In classical chess, as opposed to rapid and blitz, having the white pieces
gives you much better chances of winning a game than having black. The stronger
the players, the bigger the relative advantage of having the first move. The
other number that rises with Elo is the percentage of draws, unfortunately.
Among the 2600 crowd white wins run almost two to one over black, but draws
hit 65% in 2003 at the top level.
Basically all these number reflect what we already know. Winning a chess game
requires a mistake and the top players don't make many mistakes. Another consideration
is that since drawing with black is considered a minor victory you regularly
see draws when black is slightly better and would likely play on in the same
position with white.
After adding four more in round six, wins by white are over four to one over
black in Wijk aan Zee's A group, although draws are still at the usual 65%.
The white factor may work out in Kramnik's favor down the home stretch. The
pairings give him the first move against rivals Anand, Topalov, and Leko. Anand
has black against his co-leaders (and already had black against Leko and Svidler,
ouch!).
Going into the round the leaders knew they had to push hard with the first
move, especially since they all outrated their opponents. It made for a day
of thrilling, hard-fought games. Adams was the first to hit the media room with
a full point in his hand. Bareev blundered a pawn to a fairly simple fork and
resigned in disgust on move 25. Topolov out-dueled Bologan in a sharp game to
keep pace.
Longer grinds were required for Kramnik and Anand to beat Zhang and Shirov,
respectively. Kramnik's inexorable win has the look of a work of art. He will
simply not be denied. Anand and Shirov swapped and swapped until they both got
what they wanted. Shirov had a theoretically drawn endgame and Anand had excellent
winning chances. As so often happens, practical chances beat theory hands down.
Leko was the only "white leader" who couldn't keep the pace. He was
held to a tough draw by Akopian. The audience was denied good chance for a second
celebration day when Timman agreed to a draw against Svidler in an endgame that
was very close to winning for the Dutchman. Timman had lost his previous two
whites so maybe he figured this was good enough. Call it karma for Svidler,
who resigned in a drawn position against Kramnik in round four. In yet another
wild game the rivalry match-up between Sokolov and van Wely ended in a draw
after both sides missed wins.
The field is starting to stretch and none of the leaders meet tomorrow either.
But they all have black, so anything can happen. Will the underdogs charge the
net against the big dogs or be content with serve-and-volley draws?
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 |
½-½ |
Adams, Michael |
Leko, Peter |
½-½ |
Topalov, Veselin |
Akopian, Vladimir |
½-½ |
Timman, Jan |
Van Wely, Loek |
½-½ |
Anand, Viswanathan |
Bologan, Viktor |
½-½ |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Svidler, Peter |
1-0 |
Bareev, Evgeny |
Shirov, Alexei |
½-½ |
Zhang Zhong |
|
|
Round 4 (Wednesday, January 14,
2004) |
Adams, Michael |
1-0 |
Zhang Zhong |
Bareev, Evgeny |
1-0 |
Shirov, Alexei |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
1-0 |
Svidler, Peter |
Anand, Viswanathan |
½-½ |
Bologan, Viktor |
Timman, Jan |
0-1 |
Van Wely, Loek |
Topalov, Veselin |
1-0 |
Akopian, Vladimir |
Sokolov, Ivan |
½-½ |
Leko, Peter |
|
|
Round 5 (Thursday, January 15,
2004) |
Leko, Peter |
½-½ |
Adams, Michael |
Akopian, Vladimir |
1-0 |
Sokolov, Ivan |
Van Wely, Loek |
½-½ |
Topalov, Veselin |
Bologan, Viktor |
0-1 |
Timman, Jan |
Svidler, Peter |
½-½ |
Anand, Viswanathan |
Shirov, Alexei |
½-½ |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Zhang Zhong |
½-½ |
Bareev, Evgeny |
|
|
Round 6 (Saturday, January 17,
2004) |
Adams, Michael |
1-0 |
Bareev, Evgeny |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
1-0 |
Zhang Zhong |
Anand, Viswanathan |
1-0 |
Shirov, Alexei |
Timman, Jan |
½-½ |
Svidler, Peter |
Topalov, Veselin |
1-0 |
Bologan, Viktor |
Sokolov, Ivan |
½-½ |
Van Wely, Loek |
Leko, Peter |
½-½ |
Akopian, Vladimir |
|
|
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 |
|
|