Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2008. Round 8 20th January 2008. Comments by Mark Crowther.

Anand defeated Topalov in the only decisive game of the day. Photo © Mark Crowther

Anand,V - Topalov,V [B90]
Corus (8), 20.01.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 h5 The revival of this move is Topalov's major contribution to modern theory. 9.Nd5 Bxd5 10.exd5 Nbd7 11.Qd2 g6 This move was a surprise. Around this time the dispute between Short and Cheparinov was going on so Anand decided to make a safe move and see what was going on. [11...Qc7 is nornal.] 12.0-0-0 Nb6 [12...Rc8 13.Kb1 Bg7 14.c4 0-0 15.Be2 Re8 16.Rc1 b6 17.Rhf1 Nc5 18.Nxc5 bxc5 19.Bg5 Rb8 20.Rc2 e4 21.Qf4 e3 22.g4 a5 23.Rg1 a4 24.Bxf6 Bxf6 25.gxh5 Be5 26.Qg5 Qb6 27.hxg6 Bxb2 28.gxf7+ Kxf7 29.Qg6+ Ke7 30.Qe6+ Kd8 31.Qxe8+ Kxe8 32.Rg8+ Kf7 33.Rxb8 Qxb8 34.Rxb2 Qh8 35.a3 Qxh2 36.Ka2 Kf6 37.Bd1 Qh1 38.Be2 Ke5 39.Rc2 Kf4 40.Kb2 Qh8+ 41.Ka2 Qh1 42.Kb2 Qe1 43.Ka2 Qxe2 44.Rxe2 Kxf3 45.Rh2 e2 46.Rh1 Kg2 0-1 Li Wenjun (2342)-Wu Shaobin (2496)/Shenyang CHN 1999; 12...Bg7 13.Qb4 Qc7 14.Na5 0-0 15.Nc4 Ne8 16.Nb6 Nxb6 17.Bxb6 Qe7 18.Kb1 Nf6 19.c4 Rfc8 20.Bd3 Nd7 21.Be3 Rc7 22.Rhe1 Rac8 23.Re2 Nc5 24.Bc2 b5 25.cxb5 Rb7 26.b6 Qd8 27.Bb3 Rxb6 28.Qa5 Qc7 29.Rc2 Qb7 30.Bxc5 Rb5 31.Qd2 Rbxc5 32.Rdc1 Qb6 33.Rxc5 Rxc5 34.Rxc5 Qxc5 35.h3 Qg1+ 36.Bd1 Kh7 37.a4 Bh6 38.Qe2 a5 39.Ka2 Qd4 40.Bb3 Kg7 41.Qc4 Be3 42.Qc7 Qb4 43.Qc2 Bd4 44.Qe2 Qc5 45.Qe1 h4 46.Kb1 Bf2 47.Qc3 Kf6 48.Qd3 Be3 49.Qd1 Qd4 50.Qe1 Bd2 51.Qe2 Qe3 52.Qc4 Qg1+ 53.Ka2 Qxg2 54.Qxh4+ Kg7 55.Qg4 Qf2 56.Bc2 Qc5 57.Qe4 Qd4 58.Qxd4 exd4 59.Kb3 Kf6 60.Kc4 Ke5 61.Bd3 Kf4 62.Kxd4 Kxf3 63.Bb5 f5 64.Be8 g5 65.Bd7 g4 66.Bxf5 g3 67.Be4+ Kf2 68.h4 g2 69.Bxg2 Kxg2 70.Kd3 Bh6 71.b4 axb4 72.a5 Kf3 73.a6 Be3 74.h5 b3 75.h6 b2 76.Kc2 Ke4 77.h7 Bd4 78.a7 Bxa7 79.h8Q Bd4 80.Qh1+ 1-0 Dolzhikova,K (2248)-Batsiashvili,N (2316)/Herceg Novi 2005] 13.Qa5 [13.c4 Rc8 wins a pawn.] 13...Bh6 Anand confessed he hadn't really considered this possibility but he didn't see why swapping bishops should be so good for black. 14.Bxh6 Rxh6 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.Qb4 Kf8 [16...Nbxd5 17.Rxd5 Nxd5 18.Qd2 Qc7 (18...Nf4 19.g3 Qf6 20.gxf4 Qxf4 21.Qxf4 exf4) 19.c4 Nf4 20.g3] 17.c4 Kg7 18.g3 is the whole point of white's plan. 18...Rh8 19.Rc1 Qc7 20.Bh3 Rce8 21.Rhd1 Re7 22.a3 [22.c5 Nbxd5 23.Rxd5 Nxd5 24.Qd2 dxc5 25.Nxc5 Qb6 with counterplay.] 22...Rd8 23.Nd2 Nbd7 24.Qc3 a5 Anand said that its not clear he needs this. 25.Bxd7 Nxd7 26.f4 Nf6 27.Rf1 b6 28.h3 Qd7 29.f5

