Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2007. Round 4 15th January 2007. Comments by Mark Crowther.

The struggle between the leaders Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian seemed set for a shortish draw until Levon Aronian sharpened things considerably with an exchange sacrifice. Both players liked the sacrifice for black but after 30...g6? Carlsen was at least level. See Ian Rogers blog: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8121/431/

Carlsen,M (2733) - Aronian,L (2739) [C84]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (4), 15.01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 b4 9.Nbd2 Na5 10.Ba2 0-0 11.c3 c5 [11...bxc3 12.bxc3 c5 13.d4 cxd4 14.cxd4 exd4 15.Nxd4 Bg4 16.f3 Bd7 17.Bb2 Nc6 18.Nxc6 Bxc6 19.Bd4 Rb8 20.Rc1 Rb4 21.Bxf6 Qb6+ 22.Kh1 Bxf6 23.Nc4 Qb8 24.Qxd6 Rxa4 25.Qxc6 1/2-1/2 Fressinet,L (2654)-Grischuk,A (2715)/Crete GRE 2007/The Week in Chess 678] 12.cxb4 cxb4 13.Nc4 Rb8 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Ne3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Nc4 Nd7 18.Ncd2 Nc5 19.Nb3 Nxb3 20.Qxb3 Rxf3!

A strong sacrifice. 21.gxf3 Nd4 22.Qd1 Qf8 23.Kg2 Qf6 24.Be3 Rf8 25.Bxd4 exd4 26.e5 Qg5+ [26...dxe5 27.Re4 and the prospects for the black squared bishop look bleak.] 27.Kh1 d5! 28.Rc1 Qf5 29.Rc7 Bg5 30.Rg1 g6? 31.f4 Qxf4 32.Qg4 Qxe5 33.Ra7 Rf5 34.a5 Bh6 35.Qg3 Qe2 36.Qc7 1/2-1/2

Boris Gelfand seemed to be in control of his game against Judit Polgar but as time trouble mounted for him the position sharpened considerably playing into the hands of Polgar and pretty soon Gelfand's position fell apart.

Gelfand,B (2737) - Polgar,Ju (2707) [E01]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (4), 15.01.2008
IM Malcolm Pein

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d5 6.Bg2 e5 7.Nf3 d4 8.0-0 [8.Nxe5?? Qa5+ 9.Bd2 Qxe5] 8...Nc6 9.e3 d3!? Black stakes her hopes on this pawn exd4 exd4 Re1 followed by Bf4, Nd2 and Re1 is another type of game 10.Nc3 Bb4 11.Bd2 0-0 12.a3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Ne4! A novelty prepared at home

[13...Re8 14.Nd2 Bg4 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.f3 Be6 17.a4 Nd7 18.g4 Qc7 19.Rf2 a5 20.h3 Nc5 21.Qa3 Qb6 22.b3 Na6 23.Nf1 Nab4 24.Qb2 f6 25.Rd1 Rbd8 26.Kh1 Nc2 27.f4 exf4 28.Rxf4 Nxe3 29.Nxe3 Qxe3 30.Rf3 Qh6 31.Qd2 Qh4 32.Qf4 Bf7 33.Rfxd3 Rxd3 34.Rxd3 h5 35.Qg3 Qxg3 36.Rxg3 h4 37.Rd3 Bg6 38.Rd7 Re3 39.Rxb7 Rxc3 40.Bxc6 Bc2 41.b4 axb4 42.Rxb4 Rxh3+ 43.Kg2 Rg3+ 44.Kh2 Ra3 45.c5 Rc3 46.Rb5 Bxa4 47.Rb8+ Kh7 48.Bxa4 Rxc5 49.Bd7 Ra5 50.Bc6 Ra3 51.Rb5 g6 52.Bg2 Ra1 53.Rb6 Kg7 54.Rc6 Re1 55.Bd5 Re2+ 56.Bg2 Re5 57.Rd6 Re3 1/2-1/2 Gurevich,D (2502)-Rosito,J (2426)/Buenos Aires ARG 2003/The Week in Chess 459]

