CORUS 2010: Round 13 Pairings


Wijk aan Zee in January – the sea, the beach, the ice, the dunes.(photo by: Nadja Woisin)



The 13th or LAST ROUND starts on Sunday 31st at 12:30 Royal Dutch time, an hour earlier than usual (you can translate this to your own time zone here). And you can watch the live games here.


GROUP A - Round 13
L. van Wely - V. Anand
N. Short - J. Smeets
H. Nakamura - S. Tiviakov
M. Carlsen - F. Caruana
V. Ivanchuk - P. Leko
A. Shirov - L. Dominguez
V. Kramnik - S. Karjakin


GROUP B - Round 13
A. Naiditsch - E. l'Ami
W. So - A. Muzychuk
V. Akobian - D. Howell
P. Negi - A. Giri
P. Harikrishna - T. Nyback
L. Nisipeanu - E. Sutovsky
D. Reinderman - H. Ni


GROUP C - Round 13
D. Vocaturo - S. Swaminathan
S. Plukkel - B. Bok
L. Chao - Z. Peng
R. van Kampen - S. Kuipers
K. Lie - M. Muzychuk
N. Grandelius - R. Swinkels
A. Gupta - R. Robson

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 12

GROUP A



GROUP B




GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 12 Results


The A Group leader and world #1, GM Magnus Carlsen, with 8.0/12 (photo by: Nadja Woisin)



Anand beats Kramnik, Carlsen leads

Vishy Anand drew the first nine games of this event, and was to be found in the bottom half of the field. Today the World Champion beat his 2008 challenger Vladimir Kramnik, and after a win in round ten he is now in place four. After a draw against Peter Leko Magnus Carlsen lead alone, half a point ahead of Kramnik and Shirov. The final round games begin an hour earlier today.


GROUP A - Round 12
V. Anand - V. Kramnik 1-0
S. Karjakin - A. Shirov ½-½
L. Dominguez - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
P. Leko - M. Carlsen ½-½
F. Caruana - H. Nakamura ½-½
S. Tiviakov - N. Short ½-½
J. Smeets - L. van Wely 1-0


GROUP B - Round 12
E. l'Ami - D. Reinderman ½-½
Ni - L. Nisipeanu ½-½
E. Sutovsky - P. Harikrishna ½-½
T. Nyback - P. Negi 1-0
A. Giri - V. Akobian ½-½
D. Howell - W. So ½-½
A. Muzychuk - A. Naiditsch 0-1


GROUP C - Round 12
S. Swaminathan - A. Gupta 0-1
R. Robson - N. Grandelius ½-½
R. Swinkels - K. Lie ½-½
M. Muzychuk - R. van Kampen 1-0
S. Kuipers - L. Chao ½-½
Z. Peng - S. Plukkel 0-1
B. Bok - D. Vocaturo 1-0

CORUS 2010: Round 12 Pairings


British Champion David Howell with 5.5/11, 8th position in Group B (photo by: Nadja Woisin)


GROUP A - Round 12
V. Anand - V. Kramnik
S. Karjakin - A. Shirov
L. Dominguez - V. Ivanchuk
P. Leko - M. Carlsen
F. Caruana - H. Nakamura
S. Tiviakov - N. Short
J. Smeets - L. van Wely


GROUP B - Round 12
E. l'Ami - D. Reinderman
H. Ni - L. Nisipeanu
E. Sutovsky - P. Harikrishna
T. Nyback - P. Negi
A. Giri - V. Akobian
D. Howell - W. So
A. Muzychuk - A. Naiditsch


GROUP C - Round 12
S. Swaminathan - A. Gupta
R. Robson - N. Grandelius
R. Swinkels - K. Lie
M. Muzychuk - R. van Kampen
S. Kuipers - L. Chao
Z. Peng - S. Plukkel
B. Bok - D. Vocaturo

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 11

GROUP A



GROUP B




GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 11 Results


GM Li Chao, CHN, 2604, 8.5/11 is now in the sole lead in Group C


Carlsen wins again, catches Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik was in a bit of trouble with his Petroff against Alexei Shirov, but his defences held. Meanwhile his main rival in this tournament, Magnus Carlsen, kept up the pressure and his opponent Leinier Dominguez cracked in time trouble. With that he caught up with Kramnik on the scoreboard. Carlsen's trainer Garry Kasparov showed us some lines in a previous game.


