The John Henderson Report: Round 10 January 27th 2000.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

LIKE a division of T34's, the relative sanctity of the pressroom was shattered today with the arrival of six burly Russian journalists. Like many others who have been here since the start (Nearly two weeks now - I'm starting to run out of fresh laundry), I just took it for granted that, well, everyone knew where my seat and desk was!

It was a bit like being back at school only to find the school bully sitting in your seat. I soon found out that my usual berth, safely tucked-up beside the class know-all, Yasser Seirawan (great for copying stuff from!), was taken by no less a figure than the legendary Alexander Roshal, Editor and Publisher of the top Russian magazine, "64 - Chess Review".

However, once introduced by Yaz, Roshal started to praise me by saying that he'd seen some of my work - even handing over a free copy of the latest "64" and telling me to call him "Sacha"! It's funny, but no matter how hard I tried, I never quite managed to have this sort of working relationship with Dave "Mad Dog" McGurk, our school bully (he's a policeman now, I hear).

Russian Chess journalist Alexander Roshal

Once the relationship developed, Sacha and myself were like old friends who'd been on a few good nights out on the vodka. Hell, he could even come back to Edinburgh and have my season ticket for Hearts of Midlothian. But then again, the way they're playing this season, that could be a sure-fire way to spoil the newfound friendship!

These days, apart from editing and publishing "64", Sacha takes to do with the administration and running of the "Chess Oscar"; where each year we hacks (as if we haven't got enough on our plates) have the arduous task of selecting our top-ten players of the year, to be voted in order. For those of you that don't know, the "Chess Oscar" is a trophy of a little lady holding an umbrella that's awarded to the year's top chess player. In 1967, the Spanish chess journalist, Jorgie Puigh, with the cooperation of the now defunct International Association of Chess Press (AIPE), created this annual award; voted on by the chess community - journalists, publishers, organisers, arbiters and grandmaster who write on chess - to determine the "Player of the Year".

The first recipient of this award in 1967 was the Danish legend, Bent Larsen; 1968-69, Boris Spassky; 1970-72, Bobby Fischer; 1973-1977 and 1979-1981, Anatoly Karpov; 1982-1988, Garry Kasparov. And, after a 7-year break, this popular contest was revived by the Russian magazine "64 - Chess Review" under Roshal's guidance. The 1995-1996 award went again to Garry Kasparov with 1997 and 1998 going to Vishy Anand.

Guess what? My good friend Sacha made the mistake of telling me who had won the 1999 Oscar. An exclusive! And remember, you heard it hear first folks. And the winner of the last Chess Oscar of the Century and the Millennium is (surprise, surprise)… Garry Kasparov! Yes, Garry Kimovitch, step up to the podium, receive your Oscar, and, while wiping tears from your eyes, you can tell us that you didn't really deserve this.

Yes, Mr Roshal was kind enough to help out a struggling journalist with a juicy piece of hot news. Even although voting is still - just - open, apparently Kasparov has such a lead that it's impossible to catch him and, apparently, it's still neck and neck between Kramnik and Anand for the second place spot. The official result will be declared just before the Linares Supertournament at the end of February, when the top-ten players will be announced.

And, after extending his lead today over his nearest rivals, Garry Kasparov now looks odds-on to also win the Corus Tournament - you also heard that here first!

Nikolic-Kasparov (10) Kasparov eventually converted his extra pawn.

Playing his favourite Grunfeld Defence against the Dutch champion, Predrag Nikolic, Kasparov's superior home preparation was soon in evidence as cruised out of the opening with an advantage that secured the exchange. However, a dogged defence from the resilient Nikolic had Kasparov working overtime in the office as it took over six hours, and a minor endgame tussle, to convert for the full point.

Nikolic-Kasparov (10) white to play his 24th move.