White is winning according to Anand. 29...Rf8 30.Qe3 e4 Anand decided that this wasn't going to be a problem. 31.g4 hxg4 32.hxg4 Re5 33.Rf4 [33.Rh1 Nxg4 34.Qh3 gxf5 35.Qh7+ Kf6 36.Qh4+ Kg6 37.Rcg1] 33...Qd8 34.g5 Nh5 35.f6+ Kg8 36.Rxe4 Rfe8 37.Ka2! A last precise move. 37...a4 38.Rc3 Qc7 39.Qd4 Qc5 40.Qxc5 1-0

Lead Magnus Carlsen was entitled to press against Boris Gelfand but once the game simplified to all pawns on the Kingside a draw was certain.

Carlsen,M (2733) - Gelfand,B (2737) [D45]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 20.01.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 a6 10.a4 c5 11.Rd1 cxd4 12.Ne4 Nxe4 [12...Ne5 1-0 Yevseev,D (2550)-Vitiugov,N (2478)/St Petersburg RUS 2005/The Week in Chess 542 (46)] 13.Qxe4 Nf6 14.Qxd4 Bc7 [14...Be7 15.b3 Qxd4 16.Rxd4 b6 17.Bb2 Bb7 18.Ne5 Bc5 19.Rd2 Rad8 20.Rad1 Rxd2 21.Rxd2 Rc8 22.Rd1 Kf8 23.Kf1 h6 24.h4 Rc7 25.Ke2 Bb4 26.Rd8+ Ke7 27.Rb8 b5 28.axb5 axb5 29.Bxb5 Bxg2 30.Bd3 Rb7 31.Rxb7+ Bxb7 32.Bb5 Nd5 33.Bc6 Ba6+ 34.Kd1 Bc3 35.Bxc3 Nxc3+ 36.Kc2 Nb5 37.Be4 Nd6 38.Bf3 Nf5 39.h5 Nh4 40.Bd1 f6 41.Nd3 e5 42.Kc3 Nf5 43.Nc5 Bf1 44.Bc2 Nd6 45.Bd3 Bg2 46.Be2 f5 47.b4 Bc6 48.f4 Kf6 49.Nd3 exf4 50.Nxf4 Ke5 51.Bd3 Be8 52.Kc2 Nb5 53.Be2 Nc7 54.Bf3 Bf7 55.Kd2 Nb5 56.Bc6 Bc4 57.Kc2 Kd6 58.Be8 Bf1 59.Kd2 Nc7 60.Bf7 Ke5 61.Ba2 Bb5 62.Bb3 Ne8 63.Bd5 Nf6 64.Bf3 Be8 65.Kd3 Ng4 66.Be2 Nf2+ 67.Kc2 Ne4 68.b5 Nf6 69.Kc3 Ke4 70.Kd2 Ke5 71.Kc3 Ke4 72.Kd2 Ke5 73.Ke1 Kd6 74.Kf2 Ne4+ 75.Kf3 Nc3 76.b6 Bc6+ 77.Kg3 Na4 78.Bd3 Nxb6 79.Bxf5 Nc4 80.Kf2 Ke5 81.Bg6 Kf6 82.Bd3 Ne5 83.Bc2 Ng4+ 84.Ke2 Bd7 85.Bh7 Kg5 86.Kd3 Nf6 87.Bg6 Bg4 88.Kd4 Bf5 89.Bf7 Ne4 90.Ke5 Ng3 91.Bb3 1/2-1/2 SHREDDER-BRUTUS/Paderborn GER 2003/The Week in Chess 433] 15.Bd2 Qxd4 16.Nxd4 Bd7 17.Be2 Rfd8 18.Bf3 e5 19.Nb3 e4 20.Be2 Be5 21.Ba5 Rdc8 22.Nd4 h6 23.h3 b5 24.axb5 axb5 25.Bf1 h5 26.Bc3 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Nd5 28.Bxb5 Bxb5 29.Nxb5 Nxc3 30.Nxc3 f5 31.h4 Kf7 32.Kf1 Rb8 33.Ra2 Rb3 34.Nd1 Bf6 35.g3 g5 36.hxg5 Bxg5 37.Nc3 Bf6 38.Ra7+ Ke6 39.Ne2 Be5 40.Rh7 Rxb2 41.Rxh5 Kf6 42.Rh6+

