Wijk R09: Topalov beats Kramnik, Carlsen blunders

Results of round nine

Group A

The game of the day was of course Veselin Topalov vs Vladimir Kramnik, and the question of the day whether they would shake hands. They didn't. But everything was done in full compliance with the FIDE directive: neither of the players refused to shake hands, because neither of the players offered to do so. They simply ignored each other completely, to the extent that even eye contact was studiously avoided.

The key game: Veselin Topalov vs Vladimir Kramnik in round nine

No handshake, no eye contact – but strictly according to FIDE rules

The game went well for Topalov, who was able to spring a dramatic novelty, 12.Nxf7, discovered by his second Ivan Cheparinov three years ago and carefully preserved for an important occasion. Kramnik came under serious pressure and missed clear drawing chances, as Garry Kasparov, watching the games on Playchess.com, pointed out in real time. More about that in the analysis tomorrow. In the end thing went badly downhill for the Russian GM and Topalov was able to chalk up an important psychological victory.

Michael Adams played his first decided game in this tournament when he beat Dutch GM Loek van Wely, who blundered an exchange at move 47. Tournament leader Magnus Carlsen played very solidly with black against Peter Leko and had a cast-iron draw when disaster struck and he threw away the game in his first real blunder of the event. The other games were drawn.

Adams,Mi (2726) - Van Wely,L (2681) [B87]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 22.01.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.0-0 Be7 9.Qf3 Qc7 10.Qg3 0-0 11.Bh6 Ne8 12.Kh1 Kh8 13.Bg5 Bxg5 14.Qxg5 Nf6 15.f3 Bd7 16.Rfd1 Nc6 17.Nxc6 Bxc6 18.a3 Rab8 19.Rd4 Rfc8 20.Rad1 h6 21.Qd2 Ne8 22.Ne2 a5 23.c3 Nf6 24.Qe3 Rd8 25.Ng3 Rd7 26.h3 Qa7 27.Qe1 Rbd8 28.R4d2 Qc5 29.Ne2 Qe5 30.Rd4 g5 31.c4 bxc4 32.Bxc4 Nh5 33.Qc3 Bb7 34.Bb5 Rc8 35.Qxa5 Rc2 36.R4d2 Rdc7 37.Qb4 Kg7 38.Qd4 Kf6 39.Kg1 d5 40.exd5 Bxd5 41.Qxe5+ Kxe5 42.Nc3 Rxd2 43.Rxd2 Nf4 44.g3 Nxh3+ 45.Kh2 g4 46.f4+

46...Kd6 47.Be2 1-0.

Leko,P (2753) - Carlsen,M (2733) [C95]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 22.01.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.b3 a5 16.Bd2 Rb8 17.Bd3 b4 18.Qc2 d5 19.cxb4 dxe4 20.Nxe4 Bxb4 21.Bxb4 Bxe4 22.Bxa5 Bxd3 23.Qxd3 e4 24.Qc4 exf3 25.Bxc7 Qc8 26.Bxb8 Qxb8 27.Rxe8+ Qxe8 28.a4 fxg2 29.a5 Qe4 30.a6 Nb6 31.a7 Kg7 32.Qc7 Qxd4 33.Re1 Qb4 34.Re7 Qxb3 35.Kxg2 Qd5+ 36.Kg1

Watching the game on Playchess Garry Kasparov expressed approval with the performance of "the kid", whom he had sent tow of his books a few years back and in fact met for a training session in Norway. "He is really quite extraordinary," he told us, "a superb talent." This game was a well-played draw, since Magnus had keep checking, and if the king moved to h2 he could play ...Qd4! The game continued 36...Qd1+ 37.Kg2 Qd5+ 38.Kg1 Qd1+ "Leko is saving some time," Kasparov said, "now he will move to h2." 39.Kh2. "Okay, the kid will find ...Qd4, lets go to another game." 39...Qf3?? "What?? Oh dear, he blew it. He broke under the pressure." Actually under time pressure: Magnus had just 20 seconds left on his clock. 40.Qxb6 Qf4+ 1-0.

