Corus 2003 at Wijk aan Zee, Round 4

by Aviv Friedman

Corus chess tournament round 4:

Traditionally, I always like to dedicate a few lines to the players' seconds. If to paraphrase a proverb: "Behind every strong GM there is a loyal assistant". This year is no exception, and many of the players have brought some good help! Some are here alone or with a 'non chessic' companion, whatever works for them. Ivanchuk and Krasenkov are on their own - I think this is the first time I have seen Chuky without a second or friend at such a major event. Anand is joined as usual by his ever-pleasant wife but without his long time second Ubilava. A very supportive dad accompanies Young Radjabov while Judit Polgar is here with her hubby. Others have brought some heavy-duty help: Kramnik is joined by a long time coach and friend Belikov who might not be a titled player but must be quite capable. Last year's winner Bareev brought Russian GM Volzhin as his assistant, Topalov has Cypriot GM Kotronias with him, Spanish GM Jordi Magem is accompanying Shirov. GM Komarov is helping Ponomariov, Karpov is with his most loyal coach IM Podgaetz, Timman has both Ulf Andresson and Eric Lobron at his side (but more for partying and fun than pure chess!) Grischuk enjoys the company of his mentor Bykhovsky and finally van Wely who have had different seconds over the years is now joined by now Belgian GM Chuchelov. Since he is doing much better than in the past, one must mention that this second is different than all others! Previous ones were also friends, which meant a lot of fun, and joking, this one is friendly but also very serious and strict. He insisted that Loeky will only concentrate on the tournament and sidestep anything that might distract him including commenting to journalists. Often times, one can see these able squires visit the pressroom, many not shying away from suggesting moves and variations to the journalists. Of course the atmosphere in here is extremely positive and everything is being done to add to the fun of the festival!

And now for the day's battles:

Ponomariov - Shriov:

Shirov vs Ponomariov

The Anti Meran variation of the semi Slav is always a spectator's favorite! Well analyzed and super wild, to the eye of anyone unfamiliar with it, it seems like both players are competing with each other on how many principles of chess they can break in one game! Our game followed the now classical game Ivanchuk - Shirov 1996 from this event! Once again we were privy to the amazing 21.Qg7 move that back then came as a rude shock to Alexey. Now all waited impatiently to see what has been prepared here! On move 23…Rxg7! (exclam by German GM Lutz) replaced 23…d4?! From the 1996 game. 23..Rxg7 has already occurred in an Ernst-Hermansson game in 2002 but today's 24.Nxd7, which was played after a very long think was new. 24.Bh3 was played and after 24…f5! White must take the repetition it seems after 25.Bxf5 Rf7 26. Bh3 Rh7 27.Bf5 etc. In the stem game Black ended on top. Here too only Pono and the gods know what he had in mind since he seemed worse the entire game and at the end went down in flames. That game left more than a few people puzzled at the Ukrainian's choice of opening…   Analysis by GM Alterman (PGN format).

Ivanchuk - Grischuk:

Ivanchuk vs Grischuk

Another well-trodden queen's Indian with nothing new under the sun. White amasses a nice big center and black strikes at it. When finally things started clearing out around move 16, we expected to see some real action but instead 2 moves later a ½: 1/2 result had been registered… booooooo!

Kramnik - Krasenkov: the only 1.e4 opening today! And to think that one B. Fischer called it 'best by test'… Vlady went for a very patient Italian game, the pianissimo buildup with c3 and d3. Objectively, black might have equalized after the opening, but against Kramnik that is hardly considered 'scoring'… After the exchange of the d3 pawn for the e5 one, white managed to generate some advantage, which he converted into a pawn up endgame. Kramnik had his work cut out for him with the limited number of pawns and Krasenkov's stubborn defense. Eventually white gave up his extra pawn and maintained a mating net on the cramped black kingside. In a study-like endgame with many tricks (white had to avoid stalemate possibilities in some variations where only the black R can move and so can sac itself at the right time for a draw) the world champ managed to squeeze water put of the rock and win beautifully (black resigned a move before mate) with the very last pawn and with seconds left for either side in the sudden death time control! A brilliant struggle!

Timman - Anand: the dud of the day. After blitzing out oodles of theory moves in the queen's gambit declined, 2 sets of minors were traded, the rooks were gone, and with the queen's about to be traded Timman mercifully proposed to have an early lunch. Of course for vishy a quick draw with black and some extra rest is a welcome thought. If to quote the friendly Indian GM: "I kept having choices between following the main line or being worse and so… Rumor has it that the veteran Dutchman was enjoying himself lots and late yesterday and so a small break was the order of the day.

Bareev - Topalov:

Bareev vs Topalov

White chose a very tame line of the classical Nimzo Indian. As usual in this opening there was a trade off where white kept a B pair and in return black got something for it. In this game it was a compromised pawn structure for white, with an isolated c pawn and a proud black N on c5 anchored forever. Next black gave his other B for a white N and an interesting Q and 2 B vs Q and 2 N was on the board. It looked pretty balanced; maybe black had some hopes for more than a draw since he eschewed repetition by offering his a pawn. White countered the initiative with a simple piece sac after which black had nothing better than giving back a piece for a perpetual check. (or capturing a piece and allowing white to give a perpetual) A draw seems like a fair result to this interesting game.

Karpov - Polgar:

Karpov vs Polgar

A line in the Queen's Indian which was popular in the early 90's in which W captures on c3 with his Q instead of the mandatory bxc3. Surprisingly it took no time for black to take over! After 17 moves black already had a very annoying B preventing 0-0. Is it possible Anatoly had missed 16…Bb4+! ? Yes or no, it was terrible to allow and the buzz was that Judit is about to score another big win here. With a steady hand she made the former champion pay dearly for his centralized king. By the time Karpov made a consolidation attempt, he was already down a pawn with a miserable position then a second pawn feel and a final skewer closed the book for good. Judit was elated after the game, who wouldn't be?

Van Wely - Radjabov: An always-welcome Stonewall Dutch (an opening which is not so common at the very highest levels and which I play occasionally so it is fun to see!) After the opening I didn't need to consult the database since I have had that position before so I knew it was not new. Black then played the gutsy 12…g5 and an aggressive struggle followed. White looked better but an enterprising pawn sac from black might have turned the tide. After a tactical melee black emerged a pawn up in what everyone was sure to be a won endgame, but slowly he managed to squander it. When the rooks came off the first signs of doubt surfaced and indeed as Loeky's accurate play has shown, there was no longer a win. Another epic game that might have left both players a bit disappointed.

Lobron vs Andersson

Cmilyte

Photos by Jan van de Mortel, courtesy Corus Tournament Organization.

Photos by Jan van de Mortel, courtesy Corus Tournament Organization.

ICC Coverage of Corus 2003 Copyright © Internet Chess Club 2003