Anand wins Corsica Masters Knockout
Vishy Anand won the Corsica Masters Knockout on Monday in Ajaccio, Corsica. The World Champion beat 2010 winner Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan 2-0 in the final. In the semifinal Anand had a narrow escape against Krishnan Sasikiran, who had earlier won the 9-round Swiss.
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Our first report about the Corsican Circuit focused on the issue with the Iranian grandmaster who refused to play against an opponent from Israel. It was not the last issue the organizers had to deal with. In the next round, Rauf Mamedov and Marc Arnold drew their game relatively quickly.
[Event "Corsica Masters 2011"]
[Site "Bastia FRA"]
[Date "2011.10.25"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Arnold, Marc T"]
[Black "Mamedov, Rauf"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E91"]
[WhiteElo "2505"]
[BlackElo "2660"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2011.10.22"]
1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4
Nc6 9. Be3 Bd7 10. Rc1 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc6 12. f3 a5 13. b3 Nd7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15.
Qd4+ Kg8 16. Rfd1 Rc8 17. a3 Qb6 18. Qxb6 Nxb6 19. b4 Na4 20. Nxa4 Bxa4 21. Rd5
axb4 22. axb4 Bd7 1/2-1/2
However, this was against the tournament rules. In fact even before the MTel Masters existed, the now-called 'Sofia rule' was already in effect in Corsica, something the players were not aware of apparently. The game was declared lost for both.
And then, in one of the side events (a blitz tournament on Saturday) a Bulgarian player was disqualified and asked to leave for offering money to his opponent, as reported on the website of the French Chess Federation. Well... it's about time that we have a look at the chess that was played on the French island!
The big Swiss event was eventually won by Krishnan Sasikiran. The Indian grandmaster was the only player to finish at 7.5/9 while our blogger GM Gawain Jones finished in clear second place. Arguably the most interesting game was the following - quite original stuff from such strong players!
[Event "Corsica Masters 2011"]
[Site "Bastia FRA"]
[Date "2011.10.24"]
[Round "3.10"]
[White "Cheparinov, Ivan"]
[Black "Pesotskyi, Vitalii"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2268"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2011.10.22"]
1. d4 b5 2. e4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. a4 b4 5. d5 Bc5 6. dxe6 fxe6 7. e5 Qb6 8. Bd3
Bxf2+ 9. Ke2 Bc5 10. a5 Qc7 11. Nbd2 d5 12. exd6 Bxd6 13. Nc4 Nf6 14. Bxh7 Bxh2
15. Rxh2 Rxh7 16. Rxh7 Nxh7 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. Ne5 Ba6+ 19. Kf2 Nd7 20. Ng6+ Kg8
21. Bf4 Ndf6 22. Nc8 e5 23. Nce7+ Kf7 24. Nxe5+ Ke8 25. Qf3 Ng5 26. Bxg5 Qxe5
