That left Sokolov as the only player in the field without a win, but he came
very close. Svidler pulled out a miracle save that looked like magic. Akopian-van
Wely and Topalov-Shirov were fairly tame draws. It looks like Kramnik will need
a win with white over Anand in tomorrow's marquee match-up if he is to maintain
any hopes of winning the event.
Before congratulating the winners we should take a moment to appreciate the
play of one of today's losers. 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik (an
indisputable appellation used in place of the currently defunct "world
champion") lost his second game of Wijk aan Zee today. It was the second
Najdorf Sicilian of his life; the first resulted in his first loss to Akopian
last week.
But as Petrosian showed 40 years ago, being a caissic Rock of Gibraltar is
less effective in tournament play. If you never lose you can't lose a match,
but you can go undefeated in a tournament and finish sixth. Petrosian won a
candidates match-tournament (undefeated of course), beat Botvinnik, fended off
Spassky once, but couldn't win a tournament when competing against aggressive
players like Larsen, Spassky, Fischer, and Korchnoi. In the last few years Kramnik
has often found himself in the same situation when competing against Kasparov
and Anand.
When the margins are tight and +2 can win, Kramnik's style is nearly ideal.
This was the case in Linares last year but it doesn't always work. In Dortmund
2003 he won his first game and then reeled off nine (!) consecutive draws to
finish behind Bologan. Kramnik simply hasn't played enough classical chess in
the past few years to draw any real conclusions, but it will be inspiring if
he makes an effort to give his remarkable talent more room to breathe.
There's no reason to believe Kramnik can't do the same thing, especially since,
unlike Leko, he was more of a wild-man in his youth. (We used to say that Leko
played like an old man by the time he was 14.) The growing pains of a few unfamiliar
losses are a small price to pay. Even if it means experimenting with Kasparov's
Najdorf and taking a few knocks, Kramnik, and chess, will be much the better
for it.
So let's cheer Kramnik for these losses, at least for a while. That means we
we can congratulate him and Mickey Adams, who inflicted today's loss in excellent
fashion.
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 |
½-½ |
Adams, Michael |
Van Wely, Loek |
½-½ |
Leko, Peter |
Bologan, Viktor |
1-0 |
Sokolov, Ivan |
Svidler, Peter |
1-0 |
Topalov, Veselin |
Shirov, Alexei |
1-0 |
Timman, Jan |
Zhang Zhong |
0-1 |
Anand, Viswanathan |
Bareev, Evgeny |
½-½ |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
|
|
Round 8 (Monday, January
19, 2004) |
Adams, Michael |
1-0 |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
Anand, Viswanathan |
1-0 |
Bareev, Evgeny |
Timman, Jan |
0-1 |
Zhang Zhong |
Topalov, Veselin |
½-½ |
Shirov, Alexei |
Sokolov, Ivan |
½-½ |
Svidler, Peter |
Leko, Peter |
1-0 |
Bologan, Viktor |
Akopian, Vladimir |
½-½ |
Van Wely, Loek |
|
|
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 |
|
|