Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2008. Round 13 27th January 2008. Comments by Mark Crowther with additional material by Malcolm Pein.

Aronian, Carlsen and Corus director Marjan Oudeman. Photo © Frits Agterdenbos: http://www.chessvista.com/

For the second year in a row Levon Aronian shared first place in the A-Group of the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He equalised with black against Judit Polgar and even had a slight advantage but the rook endgame never really offered serious winning chances. Aronian was probably the most impressive player in the tournament and his only loss came when he mishandled his clock in defending an ending against Kramnik which left him with no time to achieve the draw it seemed he was close to obtaining. Once Aronian had drawn Magnus Carlsen could have taken the tournament with a win, he too never had any serious chances in his game today and a draw meant he shared first place. Viswanathan Anand seemed quite close to catching the pair but in the end had to settle for a draw and a share of 3rd place with Teimour Radjabov. 17 year old Magnus Carlsen who made his break through here in 2004 when he won the C-Group shared first in his first super event. Carlsen started extremely impressively, then had some weak moments starting with a loss to Leko in Round 9, he was gifted a win in round 10 by Van Wely and then lost to Anand in Round 11. In Round 12 he beat Vladimir Kramnik and this impressive recovery set up this joint win. I don't expect this to be his last win in events of this type.

Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian talk about their joint win. Photo © Michiel Abeln

Viswanathan Anand against Vladimir Kramnik was the final game to finish in Round 13. Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Viswanathan Anand certainly wasn't at his best in Wijk aan Zee but nevertheless he finished 3rd= just half a point off the lead, and he only lost a few rating points. He nearly shared first as he put Vladimir Kramnik (who also looked out of sorts throughout and had a cold towards the end) under pressure in the final round and indeed it might turn out he missed a win.

Anand,V (2799) - Kramnik,V (2799) [C42]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (13), 27.01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nc5 10.Be3 Re8 11.Bc4 Be6 12.Bxe6 Nxe6 13.h4 Qd7 14.Qd5 Qc6 15.Qf5 Qc4 16.Kb1 g6 17.Qh3 18.Nd2N [18.Nd4 Nxd4 19.Rxd4 Qe6 20.Qf3 Bf6 21.Rb4 b6 22.Qc6 Rac8 23.Rd1 a5 24.Rc4 Rcd8 25.a4 Re7 26.Rd5 Qd7 27.g3 Qxc6 28.Rxc6 Ra8 29.Ka2 Kf8 30.Ka3 Ke8 31.b4 axb4+ 32.cxb4 Kd7 33.b5 Re4 34.c4 Re6 35.Kb3 Re5 36.Bxb6 Bd8 37.Rxe5 dxe5 38.Be3 Be7 39.Bd2 f6 40.a5 g5 41.hxg5 fxg5 42.Rh6 Bc5 43.Rxh5 Bxf2 44.Rxg5 e4 45.Re5 Rg8 46.Bf4 e3 47.a6 Kc8 48.Re7 Bxg3 49.Bxg3 Rxg3 50.Re8+ Kd7 51.a7 e2+ 52.Kb4 Rg8 53.Rxe2 Ra8 54.Ra2 Kc8 55.c5 c6 56.bxc6 Kc7 57.Kb5 Rh8 58.Rd2 1-0 Bartel,M (2569)-Fridman,D (2604)/Solingen GER 2006/The Week in Chess 631] 18...Qe2 19.Rde1 Qg4 20.Qh2 d5 21.f3 Qa4 22.g4 Bd6 23.Qf2 hxg4 24.fxg4 Qxg4 25.Reg1

