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Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2006. Round 4 17th January 2006. Brief comments by Mark Crowther  Favourites Topalov and Anand share the lead going into the first rest day. Photo from http://www.coruschess.com © Fred Lucas - Momentoo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (NED), 14-29 i 2006 cat. XIX (2716)
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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. Karjakin, 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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Round 4 (January 17, 2006)
Adams, Michael - Karjakin, Sergey 1/2 24 B92 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2
Leko, Peter - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 27 C13 French Classical
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Tiviakov, Sergei 1/2 52 E42 Nimzo Indian Rubinstein
Sokolov, Ivan - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 15 D28 QGA
Bacrot, Etienne - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 61 D17 Slav Defence
Van Wely, Loek - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 43 D15 Slav Defence
Kamsky, Gata - Aronian, Levon 0-1 72 C85 Ruy Lopez Steenwijker Defence
Four rounds gone and the pre-event favourites Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov lead the event by half a point from Vassily Ivanchuk and Boris Gelfand. The day saw some very hard fought and complex games, if not always with the most accurate chess. There was an early draw for Viswanathan Anand who was never in any trouble against Ivan Sokolov but there were few prospect for either side when the game was agreed drawn. Peter Leko got a small initiative against Vassily Ivanchuk's Classical French but Ivanchuk guided the game to a sterile Queen and Rook ending. Michael Adams also got nothing from the opening against Sergey Karjakin in a Sicilian Najdorf in spite of accepting a pawn sacrifice. That game was agreed drawn in just 24 moves. The game of the day was a wild affair between Loek van Wely and Veselin Topalov. Topalov revived an interesting exchange sacrifice in the Slav Defence. Van Wely reacted well to start but clearly weakened in a game that defies instant analysis. A typically uncompromising game from the Bulgarian. Van Wely,L - Topalov,V [D15] Corus A Wijk aan Zee (4), 17.01.2006 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.a4 e6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 dxc4 [7...Bb4 ; 7...Be7; 7...Nbd7] 8.e3 [8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.Nxc4 b5 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.f3 Be7 12.e3 b4 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Ne4 c5 16.Ng3 0-0 17.Bc4 Rfd8 18.dxc5 Ne5 19.Qe2 Qxc5 20.b3 Rac8 21.Kf2 Nxc4 22.Rac1 Rd2 0-1 Rodic,D-Papa,S/Biel 2002/EXT 2003] 8...b5!? 9.axb5 cxb5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nxb5 axb5!? A very interesting sacrifice but also risky. 