24 Bf6+ Rxf6?! [24 ..Kg8! surely led to an easier ending: 25 Bc3 f5 26 Nf6+ Kf7 27 Bd5+ Ke7 28 Bxc4 (28 Bb4 Kxf6 29 Bxd6 Nxd6 30 Bxb3 Ne4) 28 ..Bxc4 29 Bb4 Kxf6 30 Bxd6 b6 31 axb6 axb6 32 Bb4 Rc2 33 Rd1 Ke5] 25 Nxf6 Kg7 26 a6 [26 Ne4 Nxa5! 27 Rxa5 Re1+ 28 Bf1 Rxe4 29 Rxa7 Re1 30 Kg2 Bd5+ 31 f3 Re3] 26 ..bxa6 27 Nd7 a5 28 Nc5 a4 29 Nxa4 Re5 30 Nc3 Nd2 31 f4 Rc5 32 Ne2 a5 33 Kf2 Bc4 [33 ..a4!? 34 Nd4 Nc4 35 Bf1 Kf6 36 Bxc4 Rxc4 37 Nxb3 axb3 38 Rb1 Rb4 39 Ke3 Rb6 40 Kd4 Kf5 and taking the pawn leads to a won king and pawn ending for Black.] 34 Ke3 Nb3 35 Ra3 Rc8 36 Nc3 Re8+ 37 Kf2 Rd8 38 Bf1 Be6 39 Be2 Rc8 40 Ne4 Bd5 41 Nd6 Rc6 42 Nb5 Rc1 43 Ke3 Re1 44 Kf2 Rc1 45 Ke3 Re1 46 Kf2 Ra1 47 Rxa1 Nxa1 48 Ke3 Nb3 49 Bd1 Kf6 50 Kd3 Nc5+ 51 Kd4 Bb3 52 Bf3 [No better is 52 Bxb3 Nxb3+ 53 Kc3 Nc5 54 Kc4 Ne6 or; 52 Kxc5 Bxd1 53 Nc3 Bc2 54 Kb5 a4 55 Nxa4 Bxa4+ 56 Kxa4] 52 ..Nd7 53 Nd6 Ke6 54 Nb7 a4 55 Kc3 Nf6! [A finely calculated move leading to a simplified endgame win.] 56 Nc5+ Kf5 57 Nxb3 axb3 58 Kxb3 Ng4 59 h3 Ne3 [Depriving the bishop of the more active d5 square. 59 ..Nf2?! is too hasty: 60 Bd5 Nxh3 61 Bxf7 Kg4 62 Bg8 h6 63 Bf7 Kxg3 64 Bxg6 Nxf4 65 Be8 and Whites going to try and sacrifice the bishop for pawn.] 60 Be2 Ke4 61 Kc3 Nf5 62 Bc4 [62 Bd3+ Kf3 63 g4 Ne3 64 f5 gxf5 65 gxf5 f6] 62 ..Nxg3 63 Bxf7 Ne2+ 64 Kd2 Nxf4 65 h4 Kf3 0–1

Kasparov's fellow Russian, Vladimir Kramnik, who before the start of the round was only half a point behind the tournament leader, put in another lacklustre performance and was held to a draw by Hungary's Judit Polgar. The result came as something of a surprise in the pressroom as the general consensus was that Kramnik was better. Polgar, however, disagreed, saying she had "at last earned a half point against him without having to suffer for it," and the Russian himself convincingly demonstrated in their post-mortem that the position was, in fact, equal.

The result left Kramnik a full point behind Kasparov in second place, and soon enough the coming man, Hungary's Peter Leko, who beat Viktor Korchnoi, joined him. Korchnoi's pet Burn Variation in the French Defence looks to be drastically in need of urgent repairs, as Black simply lost a pawn in his efforts to complicate the position after he came out of the opening in a strategically worse. Leko easily neutralised what little initiative Korchnoi had for his pawn, skilfully exchanged pieces and clinched victory after capturing a second black pawn in the endgame. "Korchnoi was always under pressure and when I regrouped my pieces, it was over with his practical chances," commented the young Hungarian afterwards.

Peter Leko, sponsors logo and unidentified drink.

