Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2694 | 1-0 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2733 | USA | Catalan/Bogoindian | Black obtained a big advantage, but Nakamura was frustrated by Le Quang's resistance and the American over-pressed with time running low |
Hikaru Nakamura | 2733 | USA | 1-0 | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2694 | Slav/Grünfeld | Le Quang obtained a pleasant advantage but Nakamura cleverly confused matters, whereupon the Vietnamese player lost a drawn endgame when in time pressure |
The American again demonstrated that he can beat just about anyone at Blitz.
Name | Country | Rating | Blitz 1 | Blitz 2 |
Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2694 | 0B | 0W |
Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2733 | 1W | 1B |
In the other match Ivanchuk won both games:
Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2754 | 1-0 | Xiangzhi Bu | 2695 | CHN | Slav/Grünfeld | Black's early counterplay was met by a strong two pieces for rook and pawns combination. Ivanchuk ground out a win in the endgame |
Xiangzhi Bu | 2695 | CHN | 0-1 | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2754 | Semi-Slav Moscow | White's attempted activity on the kingside rebounded on him as Ivanchuk seized the initiative on the dark squares |
Here are our selection of videos from Cap d'Agde:
As a reminder, here are the preliminary round tables:
Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2733 | 6.5 |
2 | Bu Xiangzhi | CHN | 2695 | 5.5 |
3 | Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | VIE | 2633 | 4 |
4 | Judit Polgar | HUN | 2682 | 3.5 |
5 | Romain Edouard | FRA | 2636 | 3 |
6= | Anatoly Karpov | RUS | 2619 | 2.5 |
6= | Nadezhda Kosintseva | RUS | 2565 | 2.5 |
8 | Sophie Milliet | FRA | 2388 | 0.5 |
Pool B:
Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1= | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2754 | 5.5 |
1= | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2694 | 5.5 |
3= | Jon Ludvig Hammer | NOR | 2633 | 4 |
3= | Yannick Pelletier | SUI | 2592 | 4 |
5= | Tigran Gharamian | FRA | 2658 | 3 |
5= | Kateryna Lahno | UKR | 2539 | 3 |
7 | Zhu Chen | QAT | 2480 | 2 |
8 | Tatiana Kosintseva | RUS | 2573 | 1 |
A summary of the Quarter-Finals:
Jon Ludvig Hammer | NOR | 2633 | 0-1 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2733 | Sicilian b3 | Bad blunder from Hammer in the rook and knight pseudo-endgame |
Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2733 | 1-0 | Jon Ludvig Hammer | NOR | 2633 | Spanish Delayed Exchange | Hammer was forced to take risks to try and win and Nakamura refuted Hammer's activity with a strong exchange sacrifice |
Yannick Pelletier | SUI | 2592 | 0-1 | Xiangzhi Bu | CHN | 2695 | Catalan | White ran out of things to do and Bu broke through on the queenside. |
Xiangzhi Bu | CHN | 2695 | 0.5-0.5 | Yannick Pelletier | SUI | 2592 | English/Hedgehog | Pelletier tried (with ...f5 and ...b5) to mix things but White was never rattled by this show of force. |
Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2694 | 0-1 | Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | VIE | 2633 | Slav Defence | Le Quang had an advantageous endgame but, short of time, he lost control and his centralized king was suddenly in trouble. |
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | VIE | 2633 | 0-1 | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2694 | Trompovsky Opening | From an equal position Le Quang managed to generate some play on both wings. |
Blitz play-off:
Name | Country | Rating | Blitz 1 | Blitz 2 | Blitz 3 | Blitz 4 |
Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2694 | =B | =W | 1B | 1W |
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | VIE | 2633 | =W | =B | 0W | 0B |
Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2754 | 1-0 | Judit Polgar | HUN | 2682 | Sicilian Rossolimo | Judit lost her way in the opening and had to sacrifice her queen for two pieces. She resisted for a long time but the result was not really in doubt |
Judit Polgar | HUN | 2682 | 0-1 | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2754 | Reti Opening | White made no progress whatsoever on the kingside whereas Ivanchuk carved up Polgar's queenside and won a couple of pawns. |
The final can be seen live tomorrow at 17.30 local time Live Games
The English-language commentators will be Javier Moreno and myself for one last time!
Moscow 19.30am
Paris, Madrid 17.30am
London 16.30
New York 11.30am
Los Angeles 08.30am
For more information go to the Official site