Anand Beats Kramnik At Corus

Submitted by SonofPearl on Sat, 01/30/2010 at 12:38pm.

Vishy Anand (pictured) has been virtually anonymous this year at Corus, with his efforts clearly directed more towards preparations for his upcoming world title defence against Veselin Topalov.

However, in today's penultimate round he inflicted Vladimir Kramnik's first defeat of the event, thereby leaving himself as the only undefeated player and handing the sole lead to Magnus Carlsen into the bargain.

It looked at one point as though Anand was settling for a draw by repetition, but he tried for more and achieved connected passed pawns that Kramnik couldn't hold back.

Carlsen had no such problems earning a draw against Leko, who has been a difficult opponent for him in the past. Dominguez v Ivanchuk and Caruana v Nakamura were hard fought draws, and the only other winner was Jan Smeets who caught his compatriot Van Wely in some sharp opening preparation for a quick knockout.

The draw for tomorrow's final round in the 'A' Group is:

Magnus Carlsen Fabiano Caruana
Vladimir Kramnik Sergey Karjakin
Alexei Shirov Leinier Dominguez
Loek Van Wely Vishy Anand
Hikaru Nakamura Sergei Tiviakov
Nigel Short Jan Smeets
Vassily Ivanchuk Peter Leko


In Group 'B' Anish Giri battled for 120 moves against back-marker Varuzhan Akobian a pawn up in a rook ending, before finally conceding a draw.  Nevertheless, Giri is a point clear of the field and only needs a draw in the final round against Negi to secure the tournament victory and earn his place in the 'A' Group next year.

In Group 'C' Li Chao wrapped up the tournament victory by agreeing a very quick draw (in nine moves!) against his opponent.  So the ratings favourite lived up to his billing, and will feature in Group 'B' in 2011.

The results in round 12:

Group A

Anand, Viswanathan  1-0  Kramnik, Vladimir
Karjakin, Sergey  ½-½  Shirov, Alexei
Leko, Peter  ½-½  Carlsen, Magnus
Dominguez Perez, Leinier  ½-½  Ivanchuk, Vassily
Caruana, Fabiano  ½-½  Nakamura, Hikaru
Tiviakov, Sergei  ½-½  Short, Nigel D
Smeets, Jan  1-0  Van Wely, Loek
Group B

Giri, Anish  ½-½  Akobian, Varuzhan
L'Ami, Erwin  ½-½  Reinderman, Dimitri
Ni Hua  ½-½  Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Howell, David W L  ½-½  So, Wesley
Sutovsky, Emil  ½-½  Harikrishna, P
Muzychuk, Anna  0-1  Naiditsch, Arkadij
Nyback, Tomi  1-0  Negi, Parimarjan
Group C

Robson, Ray  ½-½  Grandelius, Nils
Bok, Benjamin  1-0  Vocaturo, Daniele
Swinkels, Robin  ½-½  Lie, Kjetil A
Kuipers, Stefan  ½-½  Li Chao
Peng Zhaoqin  0-1  Plukkel, Sjoerd
Muzychuk, Mariya  1-0  Van Kampen, Robin
Soumya, Swaminathan  0-1  Gupta, Abhijeet

 

The standings with one round to go:


Group A


1 Carlsen, Magnus  NOR  2810 8
2 Kramnik, Vladimir  RUS  2788  
3 Shirov, Alexei  ESP  2723  
4 Anand, Viswanathan  IND  2790 7
5 Nakamura, Hikaru  USA  2708  
6 Karjakin, Sergey  UKR  2720  
7 Ivanchuk, Vassily  UKR  2749  
8 Leko, Peter  HUN  2739 6
9 Dominguez Perez, Leinier  CUB  2712 6
10 Caruana, Fabiano  ITA  2675 5
11 Short, Nigel D  ENG  2696  
12 Tiviakov, Sergei  NED  2662  
13 Van Wely, Loek  NED  2641  
14 Smeets, Jan  NED  2657 4

Group B


1 Giri, Anish  NED  2588  
2 L'Ami, Erwin  NED  2615  
3 Ni Hua  CHN  2657  
4 Naiditsch, Arkadij  GER  2687  
5 So, Wesley  PHI  2656 7
6 Harikrishna, P  IND  2672 6
7 Howell, David W L  ENG  2606 6
8 Negi, Parimarjan  IND  2621 6
9 Sutovsky, Emil  ISR  2657  
10 Muzychuk, Anna  SLO  2523 5
11 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter  ROU  2681 5
12 Reinderman, Dimitri  NED  2573  
13 Nyback, Tomi  FIN  2643  
14 Akobian, Varuzhan  USA  2628  