Anand has at least succeeded in putting Kramnik's Petroff Defence under some kind of pressure for the first time in the event. 25...Qh5 26.Nf3 Re7 27.Bg5 Ree8 28.Be3 Re7 29.Bg5 Rd7 30.Nd4 Nxd4 31.Qxd4 Bf8 32.Qe3 c6 33.Qh3 Rd6 34.Bf4 Re6 35.Rg5 Qh8 36.h5 Rae8 37.Bd2 Bc5 38.Rg3 Re2 39.Kc1 Qg7 40.a3 Bd6 41.Rgg1 Bc5 42.Rg3 Bd6 43.Rg4 White continues to play for a win. 43...R8e6?! Maybe this move isn't the best as white does seem to get some real chances now. 44.hxg6 Rxg6 45.Rxg6 fxg6 46.Be3 Qe5 47.Qh7+ Kf8 48.Bd2 Qf6 [48...Rxd2 49.Rf1+ Ke8 50.Qxg6+ Kd8 51.Kxd2 Kc7 52.Qf7+] 49.Qxb7 Rh2 50.Re1 [50.Rd1] 50...Qf2 51.Kb1?! Now the game should finish in a draw. [51.Rd1 Was the try for the win. 51...Be5 52.Qxc6] 51...Qxd2 52.Rf1+ Kg8 53.Qf7+ Kh8 54.Qxg6 Qg2 55.Qe8+ Qg8 56.Qxc6 Bf8 57.Qa8 Bc5 58.Qxg8+ Kxg8 59.Rf5 Rd2 60.c4 Kg7 61.b4 Be7 Even a piece up for two pawns there is no prospect of a win for either side. 1/2-1/2

Judit Polgar drew against Levon Aronian in Round 13. Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Levon Aronian equalised against Judit Polgar who followed Aronian's game against Nakamura for a long time and this never looked like favouring Polgar. In the end a drawn ending resulted where Polgar had to show a small amount of care.

Polgar,Ju - Aronian,L [C89]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (13), 27.01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Nd2 Rae8 17.Ne4 Bg4 18.Qg2 Qxg2+ 19.Kxg2 f5 20.h3 Bh5 21.Bf4 Bxf4 22.gxf4 fxe4 23.dxe4 Bf3+ 24.Kxf3 Rxf4+ 25.Kg3 Rfxe4 26.Rxe4 Rxe4 27.f3 Re5N We're in an ending and this is the first new move. Really there aren't many prospects for either side here. [27...Re2 28.c4 bxc4 29.Bxc4 Rxb2 30.Bxa6 g5 31.a4 Kg7 32.a5 Nf4 33.Bf1 Kg6 34.h4 Kf5 35.a6 1/2-1/2 Nakamura,H (2613)-Aronian,L (2684)/Caleta ENG 2005/The Week in Chess 536] 28.c4 bxc4 29.Bxc4 a5 30.Rc1 Rg5+ 31.Kf2 Kf8 32.Bf1 Ne7 33.Rc4 Rd5 34.Ra4 Ke8 35.Bc4 Rd2+ 36.Ke3 Rxb2 37.Rxa5 Kd7 38.f4 Kd6 39.f5 Rh2 40.Bf1 Nd5+ 41.Kf3 Rc2 42.a4 Rc3+ 43.Kf2 Rc2+ 44.Kf3 Rc3+ 45.Kf2 Ne7 46.f6

Black might be slightly better but his winning prospects are close to zero. 46...gxf6 47.Rh5 Rc2+ 48.Kf3 Ra2 49.a5 c5 50.a6 Nc6 51.Ke3 Nb4 52.Bc4 Ra3+ 53.Ke4 Nxa6 54.Rh6 Ra4 55.Rxf6+ Ke7 56.Rxa6 Rxc4+ 57.Kd5 1/2-1/2

Magnus Carlsen drew against Teimour Radjabov in Round 13. Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Magnus Carlsen avoided critical lines playing a fairly biteless Torre against Teimour Radjabov's King's Indian. A drawn bishops of opposite colour ending resulted which went on rather longer than you might have expected.

Carlsen,M - Radjabov,T [A48]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (13), 27.01.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 d6 5.e4 0-0 6.c3 c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Bc4 Nc6 9.0-0 Na5 10.Be2 Be6 11.Re1 a6 12.Qc2 h6N [12...b5 is normal.] 13.Be3 Qc7 14.h3 Bd7 15.Nf1 e5 16.N3h2 Be6 17.Ng4 Nxg4 18.hxg4 Nc4 19.b3 Nd6 20.Rad1 b5 21.Bc1 c4 22.Ne3 cxb3 23.axb3 Rfc8 24.Nd5 Bxd5 25.Rxd5 Ne8 26.Rd3 Nf6 27.Red1 g5 28.c4 bxc4 29.bxc4 Bf8 30.Rf3 Nd7 31.Rf5 Nc5 32.Rd5 Bg7 33.Be3 Qe7 34.Bxc5 Rxc5 35.Rf3 Bf8 36.Qa4 Ra7 37.g3 Qe6 38.Rb3 Qc6 39.Qa1 Qc7 40.Kg2 a5 41.Qa4 Rb7 42.Rxc5 Bxc5 43.Qe8+ Bf8 44.Rxb7 Qxb7 45.Qxe5 a4 46.c5 Qc6 47.Bc4 Qxc5 48.Qxc5 Bxc5

