Shirov Falters At Corus
Alexei Shirov's fantastic run finally came to a sticky end against Hikaru Nakamura (pictured) in round seven at Corus 2010.
Despite a healthy lead in the tournament, Shirov stayed true to his style by aiming for complications with the Sveshnikov. However, it was Nakamura who won a great game to close Shirov's lead at the top to just half a point.
The other winner today was Magnus Carlsen who made it look easy against Vassily Ivanchuk in a one-sided clash, to keep pace with Nakamura on 5/7.
The other games were drawn, but Nigel Short must be kicking himself after missing a golden opportunity to defeat Vladimir Kramnik in a queen ending with two extra pawns.
In the 'B' Group, Anish Giri maintains his point lead after defending a tough rook endgame for a draw. David Howell and Wesley So moved up the table after winning their games.
Ray Robson lost for the first time in the 'C' Group, but still holds the lead by half a point.
The full results in round 7:
| Group A | ||
| Nakamura, Hikaru | 1-0 | Shirov, Alexei |
| Carlsen, Magnus | 1-0 | Ivanchuk, Vassily |
| Short, Nigel D | ½-½ | Kramnik, Vladimir |
| Tiviakov, Sergei | ½-½ | Leko, Peter |
| Caruana, Fabiano | ½-½ | Anand, Viswanathan |
| Smeets, Jan | ½-½ | Dominguez Perez, Leinier |
| Van Wely, Loek | ½-½ | Karjakin, Sergey |
| Group B | ||
| Giri, Anish | ½-½ | L'Ami, Erwin |
| Howell, David W L | 1-0 | Nyback, Tomi |
| So, Wesley | 1-0 | Reinderman, Dimitri |
| Naiditsch, Arkadij | ½-½ | Ni Hua |
| Negi, Parimarjan | ½-½ | Harikrishna, P |
| Muzychuk, Anna | ½-½ | Sutovsky, Emil |
| Akobian, Varuzhan | ½-½ | Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter |
| Group C | ||
| Li Chao | 0-1 | Grandelius, Nils |
| Vocaturo, Daniele | 1-0 | Robson, Ray |
| Van Kampen, Robin | ½-½ | Lie, Kjetil A |
| Peng Zhaoqin | ½-½ | Muzychuk, Mariya |
| Kuipers, Stefan | ½-½ | Soumya, Swaminathan |
| Bok, Benjamin | 0-1 | Swinkels, Robin |
| Plukkel, Sjoerd | 0-1 | Gupta, Abhijeet |
The standings after round 7:
| Group A | ||||
| 1 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2723 | 5½ |
| 2 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2708 | 5 |
| 3 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2810 | 5 |
| 4 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2788 | 4½ |
| 5 | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 2712 | 4 |
| 6 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2749 | 4 |
| 7 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2790 | 3½ |
| 8 | Leko, Peter | HUN | 2739 | 3½ |
| 9 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2720 | 3½ |
| 10 | Short, Nigel D | ENG | 2696 | 2½ |
| 11 | Tiviakov, Sergei | NED | 2662 | 2½ |
| 12 | Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2675 | 2½ |
| 13 | Smeets, Jan | NED | 2657 | 1½ |
| 14 | Van Wely, Loek | NED | 2641 | 1½ |
| Group B | ||||
| 1 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2588 | 5½ |
| 2 | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2615 | 4½ |
| 3 | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 4½ |
| 4 | Howell, David W L | ENG | 2606 | 4½ |
| 5 | So, Wesley | PHI | 2656 | 4½ |
| 6 | Harikrishna, P | IND | 2672 | 4 |
| 7 | Naiditsch, Arkadij | GER | 2687 | 4 |
| 8 | Negi, Parimarjan | IND | 2621 | 3½ |
| 9 | Sutovsky, Emil | ISR | 2657 | 3 |
| 10 | Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ROU | 2681 | 2½ |
| 11 | Nyback, Tomi | FIN | 2643 | 2½ |
| 12 | Muzychuk, Anna | SLO | 2523 | 2½ |
| 13 | Akobian, Varuzhan | USA | 2628 | 2 |
| 14 | Reinderman, Dimitri | NED | 2573 | 1½ |
| Group C | ||||
| 1 | Robson, Ray | USA | 2570 | 5½ |
| 2 | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2577 | 5 |
| 3 | Li Chao | CHN | 2604 | 5 |
| 4 | Vocaturo, Daniele | ITA | 2495 | 4½ |
| 5 | Swinkels, Robin | NED | 2495 | 4½ |
| 6 | Van Kampen, Robin | NED | 2456 | 4 |
| 7 | Peng Zhaoqin | NED | 2402 | 3½ |
| 8 | Lie, Kjetil A | NOR | 2547 | 3½ |
| 9 | Kuipers, Stefan | NED | 2340 | 3½ |
| 10 | Grandelius, Nils | SWE | 2515 | 3½ |
| 11 | Muzychuk, Mariya | UKR | 2447 | 2½ |
| 12 | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2322 | 2 |
| 13 | Plukkel, Sjoerd | NED | 2279 | 1 |
| 14 | Soumya, Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 1 |
