Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2008. Round 6 18th January 2008. Comments by Mark Crowther.

The players stand in honour of Bobby Fischer whose death was announced today. Photo © Mark Crowther

About an hour before play Ian Rogers said that he had it on strong authority from Iceland that former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer had died. Then phones started ringing and confirmation came through. The former champion had been sent home to die of kidney disease in November. The organisers and players marked this with a minutes silence before play.

Magnus Carlsen beat Judit Polgar to take the lead alone. Photo © Mark Crowther

Magnus Carlsen took the lead with a nice win against Judit Polgar. Having side-stepped Judit's preparation he quickly put her in trouble and it was pretty much down hill all the way to the win. Carlsen explained the game afterwards and the notes below are baed on his comments.

Carlsen,M (2733) - Polgar,Ju (2707) [E37]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 18.01.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.e3 [10.Nf3 Qf6 was the line Polgar was aiming for.] 10...Qf6 [10...Bf5 1/2-1/2 Kasimdzhanov,R (2682)-Asrian,K (2634)/Vandoeuvre FRA 2007/The Week in Chess 640 (44); 10...Qa5+ 1-0 Kasimdzhanov,R (2690)-Karpov,A (2670)/Vitoria Gasteiz ESP 2007/The Week in Chess 680 (33)] 11.f3! As prepared by Carlsen. 11...Qh4+ [11...Ng5 is just no good.] 12.g3 Nxg3 13.Qf2 Nf5 14.Qxh4 Nxh4 15.b4 a6?! Not necessary according to Carlsen, Black's knight is going to e5 anyhow. 16.Kf2 Ne5 17.Bb2 f6 18.Rd1 Be6 The only problem white has is the g1 knight which he now frees tactically. 19.Ne2 Bf7 [19...Nhxf3 20.Nf4 is strong.] 20.Rg1 [20.Nd4? Nexf3 21.Nxf3 Nxf3 22.Kxf3 Bh5+] 20...Nc4 [20...Nhxf3 21.Rxg7 Nxh2 22.Bxe5 fxe5 23.Bg2!] 21.Bc1 [21.Ba1!?] 21...g5 22.Nc3 0-0-0 23.e4!

23...dxe4!? [23...d4 24.Nd5 Ne5 looks good for white but there is no immediate win.] 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Nxe4 Kc7 26.Nxf6 h6 27.f4 Nd2 28.Be2 [28.fxg5 Nxf1 29.gxh6 Bc4 30.h7 is also winning but Carlsen chooses a simpler way.] 28...Nb3 [28...gxf4 29.Rg7] 29.Be3 Nd4 30.Bxd4 Rxd4 31.fxg5 Rf4+ 32.Ke1 hxg5 33.Nh7 Bd5 34.Nxg5 Kc6 35.Rf1 Rxf1+ 36.Bxf1 a5 37.Kd2 axb4 38.axb4 b6 39.cxb6 Kxb6 This is a trivial win. 40.Bd3 Bc6 41.Kc3 Bd7 42.Be4 Bg4 43.Nf7 Bf3 44.Bd3 Bc6 45.Ne5 Bd5 46.Ng6 Ng2 47.Kd4 Bb7 48.h4 Bf3 49.Bf1 Ne1 50.Ne5 Nc2+ 51.Kc3 Be4 52.h5 1-0

Radjabov - Adams. Photo © Mark Crowther

Presumably Radjabov wanted to side-step Adams' Marshall but the cure was probably worse than the disease. They halved out in 25 moves.

Radjabov,T (2735) - Adams,Mi (2726) [C69]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 18.01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 Qf6 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.Re1 Ng6 10.d4 Nf4 11.dxe5 Qg6 12.Nh4 Bxd1 13.Nxg6 Nxg6 14.Rxd1 Rd8 15.e6 [15.Re1 Nxe5 16.Kf1 f6 17.Ke2 g5 18.Nf3 Nxf3 19.Kxf3 Bb4 20.c3 Bd6 21.Be3 Be5 22.Rad1 Kf7 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Ke2 b6 25.f3 h4 26.Rd1 Rxd1 27.Kxd1 c5 28.Ke2 Bg3 29.Kd3 Ke6 30.Kc4 Bd6 31.a4 c6 32.Kb3 Be7 33.c4 Bd6 34.Kc2 b5 35.b3 bxa4 36.bxa4 Be7 37.f4 f5 38.Kd3 g4 39.hxg4 fxg4 40.Bf2 g3 41.Bg1 Bf8 42.Ke2 Kf6 43.Kf3 Be7 44.Kg4 Ke6 45.Be3 Kf7 46.Bd2 Ke6 47.Bc3 Kf7 48.e5 Ke8 49.Bd2 Kd8 50.f5 Kd7 51.Bf4 Bd8 52.f6 Ke6 53.Kxh4 Kf5 54.Kxg3 Ke4 55.Kg4 Kd4 56.Kf5 Kxc4 57.e6 1-0 Tippleston,C (2178)-White,E (1969)/Great Yarmouth ENG 2007/The Week in Chess 666] 15...fxe6 16.Re1 Ne5 17.Nf3 Nxf3+ 18.gxf3 Bb4 19.c3 Bd6 20.Kf1 0-0 21.Ke2 Rd7 22.Rd1 Rdf7 23.Rd3 c5 24.b3 b5 25.c4 Its completely level. 1/2-1/2

