Corus 2003 at Wijk aan Zee, Round 8

by Aviv Friedman

Corus chess tournament round 8:

A trip to Wijk Aan Zee for the Corus festival is hardly just a chess affair. Much like the big events in say the US, it is a social event, where you have a chance to meet friends and acquaintances you haven't seen in a long time. Catching up is lotsa fun and what can be better than doing that in a good eatery! Good eateries are abundant in this li'l sleep village. So today for those who plan to visit here this year or the next, and for those who wonder where the super GM's and the rest of us eat, here is a short culinary review:

A place of honor clearly has to go to the Tarantella Ristorante (also affectionally known as 'The Italian place' or Gino's, after its owner). It is the place of choice of the pressroom staff and many in the organization who have a special relationship with the owner and the ever-accommodating staff. It is not uncommon for them to stay open 1-2 hours past all other establishments, to be in tune with the crazy work hours of the Corus people. Pizzas, steaks (me me me!) and pastas in generous portions and always tasty! Over the past week or so I have seen Kramnik, Topalov, Timman, Ponomariov, Grischuk and Karpov, all with company visit and leave with a smile. GM Ponomariov

GM Ponomariov The face says it all

I have mentioned Klein Switzerland before in passing; this is a very good meat and seafood/stew kind of place. Food's awesome and served pleasantly. For example, the meat skewers hang from a metal chain above, letting the juices drip into the customer's plate and deserts are served with a sparkler, to the delight of the kiddies J

Spotted inside this fine place were Pono, Grischuk, Loeky, Kramnik, and seconds (probably others too) I remember last year I have eaten there about 5 times and Leko with family/friends was there every time.

The Horse Club was a place I avoided for a year because when looking at the menu I saw that indeed, amongst their delicacies, they serve…. horse meat (ugh!) I know it might be hypocritical to mercilessly chew on cows, chicken and pigs and have an adverse reaction when horses come in but somehow it is hard to imagine eating one for me. After a friend insisted I tried the place, which has many other kinds of meat and was pleasantly surprised. I have yet to try, but Rob the AP reporter gave two thumbs up for their venison. Yesterday Anand and Aruna went there (for the third or fourth time), so you can be sure it's good. They know their food. I must try their recommendation for a Chinese/Thai place (Sea Heaven) in the adjacent village that got high marks!

Finally I must mention the restaurant in Hotel Sonnevanck, a past sponsor of some chess events where visiting American friends have eaten and praised the food, and the Turkish place (Efes grillroom) right by the tournament venue where I have seen many of the players 'do lunch' before.

Chess time:

Shirov - Grischuk:  Once again Shirov is being challenged to the sharp Sveshnikov Sicilian. The same variation as in Shirov - Kramnik from a previous round was repeated for 20 full moves. Oddly enough, Shirov who won that game was the one to deviate. 21.Qf4 replaced 21.Qg3. Sasha was burning time while Alexey was playing pretty fast - if black had prepared something to surprise white with, it sure was no surprise. What was surprising was Shirov's demise! That is not to say black was in trouble. Actually it is interesting to learn how the game would have continued had white played Qg3(Qf3!?) instead of 25.Qxf5 Bxb2 where black seemed fine. Shirov typically gave up a pawn to open some lines to his Bc2 with 26.e5 but 28.Be4?? was a one poor move leading to a disaster. Grischuk's 28…Bf4! Left Alexey in disarray and on move 32 he resigned.

Ponomariov - Radjabov:  If it is a King's Indian defense, then it must be a classical with the Bayonet, without doubt nowadays the acid test of the entire opening. KID practitioners keep their eyes peeled to see if black can find some good ideas in this, since as I have said before statistically white has been throttling black with it! On move 12, a well known position has arisen - Ivanchuk and Polgar if to name a few already had it with black, but Pono was either unfamiliar with it or trying to remember the line since he now started a long think. After about 40 minutes he decided against 13.Be3 the main move in favor of 13.Rb1. Radja must have been well into his home preparation since by move 17 he had used just over 5 minutes to his opponent's 50. White went for a normal plan of sinking his N on e6 forcing the capture. Now black is going to win this pawn but lose time in the process. White's 19.Qg4 surely meant that after 19…c6 white would gladly sac a piece with 20.Qxg6 where his initiative would be close to winning. Of course black passed on that and after 25…d5! Started taking over. I think for better or worse, white should have bitten the bullet with 31.Bxg8 since his 31.Bf7 lost quite quickly, the black Q and N penetrated with devastating effect. Consensus was that Pono is totally out of his element because of the FIDE situation and it shows in his very poor performance. When did he lose so many games in one event?