Leko,P (2725) - Korchnoi,V (2659)
French Defence

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Nbd7 6 Nxf6+ Nxf6 7 Nf3 c5 8 Bb5+ Bd7 9 Bxd7+ Qxd7 10 Qe2 Be7 [10 ..cxd4?! 11 0–0–0 Be7 (11 ..Bc5 12 Qe5 Be7 13 Nxd4 Rc8 14 f4 0–0 15 Nf5 Qc7 16 Nxe7+ Qxe7 17 Rd2± Fischer-Saparu 1967) 12 Rxd4 Qc7?! 13 Qb5+ Qc6 14 Qxc6+ bxc6 15 Rc4 c5 16 Bxf6 gxf6 17 Rd1± Mikhalchishin-Chernin, Cienfuegos 1981] 11 dxc5 [A relatively new idea in this line.  Previously, we'd seen 11 0–0–0 0–0 A) 12 Rhe1 Rfd8 13 d5 Nxd5 14 Rxd5 (14 c4? Bxg5+ 15 Nxg5 Qe7) 14 ..Qxd5 15 Bxe7 Qxa2! 16 Bxd8 Qa1+ 17 Kd2 Rxd8+ 18 Ke3 Qxb2‚ Timman; B) 12 Kb1 Qc7! 13 dxc5 Qxc5 14 Ne5 Rfd8 15 Bxf6 Bxf6 16 Nd7 Qe7! (16 ..Qc6?! 17 Nxf6+ gxf6 18 Qg4+ Kf8 1/2:1/2 Timman,J-Kortchnoi,V, 1989) 17 Qb5 a6! 18 Nxf6+ (18 Qxb7?? Rdb8–+) 18 ..Qxf6 19 Qb6 Qe7=; C) 12 dxc5 12 ..Qa4 13 Kb1 Bxc5 14 Bxf6 gxf6 15 Ne1 Rfd8 16 Nd3 Bf8 17 f4 Rd5 18 Rhf1 Rad8= 1/2–1/2 Leko, P.-Korchnoi, V, Vienna 1996] 11 ..0–0 [11 ..Bxc5 12 Ne5 Qa4 13 0–0 0–0 14 Bxf6 gxf6 15 Qf3 f5 (15 ..fxe5 16 Qg3+ Kh8 17 Qxe5+) 16 Rad1 Be7 17 Qxb7 Rfe8 18 Rd3 f4 19 Rd7 1–0 Hracek-Slobodjan, MK Cafe Cup, 1999] 12 Ne5 Qd5 13 0–0 Bxc5 14 Rfe1 [Due to the Black queen and bishop being better placed,14 Bxf6 gxf6 is not so effective. 15 Nd3 Bb6 16 Rad1 f5] 14 ..Nd7 15 Nf3 f6 [15 ..Nb6!?] 16 Rad1!

Leko-Korchnoi (10) after 16. Rad1

[Picking up a pawn.] 16 ..Qc6 17 Qxe6+ Qxe6 18 Rxe6 fxg5 19 Rxd7 g4 20 Re5 Rad8 21 Rxd8 Rxd8 22 Ne1 [Apart from the pawn, White has got other endgame advantages: more active rook, black g4 pawn weak and no pawn weaknesses.] 22 ..Bd4 23 Rb5 Bb6 24 c4 Rd1 25 Kf1 Rc1 26 b3 Kf8 27 a4 Bd4 28 Ke2 b6 29 Rd5 Bf6 30 Nd3 Rc3 31 Rb5 h5 32 Kd2 h4 33 Nf4 h3 34 g3 Kg8 35 Nd5 Rf3 36 Ke2 Bd4 37 Ne3 Bc5 38 b4 Bf8 39 a5 bxa5 40 bxa5 a6 41 Rb8 Kf7 42 Nxg4 Rf5 43 f4 [And if 43 ..Rxa5, 44 Ne5+ and Nd7 or Ng6+ wins the bishop.] 1–0

Vishy Anand's six-month break from the game - hi longest layoff ever from the game - looks as if it's taking its toll on the Indian ace. Not looking as sharp as he could be, he added yet another half point after an intriguing tussle with the young Russian wizard, "Weird Al Morozevich".