14.Bxe5 Bg4 15.Bd4 Ng5 The pin keeps the d3 pawn on the board and Black intends to take on f3 and d4 16.Bc3 Rc8 17.b4 Re8 Black has good activity for her sacrificed pawn 18.h4 Ne4 19.Bb2 Qd7 20.Qc1 d2 21.Qc2 Bf5 22.Qb3 Be6 23.Qc2 Bf5 24.Qa4 Brave to put it mildly. Gelfand calmly goes on a queenside pawn grab 24...Qd3 25.b5 Nd8 26.Qxa7 Ne6

27.g4!! Bxg4 28.Ne5 Qc2! 29.Nxg4 Qxb2 30.Bxe4 Rxc4 31.Bf3? [31.Rab1! Qc3 32.f3 is a mess but White should hardly be worse then perhaps 32...Rc5!?] 31...Rc1! 32.Raxc1 dxc1Q 33.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 34.Kg2 h5 35.Nh2 Nc5 36.Bxb7 Qc2! 37.Bd5? Qg6+ 38.Kh1 Nd3 39.Nf3 Nxf2+ 40.Kh2 Ng4+ 0-1

Peter Leko built up a crushing position against Vassily Ivanchuk but somehow, and maybe because he had too many possibilities, this advantage didn't turn into a whole point and Leko repeated at first time control.

Leko,P (2753) - Ivanchuk,V (2751) [B17]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (4), 15.01.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0-0 b6 12.Qg4 Kf8 13.b3 Bb7 14.Bb2 Nf6 15.Qh3 Nd5 16.g3 c5 17.dxc5 Qxc5 [17...bxc5 18.Nd2 Be5 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 20.Rfe1 Qc7 21.Be4 Ke7 22.Qg2 Rad8 23.f4 Ba8 24.f5 Rhe8 25.fxe6 fxe6 26.c4 Nf6 27.Bxa8 Rxa8 28.Nf3 Rad8 29.Re3 Rd6 30.Rae1 Kf7 31.Qh3 Kg8 32.g4 Qd8 33.g5 hxg5 34.Nxg5 e5 35.Ne4 Nxe4 36.Rxe4 Rg6+ 37.Kh1 Qd6 38.Rg4 Rxg4 39.Qxg4 e4 40.Qd1 Qd4 41.Qe2 e3 42.Kg2 Re6 43.Qf3 Qd2+ 44.Qe2 Rg6+ 45.Kh1 Rf6 46.Kg1 Rg6+ 47.Kh1 Re6 48.Kg2 Qd4 49.Qf3 Re5 50.h3 Qd2+ 51.Qe2 Qd6 52.Qf3 Kh7 53.h4 Qe7 54.Qf4 Qe6 55.Re2 Re4 56.Qf3 Qe5 57.Kh3 Qe6+ 58.Kg3 g6 59.Kg2 Qe7 60.Qh3 Kg7 61.Kg3 Qe5+ 62.Kg2 Qd4 63.Kg3 Qd3 64.Kf3 Qd4 65.Kg3 Qd3 66.Kf3 Re5 67.Qg2 Rf5+ 68.Kg3 Qd6+ 69.Kh3 Qe6 70.Kh2 Rf4 71.Qg3 Qe4 72.Qxe3 Rxh4+ 73.Kg3 Qg4+ 74.Kf2 Rh2+ 75.Ke1 Rxe2+ 76.Qxe2 Qxe2+ 77.Kxe2 Kf6 78.a3 a5 79.Ke3 Ke5 80.Kf3 Kd4 81.Kf4 g5+ 82.Kxg5 Kc3 83.Kf4 Kxb3 0-1 Salgado Lopez,I (2460)-Piorun,K (2353)/Kemer TUR 2007/The Week in Chess 682] 18.Rae1 Nf6 19.Ne5 Rd8 20.Qh4 Bc7 21.b4 Qe7 22.a3 a6 23.Re2 Nd5 24.Qh5 Nf6 25.Qh4 Nd5 26.Qh3 h5 27.Rfe1 Rh6 28.Bc1 Rh8 29.Bg5 Nf6 30.Qh4

