Nakamura Wins in San Sebastian
July 16, 2009
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GM Hikaru Nakamura, Photo Betsy Dynako
After Nakamura's blazing 4.5/5 start at the Donostia Chess Festival in San Sebastian, Spain,  Ruslan Ponomariov caught up with our U.S. Champion's 6.5/9 with a final round win over Vallejo. So a two-game blitz playoff was needed to determine a champion- this is rarely a bad thing for Nakamura. Nakamura dominated the playoffs, crushing Ponomoriov in a sacrificial Sicilian and then going on to win as Black to clinch the title (game with Black will be posted when available).

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For photos, more games and complete results, see the San Sebastian tournament website and also check Hikaru Nakamura's official website for his own thoughts. Don't forget to sign up for Hikaru Nakamura's U.S. Open simul on August 7th- you can now register for that or Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's August 6th simul at the USCF webstore.