Hikaru Nakamura, who just scorched Las Vegas with a win in the North American Open, went down 0-2 against Boris Gelfand in Round 1 of the ACP World Rapid Cup. (Jan 5-8, Odessa, Ukraine)Disappointed fans be consoled. Hikaru has not played in Europe lately, despite this being the obvious place for his game to improve. A jet-lagged double loss to Gelfand is not that relevant in the long-run. Let's hope for more exciting Nakamura match-ups against the world's elite.

Game 1

In the first game, Gelfand won a nice technical game.

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Game 2

Hikaru looked like he had a chance to turn the tables with White in game two,but slipped with 47.a7. A better try was 47.c4 after which the following sample variation by Ylon Schwartz seems crushing for White. Rf1 48. Kg2 Rf2 49.Kg1 f3 50.Rf6! Rb2 51.Rf3 Ra2 Rf6.

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Besides Gelfand, Rublevsky, Shirov and Leko also advanced in the first bracket of the first round of the knockout. To follow the action in future rounds of the ACP Rapid Cup, go to the Official site ACP Rapid Cup 2007