Anand vs Ivanchuk. Photo © Mark Crowther

Viswanathan Anand played a threatening looking idea against Vassily Ivanchuk's Caro Kann but after some careful defending Ivanchuk defused the idea and a draw was agreed in 18 moves.

Anand,V (2799) - Ivanchuk,V (2751) [B18]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 18.01.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.h4 Nh5 8.Bc4 e6 9.Nf1 [9.Qe2 Nd7 10.Bg5 Bb4+ 11.c3 Be7 12.0-0-0 h6 13.Nxh5 Bxh5 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Qe4 0-0-0 16.Be2 Nf6 17.Qc2 c5 18.dxc5 Qxc5 19.Nd4 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 Qc7 21.g3 a6 22.Rhe1 Rd5 23.Nc2 Rhd8 24.Ne3 Rxd1+ 1/2-1/2 Solomon,S (2465)-Conquest,S (2540)/Nelson NZL 2007/The Week in Chess 675] 9...Nd7 10.g4 Nhf6 11.h5 Be4 12.g5 Nb6 13.Bb3 Nfd7 14.Ng3 Bd5 15.Qe2 Be7 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Kf1 Qc7 18.Kg2 Qc4

Ivanchuk has completely equalised. 1/2-1/2

Van Wely and Gelfand both lost in round 5. They didn't hang around very long before halving the point today.

Van Wely,L (2681) - Gelfand,B (2737) [E15]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 18.01.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Rc1 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.Qc2 Nf6 12.0-0 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Rfd1 [14.e4 Nbd7 15.Bf4 h6 16.e5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.Qe2 Rc8 19.Rcd1 Qe7 20.h4 Rfd8 21.Nd2 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Nf8 23.h5 Qb7+ 24.Ne4 Be7 25.Qf3 Qa8 26.a4 Nd7 27.Rfe1 1/2-1/2 Gelfand,B (2736)-Leko,P (2755)/Moscow RUS 2007/The Week in Chess 680] 14...Nbd7 15.Bg5 Qe7 16.Nd4 1/2-1/2

Mamedyarov and Eljanov had a long manoevering game but it never really departed from equal and they agreed a draw in 66 moves without a huge amount of excitement.

Mamedyarov,S (2760) - Eljanov,P (2692) [C53]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 18.01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.b4 Bb6 6.d3 d6 7.a4 a5 8.b5 Ne7 9.0-0 Ng6 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Re1 h6 [11...Nh5 12.Bb3 Nhf4 13.Nc4 Bc5 14.Bxf4 Nxf4 15.Ne3 Qf6 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Rb8 18.d4 Bb6 19.h3 Rd8 20.Qd3 g6 21.Rad1 Kg7 22.Qe3 h6 23.Nh2 g5 24.Rd3 Qg6 25.Qf3 f6 26.Nf1 h5 27.g4 hxg4 28.hxg4 Rh8 29.Ng3 Rh4 30.Nh5+ Kh6 31.Nxf6 c6 32.bxc6 bxc6 33.Bxc6 Bd8 34.Be8 Qxf6 35.dxe5 Qxf3 36.Rxf3 Rxg4+ 37.Kh2 Rh4+ 38.Kg2 dxe5 39.Rd1 Rg4+ 40.Kh2 Rh4+ 41.Kg2 Be7 42.Bd7 Rf4 43.Rfd3 Rxe4 0-1 Persson,C-Jenni,F/Guarapuava BRA 1995] 12.d4 Nh5 13.Be2 Nhf4 14.Nc4 Qf6 15.h3 Be6 16.Be3 Nxe2+ 17.Qxe2 Nf4 18.Bxf4 Qxf4 19.Nxb6 cxb6 20.d5 Bd7 21.Nd2 Qg5 22.Kh1 Qd8 23.Qe3 Rc8 24.f4 exf4 25.Qxf4 Qg5 26.Qxg5 hxg5 27.Re3 f6 28.Kg1 Kf7 29.g4 Ke7 30.Kg2 Rh8 31.Kg3 Kd8 32.Rh1 Kc7 33.Re2 Kb8 34.c4 Rh4 35.Reh2 Re8 36.Re1 Rc8 37.Nf3 Rh6 38.Rc1 Re8 39.Nd2 Rh4 40.Re1 Rc8 41.Ree2 Be8 42.Re3 Bg6 43.Rc3 Re8 44.Re2 Reh8 45.Kg2 Re8 46.Rg3 Kc7 47.Ree3 Kd7 48.Kf2 Rhh8 49.Ke2 Rc8 50.Kd3 Rc7 51.Re1 Rcc8 52.Nb3 Rce8 53.Nd2 Re5 54.Nf3 Ree8 55.h4 gxh4 56.Rh3 Rh6 57.Rxh4 Reh8 58.Rxh6 Rxh6 59.Ke3 Rh3 60.Kf2 Ke7 61.Kg2 Rh8 62.Kg3 Rc8 63.Nd2 Rh8 64.Rf1 Be8 65.Nf3 Bd7 66.Nd2 1/2-1/2

