2010 Corus Chess (Wijk ann Zee, Netherlands)

Nice game by Nakamura in round #2 of Corus! Click here for Chessvibes video of Nakamura’s analysis!

Today I played H. Nakamura, USA (2708). He is rated as number eight in the tournament, but following his good result in the recent World Championship for National teams in Turkey and his shared second place here after four rounds, I did not expect an easy game. He avoided mainline theory in the opening. I did not have any real problems, but got a bit too optimistic early on and underestimated maybe his ensuing attacking chances. At a critical junction I could have given an exchange for two pawns and an unclear position, but chose instead to give a knight for three pawns. In a fairly equal ending I offered a draw. He somewhat surprisingly declined, but after I had made a few inaccurate moves, he was seriously playing for a win. In the end I found a way to defend and after swapping most pieces and all pawns the game was drawn after five and a half hours. A tough fight. I’ll have the black pieces two rounds in row, facing reigning World Champion V.Anand Thursday.” See Article

Nakamura sent a comment on his Twitter page stating… “Very disappointing draw, but the games continue tomorrow!” Shirov continues his serial onslaught through the field as Loek Van Wely was the 5th consecutive victim. Fifteen-year old GMs lead the other sections as Anish Giri is on 4/5 in “B” and Robson is on 4.5/5 in “C”.

GM Anish Giri, 15-year old of Nepalese ancestry,
but of both Russian and Dutch nationality. Photo by Fred Lucas.

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Games
| Corus A | Corus B | Corus C |

Naka beats Shirov in a Sicilian Pelican! Woot! Don’t sleep! Congrads!

Daaim, I just look at Naka vs Shirov game. Naka, gave Shirov first move a question mark… 1…c5. I agree, and then Shirov goes on to play a questionable line in the Sicilian. Shirov played super aggressive against Naka, not a good choice. Also, I don’t understand Shirov playing f5 and f4, he really wanted to win. Why not just march his king over to g8, (Kf8 – g8). Shirov set himself back in this game. He played Naka like he was playing a 2400 player.

Exciting game between Shirov and Carlsen in a Sveshnikov.

Rest day today. Analysis coming!

Glenn,
I used to play the Sveshnikov and enjoyed playing it. The problem was that it was overanalyzed and you have to keep up with theory. I would remember lines all the way into the endgame. I stopped playing it after the Bxb5 sacrifice for white got popular. Black still gets tremendous play with open lines and two bishops.

Yea… I know it’s not recommended anymore. At that time, the 13.Bxb5!? axb5 14.Nxb5 Ra4!? line was the critical argument. Wild! The line you are talking about (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5) has some interesting sidelines. The Sveshnikov suits my fighting style, but then you have to get opponents to go into it. Many won’t let you pummel them and would play the sidelines lines 7. a4 and 7.Nd5.

You also have to be prepared for anti-Sveshnikov lines. As white I play 3.Bb5 (Rossolimo Attack) and it’s easy to fall behind in that line and 3…Nd4!? just doesn’t cut it. Today, I play the solid Paulsen, but I may consider the Sveshnikov again. All the top players have played it… Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Shirov, Leko, Carlsen, etc.

In my humble opinion, some websites focus on Carlsen,Anand and Kramnik so much. Nakamura was always going to blossom. He just needs to be in supert tournaments regularly.Tiviakov is not racking up great scores like Shirov. However Tiviakov is punching way above his rating. Giri and So need to be discussed more no matter what their results are.They have shown great confidence.
Wesley So is a player who desreves a lot of sponsorship and support.
Concentrating on the A group is relevant to journalists looking for a story on the “titans”. However club players and amateurs do not, in my experience , take a lot from those games of group A.
The conversion technique is instructive but club players over here at least , do not play the Petroff. Its better to have a more balanced type of coverage. Additionally, the focus of some websites like chessbase.com look to rating performance and results.
However other features like theoretical trends, blunders, reasons for blunders are not looked at deeply enough. Carlsen’s timetrouble against Kramnik shows that the strongest players can be uncomfortable in unfamiliar openings. However thats one example of breaking down blunders. Anand’s trend in drawing games could raise a lot of debate.Ivanchuk’s creativity in the Najdorf could get some treatment under the microscope. These are just a few of the issues I have but there are interesting moments for every taste Iam sure.

