Chess - The Scotsman 03/10/2012

DRESSED in the colours of the late, great Seve Ballesteros, a rampant Europe pulled off one of his trademark great escapes in what’s now become known as the “Miracle of Medinah”. But for a stunned America, the Ryder Cup wasn’t their only meltdown on the international stage, because at the London Grand Prix, top seed Hikaru Nakamura has lost four straight games.

Nakamura’s nightmare started in round six when he lost to Wang Hao; there then followed losses to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vassily Ivanchuk and Michael Adams for “an Audi” (0-0-0-0), and now he’s looking to avoid the “London Olympic rings” (0-0-0-0-0). And having just established himself in the Top 5, the US 
No 1 will be heading south of the Top 10 following his freefall; likely down to No 12 in the world rankings.

Like Rory McIlroy, Russia’s Alexander Grischuk almost managed to arrive late and forfeit his round nine game, but he went on to beat the tournament leader Boris Gelfand.

All of which left Mamedyarov as the new leader after the Azeri ground down Leinier Dominguez. And with just two rounds to play, he has a half point lead over Grischuk, Gelfand and Veselin Topalov.

Leaderboard: 1. Mamedyarov, 6/9; 2-4. Grischuk, Topalov and Gelfand, 5.5; 5. Leko, 5; 6. Wang Hao, 4.5; 7-10. Giri, Kasimdzhanov, Ivanchuk and Adams, 4; 11. Dominguez, 3.5; 12. Nakamura, 2.5

S Mamedyarov - H Nakamura

London Grand Prix, (7)

King’s Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nf3 Bg7 4 g3 0–0 5 Bg2 d6 6 0–0 Nbd7 7 Nc3 e5 8 e4 exd4 9 Nxd4 Re8 10 h3 Nc5 11 Re1 h6 12 Kh2 Bd7 13 Rb1 a6 14 a3 Qc8 15 f4 Rb8 16 b4 Ne6 17 Nf3 c5 18 e5 dxe5 19 Nxe5 cxb4 20 axb4 Nf8 21 Bb2 Be6 22 Nd5 Qd8 23 Qb3 h5 24 Rbd1 Bxd5 25 cxd5 h4 26 d6 hxg3+ 27 Qxg3 Nh5 28 Qg4 f5 29 Qf3 Qh4 30 d7 Red8 31 Rf1 Kh7 32 Qe3 Qe7 33 Qc5 Qxc5 34 bxc5 Ne6 35 Ba3 Nhxf4 36 Nf7 Rf8 37 Rxf4! Rxf7 38 Rh4+ Kg8 39 Bd5 Nd8 40 Re1 Bf6 41 Re8+ Kg7 42 Rhh8 Be5+ 43 Rxe5 1–0