Black has a pretty miserable position and you'd expect Leko to finish it off pretty quickly now. 30...Bxe5 31.Rxe5 b5 32.Rf5 exf5 33.Rxe7 Kxe7 34.Qf4 Rhe8 35.f3 [35.Qc7+ Rd7 36.Qc5+ Kd8 37.f3] 35...Bc8 36.Kf2 [36.Qh4] 36...Kf8 37.Bxf6 gxf6 38.Qh6+ Suddenly Leko doesn't find the position that attractive and takes a draw. 38...Ke7 39.Qe3+ Kf8 40.Qh6+ Ke7 41.Qe3+ Kf8 42.Qh6+ 1/2-1/2

Countrymen Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov were first to finish playing out a tame draw in the Nimzo-Indian.

Radjabov,T (2735) - Mamedyarov,S (2760) [D97]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (4), 15.01.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 c6 8.Qb3 e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.Be2 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.0-0 Qe7 [12...Nd7 13.Be3 Nf6 14.Rad1 Qe7 15.Bd4 Bc7 16.Rfe1 Rd8 17.g3 Ng4 18.Bf1 Rxd4 19.Rxd4 Nxf2 20.Kxf2 Qf6+ 21.Ke3 Bb6 22.Red1 Bxd4+ 23.Rxd4 Qxf1 24.Rd8+ Kg7 25.Qb4 c5 26.Qb5 Qg1+ 27.Kd2 Qxh2+ 28.Ne2 b6 29.Qe8 Bg4 30.Qf8+ Kf6 31.Qd6+ Kg5 32.Rxa8 Qxe2+ 33.Kc3 Kh5 34.Qd5+ f5 35.Rxa7 h6 36.exf5 Bxf5 37.Qd2 Qe5+ 38.Kb3 Qxg3+ 39.Kc4 g5 40.Kd5 Qb8 41.Qe2+ g4 42.Re7 Qf4 43.Re3 Qa4 44.Re7 Qd4+ 45.Kc6 Kg5 46.Kxb6 c4+ 47.Kc7 h5 48.Re8 g3 49.Qe7+ Kh6 50.Qe2 h4 51.a4 h3 0-1 Taboada,P (2347)-Bendig,F (2369)/IECG 2004] 13.Be3 Be6 14.Qc2 Nd7 15.Rad1 Nf6 16.h3 Rfd8 17.Rxd8+ Rxd8 18.Bxa7 Qb4 19.a3 Qb3 20.Qxb3 Bxb3 21.Be3 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Nxe4 23.Rb1 Nxc3 24.Rxb3 Nxe2+ 25.Kf1 Nc1 26.Bxc1 Rd1+ 27.Ke2 Rxc1 28.Rxb7

Its just a draw. 1/2-1/2

Michael Adams Queen's Indian held firm against Viswanathan Anand and he in fact held a small advantage when the Queen vs opposite bishop middlegame was reached. However he didn't really make much progress and the game was drawn in 56 moves.

Anand,V (2799) - Adams,Mi (2726) [E15]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (4), 15.01.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 f5 13.Bb2 Bd6 14.Qc2 [14.Rc1 Rc8 15.Nf3 Qe7 16.Qd2 Nf6 17.Ne5 Ne4 18.Qe3 c5 19.f3 Nf6 20.Kh1 cxd4 21.Bxd4 Bxe5 22.Bxe5 dxc4 23.Qd2 Rfd8 24.Qb2 Nd5 25.Bd4 e5 26.Bxe5 c3 27.Bxc3 Nxc3 28.Rxc3 Qxe2 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Qd4 Qxa2 31.Qd5+ Kh8 32.Rd1 h6 33.f4 Qc2 34.Re1 Qf2 35.Rg1 Rc2 36.Qf7 Bd3 37.h4 Be4 38.Kh2 Rc1 39.Qe8+ Kh7 0-1 Kasimdzhanov,R (2677)-Gelfand,B (2733)/Elista RUS 2007/The Week in Chess 656] 14...Rc8 15.Nf3 Qe7 16.Rfd1 c5 17.e3 Nf6 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Ne5 Bd6 20.Qd2 Rfd8 21.cxd5 Nxd5 22.Rac1 Bc5 23.Bxd5 Rxd5 24.Qc3 Rcd8 25.Rxd5 Rxd5 26.b4 Bd6 27.Nc6 Qd7 28.h4 Bb7 29.Nd4 Be5 30.f4 Bxd4 31.exd4 Qe8 32.Kf2 h6 33.Qa3 a6 34.Rc7 Rd7 35.Rxd7 Qxd7 36.d5

