After the first round the air in Wijk aan Zee was hot with cries for democracy
and the downfall of the rating-list elitists. Akopian had just defeated 14th
world champion Vladimir Kramnik, recalling his role in the Great Tourist Insurgency
of 1999 when he knocked out Bareev and Adams on his way to the FIDE KO final.
It also marked an interesting trifecta for the Armenian. He beat FIDE champion
Ponomariov in the 2002 Olympiad and then beat world #1 Kasparov (in rapid chess).
Now he's added the last classical champion to his hit list.
Kramnik showed the the best way to forget falling for a rook sacrifice is to
play one yourself the next day. van Wely sacrificed a knight for counterplay
and a few pawns, but was outdone when Kramnik played a passive rook decoy sacrifice
very similar to the one Akopian used to beat him in round one. That left the
Dutchman with several losing endgames to choose from. With this win Kramnik
got back to an even score and avenged his loss to van Wely here last year.
The third game to see blood saw an all too familiar sight in Wijk aan Zee in
recent years. Jan Timman got a strong position against a top player only to
slip and then fall to a loss. This time he was pressuring Leko for most of the
way. Slowly but surely Leko showed that the white pawns were overextended. The
Hungarian won a pawn and ground out the win with his typically sure hand.
This left the crosstable with an uncomfortably nostalgic look for Dutch chess
fans, with the local heroes already lined up at the bottom. Dutch-Bosnian Sokolov
was also in trouble against Topalov but managed to avoid a Dutch massacre with
fine tactical defense.
Monday is an rest day at Corus. The games so far have been hard-fought for
the most part, but with over half the field yet to play a decisive game a day
of rest can't hurt. Sadly, there hasn't been an off-day blitz tournament since
Kasparov dominated the last one in 1999. Since they are both in town maybe Leko
and Kramnik could play their much-belated world championship match blitz style
on the off day!
Round 1 (Saturday, January 11,
2004) |
Topalov, Veselin |
½-½ |
Adams, Michael |
Sokolov, Ivan |
½-½ |
Timman, Jan |
Leko, Peter |
½-½ |
Anand, Viswanathan |
Akopian, Vladimir |
1-0 |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Van Wely, Loek |
½-½ |
Bareev, Evgeny |
Bologan, Viktor |
½-½ |
Zhang Zhong |
Svidler, Peter |
½-½ |
Shirov, Alexei |
|
|
Round 2 (Sunday, January 11, 2004) |
Adams, Michael |
½-½ |
Shirov, Alexei |
Zhang Zhong |
½-½ |
Svidler, Peter |
Bareev, Evgeny |
½-½ |
Bologan, Viktor |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
1-0 |
Van Wely, Loek |
Anand, Viswanathan |
1-0 |
Akopian, Vladimir |
Timman, Jan |
0-1 |
Leko, Peter |
Topalov, Veselin |
½-½ |
Sokolov, Ivan |
|
|
Round 3 (Tuesday, January 13,
2004) |
Sokolov, Ivan |
|
Adams, Michael |
Leko, Peter |
|
Topalov, Veselin |
Akopian, Vladimir |
|
Timman, Jan |
Van Wely, Loek |
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
Bologan, Viktor |
|
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Svidler, Peter |
|
Bareev, Evgeny |
Shirov, Alexei |
|
Zhang Zhong |
Games Report |
|
Round 4 (Wednesday, January 1,
2004) |
Adams, Michael |
|
Zhang Zhong |
Bareev, Evgeny |
|
Shirov, Alexei |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
|
Svidler, Peter |
