Wijk as in Wake?

Before we embark on the report on round eleven we need to clear up a mistake. In our round nine report we stated that the name "Wijk" rhymes with bike, like, Mike, pike or tike (and not with weak, beak, geek, reak, meek, seek or Greek). Well, close, as Jo Devriendt of Belgium tells us, but not yet accurate: It is pronounced like "wake", "take" and "make". The "aan" is pronounced "ahn" as in the name of German football player Oliver "Kahn" (so with a long "ah"), and "Zee" is "Zey" as in "they", "may", "play". Anyway, Jo Devriendt continues, since you're apparently interested in the local linguistic aspect, here's why the Flemish and Dutch people would never just say just "Wijk". A "Wijk" is an area in a city – for instance the "student's quarter" would be translated "studentenwijk". It shows resemblance with the English suffix "-wich" as in "Greenwich", or the Norse "-vik" as in "Reykyavik". Sander Devriendt of Bruges, Belgium, confirmed all of the above in a separate email.

Addendum: Jan Maarten van den Boogaart of Utrecht tells us we were right the first time: "It's obvious that Flemish and Dutch people often pronounce words differently, although they use the same language. When I say Wijk it rhymes on bike." Merijn van Delft confirms this. What next? Woik?

Wijk aan Zee 2010 – Round eleven report

By Steve Giddins – photos by Nadja Woisin

In the day's big clash, Shirov and Kramnik rattled out a long line of Petroff theory, which had clearly been subjected to a serious amount of frybkation (computer analysis) by both players. Like most long forcing lines in the Petroff, it led to a level ending, and although Shirov subsequently outplayed his opponent to the extent of putting him under serious pressure, Kramnik's defences held.

Shirov,A (2723) - Kramnik,V (2788) [C42]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 29.01.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0–0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0–0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.h3 Be4 17.Nd2 Bxg2 18.Bg4 Bh1 19.f3 Bh4

20.Re4 f5 21.Kxh1 fxg4 22.hxg4 Qf7 23.Qb3 Ne7 24.Qxf7+ Kxf7 25.c4 Ng6 26.Bh2 Bf6 27.Rb1 b6 28.d5 Be5 29.f4 Bd6 30.a4 h6 31.Rbe1 Nf8 32.f5 Nd7 33.Bxd6 cxd6 34.Re6 Ne5 35.c5 Nd3 36.cxd6 Nxe1 37.d7 Rcd8 38.dxe8Q+ Rxe8 39.Nc4 Rxe6 40.fxe6+ Ke7 41.Ne5 Kd6 42.Nc4+ Ke7 43.Ne5 Kd6 44.Kh2 Nc2 45.Nc4+ Ke7 46.Kg3 Nb4 47.Ne3

47...Nxd5 48.Nxd5+ Kxe6 49.Nc3 a6 50.Kf4 b5 51.axb5 ½–½. [Click to replay]

Kramnik and Shirov in the post mortem of their game in the press centre

This allowed Carlsen to join Kramnik in a share of the lead, after beating Dominguez in typical fashion. Black fell behind on the clock early on, and eventually cracked under the pressure.

Magnus Carlsen at the start of his round eleven game

Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez, the fifth victim of the Norwegian top seed

Carlsen,M (2810) - Dominguez Perez,L (2712) [D97]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 29.01.2010 [Annotated by Carlsen for the press]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5. Carlsen: He usually plays the Grunfeld Indian, so that was expected. 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 a6 8.e5. This is more or less the main line. 8...b5 9.Qb3 Nfd7 10.Ng5. A bit primitive, as it doesn't threaten anything.

Carlsen in the press room after the game: 10.Ng5 surely came from Kasparov?!

10...Nb6 11.Be3. It's hard for Black to play c7-c5. 11...Nc6 12.Rd1 Bf5. A bit unexpected, but I was happy with the position I got. 13.Be2 Na5 14.Qb4 Nac4 15.0-0. I was considering 15.Bc1 Bc2 16.0-0 Bxd1 17.Rxd1 but it's not very clear. 15...f6 16.Nf3 Nxe3 17.fxe3. I have a space advantage and the Bg7 is not very good. 17...fxe5. 17...Bh6 18.e4 is very strong. 18.dxe5 Qe8 19.Qc5

19...Rc8. 19...Nd7?! 20.Qxc7 Rc8 21.Qa7 Nxe5 22.Nd5 is complicated, but White should be coming out on top. 20.a4! If I can play 20.Nd4 without trouble, I would be much better. But now he has Nd7.