Leko - Topalov Round 6. Photo © Mark Crowther

Peter Leko seemed to have a nice edge for a long time against Veselin Topalov but things started to turn around the first time control and then he was powerless to stem the tide. Topalov has now won two games in a row and is right back in the mix.

Leko,P - Topalov,V [B90]
Corus (6), 18.01.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 h5 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.a4 Be7 11.Be2 Qc7 12.0-0 0-0 13.Rfd1 Rfd8 [13...Nb6 14.a5 Nc4 15.Bxc4 Qxc4 16.Bb6 Qc6 17.Nc1 Nd7 18.Be3 f5 19.Nd3 fxe4 20.Nb4 Qc4 21.Nxe4 Nf6 22.Nxd6 Bxd6 23.Qxd6 e4 24.Rd4 Rad8 25.Qxf8+ Rxf8 26.Rxc4 Bxc4 27.fxe4 Nxe4 28.Re1 Rf5 29.b3 Bf7 30.Bb6 Nc3 31.Nd3 Rd5 32.h3 Rd7 33.Kh2 Bg6 34.Ne5 Re7 35.Bc5 Re6 36.Bb4 Nd5 37.Nxg6 Rxg6 38.Bd2 Kf7 39.c4 Ne7 40.Re5 h4 41.Bg5 Nc6 42.Rd5 1-0 Anand,V (2779)-Svidler,P (2728)/Monte Carlo MNC 2007/The Week in Chess 646] 14.a5 b5 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Rac8 17.c3 Qb7 18.Ra3 g6 19.Na1 Re8 20.Nc2 Bf8 21.Nb4 Bg7 22.Rc1 e4 23.f4 Ng4 24.Bxg4 hxg4 25.Qe2 Nf6 26.Rd1 Rc4 27.Qd2 Qc8 28.Raa1 g3 29.h3 Nh5 30.Rac1 Bh6 31.b3 Rc7 32.Nc6 Ng7 33.c4 bxc4 34.Rxc4 Qd7 35.Qc2 Rb7 36.b4 Nf5 37.Bc1 e3 38.Re1 Rb5 39.Qd3 f6 40.Re4 Rxe4 41.Qxe4 Qf7

42.Nd4 Qxd5 43.Qe8+ Kh7 44.Nxf5 Qxf5 45.Qxe3 Rxb4 46.Qxg3 Re4 47.Rxe4 Qxe4 48.Qe3 f5 49.Qxe4 fxe4 50.Kf2 d5 51.g4 d4 52.Bb2 Bg7 53.Ba3 Kg8 54.h4 Kf7 55.Bc5 Ke6 56.h5 gxh5 57.gxh5 d3 58.Ke3 Bh6 59.Bb4 Kd5 60.Bd2 Bf8 61.Bc1 Bc5+ 62.Kd2 Kc4 63.h6 Bf2 64.Kd1 e3 65.Bxe3 Bxe3 66.h7 Bd4 0-1

Vladimir Kramnik blew a big advantage against Levon Aronian only to win on time. Photo © Mark Crowther

Vladimir Kramnik generated a huge position with some great opening preparation against Levon Aronian. However he let it slide to a Rook vs Rook + Rooks pawn and Bishops pawn. Its a well known draw but difficult for the defender. In the end Aronian ran out of time to defend the position as Kramnik had 5 minutes left to Aronian's one. The position went in the final minute too.