Group C


1 Li Chao CHN  2604 9
2 Gupta, Abhijeet  IND  2577  
3 Robson, Ray  USA  2570  
4 Vocaturo, Daniele  ITA  2495 7
5 Van Kampen, Robin  NED  2456 7
6 Bok, Benjamin  NED  2322  
7 Swinkels, Robin  NED  2495  
8 Grandelius, Nils  SWE  2515 6
9 Kuipers, Stefan  NED  2340 6
10 Lie, Kjetil A  NOR  2547  
11 Peng Zhaoqin  NED  2402 5
12 Muzychuk, Mariya  UKR  2447 5
13 Soumya, Swaminathan  IND  2323 3
14 Plukkel, Sjoerd  NED  2279  

 

Selected games below.  All games are available at the official website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments:

by wadwad_03 - 6 months ago
Sunter Indonesia
Member Since: Jan 2010
Member Points: 16

there is should be a winner in match Leko vs Carlsen, you know who.

by jlueke - 7 months ago
Saint Paul United States
Member Since: Mar 2009
Member Points: 1200

Wow Caruana blew two chances in a won endgame.  Some Viking luck for Carlsen.

by obregon26 - 7 months ago
Northern Virginia United States
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 638

Naiditsch beat L'Ami very convincingly in the French.  Another reason not to play French for Black.  Naiditsch could have won group B if Wesley So had beaten Giri earlier.  Naiditsch deserves the championship more than Giri.

by kunduk - 7 months ago
kolkata India
Member Since: Feb 2009
Member Points: 952

just great.... all is well that ends well.. Smile

by ChessBlunderer - 7 months ago
Jordan
Member Since: Jan 2010
Member Points: 27

All the games were drawn! nakamura's game is still going on
Carlsen wins! with shirov and kramnik in shared second place

by Don3 - 7 months ago
Rourkela India
Member Since: Dec 2008
Member Points: 151

Anand and Ivanchuk,they are both very good players!I hope Ivanchuk can win his last round game with Leko to end the tourney in a memorable way!

I also hope that Anand defeats Loek in the last round to finish ahead of many brilliant players like Kramnik and Ivanchuk!

by amitprabhale - 7 months ago
Mumbai India
Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 822

Someone repeatedly kept say'n here tht Kramnik would Win! Now see the result its Carlsen all over.......

by SaintPedronik - 7 months ago
United States
Member Since: Sep 2009
Member Points: 110

GO CARLSEN! Looking forward to him achieving 1st!

by iliosis - 7 months ago
Pskov Russia
Member Since: Jan 2009
Member Points: 1370

As someone already mentioned, Kramnik is psychologically beaten, even if he potentially could have beated Anand, he crumbled mentally, he really needs to get over that championship loss. 

by CSR - 7 months ago
United States
Member Since: Nov 2008
Member Points: 146

Way to go Anand... seems like he is keeping his powder dry for the world championship and turning on his A game only occassionally.

by bondiggity - 7 months ago
United States
Member Since: Jun 2008
Member Points: 1766

I doubt Anand had any intentions of drawing, just trying to get closer to time control. 

by sclukey - 7 months ago
Arecibo Puerto Rico
Member Since: Mar 2009
Member Points: 98

My picks: Calrsen over Caruana, Kramnik over Karjakin (or atleast a draw) and Dominguez upsets Shirov (also could end in a draw). The rest are not vital to the results.

Nakamura played a great tournament and placing the way he did in such a strong field is no easy accomplishment, it's great to have US representation at such a high level and even better is the fact that he put on such a good preformance. I expect a lot from Nakamura, and I'm convinced he won't disapoint.

by obregon26 - 7 months ago
Northern Virginia United States
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 638

Anand got Kramnik's number.  Kramnik looks so pathetic against Anand.  He's psychologically beaten.  This win is a big boost to Anand's confidence and credibility as world champion.  However, Carlsen's time is due soon.

by savyma - 7 months ago
South Africa
Member Since: Jan 2010
Member Points: 575

Vishy could have settled for a draw with a repeating position against Kramnik. Instead, he chose a bishop with two passed pawns vs rook ending that won him the game. Very creative. 

by iwtfhc - 7 months ago
Colorado United States
Member Since: Sep 2008
Member Points: 12

I think Nakamura has had a good result.  He drew Anand and Carlsen, and he had some wins, proving he can compete at the highest level.  A top five finish in a field this strong is good.  As he improves, he may one day get a shot at the world title.

by shiro_europa - 7 months ago
Canada
Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 350

i would hardly call it a total collapse. naka has demonstrated great potential and has shown he can play at the same level as the top dogs.

let's leave discrimination aside and focus on the game, shall we?

by obregon26 - 7 months ago
Northern Virginia United States
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 638

Wesley So will learn from his blunder in the previous round and become world champion in 5 years.

Carlsen will win it all in Corus A!!

by thunderwood - 7 months ago
taipei Taiwan
Member Since: Oct 2008
Member Points: 27

I think nakamura did  quite well, the field is though but he managed to score some wins and make interesting games. Kudos to him.

by lithium11 - 7 months ago
Wellington New Zealand
Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 708

Carlsen to stay ahead by the looks.
Good fight here from Vishy :)

by Cutebold - 7 months ago
Philadelphia United States
Member Since: Jan 2010
Member Points: 182

Go Vishy!

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