Corus Wijk aan Zee, 14-29 Jan 2006
Last Edited:
Friday September 1, 2006 2:25 PM
Rest Day Between Rounds 4 and 5
Corus Wijk aan Zee (NED), I 2006 cat. 19 (2716)
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Positions after Round 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
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1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 * . . 1 . . = 1 . = . . . . 3.0 2900
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2801 . * . . 0 . . . . . . 1 1 1 3.0 2882
3 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2723 . . * . 1 = . . . . . 1 . 0 2.5 2807
4 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2729 0 . . * . = 1 . . 1 . . . . 2.5 2838
5 Adams, Michael g ENG 2707 . 1 0 . * . . = . . = . . . 2.0 2713
6 Leko, Peter g HUN 2740 . . = = . * = = . . . . . . 2.0 2716
7 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2752 = . . 0 . = * . . . . . . 1 2.0 2736
8 Kariakin, Sergey g UKR 2660 0 . . . = = . * . . . . . 1 2.0 2731
9 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2709 . . . . . . . . * = = = = . 2.0 2680
10 Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2689 = . . 0 . . . . = * . . = . 1.5 2632
11 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2669 . . . . = . . . = . * 0 = . 1.5 2608
12 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2717 . 0 0 . . . . . = . 1 * . . 1.5 2638
13 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2647 . 0 . . . . . . = = = . * . 1.5 2630
14 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2686 . 0 1 . . . 0 0 . . . . . * 1.0 2541
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Steve Giddins reports direct from Wijk aan Zee
Today is the first of the three scheduled rest days at the Corus tournament,
and gives us all a chance to reflect on events so far, as well as taking
a look at other goings-on here in the small Dutch seaside town.
When I was at school, we still had three terms per year, and so it is
perhaps appropriate to look at what the players' report cards might say
at this first "end of term" break. With 3 points apiece, Anand
and Topalov certainly both get an "excellent", whilst Messrs
Gelfand and Ivanchuk also deserve good marks for their term's work. Of
the group on 2 points, Adams, Aronian, Kariakin and Mamedyarov can be
rated as "satisfactory", but last year's winner Peter Leko,
with four draws at an average of 31 moves each, perhaps deserves a "must
try harder". Those on minus 1 (Bacrot, Sokolov, Tiviakov and van
Wely) would probably not quarrel with a "can do better" verdict,
whilst last-placed Gata Kamsky must be fearing a summons to the headmaster's
study, if things don't start picking up soon.
As I have mentioned before, Corus is not just about the elite GMs. As
well as Grandmaster Group A, there are also two other all-play-all GM
groups. The B group has no less than 13 Grandmasters, the only exception
being the Ukrainian girl Katerina Lahno, whom Hastings regulars will recall
as having played at the congress a few years ago. Amongst the top stars
of the B group are Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian wunderkind, who recently
broke Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest player ever to qualify for
a Candidates tournament. There is also Arkady Naiditsch, the sensational
winner of the 2005 Dortmund tournament, and Ivan Cheparinov, the 18-year
old Bulgarian GM whose work as second to Veselin Topalov has coincided
with the latter's rise to the world no 1 spot. The veteran of the tournament
is the legendary Alexander Belyavsky, for decades one of the world's strongest
GMs, whose best games collection Uncompromising Chess, sums up his battling
philosophy.
Thus far, the B group has produced some great fighting chess, with over
half the games ending in decisive results. Despite having only stepped
into the tournament as a late replacement for Friso Nijboer, who was forced
to withdraw following the death of his mother, Naiditsch started with
three straight wins, before conceding a draw to Vescovi in round 4. Half
a point behind him are Carlsen, David Navara (the young Czech GM who has
4/4 for Slough Sharks in this year's 4NCL) and Giovanni Vescovi. Cheparinov
started badly with two losses and remains on minus 1, along with Belyavsky,
who blew a winning position against Naiditsch in round 2. So far, it has
been a disappointing tournament for the young Dutch players, with both
Stellwagen and Smeets starting with a disastrous 0/3.
The C group boasts a further 8 GMs, including 2600-rated Suat Atalik
of Turkey. He is here with his wife of two months, the Russian WGM Ekaterina
Polovnikova. The two were paired together in the first round, but Atalik
showed no marital chivalry towards his better half, winning in decisive
style. He currently leads the tournament with 3 ½ points, a full
point clear of a group of players which includes the popular Dutch GM
John van der Wiel. John has played at Wijk aan Zee over 25 times, and
is one of the most cheerful and amusing of companions at any chess tournament.