Morozevich, who had accepted an exchange sacrifice for the loss of a pawn, thought his opponent had an advantage at the end and said he "was surprised when Vishy offered the draw." After the post mortem, Anand admitted, "it turned out that I was slightly better all along" but added "the problem was that I couldn't stop him from swapping Queens. If I could have, I would have had great attacking chances but in the end, my pieces were a little bit too clumsy to play for a win."

Anand-Morozevich, yet another interesting game involving the young Russian.

Still, it was a hell of a tussle for a draw.

Anand,V (2769) - Morozevich,A (2748)
Slav Defence

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 Ne5 Nbd7 [Surprisingly, Morozevich has never shown any interest in the sharp and topical piece sacrifice line after 6 ..e6 7 f3 Bb4 8 e4 Bxe4 9 fxe4 Nxe4 10 Bd2 Qxd4 11 Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12 Qe2 Bxd2+ 13 Kxd2 Qd5+ 14 Kc2 Na6 15 Nxc4 7 Nxc4 Qc7 As explained before when Garry Kasparov met Morozevich in round five, this is a variation that had its hayday in the 1930s and came under the microscope during the two Alekhine-Euwe world title matches in Holland, 1935 and 1937 8 g3 e5 9 dxe5 Nxe5 10 Bf4 Nfd7 [Popular in the early eighties was 10 ..Rd8 11 Qc1 Bd6 (11 ..Nfd7? 12 Bxe5 Nxe5 13 Qf4! Bd6 14 Qxf5 Nxc4 15 Qe4+ Ne5 16 f4 loses material.) 12 Nxd6+ Qxd6 13 Bg2 a5!? 14 0–0 - but gradually practice showed that the bishop pair in an open position gives White at least a small and lasting edge.] 11 Bg2 [Not too promising is 11 Nxe5 Nxe5 12 Qd4 (12 a5 Rd8 13 Qb3 Bd6„) 12 ..Bd6 13 Rd1 Qe7! /Nf3# 14 Bg2 Bc7= In other words, if Black manages to get rid of the unpleasant pin without playing f6, he shouldn't have any problems.; ‹11 Qd4?! f6 12 Rd1 Bc5 13 Nd6+ Kf8! 14 Qd2 Nd3+!µ] 11 ..f6 I suppose 11..g5?!, as Morozevich unwisely played against Kasparov, would have been too much for Vishy to ask for. 12 0–0 Nc5 This is a Morozevich patent, which has been doing remarkably well for Black lately - mainly due to the young Russian himself! Black seeks active counterplay and wants to create threats even before finishing his development. Well-known are the drawbacks of 12 ..Rd8 13 Qc1 Be6 (13 ..Nc5? 14 Qe3±) 14 Ne4! Bb4 15 a5 0–0 16 a6 bxa6 17 Nxe5 Nxe5 18 Nc5 Bxc5 19 Qxc5 g5 20 Be3 Bd5 21 Rxa6 Bxg2 22 Kxg2 Rf7 23 Rfa1 Qd6 24 Qxd6 Rxd6 25 Rxa7± Euwe,M-Alekhine,A, World Ch. 1937] 13 Ne3 [13 e4 Bg6 14 Bxe5?! fxe5 15 f4 Rd8 16 Qg4 exf4 17 gxf4 Nd3 18 Kh1 Bc5 19 f5 Bf7 20 e5 Bxc4 21 f6 Qxe5 22 Rf5 Qe6 23 fxg7 Rg8 24 Qh5+ Qg6 25 Qe2+ Be7 26 Rf8+ Rxf8 27 gxf8Q+ Kxf8 28 Be4 Qf7 0–1,Sakaev,K-Morozevich,A, Kishinev 1998 - was a very encouraging premiere of the 12...Nc5 line; Bad is the violent 13 Qc1? Nb3 14 Qe3 Bc5] 13 ..Be6 [13 ..Rd8 14 Ncd5!; 13 ..Bg6 14 b4 Ne6 15 b5! Rd8 16 Qb3 gave White an advantage in Van Wely-Morozevich, Elista Olympiad 1998.] 14 b4 Rd8 [14 ..Nb3 15 Ncd5!] 15 Qc2