The difference between Kramnik and the rest is his consistency and his conversion technique. One turning point was the win against Smeets.He showed where the difference in strength lay:not in the opening but in realisation technique-witness the activity of his rooks.

Against Carlsen, he was truly inspired and played as actively as possible. In the tournament there were no long reports of Kramnik being in a terrible position out of the opening.His Petroff is a great argument against 1.e4

Interesting finale in the 2010 Corus tournament. Anand beat Kramnik convincingly while Carlsen and Leko drew. That gives the Norwegian 8/12. Both Kramnik and Shirov have 7.5/12. Anand has 7/12. Here is Anand’s thrilling victory over Kramnik. Impressive!

Giri has already clinched the win in “B” with a quick draw with Negi. Li Chao made a statement by winning his last game in convincing manner crushing Peng. Li had already clinched the win in “C” group. Caruana appeared to be winning against Carlsen, but couldn’t convert. Carlsen wins Corus!

A couple of games left. Nakamura is pressing against Tiviakov. Robson trying to hold a draw against Gupta.

(Update: Nakamura wins his last game and finishes with +2. Good showing for Nakamura! Robson loses and also ends on +2. Robson lead through most of the first half, but probably got tired. Asians were strong in “B” and “C” group.)

Check the Short-Smeets game… hilarious! Looks like something from a scholastic tournament or in bughouse. Caruana had a chance to send Carlsen into 2nd place. During the game I thought eliminating the a-pawn with Nc1 was the best path. Shirov missed his chance to win the tournament against Dominguez. He agreed to a draw, but the final position is a win after 31.b4! Qc7 32.Qa8+ Bf8 33.Rf1+-. Chess is hard! Love Nakamura’s technique against Tiviakov. “H-Bomb” had +2 with Anand. Good job! I’m writing an essay, “Is Nakamura the Real Deal?” This tournament may answer part of that question. 🙂

Nakamura is definitely going to get better. However, if you read European chess blogs, many say he is not even in the elite class yet. Last year they were saying he’d not make 2700, then they said he wouldn’t make top 20, then top 15. Now they are saying he won’t make top 10. People were saying he would make a minus score at Corus and that he is still primarily a blitz player. It is nonsensical to believe that someone has to be top 5 before being viewed as an elite player. No other player in history has had that type of standard.

GM Magnus Carlsen, 2010 Corus Champion
Photo by Steve Giddins.

Carlsen is a World Championship contender, but I don’t believe he will necessarily be the next contender after the Anand-Topalov match. I’m not sure how much he can improve. He was in trouble a number of times in this tournament (i.e., Nakamura, Kramnik) and maybe a little worse against Shirov. In the last game with Caruana he was definitely worse. Nevertheless, he is a deserving champion in an evenly-matched field.

I’m not sure if they will continue the practice of holding three spots for Dutch players. They come in near last place every year.

Oh thanks for the short-smeet reference they are quite humorous actually, this video with vishy doesnt really clarify what Sophia’s rule is? Does anyone know?

Daaim,
Do you understand the requirements for FM title? I search of FIDE website but its unclear to me. They say you need a published rating of 2300, what is a published rating? Is it a performance rating? Is it a rating published on their website? I’ve performed over 2300 in a number of tournaments, so can I applied for a FM title? I know this is off your subject here, but just wanted some help on this issue.

Mehul,

I agree on all points. I also believe that another young star may also beat Carlsen to the title. It’s very different playing a match against someone. Carlsen doesn’t seem to be good psychologically at matches. In the Nakamura blitz match, he crumbled badly while under pressure.

Hikaru Nakamura just posted on his blog reflections from Wijk aan Zee.
https://www.hikarunakamura.com/main/Blog/tabid/57/EntryId/99/Wijk-aan-Zee-Recap-Part-I.aspx