GROUP A - Round 11
J. Smeets - V. Anand ½-½
L. van Wely - S. Tiviakov 1-0
N. Short - F. Caruana ½-½
H. Nakamura - P. Leko ½-½
M. Carlsen - L. Dominguez 1-0
V. Ivanchuk - S. Karjakin ½-½
A. Shirov - V. Kramnik ½-½


GROUP B - Round 11
A. Muzychuk - E. l'Ami ½-½
A. Naiditsch - D. Howell ½-½
W. So - A. Giri 0-1
V. Akobian - T. Nyback ½-½
P. Negi - E. Sutovsky ½-½
P. Harikrishna - Ni ½-½
L. Nisipeanu - D. Reinderman ½-½


GROUP C - Round 11
B. Bok - S. Swaminathan 1-0
D. Vocaturo - Z. Peng 1-0
S. Plukkel - S. Kuipers 0-1
L. Chao - M. Muzychuk 1-0
R. van Kampen - R. Swinkels 1-0
K. Lie - R. Robson 0-1
N. Grandelius - A. Gupta 0-1

Another chess prodigy (Part 6): Parimarjan Negi




Parimarjan Negi, one of the well-known prodigies, at the age of 13 years, 4 months, and 22 days became the youngest Indian to earn the Grandmaster title. He broke the previous record of Pentala Harikrishna (GM at 15), who broke Viswanathan Anand's (GM at 18). And he is also the second youngest Grandmaster ever (second only to Sergey Karjakin, who achieved this feat at the age of 12 years and 7 months, however, holds the World's Youngest GM title), beat Magnus Carlsen record by becoming the second-youngest person in history to complete all the requirements for the grandmaster title by a five-day margin. In a mere six months span, he made three GM norms. The first one in Hastings, January 2006; the second just a couple of weeks later in the same month at the Parsvnath International Open in his hometown, Delhi; and the final norm in July the same year at the Chelyabinsk Region Superfinal Championship at Satka in Russia. And as per January 2010, he is at his rating peak, 2621.

Personal life
Born on 9 February 1993, in Uttaranchal. At a very early age, the family shifted its base to Delhi. His father is an Air Traffic Controller while his mom is an executive in Life Insurance Corporation of India. Parimarjan Negi started learning chess before he was 5 years of age when his father's friend taught him the basics of chess. Parimarjan is a student at the Amity International School (Saket) in Delhi. He is one of the toppers in his class and in spite of his long absences, he passes his exams with excellent results and is able to strike a balance between chess and studies.

Achievements
In 2002, Negi registered his maiden international success, when he won the Asian championship at Tehran and Commonwealth Championship 2003, both in the under-10 category. He awarded as "Best Sub Junior Award" in 37th Biel International Chess Festival 2004. In July 2005, he scored his third and final IM norm at the international Open in Sort, Spain, which made him the world's youngest International Master in chess. While in 2006, he made his biggest achievement by becoming a second-youngest Grandmaster in the world. Joint champion in the ‘World Youth Stars’ tournament held at Kirishi, Russia and ranked fourth in Corus Grandmaster group ‘C’ tournament in Netherlands in 2007. In January 2008 he got second position in Corus Chess Tournament “Grandmaster Group C”. In the same year, Negi marked his improvement with joint first place at the Kaupthing Open in Luxembourg and clear first at the Philadelphia Open. He was runner-up behind Abhijeet Gupta in the World Junior Championship 2008 in Turkey with 9.5/13. In year 2009, he won the Malaysian Open Chess Championship Malaysia and Politiken Cup in Copenhegan, Denmark. He was qualified for the 2009 World Cup in Khanty Mansisyk, Russia from “Asian Continental Chess Championship 2009” but knocked out at round 1 by Swiss Vadim Milov 1½-3½. In the recent Asian Team Chess Championship which held in Kolkata, India, December 2009, he got the best 4th board prize while his team won the tournament. And now Parimarjan is struggling in Corus Group B and is at 6th placed with 5,5/10 from 13 games will be played.