Its somewhat puzzling that the game continues now, there is nothing at all for either side in this position with the bishops of opposite colour. 49.f4 Kg7 50.e5 f6 51.exf6+ Kxf6 52.Kf3 Ke7 53.Ke4 Bf2 54.Kf5 Be3 55.Ke4 Bd2 56.fxg5 hxg5 57.Bb5 a3 58.Bc4 Kd6 59.Ba2 Kc5 60.Kd3 Be1 61.Kc2 Kb4 62.Be6 Bxg3 63.Kb1 Bf4 64.Ka2 Bg3 65.Bf5 Bf4 Finally... 1/2-1/2

Boris Gelfand scored his only win against Pavel Eljanov in the final Round 13. Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Boris Gelfand struggled at Wijk aan Zee this year but he would have been glad not to finish last alone with a win against Pavel Eljanov who had troubles of his own setting into his first super tournament. Gelfand won by gradually outplaying Eljanov, its hard to put my finger on exactly where it all went wrong for black.

Gelfand,B - Eljanov,P [A17]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (13), 27.01.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 b6 7.e3 Bb7 8.b4 d6 9.Bb2 Nbd7 10.Be2 c5 11.0-0 Rc8 12.d4 Ne4 13.Qb3 Rc7N Black has plenty of options in this position and he finds a new move here. [13...Qc7; 13...cxd4; 13...Ng5; 13...Qe7; 13...d5] 14.Rfd1 Qe7 15.a4 d5 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.b5 Nd6 18.cxd5 exd5 19.Rac1 Rb8 20.Qc2 Rcc8 21.Ba3 h6 22.Bb2 Qe6 23.Qc3 f6 24.h3 Nb6 25.Qc2 Nbc4 26.Ba1 Re8 [26...a6 Is perhaps the best plan.] 27.Qg6 Rbd8 Somewhere black has gone wrong and white has some initiative. 28.Bd3 Ne4 [28...Kf8 Maybe? 29.Nh4 Ne5 30.Bxe5 fxe5 31.Rxc5] 29.Nh4 Ncd6 30.Bxe4 Nxe4 31.Nf5 Rd7 32.Nxh6+ Kf8 33.Nf5 d4? This is definitely wrong although black is probably in a bad way anyhow. 34.exd4 Qa2 35.Rf1 cxd4 36.Bxd4 Qd5 37.f3 Nd6 38.Bc5

Everything falls apart. 1-0

Viswanathan Anand against Vladimir Kramnik was the final game to finish in Round 13. Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Peter Leko got to +1 with a rather puzzling game where black's position looked alright at one moment and then fell apart the next. Mamedyarov's debut in the top group didn't really turn out the way he wanted with only one win and a -1 score.

