Closest Finish Ever At Corus
With just one round to go, there is a remarkable and unprecedented 6-way tie for the lead in the A Group at Corus. That's nearly half the field tying for first place on 7 points!
This very unusual position should make for a fascinating last round. Many of the players will be keeping an even closer eye on their rival's games than usual!
The four players at the top in the previous round, Aronian, Radjabov, Dominguez and Movsesian were joined by Carlsen and Karjakin who beat Smeets and Adams respectively.
There are no tie-breaks to determine the champion at Corus (prize money is shared), but the winner is due to be invited to the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao later in the year, and the tie-break used to determine who gets this invitation will be head-to-head results followed by the Sonnenborn-Berger system.
The only leaders that will clash in the final round are Dominguez and Karjakin. The full draw is:
| Kamsky (6) | Movsesian (7) |
| Adams (5) | Van Wely (5.5) |
| Dominguez (7) | Karjakin (7) |
| Morozevich (4.5) | Ivanchuk (5.5) |
| Smeets (5.5) | Aronian (7) |
| Wang Yue (5) | Carlsen (7) |
| Radjabov (7) | Stellwagen (5) |
As is traditional, the prize for winning the B Group is an invite to next year's A Group, and it's been a close fight so far, led most of the way by Nigel Short. However, going into the final round he is joined in the lead on 8 points by Kasimdzhanov, who beat L'Ami. Just half a point behind, and within striking distance are Caruana and Volokitin. The final round pits Caruana against Short, whilst Kasimdzhanov gets black against Motylev, and Volokitin is black against Efimenko. Expect a dramatic finish here too!
Short and Kasimdzhanov in relaxed mood...
The penultimate round of the C Group saw Wesley So win a crucial clash against one-time leader Hillarp Persson. That means that So is a clear point ahead of his nearest rival, 14-year old Anish Giri going into the final round and is guaranteed at least a share of first place. Congratulations Wesley!
Remarkably, all games in the C Group in round 12 were decisive - as happened before in round 10. The very low draw percentage (just 26%!) in this group is perhaps even more noteworthy than the 6-way tie in the A Group.
The games in the final round on 1 Feb start an hour earlier than usual - at 12:30 CET (6:30 EST). Live games from the official website are broadcast at this page.
The full results in round 12:
| A GROUP | |||||
| Carlsen, Magnus | Smeets, Jan | 1-0 | 29 | B10 | Caro Kann |
| Aronian, Levon | Morozevich, Alexander | ½-½ | 44 | D98 | Gruenfeld |
| Karjakin, Sergey | Adams, Michael | 1-0 | 35 | C92 | Ruy Lopez Chigorin |
| Movsesian, Sergei | Radjabov, Teimour | ½-½ | 27 | B30 | Sicilian Rossolimo |
| Van Wely, Loek | Kamsky, Gata | ½-½ | 17 | D15 | Slav Defence |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | ½-½ | 22 | B54 | Sicilian Rauzer |
| Stellwagen, Daniel | Wang Yue | ½-½ | 32 | C67 | Ruy Lopez Berlin |
| B GROUP | |||||
| Short, Nigel D | Efimenko, Zahar | ½-½ | 59 | B92 | Sicilian Najdorf |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | L'Ami, Erwin | 1-0 | 41 | D45 | Anti-Meran |
| Volokitin, Andrei | Navara, David | 1-0 | 37 | E04 | Catalan |
| Reinderman, Dimitri | Caruana, Fabiano | ½-½ | 11 | A25 | English Sicilian Attack |
| Hou Yifan | Vallejo Pons, Francisco | 1-0 | 31 | B30 | Sicilian Rossolimo |
| Sasikiran, Krishnan | Werle, Jan | 1-0 | 23 | E21 | Nimzo Indian |
| Mecking, Henrique | Motylev, Alexander | ½-½ | 13 | A41 | Modern Defence |
| C GROUP | |||||
| Giri, Anish | Leon Hoyos, Manuel | 1-0 | 33 | A41 | Modern Defence |
| Hillarp Persson, Tiger | So, Wesley | 0-1 | 39 | D11 | Slav Defence |
| Howell, David W L | Bitalzadeh, Ali | 1-0 | 18 | B40 | Sicilian Classical |
| Gupta, Abhijeet | Iturrizaga, Eduardo | 1-0 | 43 | E10 | Blumenfeld Counter Gambit |
| Nijboer, Friso | Holzke, Frank | 1-0 | 40 | C78 | Ruy Lopez |
| Pruijssers, Roeland | Bosboom, Manuel | 1-0 | 42 | B15 | Caro Kann |
| Romanishin, Oleg M | Harika, Dronavalli | 1-0 | 78 | D11 | Slav Defence |
The standings after round 12:
| A GROUP | ||||
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2776 | 7 |
| 2 | Radjabov, Teimour | AZE | 2761 | 7 |
| 3 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2750 | 7 |
| 4 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2706 | 7 |
| 5 | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 2717 | 7 |
| 6 | Movsesian, Sergei | SVK | 2751 | 7 |
| 7 | Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2725 | 6 |
| 8 | Van Wely, Loek | NED | 2625 | 5½ |
| 9 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2779 | 5½ |
| 10 | Smeets, Jan | NED | 2601 | 5½ |
| 11 | Wang Yue | CHN | 2739 | 5 |
| 12 | Stellwagen, Daniel | NED | 2612 | 5 |
| 13 | Adams, Michael | ENG | 2712 | 5 |
| 14 | Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2771 | 4½ |
| B GROUP | ||||
| 1 | Short, Nigel D | ENG | 2663 | 8 |
| 2 | Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 2687 | 8 |
| 3 | Volokitin, Andrei | UKR | 2671 | 7½ |
| 4 | Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2646 | 7½ |
| 5 | Motylev, Alexander | RUS | 2676 | 7 |
| 6 | Vallejo Pons, Francisco | ESP | 2702 | 6½ |
| 7 | Navara, David | CZE | 2638 | 6 |
| 8 | Efimenko, Zahar | UKR | 2688 | 6 |
| 9 | Reinderman, Dimitri | NED | 2549 | 5½ |
| 10 | Hou Yifan | CHN | 2571 | 5½ |
| 11 | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2603 | 5 |
| 12 | Sasikiran, Krishnan | IND | 2711 | 4 |
| 13 | Mecking, Henrique | BRA | 2567 | 4 |
| 14 | Werle, Jan | NED | 2607 | 3½ |
| C GROUP | ||||
| 1 | So, Wesley | PHI | 2627 | 9 |
| 2 | Giri, Anish | RUS | 2469 | 8 |
| 3 | Hillarp Persson, Tiger | SWE | 2586 | 7½ |
| 4 | Howell, David W L | ENG | 2622 | 7 |
| 5 | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2569 | 6½ |
| 6 | Holzke, Frank | GER | 2524 | 6 |
| 7 | Harika, Dronavalli | IND | 2473 | 5½ |
| 8 | Nijboer, Friso | NED | 2560 | 5½ |
| 9 | Bosboom, Manuel | NED | 2418 | 5½ |
| 10 | Pruijssers, Roeland | NED | 2444 | 5½ |
| 11 | Leon Hoyos, Manuel | MEX | 2542 | 5 |
| 12 | Bitalzadeh, Ali | NED | 2400 | 4½ |
| 13 | Iturrizaga, Eduardo | VEN | 2528 | 4½ |
| 14 | Romanishin, Oleg M | UKR | 2533 | 4 |
Photos courtesy of ChessVibes.
