The event is being held from January 14 to 30 (first
and last rounds) at the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk
aan Zee, Holland. There are three main tournaments, all 14-player round
robins, starting at 13.30 Central European Time. The rest days are on Jan.
19, 24 and 27. The rate of play is 40/2, 20/1 and 30 minutes to finish
the game (group C 40/2 plus 1 hour for the rest). The games can be watched
on the official live coverage
site or watched and discussed with other chess fans on the Playchess.com
server. |
Round one: Judit Polgar, Veselin Topalov win

Today's big winner: Judit Polgar defeated Peter Svidler
Judit Polgar returned to the tournament scene with a crashing victory against
Peter Svidler, fearlessly taking up the challenge to play against the Marshall
Gambit and winning when her opponent committed a Bxa2 blunder on move 26. For
this effort Judit was rewarded with the 250 Euro public prize.

Anand coolly preparing for the game against Grischuk

The talented young Grischuk suffering in his game against Anand
Anand and Kramnik used the opening round to score pragmatic draws with the
black pieces against Grischuk and Bruzon. Anand in fact replayed, move for
move, a rapid game he had played last summer against Shirov in Mainz. The world's
number two required only five minutes of his clock time to execute all his
moves.

Vladimir Kramnik at the start of his game against Bruzon
Peter Leko fought hard for a full point against Ivan Sokolov, but the N+2P
vs N+P ending could not be transformed into a win.

Peter Leko and Ivan Sokolov in the postmortem after their game
The 'Brits', Nigel Short and Michael Adams played a 23-move gentleman-like
draw with just one pawn each coming off the board. "We chickened out,"
said Nigel at the end of their Ruy Lopez Chigorin encounter.
Morozevich vs van Wely was tense and hard-fought, but ended in a draw, while
Veselin Topalov proved his class with a fine 64-move victory over ex world
champion Ruslan Ponomariov.

The battling Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, who beat Ruslan Ponomariov
Round one – Sat.
15.01.2005 |
Alexander Grischuk |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
C80 Open Ruy Lopez |
Nigel Short |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
C99 Ruy Lopez Chigorin |
Alexander Morozevich |
½-½ |
Loek van Wely |
A17 English Opening |
Lazaro Bruzon |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
E14 Queens Indian |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
B48 Sicilian Paulsen |
Judit Polgar |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall |
Ivan Sokolov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
D47 Queens Gambit Meran |
Replay and download games

Young Ukrainian star Sergey Karjakin in winning form
In Group B 15-year-old Sergey Karjakin was the first to win,
in 34 moves against a French Defence by Sipke Ernst. Daniel Stellwagen, 17,
followed suit on the black side of a Modern Benoni, where he simply outplayed
top seed Predrag Nikolic.

20-year-old GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan came out the winner on
the black side of a Sicilian Najdorf against Dutch GM Friso Nijboer. It was
a seesaw game. At move 26 Mamedyarov, who had been worse for some time, missed
a clear draw (26...Nxb2!), after which Friso Nijboer repayed the favour with
a terrible blunder (29.Qf4) and was mated on move 35 (he resigned one move
earlier).

Women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova (above) got into a lot of trouble
in her Slav Defence game against the very strong Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen.
But incredibly she survived a double rook endgame two pawns down to draw in
64 moves.

"Did I make a mistake?" Peter Heine Nielsen ponders the position
after 44.Bd3. With his previous move, 43.Rb6 he relinquished his winning chances.

The longest game of the day was played by Alexandra
Kosteniuk, whose glamour and modelling activities sometimes make us forget
what a strong player and tough fighter she is. Alexandra was women's vice champion
of the world, recently won the European
Women's Championship and is the tenth female in chess history to gain a
male GM title.