Anand, Viswanathan |
|
Bologan, Viktor |
Timman, Jan |
|
Van Wely, Loek |
Topalov, Veselin |
|
Akopian, Vladimir |
Sokolov, Ivan |
|
Leko, Peter |
Games Report |
|
Round 5 (Thursday, January 15,
2004) |
Leko, Peter |
|
Adams, Michael |
Akopian, Vladimir |
|
Sokolov, Ivan |
Van Wely, Loek |
|
Topalov, Veselin |
Bologan, Viktor |
|
Timman, Jan |
Svidler, Peter |
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
Shirov, Alexei |
|
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Zhang Zhong |
|
Bareev, Evgeny |
Games Report |
|
Round 6 (Saturday, January 17,
2004) |
Adams, Michael |
|
Bareev, Evgeny |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
|
Zhang Zhong |
Anand, Viswanathan |
|
Shirov, Alexei |
Timman, Jan |
|
Svidler, Peter |
Topalov, Veselin |
|
Bologan, Viktor |
Sokolov, Ivan |
|
Van Wely, Loek |
Leko, Peter |
|
Akopian, Vladimir |
Games Report |
|
Round 7 (Sunday, January 18, 2004) |
Akopian, Vladimir |
|
Adams, Michael |
Van Wely, Loek |
|
Leko, Peter |
Bologan, Viktor |
|
Sokolov, Ivan |
Svidler, Peter |
|
Topalov, Veselin |
Shirov, Alexei |
|
Timman, Jan |
Zhang Zhong |
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
Bareev, Evgeny |
|
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Games Report |
|
Round 8 (Monday, January 19, 2004) |
Adams, Michael |
|
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Anand, Viswanathan |
|
Bareev, Evgeny |
Timman, Jan |
|
Zhang Zhong |
Topalov, Veselin |
|
Shirov, Alexei |
Sokolov, Ivan |
|
Svidler, Peter |
Leko, Peter |
|
Bologan, Viktor |
Akopian, Vladimir |
|
Van Wely, Loek |
Games Report |
|
Round 9 (Tuesday, January 20,
2004) |
Van Wely, Loek |
|
Adams, Michael |
Bologan, Viktor |
|
Akopian, Vladimir |
Svidler, Peter |
|
Leko, Peter |
Shirov, Alexei |
|
Sokolov, Ivan |
Zhang Zhong |
|
Topalov, Veselin |
Bareev, Evgeny |
|
Timman, Jan |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
Games Report |
|
Round 10 (Thursday, January 22,
2004) |
Adams, Michael |
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
Timman, Jan |
|
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Topalov, Veselin |
|
Bareev, Evgeny |
Sokolov, Ivan |
|
Zhang Zhong |
Leko, Peter |
|
Shirov, Alexei |
Akopian, Vladimir |
|
Svidler, Peter |
Van Wely, Loek |
|
Bologan, Viktor |
Games Report |
|
Round 11 (Friday, January 23,
2004) |
Bologan, Viktor |
|
Adams, Michael |
Svidler, Peter |
|
Van Wely, Loek |
Shirov, Alexei |
|
Akopian, Vladimir |
Zhang Zhong |
|
Leko, Peter |
Bareev, Evgeny |
|
Sokolov, Ivan |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
|
Topalov, Veselin |
Anand, Viswanathan |
|
Timman, Jan |
Games Report |
|
Round 12 (Saturday, January 24,
2004) |
Adams, Michael |
|
Timman, Jan |
Topalov, Veselin |
|
Anand, Viswanathan |
Sokolov, Ivan |
|
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Leko, Peter |
|
Bareev, Evgeny |
Akopian, Vladimir |
|
Zhang Zhong |
Van Wely, Loek |
|
Shirov, Alexei |
Bologan, Viktor |
|
Svidler, Peter |
Games Report |
|
Round 13 (Sunday, January 25,
2004) |
Svidler, Peter |
|
Adams, Michael |
Shirov, Alexei |
|
Bologan, Viktor |
Zhang Zhong |
|
Van Wely, Loek |
Bareev, Evgeny |
|
Akopian, Vladimir |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
|
Leko, Peter |
Anand, Viswanathan |
|
Sokolov, Ivan |
Timman, Jan |
|
Topalov, Veselin |
Games Report |
|
|