Anand-Morozevich (10) 15. Qc2 TN

[A TN from Anand. Previously, 15 Qb1 Nb3 16 Ned5 cxd5 17 Qxb3 Qc4 18 Qxc4 Nxc4 19 Rfd1 Bxb4 20 Nxd5 Ba5 with a balanced game, was seen just before Christmas in Hillarp Persson-Hector, York Vikings 1999.  Anand’s move seeks to access the d1 square for the rook after 15..Nb3] 15 ..Na6 [15 ..Nb3? 16 Rad1 Nd4 (16 ..Bxb4 17 Ncd5 Qa5 18 Qxb3 cxd5 19 Nxd5) 17 Rxd4 Rxd4 18 Nb5 Qd7 19 Nxd4 Qxd4 20 b5 cxb5 21 axb5] 16 b5 Nb4 17 Qe4 Bc5 18 Rad1 0–0 19 Nc4! Rxd1 20 Rxd1 Bd5 21 Nxd5 cxd5 22 Rxd5 Nxd5 23 Qxd5+ Kh8 24 e3 Rd8 25 Bxe5 fxe5 26 Qe4 Rd1+ 27 Bf1 Be7 28 Kg2 Qd7! [The queen is the key to White's advantage.  By seeking to exchange it, Morozevich will have an easier task of drawing. 28 ..Bf6?! 29 Bd3 g6 30 Qf3 Rxd3 31 Qxf6+ Qg7 (31 ..Kg8 32 Nxe5 Rd6 33 Qf4 Qe7 34 Qc4+ Qe6 35 a5) 32 Qe6 Qd7 (32 ..e4 33 Ne5) 33 Qxe5+ leaves Black struggling.] 29 Na5 Taking the pawn also leads to a drawish position: 29 Nxe5 Qd5 30 Qxd5 Rxd5 31 Nf7+ (31 f4 Rd2+ 32 Kh3 Bc5) 31 ..Kg8 32 Bc4 Rc5 33 Ne5+ Kh8 34 f4 Bf6 35 Nf7+ Kg8 36 Nd6+ Kf8 37 Be2 Rc2 38 Kf3 b6 39 h3 Ra2 40 Bd3 h6 41 e4 Rxa4 42 Nf5] 29 ..Qd5 30 Qxd5 Rxd5 31 Nxb7 Rd7 32 Na5 e4 33 Nb3 [If 33 Nc4 White ran the risk of 33 ..Rd1 34 h4 Bc5 35 Be2 Rb1 with the idea of ..Rb4] 33 ..g6 [The rook has to stay on d7 to halt the White pawns. If now 33 ..Rd1 34 a5! Rb1 35 Bc4 is dangerous] 34 a5 Bb4 35 Bc4 Kg7 36 b6 axb6 37 Bb5 ½–½ If 37 ..Rf7 38 axb6 [38 a6?! Be1 39 Kf1 Bxf2 40 a7 Bxg3+ 41 Ke2 Rxa7 42 hxg3 Kf6 leaves Black slightly better] 38 ..Rb7 [38 ..Be1 39 Bc6 Rxf2+ 40 Kh3 Rb2 41 Bd5 Bc3 42 b7 Be5 43 Nc5 Rb5 44 Ne6+ Kf6 45 Nf4 g5 46 Bc6 Rb2 47 Nh5+ Kf5 48 g4+ Ke6 49 Ng3 Bxg3 50 Kxg3 also pans out to a draw due to the weak e-pawn coupled with the pawn on b7.] 39 Bc6 Rxb6 40 Bxe4 Bc3 41 Bd5 leaves white with a small advantage, but nothing special.

Morozevich and Anand look over their game

A couple of days before the third and final rest day, your friend and mine, Mark Crowther, forwarded on an email from a certain Gustavo Albarran, from the USA, who challenged me to write a special report on what the players do on the rest day. Well, Gustavo, I'm afraid that I do what the players do on the rest day: I have a rest! - but whatever you do, don't tell Malcolm Pein.

