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Nakamura Finishes 6th in Gibraltar

Hikaru Nakamura battled with some of the world's top players, including Alexei Shirov, and finished 6th at the Gibtele.com Masters. With a score of 7/10, Nakamura ended the tournament just a half-point behind the leaders.

Nakamura, who recently won the U.S. Championship, had chances to take a share of the lead, or even win the tournament outright. Unfortunately, a 9th round loss all but eliminated him from contention, and his final round victory was not enough to catch the leaders.

Nakamura's most difficult opponent may have been Russia's Alexey Dreev. One of the top grandmasters in the world, Dreev currently holds a rating of 2704, and regularly participates in top tournaments. To make matters worse, Nakamura had the black pieces in their crucial 7th round game. However, he was up to the challenge, and came away with a draw.

Here is his game with Dreev:

White: Dreev, A (2704)
Black: Nakamura, H (2613)
Round 7, Gibraltar Masters
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 Nge7 6. Bg2 Ng6 7. Bg5 Qd7 8. e6 fxe6 9. a3 a5 10. Qa4 h6 11. Bc1 e5 12. Nbd2 Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. b4 Nd8 15. Qxd7 Bxd7 16. b5 a4 17. Ne1 c6 18. Rb1 cxb5 19. cxb5 Ra5 20. Be4 Nh8 21. Nd3 Nhf7 22. Nc4 Rxb5 23. Rxb5 Bxb5 24. Ncxe5 Nxe5 25. Nxe5 Bd6 26. Bd5+ Kh7 27. Be4+ Kg8 28. Bd5+ Kh7 29. Be4+ 1/2-1/2

Nakamura also posted several impressive wins during the tournament. Here is his final round win, which put him back among the tournament leaders:

White: Nakamura, H (2613)
Black: Pert, N (2501)
Round 10, Gibraltar Masters
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nf3 b5 6. c5 Nbd7 7. Qb3 Rb8 8. Be2 e5 9. O-O Be7 10. Ne1 O-O 11. Nd3 Qc7 12. f3 Re8 13. Bd2 Bd8 14. Qd1 a5 15. b4 e4 16. Ne1 axb4 17. Nb1 exf3 18. gxf3 Nf8 19. Nc2 Nh5 20. Kh1 Ng3+ 21. hxg3 Qxg3 22. Rf2 Bc7 23. Qg1 Qh3+ 24. Rh2 Bxh2 25. Qxh2 Qxh2+ 26. Kxh2 Re6 27. Nxb4 Rh6+ 28. Kg1 Rg6+ 29. Kf2 Bh3 30. Bf1 Bxf1 31. Kxf1 Re8 32. Nc3 Rh6 33. Ke2 f5 34. Kd3 Ree6 35. a4 bxa4 36. Rxa4 Rh3 37. Ra6 Rxf3 38. Rxc6 g5 39. Ncxd5 h5 40. Rc8 f4 41. c6 fxe3 42. Bxe3 g4 43. c7 g3 44. Rd8 g2 45. c8=Q Rexe3+ 46. Nxe3 g1=Q 47. Qe6+ Rf7 48. Nbc2 1-0

To visit the official site of the Gibraltar Chess Congress, click here.