The game will now be all about the mutual attacking chances that the opposite squared bishops provide with the queens still on. 36...Qxd5 37.Qc3 Qd7 38.Qd4 Qc7 39.Qc3 Qf7 40.a3 b5 41.Qe5 Kh7 42.Qd4 Bd5 43.Bc3 Qg6 44.Qd1 Qf7 45.Qd4 Ba8 46.Qe3 Qb7 47.Bd4 Qh1 48.Ke2 Be4 49.Kd2 Kg6 50.Qe1 Qf3 51.Qe3 Qf1 52.Qe2 Qb1 53.Qe3 Qc2+ 54.Ke1 Qc4 55.Qc3 Qd5 56.Bxg7 Qd3 Black calls off any winning tries he might have in mind and trades to the drawn ending. 1/2-1/2

Its a pretty thankless task defending technical endings against Vladimir Kramnik and here he came away with the full point as Eljanov finall collapsed on move 67 although it was still tricky then.

Kramnik,V - Eljanov,P [A16]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (4), 15.01.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qa4+ Bd7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 c5 [6...a6 7.e4 b5 8.Qe2 c5 9.e5 Nh5 10.d3 1/2-1/2 Popov,V (2588)-Klimov,S (2509)/St Petersburg RUS 2005/The Week in Chess 542; 6...Nc6 7.d4 Bg7 8.e4 0-0 9.e5 Be6 10.exf6 Bxc4 11.fxg7 Kxg7 12.Bxc4 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Qxd4 14.Be2 Rad8 15.0-0 Qe5 16.Be3 Rd7 17.Rfe1 Qa5 18.a3 Rfd8 19.Bg4 f5 20.Bf3 e5 21.Bg5 e4 22.Be2 c6 23.Bxd8 Qxd8 24.Red1 b5 25.Rxd7+ Qxd7 26.Rd1 Qe6 27.g3 a5 28.Rd2 e3 29.Rd3 exf2+ 30.Kxf2 Qe5 31.Bf3 Qc5+ 32.Kf1 1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2770)-Ivanchuk,V (2725)/Belgrade YUG 1997] 7.g3 Nc6 8.Bg2 Qb6 9.0-0 Qb4 10.Qxb4 cxb4 11.Nb5 Rc8 12.b3 e5 13.Bb2 Be7 14.d4 e4 15.Ne5 Be6 16.d5 Bxd5 17.Bh3 Be6 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Rfc1 0-0 20.Nxc6 Rxc6 21.Rxc6 bxc6 22.Nxa7 c5 23.Nc6 Nd5 24.a4 bxa3 25.Rxa3 Rc8 26.Ra6 Bf8 27.e3 Nc7 28.Ra7 Nd5 29.Ne5 Rb8 30.Nd7 Rxb3 31.Ba3 Be7 32.Bxc5 Bxc5 33.Nxc5 Rb1+ 34.Kg2 Rb2 35.Ra3 Nf6 36.Ra8+ Kf7 37.Ra7+ Ke8 38.Ra6 Ng4 39.Nxe4 Nxe3+ 40.Kf3 Nd5 41.Rxe6+ Kf8 42.Rd6 Ne7 43.Rd8+ Kg7 44.Rd7 Kf8 45.Nf6 h5 46.Ra7 Rb5 47.Ke4 Rb4+ 48.Ke3 Rb5 49.Ne4 Re5 50.f3 Rb5 51.h3 Nd5+ 52.Kd4 Ne7 53.Ra6 Rf5 54.Ke3 Nd5+ 55.Kf2 Ne7 56.Ra8+ Kg7 57.Ra7 Kf8 58.Rb7 Ra5 59.g4 hxg4 60.hxg4 Rd5 61.Kg3 Ra5 62.Kh4 Re5 63.Nf6 Kf7 64.f4 Ra5 65.Nd7 g5+ 66.fxg5 Ke6 67.Kh5

67...Rd5 68.Nf8+ 1-0

Veselin Topalov emerged out of the opening with a terribly dubious position and although he found some practical chances Van Wely was pressing throughout before converting in 81 moves.