27. Bxf6 gxf6 28. Qxc6+ Kf7 29. Qd5+ Qxd5 30. Nxd5 Rb8 31. Re1 Rb5 32. Re7+ Kg6
33. Nf4+ Kf5 34. Ne2 Rxa5 35. Rxa7 Ra2 36. Ke3 Ke5 37. Nf4 Bc4 38. Rxa2 Bxa2
39. Nd3+ Kd6 40. b3 Bb1 41. Kd2 1-0
Corsica Circuit | Swiss, round 9 standings
| Rk | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | Perf |
| 1 | SASIKIRAN Krishnan | g | IND | 2689 | 7.5 | 44.5 | 55.5 | 2792 |
| 2 | JONES Gawain C B | g | ENG | 2624 | 7 | 45 | 56.5 | 2692 |
| 3 | MELKUMYAN Hrant | g | ARM | 2619 | 6.5 | 46.5 | 57.5 | 2647 |
| 4 | FRESSINET Laurent | g | FRA | 2696 | 6.5 | 45.5 | 55.5 | 2664 |
| 5 | DURARBEYLI Vasif | g | AZE | 2526 | 6.5 | 45 | 54 | 2542 |
| 6 | BARON Tal | g | ISR | 2505 | 6.5 | 44.5 | 54.5 | 2559 |
| 7 | CHEPARINOV Ivan | g | BUL | 2650 | 6.5 | 44 | 54.5 | 2597 |
| 8 | ARNOLD Marc T | m | USA | 2505 | 6.5 | 44 | 54 | 2629 |
| 9 | BATTAGLINI Gabriel | m | FRA | 2452 | 6.5 | 43 | 53 | 2455 |
| 10 | GRIGORYAN Avetik | g | ARM | 2614 | 6.5 | 43 | 52.5 | 2588 |
| 11 | MAMEDOV Rauf | g | AZE | 2660 | 6.5 | 42.5 | 53 | 2599 |
| 12 | MULLON Jean-Baptiste | m | FRA | 2379 | 6.5 | 42.5 | 51.5 | 2464 |
| 13 | TREGUBOV Pavel V. | g | RUS | 2602 | 6.5 | 41.5 | 51 | 2554 |
| 14 | MASSONI Michael | f | FRA | 2304 | 6.5 | 40.5 | 49.5 | 2387 |
| 15 | BERTHELOT Yannick | f | FRA | 2286 | 6.5 | 39.5 | 49 | 2421 |
| 16 | BAGHDASARYAN Vahe | ARM | 2362 | 6 | 42.5 | 52.5 | 2427 | |
| 17 | INANTS Aghasi | ARM | 2288 | 6 | 42.5 | 50.5 | 2360 | |
| 18 | BEDOUIN Xavier | m | FRA | 2406 | 6 | 41.5 | 50.5 | 2344 |
| 19 | FLEAR Glenn C | g | ENG | 2471 | 6 | 41 | 51 | 2435 |
| 20 | SULAVA Nenad | g | CRO | 2540 | 6 | 41 | 51 | 2394 |
| 21 | COLEMAN Teddy | f | USA | 2312 | 6 | 41 | 49 | 2366 |
| 22 | DEBRAY Christopher | m | FRA | 2402 | 6 | 40.5 | 50.5 | 2354 |
| 23 | IVANOV Stojan Emilov | BUL | 2221 | 6 | 40.5 | 47.5 | 2339 | |
| 24 | DIMITROV Radoslav | m | BUL | 2424 | 6 | 39.5 | 49 | 2343 |
| 25 | MAMEDJAROVA Turkan | gf | AZE | 2277 | 6 | 39 | 47.5 | 2310 |
| 26 | EGOZI Nadav | ISR | 2173 | 6 | 38 | 47.5 | 2225 | |
| 27 | HUMEAU Cyril | FRA | 2261 | 6 | 36.5 | 44.5 | 2165 | |
| 28 | PESOTSKYI Vitalii | m | UKR | 2268 | 5.5 | 43 | 51.5 | 2472 |
| 29 | JUDKOVSKY Yair | ISR | 2329 | 5.5 | 42.5 | 51.5 | 2341 | |
| 30 | SHACHAR Ehud | f | ISR | 2355 | 5.5 | 42 | 50 | 2349 |
Video impressions
The top 14 players qualified for the traditional knockout rapid tournament, where they were joined by two invited players: World Champion (and multiple winner) Vishy Anand and 2010 winner Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The system for this event was 2 games of 10 minutes plus 3 seconds increment, and if required, two blitz games at 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment, and if required, an Armageddon game.