After making my way by bus to nearby Beverwijk, I decided to take the short train journey to the capital city of Amsterdam. Once there, I spent the day doing what can only be loosely described as some "window shopping". You'll need to pay extra for a "special report" on that!

For Dutch no.1 Jan Timman though, he spent the rest day analysing the chess equivalent of being hit over the head with a baseball bat. He'd spent the day working out what would happen if he played the speculative knight sacrifice 17 Nd5 against his fellow Dutchman, Loek Van Wely's favourite Sicilian Najdorf.

Guess what? It looks as if it all works! Dragged from his well-deserved beer by the press officer, Tom Bottema, it's was Jan's turn to demonstrate his game in the pressroom to the hacks.

"I don't think we'll see this line again," said Jan after demonstrating the power of his innovation with 17 Nd5!! "It's highly unfavourable for Black. In fact, I wouldn't even suggest it to my worst enemy."

The game deservedly won the daily 500 guilder spectators prize for Game of the Day.

Timman celebrates a win against a Dutch opponent

Timman,J (2655) - Van Wely,L (2646)
Sicilian Najdorf

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 [The popular English Attack, so-called because Michael Adams and Nigel Short adopted it to avoid all the heavy theory of a Najdorf mainline. Such is the Sicilian though, this is becoming one of the Najdorf’s most heavily analysed variations these days!] 6 .. e6 [Again Van Wely plays, as he'd done again Kasparov and Anand in this tournament, opts for 6 ..e6. After this game, perhaps he'll opt for the Kasparov Variation with 6 ..Ng4] 7 f3 b5 8 Qd2 Nbd7 9 g4 h6 10 0–0–0 Bb7 11 Bd3 Ne5 12 Rhe1 Rc8 13 Kb1 Nfd7 14 f4 Nc4 15 Qe2 Nxe3 16 Qxe3 Qb6 [We're following the Anand-Van Wely encounter from round 8, where Anand opted for 17 f5 and after 17..e5, Van Wely had the better game though it was drawn. During the rest day, Timman believed that the true test of this position was the thematic knight sacrifice with 17 Nd5! “It is the crucial move in the variation; I was just tempted to see if it really worked."] 17 Nd5!

Timman-Van Wely 17. Nd5!

17 ..exd5 18 exd5+ Kd8 19 Bxb5!! axb5 20 Qe8+ Kc7 21 Qxf7 g5 22 Ne6+ [The knight on e6 is a colossus - It totally screws up Black's play. 22 ..Kb8 23 Qxd7 gxf4 24 Rf1 [Timman explained during the press conference that he'd had this position on the board at home, but didn't spot Van Wely's excellent reply.] 24 ..f3! 25 a3? [Of course, 25 Rxf3? loses to 25..Bxd5 26 Rxd5 Qg1+. It's been all White from the opening and the move played by Timman seems to interrupt White's rhythm. Perhaps the correct reply was 25 Rd4!? threatening either 26 Rb4 or 26 Rxf3. And, with the dominant knight in e6, Black's going to find it hard to find moves: 25 ..Rg8 Can you think of anything else? (25 ..h5 26 g5!) 26 Rb4 Ba6 27 Qf7 Rh8 28 a4 h5 (28 ..Qa5 29 c3 h5 30 g5; 28 ..f2 29 Qxf2 Qxf2 30 Rxf2 Be7 31 axb5 Bb7 32 Rf5) 29 g5] 25 ..Qe3! 26 Rfe1 Qb6 27 Rf1 Qe3 28 Rfe1 Qb6 29 Re4 Rc4 [It's all very difficult for Black to play: 29 ..h5 30 Rb4 hxg4 31 Rxb5 Qa6 32 Nd4 Rh5 33 c4 (33 Nc6+? Rxc6 34 dxc6 Rxb5 35 cxb7 Qxb7 36 Qe8+ Ka7 37 Qxf8 Rxb2+ 38 Ka1 Rxc2) 33 ..Ka8 34 Rb4!] 30 Nd4 Rc5? [Up to now, Van Wely has displayed a spirited defence to Timman's prepared line. However, during the post mortem and press conference, Timman thought that Van Wely could have saved the day with 30 ..f2!? 31 Re8+ Ka7 32 Nxb5+ Ka6 33 b3 Qxb5 34 Qxb5+ Kxb5 35 bxc4+ Kxc4 36 Rb8 Ba6 (36 ..Bxd5 37 Rc8+) 37 Ra8 Bb7 (37 ..Bb5 38 Rc8+) 38 Ra7 Rh7 39 Ra4+ Kc5 40 Rf4 Bg7 41 Rxf2 Bxd5] 31 Re8+ Ka7 32 Nc6+ Rxc6 [32 ..Ka6 33 Rb8 Rxc6 (33 ..Rc4 34 Qf7 Rxg4 35 Rxf8 Rg1 36 Nb4+ Ka7) 34 dxc6 Qxc6 35 Qf7 Bc8 (35 ..Bg7 36 Rxb7 Qxb7 37 Rxd6+) 36 a4 b4 (36 ..bxa4 37 Rd4 Bd7 38 Ra8+ Qxa8 39 Qxd7) 37 a5 Kxa5 38 Qa7+ Ba6 39 Rd5+ Ka4 40 b3+ Ka3 41 Ra5+ Qa4 42 Rxa4#] 33 dxc6 Qxc6 34 Qd8 Qc4 [34 ..f2 35 Qb8+ Ka6 36 Rxf8 Rxf8 37 Qxf8] 35 Qb8+ Ka6 36 Rxf8 Rxf8 37 Qxf8 1–0