Kramnik - Anand:  Certainly the 'main event' of the round. Vishy used the 'ol reliable Petroff classically variation. He has quite a good feel for this line, having played it quite a bit as white also. Kramnik of course belongs to the same club of world experts of the opening, and today after introducing a new move (but with a known concept) 16.h3 he nursed a small edge for a very long time and many moves. Black was holding to dear life, but always keeping everything just in control. Vishy was very critical of his 34…bxa5? Since it was not necessary to allow white to have a passed c pawn. 34…Qf6 at once was much much safer. What he didn't realize as an example of the danger he was in was that on move 44. if white played 44.Rh8 (threat Bxf7) black gets into total passivity. A possible variation would run: 44…Ne6 45.f5 Nf8 (Vlady also saw that but didn't see how to go on) 46.g5! (ouch!) fxg5 47.f6+ Ke8 48.Kd4 with c5 and Bc4-b5 in the air, black must be just losing. In Anand's words, white's plan of 45.Kf3 46.Kg3 was a miracle since it allowed his K to get back and get his N to d3 (not possible with the white K on say e3) and then the rook pendulum to d8 and d7 guarantees the draw. What a clash of titans this game was!   Analysis by GM Alterman (PGN format).

GM Ivanchuk vs GM Topalov

Ivanchuk - Topalov:  A not-very-crowd-pleasing Rossolimo Sicilian, one of the lines where white gives up his light squared B and doubles black's pawns on the queenside, then slowly develops Chuky played somewhat passively with his d3, c3, b3, structure and his odd N maneuverings to b2. Topalov countered that with center action, pushing his pawn first to d5 and then d4, then the f and g pawns started moving and black looked golden. First with the benefit of hindsight one might suggest 22…f4 as a move that must leave black happy and on top with h5 and g4 coming. Second, after 23.cxd4 instead of the automatic recapture, perhaps black would have been wise to interpolate 23…gxf3! Hitting at the foundations of the white structure, something he didn't get to do in the game. If 24.gxf3 the insertion of the f3 capture is clearly in black's favor while after 24.Qxf3 or 24.Rxf3 24…fxe4 again feels better for black. In the game the weakness of the e5 pawn and the outpost on e4 gave white some counter play, although black was clearly still for choice. With the plan of 36…a5 and 37…a4 black's advantage dropped to minimum and in the time trouble a draw was agreed, Chuky's 8th!

Karpov - Van Wely: 

GM Karpov

As expected, the Gruenfeld defense made a visit to this game, but while Karpov has been quite successful with Bf4 lines, like he played in his NY rapid match against Kasparov, here he decided on a 4.g3, Neo-Gruenfeld line. Once again Loek came prepared and build a nice position, possibly he even held an edge when first he embarked on a suspicious plan of he made a terrible mistake with 23…Qc6?? Costing him two pieces for a R with little hope. 23…Nc6 for example would have been more than enough to leave him happy. Instead the poor Dutchman had a position he couldn't just yet resign and had to roll with the punches till there was nothing to fight for at all.

Bareev - Timman:  Corus 2003 finds both these players a bit off form, having suffered a couple of really painful losses. In their match up, the buzz in the pressroom was of wonder why Timman entered a worse endgame with an isolated center pawn. Jan decided to give up that pawn to get some time and activity, but against someone at Bareev's caliber the tricks just didn't work. The Russian slowly consolidated (16.g3, 20.h3, 22.Rd1) there was never a danger of after say 20.h3 Bxf3 21.exf3 Rd1 on account of 22.Rxc6+ and Ba6+ to follow winning. Realizing his pawn up advantage was a smooth, enviable affair.

GM Krasenkow vs GM Polgar

Krasenkow - Polgar:  A queen's Indian gone wild! Normally, black goes for the plan of getting rid of the light squared B with a Ba6 move somewhere around move 12 or 13 or so. Here Judit played for another plan, involving Nc6-a5 followed by a pretty ambitious (and looking pretty forced )15…b5. When the smoked cleared after the pawn exchanges, all we had left was a major pieces ending with even pawns about to occur and the players decided to end the fighting. Future games would prove if black's plan indeed neutralizes white's strong center set up.

FM Stellwagen

GM Acs vs GM Zhong

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

ICC Coverage of Corus 2003 Copyright © Internet Chess Club 2003