Van Wely,L - Topalov,V [A43]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (4), 15.01.2008

1.d4 e6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 exd5 4.cxd5 d6 5.e4 g6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Bd3 a6 [7...Ne7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 Bg4 10.Nbd2 Nd7 11.Be2 h6 12.Nc4 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 b5 14.Ne3 c4 15.a4 a6 16.axb5 axb5 17.Rxa8 Qxa8 18.Nc2 Qa4 19.Nd4 Nc5 20.Be3 Qb4 21.Re2 Nd3 22.b3 Rd8 23.h3 Qc3 24.Rc2 Qa1 25.bxc4 Bxd4 26.cxb5 Bxe3 27.fxe3 Qxd1+ 28.Bxd1 Ra8 29.Rd2 Ne5 30.Kf2 Rb8 31.Be2 Kg7 32.Ra2 Ng8 33.Ra6 Rb7 34.Kf1 Nf6 35.Bf3 g5 36.Rxd6 h5 37.Ra6 g4 38.hxg4 hxg4 39.Bd1 Nxe4 0-1 Cramling,P (2521)-Ponomariov,R (2721)/San Sebastian ESP 2006/The Week in Chess 619] 8.h3 Ne7 9.0-0 h6 10.Re1 0-0 11.a4 g5 12.Nbd2 Nd7 13.Nc4 Nf6 14.Bd2 Rb8 15.Bc3 Black's position is already looking pretty desperate with Nxd6 in the air. Topalov's next is probably forced. 15...g4 16.hxg4 Bxg4 17.e5 dxe5 18.Bxe5 Nexd5 19.Bxb8 Qxb8 20.Nce5 Be6 21.Qb3 Ne3 22.Qb6 Ned5 23.Qxc5 Rc8 24.Qd4 Ng4 25.Rad1 b5 26.axb5 axb5 27.Qe4 Ndf6 28.Qe2 Qb6 29.Bb1 h5 30.Rd2 Re8 31.Qd3 Bh6 32.Qd4 Qb8 33.Rdd1 Bg7 34.Qd2 Qb6 35.Qd4 Qb8 36.Qd2 Qb6 37.Nxg4 hxg4 38.Qd4 Qb8 39.Ng5 Bb3 40.Rc1 Rd8 41.Qe3 Bd5 42.Rcd1 Re8 43.Qd3 Rxe1+ 44.Rxe1 Bc4 45.Qe3 Bh6 46.Qe5 Qxe5 47.Rxe5 g3 48.fxg3 Topalov has managed to get into an ending which although miserable to defend certainly offers drawing chances. 48...Ng4 49.Rc5 Kg7 50.Be4 Nf6 51.Kh1 Nd7 52.Rf5 Nf6 53.Bc2 Ng4 54.b3 Ne3 55.Rc5 Be2 56.Nf3 Nf1 57.Nd4 Nxg3+ 58.Kh2 Bf4 59.Nxe2 Nxe2+ 60.Kh3 Nd4 61.Kg4 Bd2 62.Rd5 Be3 63.Be4 Kf6 64.Rh5 Bd2 65.Rd5 Be3 66.Bf5 b4 67.Bd3 Kg7 68.Rd7 Kf8 69.Be4 Ke8 70.Rb7 Bd2 71.Bd5 f6 [71...f5+] 72.Kh5 Nf5

Now Van Wely is winning. 73.g4 Ne7 74.Be6 Kf8 75.Rb8+ Kg7 76.Re8 Nc6 77.Rg8+ Kh7 78.Rc8 Ne5 79.Rc7+ Kh8 80.Rb7 Be1 81.g5 1-0