Leko,P - Mamedyarov,S [C72]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (13), 27.01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bd7 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 b5 8.Nxc6 Bxc6 9.Bb3 Nf6 10.c4 [10.Nc3 Be7 11.Re1 0-0 12.a4 Re8 (12...b4 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5 Nd7 15.a5 Nc5 16.Ba4 Rb8 17.Bc6 Bf6 18.Qe2 Bd4 19.Rb1 Qf6 20.Rd1 h6 21.Qd2 Rfe8 22.Bxe8 Rxe8 23.Qf4 b3 24.c3 Qe7 25.Bd2 Be5 26.Qg4 Ne4 27.Be3 g6 28.g3 Bg7 29.Re1 h5 30.Qe2 h4 31.Qxa6 f5 32.Qb5 Be5 33.a6 hxg3 34.fxg3 Kf7 35.a7 Rh8 36.Qb8 Rxh2 37.a8Q 1-0 Leko,P (2740)-Mamedyarov,S (2709)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2006/The Week in Chess 586) 13.Qd3 Rb8 14.Bg5 Nd7 15.axb5 axb5 16.Bxe7 Rxe7 17.Nd5 Re5 18.Nb4 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 Nc5 20.Nc6 Nxd3 21.Nxd8 Rxe4 1/2-1/2 Vachier Lagrave,M (2542)-Mamedyarov,S (2709)/Moscow RUS 2006/The Week in Chess 589] 10...Be7 11.Nc3 0-0 12.Re1 Re8 13.Bf4 Rb8 14.Qc2 b4 15.Nd5 Nd7 16.Be3 Bf8 17.f3 Ba8 18.Rad1 c6 19.Nf4 Qc7 20.Nd3 a5 21.c5 Bb7 Something seriously goes wrong for black in this position, perhaps this move is bad and the Nc5 or something was better. 22.Bf4 Ba6 23.cxd6 Bxd6 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Ne5 Qxe5 26.Rxd7 Red8 27.Red1

Resignation is perhaps a tiny bit premature but there is no doubt black is losing. A very odd game. 1-0

Like Anand and Kramnik Veselin Topalov seemed curiously out of sorts in Wijk aan Zee. A win against Kramnik was the only highlight and he and Michael Adams had a short draw, probably glad to just finish the tournament. Adams could have done somewhat better but a 50% score was enough for a ratings increase.

Topalov,V - Adams,Mi [C78]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (13), 27.01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 0-0 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.dxe5 Ng4 12.Bf4 Qe7 13.Na3 [13.Qd5 Bb7 14.Qxb5 Ba8 15.Qc4 Ncxe5 16.Bxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Qxe5 18.Nd2 Kh8 19.Nf3 Qf4 20.Rae1 Rbe8 1/2-1/2 Smirin,I (2673)-Kamsky,G (2690)/Khanty Mansyisk RUS 2005/The Week in Chess 578] 13...Ngxe5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxb5 d6 16.Nd4 Bxd4 17.cxd4 Ng6 18.Bg3 Qxe4 19.Re1 Qb7 20.Re3 Be6 21.d5 Bd7 22.f3 Rfe8 23.Rc3

Its equal and probably both players want to pack up and go home. 1/2-1/2

Vassily Ivanchuk was playing the best chess in the world 6 months ago but he has had a decline since. Unlike other periods where he has struggled he didn't lose in Wijk aan Zee but he also only won one game. Loek van Wely held him fairly comfortably in the final round. Van Wely can look back at a few games where half and full points were lost and think that he could have finished a lot higher.

Ivanchuk,V - Van Wely,L [A09]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (13), 27.01.2008

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.Qc2 g6 6.d4 Bg7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 Bg4 9.Ne5 Be6 10.Bd2 Nbd7 11.Nxd7 [11.cxd5 1-0 Flear,G (2445)-Prie,E (2470)/Creon 1998 (61)] 11...Qxd7 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Na4 Rac8 14.Nc5 Qc7 15.Qb3 Bf5 16.Bxf5 gxf5 17.Rfc1 Qb8 18.Nxb7 Ne4 19.Be1 e5 20.Na5 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 exd4 22.Qxb8 Rxb8 23.Nc6 Rxb2 24.Ne7+ Kf8 25.Nxf5 Nc3 26.Kf1 d3 27.Nxg7 Rc2 28.Rxc2 dxc2 29.Bd2 Nxa2 30.Nh5 c1Q+ 31.Bxc1 Nxc1 32.Nf4 d4 33.exd4 a5 34.Ke1 Nb3 35.Kd1

1/2-1/2

Humpy Koneru gave Sergei Movsesian a quick draw in Round 13 which allowed him to win the B-Group alone and qualify for the A-Group next year. Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Sergei Movsesian took a quick draw in the final round to win the B-Group by a point from Nigel Short and Etienne Bacrot. This results means he will play the A-Group next year. Fabiano Caruana won the C-Group, by two points and will play the B-Group next year.