Group A standings

The field is quite close, and with four rounds to go all options are still fairly much on the table. Take a look at what the differences are in this graph:

Full GM analysis of the key games will follow tomorrow...

Group B

Cheparinov completed a better day for the Bulgarians, by beating Krasenkov:

Cheparinov,I (2713) - Krasenkow,M (2636) [D31]
Corus B Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 22.01.2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Na6 9.Bd6 b6 10.Nf3 Bb7 11.0-0 Rd8 12.Qd2 c5 13.Rad1 Nb4 14.a3 Nc6 15.Bd3 Qg4 16.h3 Qh5 17.Qf4 f6 18.Rfe1 Qf7

19.Bf5 Bc8 20.Be4 Bd7 21.Bc7 Rc8 22.Ng5 fxg5 23.Qxf7+ Kxf7 24.Rxd7+ Nce7 25.Bd6 a5 26.Bf3 h5 27.Rb7 Rh6 28.Rxb6 Nf5 29.Rb7+ Nge7 30.Rd1 Kf6 31.Bc7 Nd4 32.Bxa5 g4 33.hxg4 hxg4 34.Bxg4 Rch8 35.Bh3 g5 36.f3 Ng6 37.Rc7 Nf4 38.Rxc5

38...Nxh3+ 39.gxh3 Nxf3+ 40.Kg2 Rxh3 41.Bc3+ e5 42.Rf1 1-0.

The day after – Ivan Cheparinov and Nigel Short on separate boards

The leader Movsesian took no chances, with a quiet draw as White against Short, whilst Bacrot drew a rather longer game as Black against Sargissian.

Group B standings

Group C

Caruana,F (2598) - Van der Wiel,J (2490) [B67]
Corus C Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 22.01.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f3 b5 10.Kb1 h6 11.Be3 Ne5 12.Bd3 Rb8 13.g4 Nxd3 14.cxd3 a5 15.h4 g6 16.Nb3 a4 17.Nc1 b4 18.N3e2 Bg7 19.d4 h5 20.g5 Ng8 21.d5 e5 22.Nd3

22...b3 23.a3 Ne7 24.f4 exf4 25.Bd4 0-0 26.Bf6 Bg4 27.Rdf1 Re8 28.Nd4 Qb6 29.Qxf4 Bf8 30.Nb4 Rb7 31.Ndc6 Nxc6 32.dxc6 Ra7 33.Nd5 Qa6 34.Bc3

34...Re5 35.Nf6+ Kg7 36.Bxe5 dxe5 37.Qxe5 Qd3+ 38.Ka1 Re7 39.Nxh5+ Kg8 40.Nf6+ Kg7 41.Qb8 Be2 42.h5 gxh5 43.Rc1 Rxe4 44.c7 1-0.

Group C standings

Honorary Group

Both games were drawn one of them in short and quiet fashion, the other after a highly creative battle.

Ljubojevic,L (2543) - Korchnoi,V (2605) [E33]
Corus Honarory Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 22.01.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 Nc6 5.e3 d5 6.a3 Bd6 7.f4 a5 8.Nf3 Be7 9.Bd2 0-0 10.Be2 Bd7 11.Ng5 Be8 12.h4 h6 13.0-0-0

13...Nb4 14.Qb1 c5 15.e4 cxd4 16.e5 dxc3 17.Bxc3 hxg5 18.exf6 Na2+ 19.Qxa2 Bxf6 20.hxg5 Bxc3 21.bxc3 Qc7 22.g3 Ba4 23.Bd3 Rfd8 24.Bc2 Bxc2 25.Qxc2

25...Qxc4 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qxg7 Rac8 29.Qf6+ Kd6 30.Qe5+ Kd7 31.Rh7 Qxc3+ ½-½.

Players in the Honorary Group: Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Lajos Portisch, Jan Timman and Viktor Korchnoi

Honorary group standings

Links

• All games so far in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C – Honorary
• Official web site
• All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2008
• Live coverage is available on the Playchess server.

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C