CORUS 2010: Round 11 Pairings


Sergey Tiviakov, who at 4.0/10 is playing approximately in sync with his rating


The 11th round will be played at Friday the 29th

GROUP A - Round 11
J. Smeets - V. Anand
L. van Wely - S. Tiviakov
N. Short - F. Caruana
H. Nakamura - P. Leko
M. Carlsen - L. Dominguez
V. Ivanchuk - S. Karjakin
A. Shirov - V. Kramnik


GROUP B - Round 11
A. Muzychuk - E. l'Ami
A. Naiditsch - D. Howell
W. So - A. Giri
V. Akobian - T. Nyback
P. Negi - E. Sutovsky
P. Harikrishna - H. Ni
L. Nisipeanu - D. Reinderman


GROUP C - Round 11
B. Bok - S. Swaminathan
D. Vocaturo - Z. Peng
S. Plukkel - S. Kuipers
L. Chao - M. Muzychuk
R. van Kampen - R. Swinkels
K. Lie - R. Robson
N. Grandelius - A. Gupta

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 10

GROUP A



GROUP B



GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 10 Results


In Group C Ray Robson lost for a second time in a row, in a round where all games were decided (and Black won four games)


Anand and Carlsen win, Kramnik leads

We had to wait ten rounds for this: World Champion Vishy Anand won his first game, with a little help from opponent Alexei Shirov. Magnus Carlsen surprised everyone in the world by playing the French Defence for the first time in a tournament game – and won it against his permanent rival Sergey Karjakin. Vladimir Kramnik drew and is in the sole lead



GROUP A - Round 10
V. Anand - A. Shirov 1-0
V. Kramnik - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
S. Karjakin - M. Carlsen 0-1
L. Dominguez - H. Nakamura ½-½
P. Leko - N. Short ½-½
F. Caruana - L. van Wely ½-½
S. Tiviakov - J. Smeets 1-0


GROUP B - Round 10
E. l'Ami - L. Nisipeanu ½-½
D. Reinderman - P. Harikrishna 1-0
H. Ni - P. Negi ½-½
E. Sutovsky - V. Akobian ½-½
T. Nyback - W. So 0-1
A. Giri - A. Naiditsch ½-½
D. Howell - A. Muzychuk ½-½


GROUP C - Round 10
S. Swaminathan - N. Grandelius ½-½
A. Gupta - K. Lie 1-0
R. Robson - R. van Kampen 1-0
R. Swinkels - L. Chao 0-1
M. Muzychuk - S. Plukkel 1-0
S. Kuipers - D. Vocaturo 1-0
Z. Peng - B. Bok 0-1

CORUS 2010: Round 10 Pairings


Hikaru Nakamura has slipped to fifth place, with 5.0/9 (photo by: Nadja Woisin)


GROUP A - Round 10
V. Anand - A. Shirov
V. Kramnik - V. Ivanchuk
S. Karjakin - M. Carlsen
L. Dominguez - H. Nakamura
P. Leko - N. Short
F. Caruana - L. van Wely
S. Tiviakov - J. Smeets


GROUP B - Round 10
E. l'Ami - L. Nisipeanu
D. Reinderman - P. Harikrishna
H. Ni - P. Negi
E. Sutovsky - V. Akobian
T. Nyback - W. So
A. Giri - A. Naiditsch
D. Howell - A. Muzychuk


GROUP C - Round 10
S. Swaminathan - N. Grandelius
A. Gupta - K. Lie
R. Robson - R. van Kampen
R. Swinkels - L. Chao
M. Muzychuk - S. Plukkel
S. Kuipers - D. Vocaturo
Z. Peng - B. Bok

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 9

GROUP A



GROUP B



GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 9 Results


Top seed Magnus Carlsen, 19, in third place with 5.5/9 (photo by: Nadja Woisin)


Kramnik beats Carlsen, leads with Shirov


It was a fateful day – in all three groups. Vladimir Kramnik beat Magnus Carlsen after the latter blundered in terrible time trouble. Smeets, van Wely and Karjakin won their games, against Caruana, Leko and Short. In Group B Anish Giri suffered his first loss against Anna Muzychuk, while Ray Robson also dropped the full point against his main rival Li Chao.


