2008 Corus ends… Aronian, Carlsen on top!

Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik in a stirring finale. Look for more of these battles in the World Championship match! Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Lev Aronian and Magnus Carlsen both scored stirring performances to win 2008 Corus. Ironically, Aronian lost only to Vladimir Kramnik while Carlsen put a dent in Kramnik’s unassailable Catalan. While Aronian had better tiebreaks to claim the overall crown, Carlsen’s joint first has shaken the chess world. His win over Teimour Radjabov was almost noteworthy.

Viswanathan Anand and Radjabov are 3rd-4th on 7½-5½. While Radjabov beat Anand in round one, the World Champion had slightly better tiebreaks. In a befitting finale, Anand and Kramnik played a fantastic match and this perhaps is a prelude to their championships match later in the year. (crosstable)

In other action. Sergei Movsesian won the “B” group with a dominant 9½-3½. Etienne Bacrot was a point behind with Nigel Short on 8½-4½. China’s 13-year old Hou Yifan scored a respectable 6-7 and will certainly improve her standing in the world of chess. Her female counterpart Humpy Koneru did not fare as well as expected. (crosstable)

Fabiano Caruana won the “C” group after beating Negi Parimarjan to end on a blistering 10-3 or +7. He will graduate to the Corus “B” next year after winning the group by a margin of two points. His story has been fascinating and in the past six months his performance has skyrocketed.

Negi rebounded from a slow start and ended on 8-5 with Dimitri Reinderman. Pontus Carlsson of Sweden took clear 4th and surged back with four points in last five rounds. His style was very aggressive and played many spectacular games. (crosstable)

Official Site: https://www.coruschess.com