Timman shows off his win against Van Wely

The third Dutchmen in the tournament, Jeroen Piket, arrived at his board just in time to hear a special announcement before the start of play celebrating his 31st birthday. However, his best present of the day came from his opponent, England's Nigel Short.

"I don't think Nigel meant it to be a present," said Piket while receiving gifts and congratulations from well-wishers after the game. "That is, I don't think you're supposed to work so hard for a birthday gift."

The win now moves Piket up the field for a share of 4-5 place alongside Anand on six points.

Piket continues to have an excellent tournament, today a win against Short.

Piket,J (2633) - Short,N (2683)
English Defence

1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6 [Typical of the patriotic Mr Short - The English Defence! So-called due to the English involvement in its development. In the 1950s, the amateur player PN Wallis invented most of the ideas and strategies of 1 ..e6 (an excellent defence to play if you are a French Defence player. If White, like Korchnoi did against Short in round 5, plays 2 e4, you play 2 ..d5) and 2 ..b6 When Ray Keene, Tony Miles, Michael Stean and Michael Basman used it to good effect in the late 1970s and early 80s, it soon became christened "The English Defence." A whole host of other younger English GMs kept the opening in the public eye: Nigel Short, Michael Adams, Julian Hodgson, Jon Speelman and Danny King (who has just brought out an excellent book on it.] 3 a3 [This was an early idea of Anatoly Karpov when the defence was all the rage in the early 80s - The main point being to prevent Black playing ..Bb4.  Black now has a choice of playing into a Queen's Indian or keep in the spirit of the defence by playing ..f5, ..g6, ..Bg7 and ..a5.] 3 ..f5 4 d5 Nf6 5 g3 Bb7 6 Bg2 g6 7 Nc3 Bg7 8 Nh3 0–0 9 0–0 a5 10 Rb1 Na6 11 b4 axb4 12 axb4 c5 13 bxc5 Nxc5 14 Be3 Ra5 15 Nf4 Ba6 [It's very hard to pin-point exactly where Short goes wrong as his game suddenly becomes more difficult.] 16 dxe6 Bxc4 17 exd7 Nfxd7 18 Bd5+!

