Tripoli, June 27, 2004.
GM Hikaru Nakamura had an impressive result in the FIDE World Championships. The 16
year old Grandmaster from White Plains, NY was the youngest player to advance to the fourth round (the
final 16). He was also the only U.S. player to get that far.
With an April FIDE rating of 2580, Hikaru entered the World Championship elimination contest seeded number 83 out of 128
qualifiers. He won matches against three Grandmasters, all rated over 2600, before losing in the fourth round to
second-seeded GM Michael Adams, who is currently rated sixth in the world on FIDE's
July 2004 ratings list.
The July list has Hikaru rated at 2601;
he is the top rated player under 17. See the Junior ratings list here.
Hikaru defeated GM Sergei Volkov(2629) 3-1 (two draws followed by two game/25 wins in the tiebreak),
GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (2628) 1.5-.5, and GM Alexander
Lastin(2622) 1.5-.5, then lost to GM Michael Adams(2731) .5-1.5.
His overall performance rating was an impressive 2705.
For a sample of Hikaru's play in this event, try to find the finish of his win against Aleksandrov
in this Problem of the Week, then listen to
John Fedorowitz analyze his win against GM Lastin at
chess.fm.
You may follow the World Championships live (through Thursday, July 8) at the
Internet Chess Club.
|
Designed by Softhands
