-½ | Anand, Viswanathan |
| Wang, Hao | ½-½ | Nakamura, Hikaru |
| Grischuk, Alexander | ½-½ | Carlsen, Magnus |
| Shirov, Alexei | ½-½ | L'Ami, Erwin |
| Group B | ||
| Navara, David | ½-½ | McShane, Luke J |
| Efimenko, Zahar | ½-½ | Sargissian, Gabriel |
| So, Wesley | ½-½ | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw |
| Li, Chao | 1-0 | Tkachiev, Vladislav |
| Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | ½-½ | Le, Quang Liem |
| Spoelman, Wouter | 1-0 | Nijboer, Friso |
| Hammer, Jon Ludvig | 0-1 | Fressinet, Laurent |
| Group C | ||
| Vocaturo, Daniele | ½-½ | Nyzhnyk, Illya |
| Bluvshtein, Mark | 1-0 | Ivanisevic, Ivan |
| Kazhgaleyev, Murtas | ½-½ | Swiercz, Dariusz |
| Tania, Sachdev | 0-1 | Siebrecht, Sebastian |
| Van Kampen, Robin | ½-½ | Bok, Benjamin |
| Pruijssers, Roeland | 0-1 | Van Der Werf, Mark |
| De Jong, Jan-Willem | 0-1 | Lahno, Kateryna |
| Group A | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2751 | * | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2810 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8½ |
| 3 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2814 | 1 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8 |
| 4 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2805 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2784 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7½ |
| 6 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2715 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 7 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2686 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 6½ |
| 8 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2744 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6½ |
| 9 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | RUS | 2733 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 6 |
| 10 | Wang, Hao | CHN | 2731 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 6 |
| 11 | Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2773 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 0 | 4½ |
| 12 | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2628 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 4½ |
| 13 | Smeets, Jan | NED | 2662 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 4½ |
| 14 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2722 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | * | 4 |
| Group B | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | McShane, Luke J | ENG | 2664 | * | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 8½ |
| 2 | Navara, David | CZE | 2708 | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 8½ |
| 3 | Efimenko, Zahar | UKR | 2701 | 1 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8 |
| 4 | Le, Quang Liem | VIE | 2664 | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 5 | So, Wesley | PHI | 2673 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 7½ |
| 6 | Sargissian, Gabriel | ARM | 2667 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 7½ |
| 7 | Tkachiev, Vladislav | FRA | 2636 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 7 |
| 8 | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | POL | 2726 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6½ |
| 9 | Li, Chao | CHN | 2649 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 6 |
| 10 | Fressinet, Laurent | FRA | 2707 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 6 |
| 11 | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | IND | 2651 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ |
| 12 | Spoelman, Wouter | NED | 2547 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Hammer, Jon Ludvig | NOR | 2647 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 4 |
| 14 | Nijboer, Friso | NED | 2584 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 3½ |
| Group C | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vocaturo, Daniele | ITA | 2570 | * | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Nyzhnyk, Illya | UKR | 2530 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8½ |
| 3 | Lahno, Kateryna | UKR | 2518 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Ivanisevic, Ivan | SRB | 2630 | 1 | 1 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 7½ |
| 5 | Swiercz, Dariusz | POL | 2540 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ |
| 6 | Bluvshtein, Mark | CAN | 2590 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | * | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7½ |
| 7 | Kazhgaleyev, Murtas | KAZ | 2637 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2453 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 6½ |
| 9 | Tania, Sachdev | IND | 2391 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6½ |
| 10 | Siebrecht, Sebastian | GER | 2439 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 5½ |
| 11 | Van Der Werf, Mark | NED | 2439 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 12 | Van Kampen, Robin | NED | 2443 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 1 | 4½ |
| 13 | Pruijssers, Roeland | NED | 2484 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 4 |
| 14 | De Jong, Jan-Willem | NED | 2437 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | * | 4 |
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