GROUP A - Round 9
S. Tiviakov - V. Anand ½-½
J. Smeets - F. Caruana 1-0
L. van Wely - P. Leko 1-0
N. Short - L. Dominguez ½-½
H. Nakamura - S. Karjakin 0-1
M. Carlsen - V. Kramnik 0-1
V. Ivanchuk - A. Shirov ½-½


GROUP B - Round 9
D. Howell - E. l'Ami 0-1
A. Muzychuk - A. Giri 1-0
A. Naiditsch - T. Nyback 1-0
W. So - E. Sutovsky ½-½
V. Akobian - H. Ni 0-1
P. Negi - D. Reinderman 1-0
P. Harikrishna - L. Nisipeanu ½-½


GROUP C - Round 9
Z. Peng - S. Swaminathan ½-½
B. Bok - S. Kuipers 1-0
D. Vocaturo - M. Muzychuk 1-0
S. Plukkel - R. Swinkels 0-1
L. Chao - R. Robson 1-0
R. van Kampen - A. Gupta 1-0
K. Lie - N. Grandelius 0-1

Another chess prodigy (Part 5): Wesley So




Wesley So is a Filipino chess grandmaster. He achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days, making him the 7th youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess.

Wesley So was born in Bacoor, Cavite on October 9, 1993. He was aged 6 when his father taught him to play chess and was 9 when he started to compete in junior active chess tournaments. In 2006, Wesley So became the youngest member of the national men's team to participate at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy at the age of 12. In December of the same year, he also became the youngest National Open Chess Champion. In May 2007, he went on to become the youngest National Junior Open Chess Champion. Wesley won the gold medal on board one at the 2007 World Under 16 Team Championship with a score of 9½/10. He achieved his third and final Grandmaster norm on December 8, 2007 at the third Pichay Cup International Open (Manila, Philippines), thus becoming the youngest Filipino Grandmaster at the age of 14. He also became the seventh youngest to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess, edging out French GM Etienne Bacrot from that spot by a few days. So got his first GM norm in the Offene Internationale Bayerische Schach Meisterschaft in Bad Wiessee, Germany and his second GM norm in the 2007 U-20 World Junior Chess Championship in Yerevan, Armenia. Since December 2007, Wesley So has been considered to be the world's youngest Grandmaster at the age of fourteen. On the January 2009 FIDE rating list, GM So's ELO rating is 2627 making him the highest ranked chess player in the Philippines ahead of other notable Filipino Grandmasters such as Mark Paragua, Rogelio Antonio, Jr. and Eugenio Torre (who is second with 2560 ELO rating). The latest ratings put Wesley So on the 9th spot of the world top 20 juniors list. He won and is currently the Corus Group C 2009 champion besting his nearest rival by 1 point. Clinched his ticket to the prestigious World Cup by placing 2nd during Zone 3.3 Chess Championship which was held on 23-29th July 2009 in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. In November-December at the 2009 Chess World Cup he defeated Gadir Guseinov and had shocking victories over former world championship contenders Vassily Ivanchuk (ELO 2739) and Gata Kamsky (ELO 2695) before being knocked out by Vladimir Malakhov in Round Four.

He is now playing in Corus B and scored 5 out of 8 with 2 wins and 6 draws. There are still 5 more rounds to play, we wait for good news from The Whizkid

CORUS 2010: Round 9 Pairings


Vladimir Kramnik now in second-third place, with 5.5/8 and a 2823 performance (photo by: Nadja Woisin)

The 9th round will be played at Tuesday the 26th

GROUP A - Round 9
S. Tiviakov - V. Anand
J. Smeets - F. Caruana
L. van Wely - P. Leko
N. Short - L. Dominguez
H. Nakamura - S. Karjakin
M. Carlsen - V. Kramnik
V. Ivanchuk - A. Shirov


GROUP B - Round 9
D. Howell - E. l'Ami
A. Muzychuk - A. Giri
A. Naiditsch - T. Nyback
W. So - E. Sutovsky
V. Akobian - H. Ni
P. Negi - D. Reinderman
P. Harikrishna - L. Nisipeanu


GROUP C - Round 9
Z. Peng - S. Swaminathan
B. Bok - S. Kuipers
D. Vocaturo - M. Muzychuk
S. Plukkel - R. Swinkels
L. Chao - R. Robson
R. van Kampen - A. Gupta
K. Lie - N. Grandelius