20...Nxa4 21.Nxa4 bxa4 22.Nd4. I was sure this was going to be promising for me. If I can get Nc6 in, Black will be paralyzed. 22...Rb8!

23.g4 A bit of gamble. I was calculating 23.Nc6 Rxb2 24.Bc4+ Kh8 25.Rd8 Qxd8 26.Nxd8 Rxd8 27.Qxe7 Rbb8 but it's not at all obvious for me White is winning. 23...Be4. Probably also not bad. 23...Bd7 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.e6 looks strong, but maybe he can survive after 25...Bc8. Doesn't look very healthy, but I didn't see anything clear, for example 26.Nc6 Rb6 27.Rd8 Rxc6 28.Qd4 Qxd8 29.Qxd8 Bxe6.

24.Ne6 Rxf1+ 25.Bxf1 c6 26.Ng5. Maybe a stupid move, overestimating my position. He was in a big time trouble, which explains some of his decisions later on. 26...Bd5 27.e4 Bb3 28.Bc4+ e6 29.Nxe6 Bxc4 30.Qxc4

30...Kh8?? Now White is winning! 30...Bxe5 is by far his best choice. Black could even be better, for example 31.Rf1 Qe7 32.Nd8+ Kh8 33.Nxc6 Bxh2+. 31.Nxg7 Kxg7 32.e6 Rb7 33.Qc3+ Kg8 34.Rd6 Re7 35.Rxc6 Qf8 36.Rc8 There are many ways to win, but this is quite simple. 36...Re8 37.Rxe8 Qxe8 38.Qf6 Qc8 39.Kg2 Qc2+ 40.Kh3 Qc5 41.Kh4. I kind of like this move, as he doesn't have any checks. 41...Qb4 42.Qf7+ Kh8 43.e7 Qe1+ 44.Kg5 Qe3+ 45.Qf4

I was hoping for 45...Qc5+ 46.Kh6 Qxe7 47.Qb8+. I was really tired today, but of course I'm happy to win. 1-0. [Click to replay]. We add that there is another neat point: 45...h6+ 46.Kxg6 Qxf4 47.e8Q+ and mates.

Magnus Carlsen, now in the lead together with Vladimir Kramnik

Ivanchuk had much the better of Kariakin for most of the afternoon, but his advantage disappeared after the excessively rapacious capture on a5.

Ivanchuk,V (2749) - Karjakin,Sergey (2720) [E06]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 29.01.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 a5 11.Nc3 Na6 12.Ne5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Nd5 14.Rad1 Nxf4+ 15.gxf4 Bd6 16.e3 Qh4 17.Qe2 f6 18.Nc4 g5 19.d5 e5 20.f5 Nc5 21.e4 Rf7 22.Kh1 Nb3 23.Nb5 Nd4 24.Nxd4 exd4 25.f3 Qh3 26.Rf2 h5 27.Rg2 Bf4 28.Rxd4 Kh8 29.Rd3 Rh7 30.Rc3 Rd8 31.Rd3 Ra8 32.b3 Qh4 33.Qf2 Qh3 34.Rd1 Rg7 35.Rdg1 Rag8

36.Nxa5 g4 37.fxg4 Rxg4 38.Rxg4 Rxg4 39.Rxg4 hxg4 40.Qxf4 g3 ½-½. [Click to replay]

There were short draws in the games Smeets-Anand and Nakamura-Leko, and a Short draw in Nigel-Caruana.

B Group leader Anish Giri had a monumental slice of luck, when closest rival Wesley So blundered into a mate in two, in a game he had been completely winning.

So,W (2656) - Giri,A (2588) [C42]
Corus B Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 29.01.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0–0 Be7 8.Re1 Bg4 9.c3 f5 10.Qb3 0–0 11.Nbd2 Na5 12.Qc2 Nc6 13.b4 a6 14.a4 Bd6 15.Ba3 Kh8 16.Qb2 Ne7 17.Ne5 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Ng6 19.f3 Nxe5 20.Bf1 Qf6 21.fxe4 fxe4 22.Kh1 b5 23.Nb3 Qh4 24.Qd2 Rf5 25.Nd4 Rh5 26.h3 Rf8 27.Re3 Rf2 28.Qe1 Qf6 29.Kg1 Rf4 30.hxg4 Nxg4 31.Rh3 Rxh3 32.gxh3 Nf2 33.Qe3 Qg5+ 34.Bg2 Nd1