White is right to press but this is drawn. 42...Kf7 43.Ra6 Rb1+ 44.Kg2 Rb2 45.Ng1 Rd2 46.Nh3 Rd6 47.Ra5 Kf6 48.g4 fxg4 49.Ng5 Kxg5 50.Rxe5+ Kh4 51.Rxe4 Rd1 52.Rd4 Ra1 53.Rd8 Kg5 54.Rh8 Rb1 55.Rh1 Rb8 56.Kg3 Rf8 57.Ra1 Rf3+ 58.Kg2 Rf8 59.Ra4 Rf7 60.Ra8 Kg6 61.Ra2 Kg5 62.Ra5+ Kg6 63.Rd5 Rf8 64.Kf1 Rf7 65.Kg2 Rf8 66.Rd2 Kg5 67.Re2 Rf3 1/2-1/2

Kramnik,V - Polgar,Ju [A15]
Corus (8), 20.01.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 e6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Re1 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.d4 Nbd7 10.Bf4 Ne4 11.Qc2 Bd6 [11...Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nf6 (12...c5 13.Rad1 Qc8 14.Bh3 Qe8 15.c4 cxd4 16.Nxd4 Nf6 17.Nf5 Bb4 18.Bd2 Bc5 19.Bg2 Ne4 20.Be3 Bxe3 21.fxe3 Bc8 22.Rxd5 Bxf5 23.Rxf5 Nd6 24.Rd5 Qxe3+ 25.Kh1 Nb7 26.Rh5 1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2775)-Karpov,A (2770)/Monte Carlo 1996) 13.Rad1 Qc8 14.Ne5 c5 15.e3 Ne4 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.h4 Qe6 18.Nf3 Qe4 19.Qd2 Qa4 20.Nd4 Rfd8 21.Nf5 Bf8 22.Qe2 Qd7 23.Bh3 Qe8 24.h5 Bc8 25.g4 g6 26.hxg6 hxg6 27.Ng3 Be6 28.Bg2 Bg7 29.Bg5 f6 30.Bf4 Rac8 31.Nf1 Bf7 32.g5 f5 33.Rd4 Ne4 34.Bxe4 dxe4 35.Kg2 Rxc3 36.Rxd8 Qxd8 37.Rd1 Rd3 38.Rc1 Rd5 39.Ng3 Be5 40.Qa6 Kg7 41.Qxa7 Bxf4 42.exf4 Rd7 43.Qa3 Rd3 44.Qb4 Qd4 45.Qxd4+ Rxd4 46.Rc6 b5 47.Rb6 b4 48.Ra6 Rd2 49.Nf1 Rxa2 50.Rb6 b3 51.Ne3 Rd2 52.Rb7 Kf8 53.Kf1 b2 54.Ke1 Rd7 55.Rxb2 Ra7 56.Rb6 Kg7 57.Kf1 Ra1+ 58.Kg2 Ra2 59.Kg3 Rd2 60.Ra6 Re2 61.Nd1 Re1 62.Ne3 Rg1+ 63.Kh2 Re1 64.Ra7 Re2 65.Kg3 Kg8 66.Ng2 Rd2 67.Ne3 Rd3 68.Kg2 Rc3 69.Kf1 Rd3 70.Ke2 Rc3 71.Ra5 Rd3 72.Nc2 Rc3 73.Nd4 Rc4 74.Nb5 Rc5 75.Ra8+ Kg7 76.Nd6 Rc7 77.Ke3 Rd7 78.Nb5 Rb7 79.Nd6 Rd7 80.Ra6 Rc7 81.Kd4 Rd7 82.Ke5 Re7+ 83.Kd4 Rd7 84.Kc5 Rc7+ 85.Rc6 Ra7 86.Nb5 Ra5 87.Kb4 Rxb5+ 88.Kxb5 Be8 89.Kc5 Bxc6 90.Kxc6 Kf7 91.Kd6 Kf8 92.Ke6 Kg7 93.Ke7 Kg8 94.Kf6 Kh7 95.Kf7 1-0 Kramnik,V-Vyzmanavin,A/Paris FRA 1994] 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Ng5 Bxf4 14.gxf4 Nf6 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Bxe4 Nxe4 17.Qxe4