Kramnik,V - Aronian,L [D43]
Corus (6), 18.01.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6 14.a4 e5 15.Bg4 exd4 16.e5 c5 17.Re1 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 0-0 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Ne2 f5 21.Bh5 f4 22.b4 cxb3 23.Qxb3 Qd5 24.Qh3 Bc8 25.Nc3 [25.Qd3 Bf5 26.Qd2 Qd7 27.Rac1 Rac8 28.h4 Kh8 29.axb5 axb5 30.Qb2 b4 31.Red1 Qg7 32.Nxd4 Rfd8 33.Rxc5 Rxc5 34.Qxb4 Rcd5 35.Nxf5 Rxd1+ 36.Bxd1 Rxd1+ 37.Kh2 Qf6 38.Qe4 Rd8 39.hxg5 Qxg5 40.Kh3 Rf8 41.Nh4 Rg8 42.Qf5 Qxf5+ 43.Nxf5 Kh7 44.g3 fxg3 45.fxg3 Ra8 46.Kg4 Ra5 47.Nh4 Kg7 48.Ng2 Kf6 49.Nf4 Rg5+ 50.Kh4 Kf5 51.Nh5 Rg4+ 52.Kh3 Ra4 53.Nf4 Ra1 54.Ne2 Rh1+ 55.Kg2 Re1 56.Kf3 Rd1 57.Kg2 Kg4 58.Kf2 Rd3 0-1 Radjabov,T (2728)-Anand,V (2779)/Mainz GER 2006/The Week in Chess 615] 25...dxc3 26.Qxc3+ Qd4 27.Qf3 Ra7 28.axb5 Qf6 29.Qa3 Qb6 30.Qc3+ Kg8 31.Re5 Qf6 32.Qxc5 Rd7 33.h4 gxh4 34.Bg4 Rdd8 35.Bxc8 Rxc8 36.Qd5+ Qf7 37.bxa6 Qxd5 38.Rxd5 Rf7 39.a7 Ra8

40.Rda5 Kh7 41.R1a3 h3 42.gxh3 f3 43.Kh2 Rg7 44.h4 Rg2+ 45.Kh3 Rg7 46.Ra6 Rf7 47.R3a5 Rg7 48.h5 Rf7 49.Kg4 Rg8+ 50.Kh3 Ra8 51.Kg4 Rg8+ 52.Rg6 Ra8 53.Raa6 Raxa7 54.Rxh6+ Kg8 55.Rag6+ Rg7 56.Kxf3 Rxg6 57.Rxg6+ Kf7 58.Rg4 Ra1 59.Kg3 Rh1 60.Rh4 Ra1 61.Rb4 Kg7 62.Rb6 Rg1+ 63.Kf4 Rh1 64.Kg5 Rg1+ 65.Kf5 Rh1 66.h6+ Kh7 67.Ra6 Rf1 68.f4 Rb1 69.Re6 Ra1 70.Rf6 Re1 71.Kg4 Ra1 72.f5 Rg1+ 73.Kf4 Rf1+ 74.Ke5 Re1+ 75.Kd6 Rf1 76. Ke7 Rf2 77. Rf8 Re2+ 78. Kf7 Ra2 79. Rd8 Ra7+ 80. Kf6 Ra1 81. Rd2 Rb1 82. Ra2 Rb3 83. Rh2 Rb1 84. Rh4 Rb8 85. Kg5 Rg8+ 86. Kf4 Ra8 87. Kg5 Rg8+ 88. Kf6 Ra8 89. Re4 Ra1 90. Re8 Ra2 91. Re1 Ra3 92. Rh1 Ra2 93. Kg5 Rg2+ 94. Kf4 Rf2+ 95. Ke4 Re2+ 96. Kf3 Ra2 97. Ke4 Re2+ 98. Kd4 Rd2+ 99. Ke3 Ra2 100. f6 Ra7 101. Rf1 Kg6 102. Ke4 Ra4+ 103. Kd5 Kf7 104. Rh1 Ra5+ 105. Kc4 Ra4+ 106. Kb5 Ra8 107. h7 Rh8 108. Rh6 Rb8+ 109. Kc6 Rc8+ 110. Kd6 1-0 Time but down to his last minute and with the writing on the wall Aronian didn't find the correct defence. Kramnik had 4 minutes left.