In her game against top US grandmaster Alexander Onischuk Alexandra was clearly
winning at move 69 when an inaccuracy – 70.g6 instead of 70.Rf7?? –
spoilt the position to a draw. At move 75 a theoretically drawn endgame of
rook and bishop vs rook was on the board, and a lesser spirit might have offered
a dejected draw. But this lady simply fought on and after pressing for 36 more
moves she had generated a position where her opponent had to find an only move
(111.Rb3). Onischuk didn't and in four more moves the game was over –
with a victory for Kosteniuk.
Group B Round one
– Sat. 15.01.2005 |
Predrag Nikolic |
0-1 |
D. Stellwagen |
Jan Smeets |
½-½ |
Ivan Cheparinov |
Friso Nijboer |
0-1 |
S. Mamedyarov |
Alejandro Ramirez |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Alexandra Kosteniuk |
1-0 |
Alexander Onischuk |
Peter .H. Nielsen |
½-½ |
Antoaneta Stefanova |
Sergey Karjakin |
1-0 |
Sipke Ernst |
|
|
Group C Round one
– Sat. 15.01.2005 |
Wouter Spoelman |
½-½ |
Leon Pliester |
Joost Wempe |
0-1 |
Alexey Korotylev |
Harmen Jonkman |
½-½ |
Zeinab Mamedjarova |
Natalia Zhukova |
1-0 |
Bianca Muhren |
Vladimir Georgiev |
1-0 |
Manuel Bosboom |
Evgeny Alekseev |
1-0 |
Parimarjan Negi |
Tea Lanchava |
0-1 |
Erwin L’Ami |
|
Report by Frederic Friedel, pictures by Jeroen van
den Belt
All results and schedule
Round one –
Sat. 15.01.2005 |
Alexander Grischuk |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
Nigel Short |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Alexander Morozevich |
½-½ |
Loek van Wely |
Lazaro Bruzon |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Judit Polgar |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
Ivan Sokolov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Games
|
|
Report |
|
|
Round
two – Sun. 16.01.2005 |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Peter Leko |
Peter Svidler |
|
Ivan Sokolov |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Judit Polgar |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Loek van Wely |
|
Lazaro Bruzon |
Michael Adams |
|
Alexander Morozevich |
Alexander Grischuk |
|
Nigel Short |
Games |
|
Report |
|
Round
three – Mon. 17.01.2005 |
Nigel Short |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Lazaro Bruzon |
|
Michael Adams |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Loek van Wely |
Judit Polgar |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Ivan Sokolov |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Peter Leko |
|
Peter Svidler |
Games |
|
Report |
|
|
Round
four – Tues. 18.01.2005 |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Peter Svidler |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Peter Leko |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Ivan Sokolov |
Loek van Wely |
|
Judit Polgar |
Michael Adams |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Alexander Grischuk |
|
Lazaro Bruzon |
Nigel Short |
|
Alexander Morozevich |
Games |
|
Report |
|
Round
five – Thurs. 20.01.2005 |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Lazaro Bruzon |
|
Nigel Short |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Judit Polgar |
|
Michael Adams |
Ivan Sokolov |
|
Loek van Wely |
Peter Leko |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Peter Svidler |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Games |
|
Report |
|
|
Round
six – Fri. 21.01.2005 |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Peter Svidler |
Loek van Wely |
|
Peter Leko |
Michael Adams |
|
Ivan Sokolov |
Alexander Grischuk |
|
Judit Polgar |
Nigel Short |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Lazaro Bruzon |
Games |
|
Report |
|
Round
seven – Sat. 22.01.2005 |
Lazaro Bruzon |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Alexander Morozevich |
Judit Polgar |
|
Nigel Short |
Ivan Sokolov |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Peter Leko |
|
Michael Adams |
Peter Svidler |
|
Loek van Wely |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Games |
|
Report |
|
|
Round
eight – Sun. 23.01.2005 |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Loek van Wely |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Michael Adams |
|
Peter Svidler |
Alexander Grischuk |
|
Peter Leko |
Nigel Short |
|
Ivan Sokolov |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Judit Polgar |
Lazaro Bruzon |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Games |
|
Report |
|
Round
nine – Tues. 25.01.2005 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Judit Polgar |
|
Lazaro Bruzon |
Ivan Sokolov |
|
Alexander Morozevich |
Peter Leko |
|
Nigel Short |
Peter Svidler |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Michael Adams |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Loek van Wely |
Games |
|
Report |
|
|
Round
ten – Wed 26.01.2005 |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Loek van Wely |
Michael Adams |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Alexander Grischuk |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Nigel Short |
|
Peter Svidler |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Peter Leko |
Lazaro Bruzon |
|
Ivan Sokolov |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Judit Polgar |
Games |
|
Report |
|
Round
eleven – Fri. 28.01.2005 |
Judit Polgar |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Ivan Sokolov |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Peter Leko |
|
Lazaro Bruzon |
Peter Svidler |
|
Alexander Morozevich |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Nigel Short |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Loek van Wely |
|
Michael Adams |
Games |
|
Report |
|
|
Round
twelve – Sat. 29.01.2005 |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Michael Adams |
Alexander Grischuk |
|
Loek van Wely |
Nigel Short |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Lazaro Bruzon |
|
Peter Svidler |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Peter Leko |
Judit Polgar |
|
Ivan Sokolov |
Games |
|
Report |
|
Round
thirteen – Sun. 30.01.2005 |
Ivan Sokolov |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Peter Leko |
|
Judit Polgar |
Peter Svidler |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Lazaro Bruzon |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Alexander Morozevich |
Loek van Wely |
|
Nigel Short |
Michael Adams |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Games |
|
Report |
|
|
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