35.Qc1? [35.Qe2 Nf2 36.Rf1 was winning.] 35...Qg3?! [35...Nf2 was safer] 36.Ne2?? Rf1+ and mate on the next move. 0-1. That keeps Giri in first place in the group. In Group C, Li Chao won again, and has a lead of a point and a half, with just two rounds remaining. [Click to replay]

Addendum (by Frederic Friedel)

On Thursday evening I had the somewhat intimidating pleasure of analysing a few games on the phone with Garry Kasparov. He had just arrived in New York on a flight from Moscow. Naturally I was armed with a Fritz-on-steroids, while he sat in his apartment staring intensely at the wall (he had not yet booted up his notebook). The games we went through were all by his protégé Magnus Carlsen. I took notes of the rapid-fire lines he produced as best I could – any errors in the following must be blamed on my limited ability to grasp what an impatient 2800+ master is saying.

Carlsen,M (2810) - Kramnik,V (2788) [E04]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 26.01.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.Nc3 0-0 8.a3 Be7 9.Qa4 c6 10.Qxc4 b5 11.Qb3 Ba6 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Qc2 b4 15.Na4 Rc8 16.0-0 c5 17.d5 exd5

18.Bh3? After 18.Rfd1 d4 19.Qf5 Black is objectively on the verge of collapse. 19...Re8 (19...Bd6 20.axb4 Bxe2 21.bxc5 Bxd1 22.Rxd1) 20.Nxd4 cxd4 21.Rxd4 Qc7 (21...Rc7 22.Be4) 22.Rxd7 Qe5 23.Qxe5 fxe5 24.Nb6 Rc2 25.Nd5 and it is an open question whether Black can survive.

18...Bb5 19.axb4 axb4 20.Rfd1 d4 21.Bf5 Ne5 22.Bxh7+. [22.Nxe5 fxe5 23.b3 and White has an easy game.] 22...Kg7 23.Nxe5 fxe5 24.Bf5 Rc6 25.Qe4 Rh8 26.Qxe5+ Bf6 27.Qe4 Re8 28.Qg4+ Kf8

29.Be4? 29.Bd7 Bxe2 (Kramnik looked at this variation in the press conference and said "Maybe just 29...c4". But Kasparov thinks that after that 30.e3 must be close to winning for White) 30.Qh3 Bxd1 31.Rxd1 Ree6 32.Bxe6 fxe6 33.b3 and White probably cannot lose: 33...Qd5 34.Qh6+ Bg7 35.Qf4+ Kg8 36.Qb8+ Kh7 37.Qe8 etc. Black cannot win with such a king.

29...c4 30.Bxc6 Bxc6 31.Qh5 Re5 32.Qh6+ Ke7

33.e4. Garry mused that 33.Qd2 Qd5 34.Qxb4+ Ke8 35.Qb8+ Bd8 36.f3 Rxe2 37.Qf4 d3 38.Rf1 might be playable – "it requires Black to show something great." 33...d3 34.Qe3 Bxe4

35.Nb6?? Naturally this was a terrible blunder, but Kasparov concedes that White might already be lost in this position. 35...Bb7 36.Qf4 Qxb6 37.Qxc4 Re2 38.Rf1 0-1.[Click to replay]

The steel mills of Wijk aan Zee

Standings

Group A

Group B

Group C

Video reports by Europe Echecs

Europe Echecs video report by GM Robert Fontaine

Live commentary on Playchess by Yasser Seirawan

Today on the server Playchess.com GM Yasser Seirawan entertained the visitors with three hours of live commentary. In the last two rounds (January 30 and 31) we will have GM Yasser Seirawan covering the games For a charge of fifty Ducats (about five Euro) a visitor gets a twelve hour pass to listen to the live commentary. Premium members can watch for free.

Schedule of commentators live on Playchess

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Schedule (playing days)

Games begin at 13:30h local time (15:30 Moscow, 12:30 London, 7:30 a.m. NY), except for the last round on January 31st, which begins at 12:30h. There are three rest days, on January 20th, 25th, and 28th. For all three groups the rate of play is 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 minutes/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move.

Location: The tournament takes place in the De Moriaan Community Centre (Dorpsduinen 4, 1949 EG Wijk aan Zee). There is running commentary on the games of the Grandmaster Groups in a special Chess Pavilion, on the Village Green in Wijk aan Zee (one minute walk from De Moriaan).

Links Official web site All games in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2010 + reports 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!