Conrad Holt and Mickey Adams face off in round six. Photo Betsy Dynako
After seven rounds of the 1st Metropolitan International (August 17-21), Michael Adams leads with 6/7.GMs Loek Van Wely and Timur Gareev are close behind with 5.5/7. See a video update featuring interviews with International Grandmaster Timur Gareev talking about his stunning Queen sacrifice versus International Grandmaster Loek van Wely, and International Master Danny Rensch discussing his chances for a GM norm. Also play through the game (updated 3 PM EST) below.
Saturday Update - 1st Metropolitan International from Ice Hat Creative on Vimeo.
Update by Chief Arbiter NM Hal BognerAs LA's strongest tournament in over two decades heads into its final day, England's super-GM Mickey Adams holds a slim but commanding lead over the 86 player field with a 6-1 score.
Seeded first, Adams has faced each of the four GMs who trail by half a point - drawing 2nd seed Loek Van Wely (Netherlands) and 3rd seed Timur Gareev (Uzbekistan), and defeating 6th seed Robert Ruck (Hungary) and 8th seed Mesgen Amanov (Turkmenistan).
Only two players trail by a full point at 5-2: Bulgarian GM Dejan Bojkov and the sole American and non-GM still in contention, IM Conrad Holt. In Sunday's penultimate round, Bojkov is attempting to bring Adams to ground, while Holt is facing his third GM of the event, Varuzhan Akobian, who heads a 14-player pack at 4.5 points.
On Saturday, Gareev won a sparkling miniature from Van Wely - a rare queen sacrifice in under 25 moves against a world-class GM:
5796
Look for a video recap of the 1st Metropolitan International by Ice Hat Creative upon the event's conclusion.