Report of round 13

Hikaru Nakamura of the United States (see picture) took the 10,000-euro first prize in the 73rd Tata Steel Tournament after an exciting scramble for the top spot in the final round of the annual Wijk-aan-Zee chess spectacular Sunday. World champion Viswanathan Anand of India finished second, half a point behind Nakamura, to earn 7,000 euros.

Nakamura, going into the final round with the smallest possible lead on Anand, was pitted with black in a Ben Oni against China’s Wang Hao, who handled the opening in an unusual way to obtain a slight edge. The advantage didn’t last for long, however. Fifteen moves into the game, Nakamura evened out and seven moves later, a draw was agreed.

At that point, Anand (see picture) was certainly not better in his final-round game with black against Russian national champion Ian Nepomniashchi. He opted for a Najdorf in a last-ditch effort to catch up with Nakamura but got nowhere, until ‘Nepo’ vastly improved the world champion’s chances with a speculative exchange sacrifice on his 21st. Anand tried, of course, but “couldn’t find anything that looked convincing,” as he put it himself and proposed to sign the peace 17 moves later. Apparently, he felt continuing to go for a win would be too risky.

“Disappointing,” Anand told reporters. “When I reached a plus-four score, I felt I was well on my way to a final victory but Hikaru just kept winning, picking up six points in a row, which was quite amazing. But I’m not unhappy; it’s difficult to be unhappy with a plus-four score. It’s a pity I didn’t manage to win the tournament but I think I performed above my rating, which isn’t bad at all.”

Nakamura was in his hotel room watching his rival’s game on the relay. “It was totally unexpected to see it ending in a draw,” he told the press. “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.”

The tournament winner explained his “manner of playing chess has changed” of late. “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,” he said.

Norway’s Magnus Carlsen settled for a draw after a mere 19 moves with black from a Chigorin against Russia’s Alexander Grishuk (see picture) to finish the tournament in third place. Levon Aronian of Armenia fought Dutch national champion Jan Smeets to a draw over 61 moves from a semi Slav to come alongside the Norwegian. They share the 6,000-euro combined third and fourth prize.

Former world champion Vladimir Kamnik and world junior champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave declared a draw in their final-round encounter after 23 uninspired moves from a Gruenfeld to end the tournament in a shared fifth place. The two remaining games of the round were also drawn with Holland’s Anish Giri and Ruslan Ponomariov of the Ukraine (see picture) stopping the clock after 32 moves from a Bogo-Indian and Spain’s Alexei Shirov and Holland’s Erwin l’Ami calling it quits after 35 moves from an Open Ruy Lopez.

Disappointed by a round with nothing but peaceful results, GM Ivan Sokolov decided none of the A-Group competitors deserved the 500-euro “Piet Zwart Prize” for the best game of the day.

Twenty-year-old Wouter Spoelman took the 250-euro daily prize in Group B. Sokolov said he was duly impressed by the youngster’s well played victory in 50 moves with white in a King’s Indian against fellow Dutchman Friso Nijboer.

David Navara of the Czech Republic and Britain’s Luke McShane (see picture) fought each other to a draw in 57 moves from a King’s Indian to share the top spot and the 5,500-euro combined first and second prize in this section of the tournament. McShane was declared Group-B winner on Sonneborn-Berger but the tournament organizers decided both players would receive an invitation to compete in Group A next year.

Italy’s Daniele Vocaturo (see picture) finished first in Group C after keeping 14-year-old Ilya Nyzhnyk of the Ukraine to a draw in 39 moves with white from a Najdorf. The Italian earned 1,000 euro and an invitation to compete in the B-Group of the 2012 edition of the tournament.

The “Piet Zwart Prize” –set at 100 euros in Group C- was awarded to Canada’s Mark Bluvshtein for his victory in 47 moves with white in an English game against Serbia’s Ivan Ivanisevic.