Corus Round 10: Adams doesn't test Anand, no change at the top

by ChessBase
1/22/2004 – Mickey Adams decided not to challenge Vishy Anand's tremendous form and offered a draw with all the pieces on the board after 18 moves. That left the Englishman and Peter Leko a point behind Anand with three rounds to play. Bologan won his second in a row, his sixth decisive game running after starting with four draws! Full report and analysis.
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Corus Wijk aan Zee 2004 – Round 10

66th Wijk aan Zee Tournament – Jan. 10-25
Category 19 (avg. Elo 2702)

Round 10 (Thursday, January 22, 2004)
Adams, Michael
½-½
 Anand, Viswanathan
Timman, Jan
½-½
Kramnik, Vladimir
Topalov, Veselin
0-1
Bareev, Evgeny
Sokolov, Ivan
½-½
Zhang Zhong
Leko, Peter
½-½
Shirov, Alexei
Akopian, Vladimir
1-0
Svidler, Peter
Van Wely, Loek
0-1
Bologan, Viktor

Anand inches closer.

Mickey Adams took a good look at Anand's form so far in Wijk aan Zee and a glance at his record against the Indian and decided that discretion was the better part of second place. In his chance to control his own destiny and tie for the lead with a win, Adams went for a relatively tame line of the Scheveningen and offered a draw on move 18. It's true that Anand has a great record against Adams (to plagiarize myself I once described it as being similar to McDonald's record against cows), but the last decisive game between them was a victory for England in Linares in 2002.

Leko got nowhere against Shirov in a Petroff so Anand's lead stayed at a full point. With three rounds to go Anand has a tough black against Topalov and white against two tail-enders. His current +4 was enough to win last year and would likely be enough here as well. But +5 would be nice insurance, no?

van Wely fell back to Earth and an even score in brutal fashion. After a marathon win against Adams yesterday he lost to Viktor Bologan in a very short sprint. The Dortmund 2003 winner has two whites left and if he's picking up steam may make a plus score.

The huge pack at 50% swelled even further after Akopian outplayed Svidler. Topalov joined them after being beaten in a very well-played game by Bareev.

Sokolov came close to digging out of the cellar against Zhang but couldn't convert a superior endgame. (I am unilaterally changing to referring to the Chinese player by his family name instead of using the Corus site's incorrect designation. Just don't get me started on "Anand Viswanathan" or we'll be here all week.) Timman-Kramnik was a correct draw without adventures.

van Wely-Bologan after 19...f5

Bologan has won two in a row and got considerable help from van Wely today. His kingside is a joke and he decides to go pawn hunting with 20.Rd6? His queen gets tied down to the defense of the rook and the end comes quickly.

20...Nc6-+ 21.Qxc5 Na5! The refutation of White's greedy play. The queen is stuck to the defense of the rook on d6. 22.Qb4 [22.Qxa5 A deflection 22...Qxd6] 22...Nxc4! 23.Qxb7? White is already in deep trouble, so maybe this was just a way to end the pain quickly. [23.Qxc4 Deflection from d6 23...Qxd6; 23.Rd3 Qxb4 24.axb4 Ke7]

23...Qxd6! 24.Qxa8+ [24.Qb4 Rc8 25.Qxd6 Nxd6+ 26.Kb1-+] 24...Ke7 Black threatens mate with Qd2+ - Qb2#. 25.Qb7 Rb8 0-1

[25...Rb8 26.Nf3 Rxb7 27.e4 Rxb2 28.Rxh5 Rb1+ 29.Kc2 Qd1+ 30.Kc3 Rb3+ 31.Kxc4 Qc2+ 32.Kd4 Qc3#]
 

Akopian-Svidler after 37...c6

The Armenian continues to show that he can pack a punch like his country's famous brandy. Here he takes out the Russian champion after Black got overambitious. His pawn sac on d3 was futile since White gets a dangerous attack on the dark squares if Black grabs the exchange on a1. So Svidler tries to eject the d5 knight first, but it refuses to go.

38.Nd6! cxd5 [38...Bxa1 39.Qxa1 cxd5 40.Rxd5 Qxc2 41.Nxe8±;
38...Qxd6?? 39.Nf6+ Bxf6 40.Rxd6] 39.Rxd5 Qc3 [39...Qxc2 40.Rc1 Qb2 41.Nxe8+-] 40.Rad1 Ree7 [40...Rfe7!? 41.Nxe8 Rxe8] 41.Nxf7+- Rxf7 42.Qxa6 The black minors are no match for the centralized white rooks and passed a-pawn.

42...Nd4 43.Qd3 Nxc2 44.Rc1 Rc7? [44...Qxd3 45.Rxd3 Na1 46.a6+-] 45.Qxc3 Rxc3 46.a6! Ne3 [46...Nd4 47.Rxc3 bxc3+-] 47.Rxc3 bxc3 48.Rc5 [48.Rc5 Bd4 49.Rxc3!+-] 1-0
 

Topalov-Bareev after 25.Rae1

The Bulgarian played a dubious gambit on move 10 and Black slowly battled back. The ugly duckling a-pawn is yearning to become a swan. Bareev finds a quiet winner.

25...Qf8! Very nice by Bareev. With queens off his passed a-pawn becomes more important. If the white queen retreats it moves a step closer with ..a3. 26.Qxf8+ Kxf8 27.Ke3 g5! 28.Bg4 [28.fxg5 hxg5 29.Rxg5? Rb2]

28...gxf4+ 29.gxf4 Rb2-+ The white king is overloaded and the e1 rook must stay on the back rank to eye the a-pawn.

Bareev, who won this event in 2002, converted prettily on move 49.

Tiviakov-Nakamura after 53.Bxg7

Not to be overlooked is this gem from the B group. Nakamura has scored three points from his last four games to reach a plus score. Fressinet still has a comfortable full point lead.

Here Nakamura uncorked one of the moves of the event after a long defense.

53...Qxg3+!! It's not going to be the most famous ..Qg3 ever, but a beautiful sham sac nonetheless. Black gains two pawns with back-to-back knight forks and the endgame is an easy win. 54.fxg3 Ne3+ 55.Kf3 Nxf5 56.Bc3 hxg3 0-1 in 69.

Mig Greengard

Standings after round ten

All the games in PGN (no notes) GM group A • GM group B • GM group C

Schedule – (Rest days 12, 16, 21)
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
1-0
 Adams, Michael
Bologan, Viktor
1-0
 Akopian, Vladimir
Svidler, Peter
½-½
 Leko, Peter
Shirov, Alexei
1-0
 Sokolov, Ivan
Zhang Zhong
½-½
 Topalov, Veselin
Bareev, Evgeny
0-1
 Timman, Jan
Kramnik, Vladimir
½-½
 Anand, Viswanathan
Round 10 (Thursday, January 22, 2004)
Adams, Michael
½-½
 Anand, Viswanathan
Timman, Jan
½-½
Kramnik, Vladimir
Topalov, Veselin
0-1
Bareev, Evgeny
Sokolov, Ivan
½-½
Zhang Zhong
Leko, Peter
½-½
Shirov, Alexei
Akopian, Vladimir
1-0
Svidler, Peter
Van Wely, Loek
0-1
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
 
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