Piket-Short (10) 18. Bd5+

18 ..Bxd5 19 Ncxd5 Be5 [19 ..g5 20 Nh5 Bh8 21 Qc2! Ne4 22 Rfd1 Qe8 23 Qc4 Rf7 (23 ..Qf7 24 Ne7# - easy to miss!) 24 Bxb6 Nxb6 25 Rxb6] 20 Nxb6 Nxb6 21 Qxd8 Rxd8 22 Bxc5 Na4? [22 ..Nd5!? would have put up a sterner defence. 23 Nd3 (23 Nxd5 Rxd5 24 Bb6 Ra2 and its not so easy.) 23 ..Bf6 24 Bb6 Nxb6 25 Rxb6 Bd4 26 Rb7 Ra2 27 Re1 and White still has some work to do for the point.] 23 Bb4 Rb5 24 Nd3 Bc3 25 Be7! Rdb8 26 Rxb5 Rxb5 27 Rc1 Kf7 28 Bg5 Ke6 29 Kf1 Rb3 30 h4 Ra3 31 Rc2 Kd5 32 Bd2 Kc4 [32 ..Bxd2 33 Rxd2 Nc5 34 Nf4+ Kc4 35 Rc2+ Kb5 36 f3 Ra1+ 37 Kf2 Ra3 38 Rd2 Kc6 39 Rd8 allows White's rook to infiltrate the Black kingside.] 33 Bxc3 Nxc3 34 Kg2 Kd4 35 Nf4 Ke5 36 Rb2 [Heading for b7.] 36 ..Ra7 37 Rb6 Re7 38 Rc6 Ne4 39 f3 Nd6 40 Rc5+ [and now if 40 ..Kf6, 41 Nd5+ forks king and rook.] 1–0

In the final game of the day, England's Michael Adams was up against Armenia's Smbat Lputian and his lucky tartan jacket. Equalising with ease against Adams' Queen's Indian, Smbat and the jacket easily held out for a 29-move draw.

Round 10 (January 27, 2000)

Kramnik, Vladimir      -  Polgar, Judit          1/2   31  E15  Nimzo indian
Leko, Peter            -  Korchnoi, Viktor       1-0   43  C11  French; Classical
Piket, Jeroen          -  Short, Nigel D         1-0   40  A40  Queen's pawn
Anand, Viswanathan     -  Morozevich, Alexander  1/2   37  D17  Slav defence
Timman, Jan H          -  Van Wely, Loek         1-0   37  B80  Sicilian
Nikolic, Predrag       -  Kasparov, Gary         0-1   65  D71  1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6
Lputian, Smbat G       -  Adams, Michael         1/2   29  E12  Nimzo indian


Corus Wijk aan Zee NED (NED), 15-30 i 2000                cat. XVIII (2697)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Kasparov, Gary         g RUS 2851 * . . = = 1 = 1 1 = = . 1 1  7.5  2870
 2 Kramnik, Vladimir      g RUS 2758 . * = = = = 1 = = 1 1 = . .  6.5  2795
 3 Leko, Peter            g HUN 2725 . = * = = = . = 1 = 1 = 1 .  6.5  2792
 4 Piket, Jeroen          g NED 2633 = = = * . = = 1 0 1 1 . . =  6.0  2776
 5 Anand, Viswanathan     g IND 2769 = = = . * = = = 1 . . = 1 =  6.0  2779
 6 Morozevich, Alexander  g RUS 2748 0 = = = = * = . . = . 1 = 1  5.5  2745
 7 Adams, Michael         g ENG 2715 = 0 . = = = * . . 1 = = = 1  5.5  2737
 8 Timman, Jan H          g NED 2655 0 = = 0 = . . * = . 1 = = 1  5.0  2696
 9 Nikolic, Predrag       g BIH 2659 0 = 0 1 0 . . = * = = = 1 .  4.5  2663
10 Short, Nigel D         g ENG 2683 = 0 = 0 . = 0 . = * . 1 = =  4.0  2633
11 Lputian, Smbat G       g ARM 2605 = 0 0 0 . . = 0 = . * 1 1 =  4.0  2623
12 Polgar, Judit          g HUN 2658 . = = . = 0 = = = 0 0 * . =  3.5  2586
13 Korchnoi, Viktor       g SUI 2659 0 . 0 . 0 = = = 0 = 0 . * 1  3.0  2556
14 Van Wely, Loek         g NED 2646 0 . . = = 0 0 0 . = = = 0 *  2.5  2504
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