Carlsen Wins Corus 2010
After a thrilling final round, the world's #1 ranked player Magnus Carlsen (pictured) won the 72nd Corus tournament in Wijk Aan Zee.
Going into the final round, Carlsen could only be caught by Kramnik, Shirov and Anand. Kramnik made no impression on Karjakin and soon agreed a draw. Anand had some chances against Van Wely, but also offered a draw after 39 moves.
Shirov came the closest to achieving a win, using up a lot of time in the early stages of his game against Dominguez trying to build a kingside attack.
However, Shirov's cogitations left him perilously short of time, and he eventually agreed a draw with just a few seconds remaining on his clock. Although the tournament features a 30 second increment, playing accurately with just this allowance is not easy even for GMs!
That left Carlsen only needing a draw against Caruana to win the tournament, but after an early oversight it was a tense struggle for the Norwegian to hang on in a tricky knight ending. But hang on he did, to win the Corus 2010 title, a berth at the Bilbao Grand Slam Final later this year, and a cheque for 10,000 euros.
The most extraordinary game of the final round saw Nigel Short choose a rare sacrificial line against Smeet's choice of the Petroff Defence. Both players used huge amounts of time on the early moves, and by move nine Smeet's king was on the g5 square! However, with clocks running low, both players backed away from a rapid-fire finish to share the spoils with a repetition.
The only decisive game of the last round came from Hikaru Nakamura who ground out an endgame win against Sergei Tiviakov in the last game to finish in any of the groups.
In the 'B' Group 15 year old Anish Giri (pictured left) wrapped up the tournament with a comfortable draw against Negi to earn an invite to the 'A' Group in 2010.
In the 'C' Group Li Chao (pictured right) had already assured himself of first place, but he won again to finish on an amazing 10/13.
The results from the final round:
| Group A | ||
| Carlsen, Magnus | ½-½ | Caruana, Fabiano |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | ½-½ | Karjakin, Sergey |
| Shirov, Alexei | ½-½ | Dominguez Perez, Leinier |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | 1-0 | Tiviakov, Sergei |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | ½-½ | Leko, Peter |
| Short, Nigel D | ½-½ | Smeets, Jan |
| Van Wely, Loek | ½-½ | Anand, Viswanathan |
| Group B | ||
| Naiditsch, Arkadij | 1-0 | L'Ami, Erwin |
| So, Wesley | ½-½ | Muzychuk, Anna |
| Harikrishna, P | ½-½ | Nyback, Tomi |
| Negi, Parimarjan | ½-½ | Giri, Anish |
| Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ½-½ | Sutovsky, Emil |
| Reinderman, Dimitri | ½-½ | Ni Hua |
| Akobian, Varuzhan | 1-0 | Howell, David W L |
| Group C | ||
| Li Chao | 1-0 | Peng Zhaoqin |
| Gupta, Abhijeet | 1-0 | Robson, Ray |
| Van Kampen, Robin | 1-0 | Kuipers, Stefan |
| Vocaturo, Daniele | 1-0 | Soumya, Swaminathan |
| Grandelius, Nils | 0-1 | Swinkels, Robin |
| Lie, Kjetil A | 0-1 | Muzychuk, Mariya |
| Plukkel, Sjoerd | ½-½ | Bok, Benjamin |
The final standings:
| Group A | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2810 | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 8½ |
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2788 | 1 | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2723 | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2790 | ½ | 1 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 7½ |
| 5 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2708 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 7½ |
| 6 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2720 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 7 |
| 7 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2749 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | Leko, Peter | HUN | 2739 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 6½ |
| 9 | Dominguez, Leinier | CUB | 2712 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6½ |
| 10 | Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2675 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 5½ |
| 11 | Short, Nigel D | ENG | 2696 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | 5 |
| 12 | Van Wely, Loek | NED | 2641 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 13 | Tiviakov, Sergei | NED | 2662 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 4½ |
| 14 | Smeets, Jan | NED | 2657 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | 4½ |
| Group B | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2588 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 9 |
| 2 | Naiditsch, Arkadij | GER | 2687 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8½ |
| 3 | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2615 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 7½ |
| 5 | So, Wesley | PHI | 2656 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 7½ |
| 6 | Harikrishna, P | IND | 2672 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 6½ |
| 7 | Negi, Parimarjan | IND | 2621 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6½ |
| 8 | Howell, David W L | ENG | 2606 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | Sutovsky, Emil | ISR | 2657 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 6 |
| 10 | Muzychuk, Anna | SLO | 2523 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5½ |
| 11 | Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ROU | 2681 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5½ |
| 12 | Reinderman, Dimitri | NED | 2573 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Nyback, Tomi | FIN | 2643 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 5 |
| 14 | Akobian, Varuzhan | USA | 2628 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 4½ |
| Group C | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Li Chao | CHN | 2604 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2577 | ½ | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8.5 |
| 3 | Van Kampen, Robin | NED | 2456 | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Vocaturo, Daniele | ITA | 2495 | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Robson, Ray | USA | 2570 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7.5 |
| 6 | Swinkels, Robin | NED | 2495 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7.5 |
| 7 | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2322 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | Grandelius, Nils | SWE | 2515 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | Kuipers, Stefan | NED | 2340 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 6 |
| 10 | Muzychuk, Mariya | UKR | 2447 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 11 | Lie, Kjetil A | NOR | 2547 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | 5.5 |
| 12 | Peng Zhaoqin | NED | 2402 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | ½ | 5 |
| 13 | Plukkel, Sjoerd | NED | 2279 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | 3 |
| 14 | Soumya, Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 3 |
Selected games from the last round below. All games are available at the official site.