A major piece ending where black's solid structure may be enough to draw. 17...Re8 18.Qd3 Qf6 19.e3 Rad8 20.Qc2 Rd5 21.Rad1 g5 22.Qxc7 gxf4 23.exf4 Rxe1+ 24.Rxe1 Rxd4 25.Re3 h5 26.Qe5 Qxe5 27.fxe5 Rd2 28.Rb3 Kg7 29.Kg2 Kg6 30.Ra3 Rxb2 31.Rxa7 b5 32.Kg3 h4+ 33.Kf3 b4 34.h3 Rc2 35.Ra4 Rb2 36.Ra7 Rc2 37.Rb7 Rb2 38.Kg2 Rxa2 39.Rxb4 Kf5 40.Rxh4 Kxe5 Black is a pawn up on the draw and its only a matter of time before it is agreed. 41.Rg4 Kf5 42.Kg3 Ra3+ 43.f3 Ra1 44.Rf4+ Kg6 45.Rb4 Rg1+ 46.Kf2 Rh1 47.Rg4+ Kf6 48.h4 Ra1 49.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Van Wely - Leko Photo © Mark Crowther

Van Wely and Leko drew pretty quickly in a Nimzo-Indian with little action.

Van Wely,L - Leko,P [E32]
Corus (8), 20.01.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.Nf3 d6 9.Nd2 Nbd7 10.f3 Rc8 11.e4 h6 12.Bh4 c5 13.Bd3 d5 14.exd5 exd5 15.0-0 dxc4 16.Nxc4 cxd4 17.Qxd4 Nc5 18.Qxd8 [18.Bxf6 Qxd4+ 19.Bxd4 Nxd3 20.Rfd1 Rxc4 21.Rxd3 Rd8 1/2-1/2 Hoang Thanh Trang (2420)-Chiburdanidze,M (2497)/Bled SLO 2002/The Week in Chess 418] 18...Rcxd8 19.Be2 Rfe8 20.Rfe1 g5 21.Bg3 Nh5 22.Bf2 Nf4 23.Bf1 Ncd3 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Rd1 Nxf2 26.Kxf2 Bc8 27.g3 There isn't much left in the position. 1/2-1/2

Mamedyarov - Aronian was another game without a great deal of action.

Mamedyarov,S - Aronian,L [D47]
Corus (8), 20.01.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Be2 Bb7 9.0-0 Be7 10.Qc2 0-0 11.Rd1 [11.e4 b4 12.e5 bxc3 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.bxc3 c5 15.Rb1 Rb8 16.Bf4 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Rxb1 18.Rxb1 cxd4 19.cxd4 Nb6 20.Be5 Bxe5 21.dxe5 Qg5 22.Qe2 Rc8 23.g3 g6 24.Bg2 Qf5 25.Rd1 h5 26.h4 Kg7 27.Qe3 Rc7 28.Qd4 Rc4 29.Qe3 Rc7 30.Qd4 Rc4 31.Qe3 Rc7 32.Qd4 1/2-1/2 Hoang Thanh Trang (2465)-Almasi,I (2424)/Budapest HUN 2001/The Week in Chess 337] 11...Qc8 12.e4 b4 13.Na4 c5 14.e5 Nd5 15.Bd3 g6 16.Nxc5 Nxc5 17.dxc5 Qxc5 18.Qe2 Qb6 19.h4 Rac8 20.Bg5 Rfd8 21.Bxe7 Nxe7 22.Be4 Bxe4 23.Qxe4 h5 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Rc1 Nf5 26.b3 a5 27.Qc4 Nh6

The position is without prospects for either side. 1/2-1/2

Radjabov vs Ivanchuk round 8 with Timman looking on. Photo © Mark Crowther

Radjabov,T - Ivanchuk,V [B19]
Corus (8), 20.01.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.Ne4 Ngf6 14.Nd6+ Ke7 15.Nxb7 Bxd2+ 16.Nxd2 Qb4 17.Qb3 Qxd4 18.0-0-0 c5 [18...Rhb8 19.Qa3+ c5 20.Na5 Rc8 21.f3 Nd5 22.Rhe1 Qb4 23.Ndc4 Qxa3 24.Nxa3 N7b6 25.c4 Nb4 26.Kb1 Rab8 27.Nb3 a6 28.Rd2 Rc7 29.Red1 Rbc8 30.Na5 Rd7 31.Nc2 Nc6 32.Rxd7+ Nxd7 33.Nb3 Nce5 34.Ne3 Nf6 35.Rh1 Kd6 36.Kc2 Kc6 37.a3 Kb6 38.Nc1 a5 39.b3 Rd8 40.Kc3 Nc6 41.Nd3 Nd7 1/2-1/2 Swathi,G (2317)-Paridar,S (2225)/Tehran IRI 2007/The Week in Chess 672] 19.Qg3 Qb4 20.Qd6+ Ke8 21.Qc6 Ke7 22.Ne4 Qb6 23.Na5 Rhc8 24.Qd6+ Qxd6 25.Nxd6 Rc7 26.Nb5 Rcc8 27.Nd6 Rc7 28.Nb5 Draw by repetition. 1/2-1/2

Eljanov vs Adams. Photo © Mark Crowther

Pavel Eljanov and Michael Adams were the first to finish when Adams equalised quite easily.