One of the many wonderful things about Corus is the number of strong
players who one sees at the event, in something other than a playing capacity.
Some are here as seconds to players in the A Group, some as journalists,
some to do game commentaries, and others simply as "tourists",
to coin a phrase. The veteran Dutch GM Hans Ree, nowadays one of the most
eloquent writers on the game, is a regular fixture here, whilst a few
days ago, Genna Sosonko could be seen in the Press Room, with his spectacles
tipped back on his forehead, in the style characteristic of the late Salo
Flohr.
Yesterday evening, Dr Robert Hubner arrived for a short visit. A few
years ago, he was hired to do the game commentaries at Wijk, and the organisers
assumed he would do them in a mixture of his native German and English.
However, they had not reckoned with the formidable intellect of the Grandmaster
polymath, who arrived at Wijk aan Zee speaking fluent, almost accentless
Dutch, which he had learnt from scratch in just three months, since signing
his contract!
Languages are another thing which one associates with Wijk. As well as
the Dutch all speaking better English than most of their British counterparts,
one also hears numerous different languages being spoken, often not by
native speakers. It all serves only to emphasise the appalling lack of
linguistic ability on the part of most Englishmen. One regular sight in
the press room this year is Vishy Anand's wife Aruna, who spends most
of the afternoon engrossed in reading a Spanish satirical biography of
General Franco! The Anands have lived in Spain for a number of years,
and both speak fluent Spanish. Veselin Topalov is another who does the
same, and last year, the post-mortems between the Cuban player Bruzon,
and both Anand and Topalov, were conducted in Spanish, rather to the frustration
of most of the watching journalists, myself included!
Well, with that, I will bid you farewell until tomorrow's 5th round,
when the pairing Anand-Leko will no doubt be the centre of attention.
I am now off to nearby Beverwijk, in search of a bargain or two in the
famous "Zwarte Markt", or Black Market, a large street market
which takes place there every week. I will, leave you with a fine game
from the first round of the B group, featuring Norwegian sensation Magnus
Carlsen. See you tomorrow!
Carlsen - L'Ami [C91]
Corus Wijk aan Zee B group, 2006
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6
8 c3 0-0 9 d4
After many years as the poor relation to 9 h3, this advance has become
extremely popular in recent years, thanks mainly to the efforts of the
Russian GM, Grischuk. Black is currently facing problems in several variations.
9...Bg4 10 Be3 exd4 11 cxd4 Na5 12 Bc2 c5 13 h3!
This is one of the Gischuk ideas which has revived interest in White's
position. Black is forced to decide where his bishop should go. Retreating
to h5 runs the risk of having the piece shut out of play, so Black prefers
to exchange, although this leaves White with the bishop pair and the unopposed
Spanish bishop.
13...Bxf3 14 Qxf3 cxd4 15 Bxd4 Rc8 16 Qd1 Nc6 17 Nc3 b4
This appears to be a new move, 17...Nd7 being more popular.
18 Ne2 Nxd4 19 Nxd4 g6 20 Qd2
Although opposite-coloured bishops are a well-known drawing factor in
the endgame, they are often a significant unbalancing factor in the middlegame.
Here, White's bishop is much stronger than its opposite number.
20...Qb6 21 Rad1 Nd7 22 Bb3 Nc5 23 Bd5 Bf6 24 Nf3
The knight is heading to g4, to attack Black's K-side weaknesses.
24...Kg7 25 Nh2 h5
A radical attempt to stop the knight reaching g4, but this severely weakens
the black king.
26 g4 Rh8 27 Kg2 hxg4?!
This seems rather inconsistent with his 25th move, but White was threatening
28 g5, Be5 29 f4.
28 Nxg4 Nd7
29 Bxf7!?
Typical of Carlsen's bold style, but simply 29 Qf4 also looks very strong.
29...Kxf7 30 Qf4 Ke6 31 Nxf6! Nxf6 32 e5
There is already no defence.
32...Qb7+ 33 Kg1 dxe5 34 Rxe5+ Kf7 35 Rd6 Rxh3 36 Qxf6+ Kg8 37 Rd8+
1-0
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