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 8

GROUP A



GROUP B



GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 8 Results


Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez Perez, with 4.5/8 points and a 2752 performance (photo by: Nadja Woisin)


GROUP A - Round 8
V. Anand - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
A. Shirov - M. Carlsen ½-½
V. Kramnik - H. Nakamura 1-0
S. Karjakin - N. Short 1-0
L. Dominguez - L. van Wely ½-½
P. Leko - J. Smeets 1-0
F. Caruana - S. Tiviakov 1-0


GROUP B - Round 8
E. l'Ami - P. Harikrishna ½-½
L. Nisipeanu - P. Negi ½-½
D. Reinderman - V. Akobian 1-0
H. Ni - W. So ½-½
E. Sutovsky - A. Naiditsch ½-½
T. Nyback - A. Muzychuk ½-½
A. Giri - D. Howell 1-0


GROUP C - Round 8
S. Swaminathan - K. Lie ½-½
N. Grandelius - R. van Kampen 1-0
A. Gupta - L. Chao ½-½
R. Robson - S. Plukkel ½-½
R. Swinkels - D. Vocaturo ½-½
M. Muzychuk - B. Bok ½-½
S. Kuipers - Z. Peng 0-1

CORUS 2010: Round 8 Pairings


Sergey Karjakin, like World Champion Anand, has drawn all seven games so far (photo by: Nadja Woisin)


GROUP A - Round 8
V. Anand - V. Ivanchuk
A. Shirov - M. Carlsen
V. Kramnik - H. Nakamura
S. Karjakin - N. Short
L. Dominguez - L. van Wely
P. Leko - J. Smeets
F. Caruana - S. Tiviakov


GROUP B - Round 8
E. l'Ami - P. Harikrishna
L. Nisipeanu - P. Negi
D. Reinderman - V. Akobian
H. Ni - W. So
E. Sutovsky - A. Naiditsch
T. Nyback - A. Muzychuk
A. Giri - D. Howell


GROUP C - Round 8
S. Swaminathan - K. Lie
N. Grandelius - R. van Kampen
A. Gupta - L. Chao
R. Robson - S. Plukkel
R. Swinkels - D. Vocaturo
M. Muzychuk - B. Bok
S. Kuipers - Z. Peng

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 7

GROUP A



GROUP B



GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 7 Results


(photo by: Nadja Woisin)


Nakamura beats Shirov, Carlsen beats Ivanchuk

Detractors had pointed out that Alexei Shirov's blistering 5.0/5 start was achieved without playing any of the tournament favourites. Today the Latvian GM encountered one, Hikaru Nakamura – and dropped the full point. Magnus Carlsen scored his third win, against Vassily Ivanchuk, who self-destructed on move eight. Nigel Short came tantalizing close to beating Vladimir Kramnik.


GROUP A - Round 7
F. Caruana - V. Anand ½-½
S. Tiviakov - P. Leko ½-½
J. Smeets - L. Dominguez ½-½
L. van Wely - S. Karjakin ½-½
N. Short - V. Kramnik ½-½
H. Nakamura - A. Shirov 1-0
M. Carlsen - V. Ivanchuk 1-0


GROUP B - Round 7
A. Giri - E. l'Ami ½-½
D. Howell - T. Nyback 1-0
A. Muzychuk - E. Sutovsky ½-½
A. Naiditsch - Ni ½-½
W. So - D. Reinderman 1-0
V. Akobian - L. Nisipeanu ½-½
P. Negi - P. Harikrishna ½-½


GROUP A - Round 7
S. Kuipers - S. Swaminathan ½-½
Z. Peng - M. Muzychuk ½-½
B. Bok - R. Swinkels 0-1
D. Vocaturo - R. Robson 1-0
S. Plukkel - A. Gupta 0-1
L. Chao - N. Grandelius 0-1
R. van Kampen - K. Lie ½-½



Another chess prodigy (Part 4): Fabiano Caruana


(photo by: Fred Lucas)


Fabiano Caruana is an American-Italien chess grandmaster and achieved his first and second GM-Norms in March and April 2007 and his last GM Norm in July 2007 at the First Saturday-Tournament in Budapest aged just 14 years, 11 months and 20 days and became one of the youngest grandmasters of all times. He is now at his rating peak, with even more points to arrive from events yet to register. His rating rose over 600 ELO points in a span of 6 years or so!