The quarter-finals took place on Friday, October 28th in the evening, just hours after the 9-round Swiss had finished. The top seed of the classical event Laurent Fressinet had apparently lost all his energy, and lost to Gabriel Battaglini (2452). The other results were less surprising:
Viswanathan Anand 1.5 – 0.5 Avetik Grigoryan
Krishnan Sasikiran 2.5 – 1.5 Rauf Mamedov
Ivan Cheparinov 3 – 1 Gabriel Battaglini
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1.5 – 0.5 Gawain Jones
Video impressions
The semifinals saw the following results:
Viswanathan Anand 3 – 1 Krishnan Sasikiran
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2 – 0 Ivan Cheparinov
However, it all could have gone differently, if Sasikiran hadn't missed a golden opportunity to beat his compatriot in the second rapid game (the first had ended in a draw):
[Event "Corsica Masters KO 2011"]
[Site "Bastia FRA"]
[Date "2011.10.29"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2689"]
[BlackElo "2817"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "b2r2k1/3n1ppp/B1p5/2B5/pR2PP2/2P4P/6P1/6K1 w - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2011.10.28"]
28. Bf2 (28. Rd4 $1 {followed by 29.Be7 wins on the spot.}) 28... c5 29. Rxa4
Bc6 30. Ra2 Ra8 31. Bc4 Rxa2 32. Bxa2 Bxe4 33. Bb3 Kf8 34. Ba4 Ke7 35. Bxd7
Kxd7 36. Bxc5 h5 37. Kf2 f5 38. g3 Ke6 39. Bf8 g6 40. c4 Bc6 41. Ke3 Bg2 42. h4
Be4 43. Kd4 Bg2 44. Kc5 Bf1 45. Kb4 Kd7 46. Kc5 Ke6 47. Kb4 Kd7 48. Kc5 Ke6
1/2-1/2
Anand went on to win both blitz games.
Video impressions
All this happened in Bastia and after a rest day on Sunday, the players moved to the Palace of Congress in Ajaccio. There, Anand faced Mamedyarov in Monday's final. In the first game the World Campion picked the 3.f3 line against his opponent's Grünfeld - in fact an old pet line of Mamedyarov himself! The Indian won convincingly:
[Event "Corsica Masters KO 2011"]
[Site "Ajaccio FRA"]
[Date "2011.10.31"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "2817"]
[BlackElo "2746"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2011.10.28"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. O-O-O Qd6 10. Kb1 Rd8 11. Nb5 Qd7 12. d5 Ne5 13. Qc2 c6 14. Nxa7 Rxa7
15. Bxb6 Ra8 16. Ne2 Re8 17. Nc3 Qd6 18. Be3 Bd7 19. dxc6 Qxc6 20. Bb5 Qe6 21.
Bxd7 Nxd7 22. Qb3 Qxb3 23. axb3 Ne5 24. Nd5 Rac8 25. Rd2 e6 26. Nb6 Rcd8 27.
Rhd1 Rxd2 28. Rxd2 f5 29. Nc4 fxe4 30. fxe4 Rf8 31. h3 Rf1+ 32. Kc2 Nc6 33. Rd1
Rf7 34. Rd6 Re7 35. Bc5 Rf7 36. Rxe6 Bd4 37. Rxc6 Rf2+ 38. Kd3 bxc6 39. Bxd4
Rxg2 40. Ne5 Rg3+ 41. Kc4 Rxh3 42. Nxc6 h5 43. b4 1-0
In the second game Mamedyarov made clear that these days in the QGD it's possible to play the g2-g4 push as early as move 7. He needed to win, and tried hard, but Anand defended well and also won this game.
[Event "Corsica Masters KO 2011"]
[Site "Ajaccio FRA"]
[Date "2011.10.31"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2746"]
[BlackElo "2817"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2011.10.28"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. g4 dxc4 8.
Bxc4 c5 9. g5 Nh5 10. Be5 a6 11. Bd3 g6 12. h4 Nxe5 13. dxe5 b5 14. Nh2 Ra7 15.
Qe2 c4 16. Bc2 Qa5 17. O-O b4 18. Ne4 Qxe5 19. Ng4 Qc7 20. Rad1 a5 21. Rd4 Ba6
22. Rfd1 c3 23. Bd3 Bxd3 24. R4xd3 Qc4 25. Nef6+ Bxf6 26. gxf6 Qc5 27. bxc3
bxc3 28. Rd8 h6 29. Rxf8+ Qxf8 30. Qc4 Qb4 31. Qc8+ Kh7 32. f3 Qb7 33. Qf8 Ra8
34. Qxh6+ Kg8 35. Ne5 Nxf6 36. Qf4 Nd5 37. Qd4 Qb2 38. Nd3 Qe2 39. Re1 Qxf3 40.
h5 0-1
Video impressions
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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