The first round of the FIDE Grand Prix in London started at 2pm local time with the first move played by the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Most of the games started smoothly and the Chinese player Wang Hao was playing very quickly the first 20 moves, with still 1h56m on his clock. His opponent was British number one Michael Adams who replaced GM Peter Svidler at the last minute. Adams took his time to fully equalize after exchanging the Queens. Adams was pushing the whole game, got a pawn up in a rook endgame but it was not enough to win. Draw.
The Cuban player Dominguez faced the solid Petroff defence of the young Dutch star Anish Giri. White got a slightly more comfortable position after the opening. Anish played very accurately in the middlegame and fully equalized. The Dutch player had 3 pawns on the “c” line but got a pawn up during the middlegame. Not enough to win the rook endgame however – draw.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov declined to go into the main line of the Berlin defence played by Peter Leko. 16…Qf6! was a very accurate move from the Hungarian player which eventually equalized the position. Players went into a Bishop versus Knight endgame, which ended in a draw in 34 moves.
Ivanchuk has chosen today the Nimzo-Indian, which apparently didn’t surprise Mamedyarov who picked up a rare line based on 9.Bg5. The Azeri player had some difficulties to castle and was able to do it only after 22 moves. Black got a very slightly better position in the Rook+knight endgame. In time trouble, Vasily managed to win a pawn and arrived in a Knight+3 pawns against Knight+2 pawns endgame. However despite several attempts black could get no more than a draw.
Report by Grandmaster Robert Fontaine
Round 2 pairings:
GM Leko Peter 2737 – GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
GM Adams Michael 2722 – GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
GM Giri Anish 2730 – GM Wang Hao 2742
GM Grischuk Alexander 2754 – GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
GM Gelfand Boris 2738 – GM Topalov Veselin 2752
GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684 – GM Nakamura Hikaru 2783
GM Leko Peter 2737 – GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
GM Adams Michael 2722 – GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
GM Giri Anish 2730 – GM Wang Hao 2742
GM Grischuk Alexander 2754 – GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
GM Gelfand Boris 2738 – GM Topalov Veselin 2752
GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684 – GM Nakamura Hikaru 2783
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