Caruana was born in Miami, Florida on 30th July 1992. His family moved to Brooklyn, New York on 1996 and his parents signed him at chess club because young first-grader just couldn't sit still. Up to the age of twelve, he lived and played in the United States, with occasional travel to European and South American tournaments and at age 12 he relocated with his family from Park Slope, Brooklyn to Madrid, Spain to pursue chess in a more serious manner. He trained first with International Master Boris Zlotnik in Madrid, and later with Grandmaster Alexander Chernin (his current trainer) in Budapest.

Caruana, possessing dual citizenship of both the United States and Italy, has the option of FIDE affiliation with either country. On 11 October 2005, after living in Europe for 10 months, he transferred his affiliation from the United States (USA) to Italy (ITA). At the end of 2007 he participated in the Italian Championship. The prior year he became sub-championship of Italy by tieing with Michele Godena but losing the 5th rapid play-off game. This year he won with a score of +8 (9.5/11) to become the youngest ever Italian champion. In year 2008 was his first experience at Corus and throughout much of the tournament he was the clear leader. His last round opponent was Parimarjan Negi, and Caruana needed 1/2 point to win the tournament. Caruana won the game and the tournament with a final score of +7 (10/13) and performance of 2696. In the same year in Italian Championship, Caruana successfully defended his title winning the title for the second consecutive year with a score of +5 (8/11). Having won Corus C 2008, Caruana received and accepted invitation to Corus B 2009 which was of category 16 with average Elo of 2641. Throughout the tournament his standings ranged from first to third place. Going into the last round he was tied for second and his opponent was Nigel Short who was in clear first. Caruana won the game and performance of 2751. Caruana is the first player ever to win both Corus C and Corus B in consecutive years placing clear first in both. This year's Corus, he moves up to the strongest group. Shall he win the Corus A 2010 in order to continue his triumph streak? We'll see....

CORUS 2010: Round 7 Pairings


Anish Giri discusses his game in the press center


GROUP A - Round 7
F. Caruana - V. Anand
S. Tiviakov - P. Leko
J. Smeets - L. Dominguez
L. van Wely - S. Karjakin
N. Short - V. Kramnik
H. Nakamura - A. Shirov
M. Carlsen - V. Ivanchuk


GROUP B - Round 7
A. Giri - E. l'Ami
D. Howell - T. Nyback
A. Muzychuk - E. Sutovsky
A. Naiditsch - H. Ni
W. So - D. Reinderman
V. Akobian - L. Nisipeanu
P. Negi - P. Harikrishna


GROUP C - Round 7
S. Kuipers - S. Swaminathan
Z. Peng - M. Muzychuk
B. Bok - R. Swinkels
D. Vocaturo - R. Robson
S. Plukkel - A. Gupta
L. Chao - N. Grandelius
R. van Kampen - K. Lie

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 6

GROUP A



GROUP B



GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 6 Results





Kramnik, Dominguez, Leko win, Short stops Shirov

At last: Nigel Short chose a favourite variation of the main line Spanish and held a comfortable draw against Alexei Shirov. The Spaniard is now at 5.5/6, whith his performance rating at "just" 3094. With his second win Vladimir Kramnik has joined the follower group 1.5 points behind Shirov. In Group B it is Anish Giri and Group C Ray Robson who are dominating. Both are 15.



GROUP A - Round 6
V. Anand - M. Carlsen ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - H. Nakamura ½-½
A. Shirov - N. Short ½-½
V. Kramnik - L. van Wely 1-0
S. Karjakin - J. Smeets ½-½
L. Dominguez - S. Tiviakov 1-0
P. Leko - F. Caruana 1-0


GROUP B - Round 6
E. l'Ami - P. Negi 1-0
P. Harikrishna - V. Akobian ½-½
L. Nisipeanu - W. So 0-1
D. Reinderman - A. Naiditsch ½-½
H. Ni - A. Muzychuk 1-0
E. Sutovsky - D. Howell 1-0
T. Nyback - A. Giri 0-1