Eljanov,P - Adams,Mi [E04]
Corus (8), 20.01.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Ne5 Bd7 8.Na3 cxd4 9.Naxc4 Bc5 10.Qb3 0-0 11.Qxb7 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Rb8 13.Qf3 Bd6 14.Nc6 Bxc6 15.Qxc6 Qe7 [15...e5 16.Rb1 Rb6 17.Qa4 Qb8 18.Bg5 Be7 19.b4 Bxb4 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Qd7 Qc8 22.Qxa7 Rb8 23.Qa4 Bc3 24.Rxb8 Qxb8 25.Be4 Qc7 26.Qa6 Kg7 27.Qd3 Rb8 28.Bxh7 Rb2 29.Be4 Rxa2 30.h4 Qc8 31.Qf3 Ra1 32.Rxa1 Bxa1 33.Qh5 Qh8 34.Qg4+ Kf8 35.Qc8+ Kg7 36.Qg4+ Kf8 37.Bd5 Ke7 38.Bc6 Kf8 39.Bd5 Ke7 40.Qf3 Bc3 41.Bc4 Qc8 42.Qd5 Qe6 43.Qb5 Qd7 44.Qc5+ Qd6 45.Qa7+ Qd7 46.Qa8 Qc7 47.Qa3+ Qd6 48.Qa2 f5 49.Bxf7 e4 50.Bh5 Qf6 51.Qa3+ Kd7 52.Qa7+ Kd8 53.Qb8+ Kd7 54.Be8+ Ke7 55.Bb5 Bd2 56.Qc7+ Kf8 57.Bc4 Bc3 58.Kg2 Be1 59.Kf1 Bc3 60.f4 exf3 61.exf3 Bd2 62.f4 Ke8 63.Qc8+ Ke7 64.Qc5+ Kd8 65.Bd3 Be3 66.Qxf5 Qc6 67.Qf8+ Kc7 68.Qe7+ Kc8 69.Bf5+ Kb8 70.Qd8+ Kb7 71.Qd7+ Qxd7 72.Bxd7 Kc7 73.Bb5 1-0 Kasparov,G (2775)-Deep Blue/Philadelphia USA 1996] 16.Rb1 h6 17.e3 Bc5 18.exd4 Bxd4 19.Qc4 Rfd8 20.b3

1/2-1/2

B Group

Nigel Short was confident that his win by forfeit would be upheld.

The B Group had its own controversy. Ivan Cheparinov refused to shake hands with Nigel Short at the start of their game.

Video of the incident: http://www.chessdom.com/corus-chess-2008/short-cheparinov-live

In Silvio Danailov's appeal In Silvio Danailov's appeal he said "some time ago in one of his interviews Mr. Short insulted him and our team gravelly (sic)." Short had however already shaken hands with Veselin Topalov at the opening ceremony something that Topalov was not obliged to do and Short's articles were mostly about him. Short quoted http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1391 from the FIDE site and the arbiter agreed that Cheparinov should forfeit the game. However Cheparinov in pointed out that he should be asked to shake Short's hand and that he would oblige. This key point allowed the appeals committe of Vladimir Kramnik, Michal Krasenkow and Judit Polgar to rule that:

Cheparinov must make a "handwritten excuse" (apology was the intended word) to Short before 11am on Monday, the game will be replayed tomorrow at 13:30, both players must shake hands at the start of the game and that any player failing to comply will forfeit the game. They do however uphold the ruling as not needing validation at a FIDE Congress, a point in the appeal.

In future rounds if one player refuses to shake hands he will be told to by the arbiter and then if he refuses he will be defaulted. There is nothing said about what happens if both players refuse to shake hands.

In being ordered to replay Short clearly thought he had lost and said immediately afterwards he wouldn't play. However he won on every other point in the appeal and there was clear censure of Cheparinov's behaviour.

The full decision: http://www.coruschess.com/article.php?s=n157