Nakamura wins Wijk aan Zee

This morning I got up too late to watch GM Nakamura win the 2011 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. It's probably just as well since his final game was a 22-move draw with Wang Hao. But last week I watched some exciting, fighting chess from Nakamura (on Chessbomb, a great place to watch). Winning this venerable tournament was a significant accomplishment, as Nakamura finished ahead of Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik, and Aronian, among others.

I've long been attracted to this tournament, played on the coast at Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands, since 1968, and before that, since 1938, just inland at Beverwijk. Diemer played there, in the lower levels, several times, and in 1956, he won his section--without playing a single Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. For an account of Diemer's adventure there that year, see these previous posts.


The Beginning of His Best Year (Part 1)

The Beginning of His Best Year (Part 2)

The Beginning of His Best Year (Part 3)

The Beginning of His Best Year (Part 4)

And here's another post on Diemer's game with Durao from the tournament.