GROUP C - Round 6
S. Swaminathan - R. van Kampen 0-1
K. Lie - L. Chao 0-1
N. Grandelius - S. Plukkel 1-0
A. Gupta - D. Vocaturo 1-0
R. Robson - B. Bok 1-0
R. Swinkels - Z. Peng ½-½
M. Muzychuk - S. Kuipers 0-1

CORUS 2010: Round 6 Pairings


Holland vs Norway, Jan Smeets vs Magnus Carlsen in the free day soccer match (photo by: Fred Lucas)


GROUP A - Round 6
V. Anand - M. Carlsen
V. Ivanchuk - H. Nakamura
A. Shirov - N. Short
V. Kramnik - L. van Wely
S. Karjakin - J. Smeets
L. Dominguez - S. Tiviakov
P. Leko - F. Caruana


GROUP B - Round 6
E. l'Ami - P. Negi
P. Harikrishna - V. Akobian
L. Nisipeanu - W. So
D. Reinderman - A. Naiditsch
H. Ni - A. Muzychuk
E. Sutovsky - D. Howell
T. Nyback - A. Giri


GROUP C - Round 6
S. Swaminathan - R. van Kampen
K. Lie - L. Chao
N. Grandelius - S. Plukkel
A. Gupta - D. Vocaturo
R. Robson - B. Bok
R. Swinkels - Z. Peng
M. Muzychuk - S. Kuipers

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 5

GROUP A



GROUP B



GROUP C

CORUS 2010: Round 5 Results


Philippine GM Wesley So, 16, with five drawn games in eighth place


A fifth consecutive win, with the black pieces against Loek van Wely, put Alexei Shirov a point and a half ahead of the field. Vladimir Kramnik scored his first victory in this tournament, while World Champion Vishy Anand is stuck at 50%. In Group B 15-year-old GM Anish Giri leads, as does 15-year-old GM Ray Robson in Group C.


GROUP A - Round 5
P. Leko - V. Anand ½-½
F. Caruana - L. Dominguez ½-½
S. Tiviakov - S. Karjakin ½-½
J. Smeets - V. Kramnik 0-1
L. van Wely - A. Shirov 0-1
N. Short - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
H. Nakamura - M. Carlsen ½-½


GROUP B - Round 5
T. Nyback - E. l'Ami ½-½
A. Giri - E. Sutovsky 1-0
D. Howell - H. Ni 1-0
A. Muzychuk - D. Reinderman ½-½
A. Naiditsch - L. Nisipeanu 1-0
W. So - P. Harikrishna ½-½
V. Akobian - P. Negi 0-1


GROUP C - Round 5
M. Muzychuk - S. Swaminathan 1-0
S. Kuipers - R. Swinkels ½-½
Z. Peng - R. Robson 0-1
B. Bok - A. Gupta ½-½
D. Vocaturo - N. Grandelius 1-0
S. Plukkel - K. Lie ½-½
L. Chao - R. van Kampen ½-½

Another chess prodigy (Part 3): Sergey Karjakin

Who doesn't know him?



Everyone knows that...

He was a chess prodigy and holds the record for the youngest grandmaster in history, achieving the title at the age of twelve years and seven months.

Born on January 12th, 1990 in Simferopol, Ukraine, but on July 25th 2009, Karjakin adopted Russian citizenship. In the January FIDE rating list, he appeared as a Russian and has been living in Moscow lately. Karjakin learned to play chess when he was five years old and became an IM at age eleven. In 2001, he won the World Chess U12 championship. Sergey’s name became known when in 2002, before he was 12 years old, and before he made his GM title, when Ponomariov appointed him as his second for the FIDE world championships match with Ivanchuk. At age fourteen he defeated the reigning world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, during the 2004 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, in a blitz game (ten minutes for the entire game, plus five seconds per move). Karjakin entered the world's top 100 in the April 2005 FIDE list, where he was number 64 in the world with an Elo rating of 2635. During the Chess World Cup 2007, which served as a qualification tournament for the World Chess Championship 2009, Karjakin reached the semi-finals, in which he lost to Alexei Shirov. On the January 2008 FIDE rating list, published just before Karjakin's eighteenth birthday, he passed for the first time the 2700 mark, often seen as the line that separates "elite" players from other grandmasters, with a new rating of 2732 and a world rank of 13. In the world cup in Khanty Mansisyk, December 2009, Karjakin made his way till the semi final games, but as it was in 2007, he was knocked out at this very point: this time he lost to Boris Gelfand from Israel: 0-2. And right at this moment, he is struggling to defend his title as the champion of the Group A of Corus Wijk aan Zee that he won in 2009. His current rating is 2720.