12.Rxa8 Bb4+ 13.Ke2N [13.Nd2 Bb7 14.Ra1 (14.Ra7 Qb6 15.Ra1 e5 16.Be2 exd4 17.0-0 Rg8 18.Bf3 Bxd2 19.exd4 Bb4 20.Bxb7 Qxb7 21.g3 Qd5 22.b3 c3 23.Qd3 Rg6 24.Rfe1+ Kf8 25.Qe3 Kg7 26.Qe8 Bd6 27.Qd8 Nc6 28.Qc8 Nxd4 29.Re8 Nf3+ 30.Kf1 Nxh2+ 31.Kg1 Nf3+ 32.Kf1 Qd3+ 33.Kg2 Nh4+ 34.Kg1 Rxg3+ 35.fxg3 Qxg3+ 36.Kf1 Qg2+ 0-1 Van den Doel,E-Van der Wiel,J/Rotterdam 1999/CBM 072) 14...Rg8 15.Be2 Rxg2 16.Kf1 Bxd2 17.Qxd2 Qd5 18.f3 Qg5 19.h4 Qg6 20.d5 Nd7 21.dxe6 fxe6 22.Rd1 Bc6 23.Bd3 cxd3 24.Qxg2 Qf5 25.Kf2 Ne5 26.Rh3 h5 27.Qg8+ Ke7 28.Rg1 Qxh3 29.Rg7+ Kd6 30.Qf8+ Kd5 31.Qd8+ Bd7 32.Rxd7+ Nxd7 33.Qxd7+ Kc5 34.Qc7+ Kd5 35.e4+ 1-0 Marovic,D-Pomar Salamanca,A/Olot 1969/MCL] 13...Bb7 14.Ra1 f5 15.Ne5 Rg8 16.f4 Nc6 17.Nf3 Na5 18.Kf2 Nb3 19.Ra7 Be4 20.Ra2  The last two moves were inconsistant. Van Wely was worried about his rook being cut off by Na5 but it allows worse. [20.g3!?] 20...e5! Breaking open the position. 21.fxe5 f4 22.Be2 [22.exf4 Bxf3 23.gxf3 Bd2 Is at least equal for black.] 22...fxe3+ [22...Bd2 was maybe better.] 23.Kxe3 Qd5 24.g3 Nxd4 25.Nxd4 Bxh1 26.Bf3 [26.Nf3 Bc5+ 27.Kf4 Bd4!] 26...Qxe5+ Now black is clearly better. 27.Kf2 Bc5 28.Bxh1 Bxd4+ 29.Kf1 Rg5 30.Bf3 Kf8 31.Kg2 Qe3 32.Kh3 Kg7 33.b3 cxb3 34.Ra3 b4 35.Rxb3 Bc3 Now its a question of time. 36.Qe2 Qc5 37.Qd3 Qc8+ 38.Kg2 Ra5 39.Qc2 Qe6 40.Qb1? [40.h3 creating some luft may have been more resiliant but white is still quite lost.] 40...Ra1 41.Qc2 Bd4 42.Bd1 Qe1 43.Bf3 [43.Be2 Qf2+ 44.Kh3 Rh1] 43...Qf1# 0-1 There was a fluctuating struggle between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Sergei Tiviakov which ended in a draw by repetition. Boris Gelfand won his second game in a row when he survived a time scramble against Etienne Bacrot running up to the first time control to find himself in a nice technical ending which he converted. Bacrot,E - Gelfand,B [D17] Corus Wijk aan Zee (4), 2006 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 f6 12.0-0 Nc5 13.Ne3 Bg6 14.b4 Ne6 15.b5 Rd8 16.Qb3 Nd4 17.Qb2 Bc5 18.Rfc1 [18.a5 0-0 19.a6 bxa6 20.bxc6 Ndxc6 21.Rxa6 Qc8 22.Ra4 1/2-1/2 Riazantsev,A-Bareev,E/Kazan 2005/CBM 109] 18...Qe7 [18...0-0 19.Ne4 Be7 20.Nd5 Rxd5 21.Nxf6+ gxf6 22.Bxd5+ Kg7 23.Qxd4 Qd7 24.bxc6 bxc6 25.Bxe5 fxe5 26.Qxe5+ Bf6 27.Bxc6 Qd8 28.Qd5 Qb6 29.a5 1-0 Govciyan,P-Hanley,C/Hyerois FRA 2001/The Week in Chess 349] 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Ne4 Bb4 21.Nc4 Nxc4 22.Rxc4 c5 23.e3 Ne6 24.Nc3 Nxf4 25.Bc6+ Kf8 26.Rxf4 Black stands slightly better in a messy position. 26...Qe5 27.Rc1 a5 28.Bb5 Ke7 29.Qb3 Rd2 30.e4 Rhd8 31.Nd5+ Kf8 32.Qf3 Rd4! 33.Rc4 Bd2 [33...Rxc4 34.Bxc4 Bd2] 34.Rxc5 Bxf4?! [34...Rxe4] 35.Nxf4 Qxe4 36.Bc6? [36.Qxe4] 36...Qxf3? [36...Rd1+ 37.Kg2 Qe1 38.Kh3 Bf7] 37.Bxf3 Bf7 38.Rxa5 g5 39.Ne2 Rc4 40.h3 Rd1+  Time trouble is over, black is close to winning and wraps plays the technical ending well. 41.Kg2 Ra1 42.Ra8+ Kg7 43.a5 Rca4 44.Rd8 Rxa5 45.Nd4 f5 46.Rd7 Kf6 47.Rd6+ Ke5 48.Rd8 Rc5 49.Nc6+ Ke6 50.Rh8 Kf6 51.Rxh7 g4 52.hxg4 fxg4 53.Be4 Re1 54.Nd8 Bd5 55.Rh6+ [55.Bxd5 Rxd5 56.Rh6+ Kg7 Doesn't help.] 55...Ke7 56.Bxd5 Rxd5 57.Nc6+ Kd7 58.Rg6 Rdd1 59.Nb8+ Kc8 60.Rg8+ Kb7 61.Rxg4 Kxb8 0-1 The last game to finish was that between Gata Kamsky and Levon Aronian. Kamsky always reminded me a bit in style to Sammy Reshevsky, he's added virtual amateur status, ropey openings and time trouble to the comparison. Hopefully the rust will come off because I admire his fighting spirit which he needed in abundance today. He lost a pawn for no compensation but fought his way back to come close to a draw before walking into a soul destroying loss of his queen or king at the end. I expect the rest day will come as a relief and I think he will get stronger as the event goes on. Kamsky,G - Aronian,L [C85] Corus Wijk aan Zee (4), 2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Bd6 8.Nbd2 Be6 9.b3 Nd7 10.Bb2 [10.Nc4 Bxc4 11.dxc4 Qe7 12.Be3 b6 13.Qe2 0-0 14.Rad1 Rfd8 15.g3 Nf8 16.Nh4 g6 17.c3 Ne6 18.Qc2 a5 19.Ng2 Bc5 20.Bc1 Qf6 21.Qe2 h5 22.Nh4 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Nf4 24.Bxf4 exf4 25.Qf3 Re8 26.Ng2 Qe5 27.Qxf4 Qxc3 28.Qxc7 Bxf2+ 29.Kh1 Qc2 30.Qd7 Qxe4 31.a4 Re6 32.Qd2 Qf3 33.Rf1 Re2 34.Qd7 Qe4 35.h3 Rb2 36.Qc7 Rb1 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Rd1 Qc2 39.Ne3 Bxe3 40.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 41.Kg2 Qe4+ 0-1 Kulikov,V-Smolny/Leningrad 1980/EXT 2004] 10...c5 11.g3 [11.Nc4 Qf6 12.Nfd2 Qe7 1/2-1/2 Pinal,N-Garcia,G/Havana 1983/MCD] 11...0-0 12.Nh4 Re8 13.Nf5? The start of an attacking plan that loses a pawn. 13...Bxf5 14.exf5 Qg5 15.f6 Nxf6 16.Ne4 Qf5 17.Nxf6+ Qxf6 18.f4 Qh6 19.f5 e4! 20.Re1? Probably Kamsky missed the power of the next. [20.f6] 20...Rad8! 21.Qg4 exd3 22.cxd3 Bf8 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Rd1 Qe3+ White is a pawn down for nothing. 25.Kf1 g6 26.Bc1 Qe5 27.fxg6 hxg6 28.Qf3 Qa1 29.Qf2 Bg7 30.Kg2 Qe5 31.Rf1 Qe7 32.Bg5 Qd7 33.Qf3 Bd4 34.g4 c6 35.h4 Re6 36.Kh3 b5 37.Bd2 Rf6 38.Qg2 Rd6 39.Bf4 Rd5 40.Rf3 Qe6 41.Bg3 Bg7 42.Qf1 Rd8 43.Bf2 After lengthy manoevering Kamsky's position has somewhat improved. 43...Qd5 44.Qe2 Bf8 45.Kg2 Rd6 46.Kg1 Re6 47.Re3 Rxe3 48.Bxe3 Qe5 49.Kf1 Qg3 50.h5 Qh3+ 51.Kg1 Bd6 52.hxg6 fxg6 53.Bf4!! This surely should secure the draw. 53...Bf8 [53...Bxf4 54.Qe8+ Kg7 55.Qd7+ Kf8 (55...Kh6 56.g5+) 56.Qd8+ with a draw.] 54.Qe6+ Kh7 55.Qd7+ Bg7 56.Kf2 Qh4+ 57.Ke2 Qf6 58.Ke3 Qa1 59.g5 Qe1+ 60.Kf3 Qf1+ 61.Ke3 c4 62.dxc4 bxc4 63.bxc4 Qc1+ 64.Kf3 Qxc4 65.Qh3+ Kg8 66.Qc8+ Bf8 67.Qe8 Qd3+ 68.Be3 c5 69.Qc6 Qf1+ 70.Kg3 Qe1+  71.Kf4? Almost unbelievably this loses the house. [71.Bf2] 71...Qh4+ 72.Ke5 Qh8+ The sad point being that 73. ..Kf4 74.Bd6+!!! Qxd6 75.Qh2+ wins the Queen. 0-1 |
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 Kasparov Books |
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 Giant Chess Sets |
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 Chess Computers |
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 Chess Assistant |
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 Books 2000/1/2/3 |
