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Nakamura Finishes 4th in Biel

US Champion Hikaru Nakamura lost his final three games at the Biel GM Tournament, falling from 1st to 4th in the last days of the event. Nakamura finished with 4.5 points in ten rounds, a point and a half behind co-winners Andrei Volokitin and Boris Gelfand.

Nakamura had been in the lead through seven rounds, but lost his next two games to fall behind the leaders. In the final round, Boris Gelfand beat Nakamura with the black pieces to catch Volokitin and claim a tie for first.

The Biel GM Tournament boasts a field of six grandmasters, with a clear bias towards young players. Joining Nakamura were Boris Gelfand, Magnus Carlsen, and the previously mentioned Volokitin, Pelletier and Bauer.

Here are the final standings:

Andrei Volokitin - 6.0/10
Boris Gelfand - 6.0
Yannick Pelletier - 5.0
Hikaru Nakamura - 4.5
Christian Bauer - 4.5
Magnus Carlsen - 4.0

Here is Gelfand's crucial 10th round win over Nakamura.

White: Nakamura, H (2660)
Black: Gelfand, B (2724)
Biel, Round 10
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Rhe1 Qb6 12. Nd5 Qxd4 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Bxb5 Qc5 15. Nxf6+ Kd8 16. Nxd7 Qxb5 17. Nxf8 Rxf8 18. Qa3 Rc8 19. Qxd6+ Ke8 20. c3 Qc6 21. Qb4 a5 22. Qxa5 Ra8 23. Qg5 f6 24. Qd5 Qxc3+ 25. bxc3 exd5 26. exd5+ Kd7 27. Kb1 Ra4 28. g3 Rfa8 29. Rd2 R8a5 30. d6 Be4+ 31. Ka1 h5 32. h3 Bd5 33. g4 Rxa2+ 34. Rxa2 Rxa2+ 35. Kb1 Rh2 36. Re3 h4 37. Kc1 Kxd6 38. f5 Rf2 39. Kd1 Rf3 0-1

France Leads at European Championships

A French team led by Etienne Bacrot and Joel Lautier is the only undefeated team after four rounds at the European Team Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. France has won all four of their matches, putting them one point ahead of Azerbaijan, Israel and the Netherlands, who each have three wins and a draw.

The top seed in the tournament, Russia, is off to a relatively slow start. With two match wins, a draw, and a loss, Russia is currently tied for 12th with Switzerland. Russia is led by super-GM Peter Svidler, who is joined by other top Russian GMs: Alexey Dreev, Alexander Motylev, Evgeny Bareev and Artem Timofeev.

On the Women's side of the competition, Romania enjoys a one point lead over Poland at the top of the leaderboard. In the 4th round, Romania surprised a highly favored Russian squad led by Alexandra Kosteniuk. Despite being outrated by over 100 points on three boards, and nearly 100 on the fourth, the Romanian team won three games to take the match 3-1.

Russia currently stands 4th in the Women's standings, with six match points. Bulgaria and Georgia are also within striking distance.

We will have complete results of the European Team Championships in the coming weeks. For now, here is a game between Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands, and Armenian GM Vladimir Akopian.

White: Van Wely, Loek (2655)
Black: AKopian, Vladimir (2705)
European Team Championships, Round 4
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 Qc7 6. Nf3 Bxc5 7. g3 Qb6 8. e3 Be7 9. Bg2 a6 10. b3 Qc7 11. Nd4 O-O 12. O-O d6 13. Bb2 Ra7 14. Qe2 b6 15. f4 Bb7 16. g4 Bxg2 17. Qxg2 Qb7 18. g5 Qxg2+ 19. Kxg2 Nfd7 20. h4 Re8 21. Rfd1 Rc7 22. Rd2 Nc6 23. Nde2 f5 24. e4 Rf8 25. exf5 Rxf5 26. Ne4 e5 27. Nxd6 Bxd6 28. Rxd6 exf4 29. Rf1 Ne7 30. Nxf4 Rb7 31. Nd5 Nxd5 32. cxd5 Rxf1 33. Kxf1 a5 34. h5 b5 35. Ke2 Kf8 36. Bd4 b4 37. Kd3 Ke7 38. Ra6 Kf7 39. Kc4 Rc7+ 40. Rc6 Rb7 41. g6+ hxg6 42. hxg6+ Ke8 43. d6 Kd8 44. Ra6 1-0