A little about his personal life: On July 24th he married twenty-year-old Ukrainian WIM Kateryna Dolzhikova, rated 2272, at the Central Registry in Kiev. This was followed by a ceremony at the St. George Church in Kiev, with two dozen members of their family and closest friends were present.

Mr. Explosive: Alexei Shirov


The leader by a full point: Alexei Shirov with 4.0/4 and a performance so far of 3483 (photo by: Fred Lucas)


There’s no stopping Alexei Shirov in the 2010 edition of the annual Corus Chess Tournament. So far, he crushed every opponent he came across on his way to the top of the standings in the FIDE-category-XIX main event at the “De Moriaan” community centre in this wind- and rain-swept resort village on the Dutch North Sea coast. His latest victim was Holland’s Jan Smeets, who went down in 37 moves with black from what started as a rather boring Petroff in Tuesday’s fourth round.

“Somehow, I usually lose when I play the Petroff,” Shirov told a packed news conference after picking up yet another full point, “regardless of whether I’m black or white.” This Petroff went the way of most Petroffs, remaining well or almost balanced -even after Shirov sacrificed a bishop for two pawns- until he decided “to kind of bluff.”
Smeets said he felt “bamboozled.” After being “quite satisfied with myself as late as six moves before the end. One move on, I messed up things and after one more I guess I’d blotted my book beyond repair.”

GM Ivan Sokolov declared Shirov’s performance “the best game of the day,” awarding the naturalized Spaniard from Latvia his third ‘IJmond Veelzijdig’ (‘Ymouth Versatile’) prize of € 500.



See full article

CORUS 2010: Round 5 Pairings


Viswanathan Anand scored his fourth consecutive draw (photo by: Fred Lucas)


The 5th round will be played on Thursday 21st.

GROUP A - Round 5
P. Leko - V. Anand
F. Caruana - L. Dominguez
S. Tiviakov - S. Karjakin
J. Smeets - V. Kramnik
L. van Wely - A. Shirov
N. Short - V. Ivanchuk
H. Nakamura - M. Carlsen


GROUP B - Round 5
T. Nyback - E. l'Ami
A. Giri - E. Sutovsky
D. Howell - H. Ni
A. Muzychuk - D. Reinderman
A. Naiditsch - L. Nisipeanu
W. So - P. Harikrishna
V. Akobian - P. Negi


GROUP C - Round 5
M. Muzychuk - S. Swaminathan
S. Kuipers - R. Swinkels
Z. Peng - R. Robson
B. Bok - A. Gupta
D. Vocaturo - N. Grandelius
S. Plukkel - K. Lie
L. Chao - R. van Kampen

CORUS 2010: Standings after Round 4

Group A



Group B



Group C

CORUS 2010: Round 4 Results


US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (photo by: Fred Lucas)


GROUP A - Round 4
V. Anand - H. Nakamura ½-½
M. Carlsen - N. Short ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - L. van Wely 1-0
A. Shirov - J. Smeets 1-0
V. Kramnik - S. Tiviakov ½-½
S. Karjakin - F. Caruana ½-½
L. Dominguez - P. Leko ½-½


GROUP B - Round 4
E. l'Ami - V. Akobian 1-0
P. Negi - W. So ½-½
P. Harikrishna - A. Naiditsch 1-0
L. Nisipeanu - A. Muzychuk ½-½
D. Reinderman - D. Howell 0-1
H. Ni - A. Giri ½-½
E. Sutovsky - T. Nyback 0-1


GROUP C - Round 4
S. Swaminathan - L. Chao 0-1
R. van Kampen - S. Plukkel 1-0
K. Lie - D. Vocaturo 1-0
N. Grandelius - B. Bok 0-1
A. Gupta - Z. Peng ½-½
R. Robson - S. Kuipers 1-0
R. Swinkels - M. Muzychuk 1-0