Magnus Carlsen - Corus 2010
January 31st
I'm happy to say I won the Corus 2010 A group in the end with 8,5 / 13 points ahead of Kramnik and Shirov at 8 and Anand and Nakamura at 7,5!
Having described my last round blunder and subsequent save against Short in London in December as a narrow escape, I could
better have reserved the phrase for today. As white against 17-year old F.Caruana I settled for a closed Roy Lopez position
out of the opening, but he defended precisely and the position was fairly equal. In the middle game I found a plan that I
thought would leave me with a nice initiative but had calculated horribly wrong and ended up in a very difficult position.
Instead of suffering without counterplay, I sacrificed a pawn to activate my pieces. The knight endgame a pawn down was difficult,
but we both thought it should be possible to hold with precise defence. In the 5th hour of play he allowed a line that drew
fairly directly while he could have made me suffer a while longer.
In the meantime Kramnik had drawn with Karjakin and Anand with Van Wely, while Shriov against Dominguez was a sharp fight that turned out to be a real thriller. With very little time on the clock, Shirov found an incredible resource that turned a desperate-looking position into an unclear one. Dominguez made a blunder and offered a draw. Shirov didn't see the winning line either and accepted with seconds left in a clearly winning position.
After the traditional prize ceremony with pea soup there was a closing dinner for the players and organisers in the A-group hotel. The famous Dutch football star Edgar Davids is a chess enthusiast and he came to the hotel for a long chat which I really appreciated.
Now I'm looking forward to a week of vacation abroad before returning to Norway.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 31st
January 29th
During the last weekend of the Corus tournament we see a ramp up of activities and number of visitors (spectators, tournament organisers and media representatives).
I was facing Lenier Perez Dominquez, Cuba who is the highest rated Latin American player. He has played a number of top events the last year, and in this event he had been very solid with nine draws and one victory.
As white I chose the same Grunfeld variation as we played in Sofia in May 2009 and got a nice initiative. He spent a lot of time while I was still in my preparation, but he defended accurately in the middle game. Maybe I didn't find the right plan, because I could not seem to get any significant winning chances despite my promising initiative. When he got low on time I tried to complicate further. Objectively the position was fairly equal and he solved the problems I posed him except for the last one, after which I could force a winning queen and rook endgame. 1-0. Afterwards I commented on my game in the press centre.
Shirov had Kramnik on the ropes but the latter managed to draw in the end. I'm tied for first with Kramnik at 7,5/11 points with two rounds to go.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee
January 27th
Sergey Karjakin (20) is from Ukraine but has recently moved to Moscow and is in the process of switching federations. His
is currently trained by Dokhoyan, a former associate of Kasparov.
Karjakin became a Grandmaster at 12, the youngest ever, and is famous for being the second of FIDE Knockout world championship
winner Ponomariov at the age of 11!
We are both born in 1990 though nearly a year apart, and he was already a master player when I played my first children tournament. For many years he was the top rated player born in 1990 and earlier until I briefly past him in October 2004 and permanently (up to now) from October 2006 onwards.
Against his 1.e4 I chose the French defence, an opening I haven't played at a serious level before.
He did not get any advantage out of the opening and seemed quite uncomfortable in the middle game when my counterplay got
going. After several inaccuracies from him the tactics in the position all favoured black, and he found nothing better than
to sacrifice an exchange for my active knight. I found a precise way to force the exchange of queens and one pair of rooks,
and the endgame was easily won.
Finally! All our previous classical chess encounters have ended in draw. I felt focused and determined today and was of course very satisfied to win after yesterday's dismal result. Shirov lost to Anand while Kramnik drew against Ivanchuk.
Kramnik is sole leader with 7/10 while Shirov and I are sharing 2nd at 6.5 with 3 rounds to go.
I'm white against Lenier Dominquez, Cuba after the last free day.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee
January 26th
Before the game as white against V.Kramnik today we had spent quite some time on opening preparation. Maybe too much, I did
not have a good day at work today, that's for sure.
I chose 1.d4 and the Catalan Opening, and the position got very interesting after I sacrificed a pawn on d5. We both spent
quite some time in the complex middle game, but in the end I had spent too much time and the position was still complicated.
In an unclear position I just blundered a piece and could just resign a few moves later.
Frankly, the possibility of losing today had not really crossed my mind. The good news is that I haven't lost a classical game since Dortmund in July and had nearly forgotten what it's like. The bad news, it's not a pleasant feeling.
With 4 rounds left Shirov and Kramnik are leading with 6,5 points, I'm sharing 3rd place at 5,5 with my opponent tomorrow S.Karjakin, Ukraine.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee
January 24th
With 13 rounds the Corus tournament is longer than most top events. Today we played round 8 and it is still a week to go. Typically the quality of play becomes less predictable at the end of such a long tournament. It'll be an interesting and decisive week ahead.
Today I played black against the leader A.Shirov, Spain. I lost the last round against Shirov in Sofia in May 2009 in a Sicilian
Sveshnikov due to a bad blunder and opted for the same opening today. I played a different bishop move on move number 22 in
a tense position. Black has sacrificed three pawns but has sufficient compensation due to the strong central pawns and the
active bishop pair. Shirov immediately played a queen move inviting a perpetual check with draw.
It is a tricky position to play for both sides. White must try to regroup and organise his pieces better, while at the same
time being ready to give back some of his extra material. Black must ensure that the attack results in sufficient threats
to mate or regain material. I put my rooks in the g- and e-files and pushed the e-pawn to e3. Shirov moved his queen to g2
despite the discovered threat from my bishop. In the end none of us found any better solution than to repeat moves, and so
this short but quite interesting game ended in a draw.
Kramnik played white against Nakamura's Dutch opening, and slowly ground him down to move to 5.5/8 points and shared second
place with me half a point behind Shirov.
After a free day, I'll play white against Kramnik on Tuesday.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee
January 23rd
Yesterday started the 10-kamp, the major amateur event during the Corus chess festival. We're now several hundred chess players in the main playing hall (in addition to many spectators). Still the playing conditions are fairly good with very little noice.
As mentioned during Tal Memorial, today's opponent V. Ivanchuk is one of the most talented but also maybe the least stable of the top players.
In 2009 all our five classical games ended draw, but with white I was eager to play for a win today. We both started spending
time after a few moves in an unusual opening. He sacrificed a pawn and after a long thought I accepted the sacrifice. A few
moves later he seemed to sacrifice a piece. Maybe it was to get back his pawn plus another pawn and a strong initiative, but
then he probably concluded, and probably rightly so, that his compensation was insufficient. Instead he sacrificed his queen
for an attack against my central king, but without much problem I could trade down material. After his initiative was extinguished
he had nothing left to do but resign.
Nakamura beat Shirov, and Nakamura and I are now just half a point behind him.
Sunday I'll play black against Shirov.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 23rd 2010
January 22nd
With V.Anands victories in the 2007 World Championship tournament and 2008 WC match against V.Kramnik, chess had an undisputed World Champion for the first time in this century. Anand won quite convincingly on both occasions but has obviously not been as motivated during tournament play. I don't think he has won any tournaments since he beat me in August 2008 in the Mainz rapid chess final.
In 2009 I won 4 of our 6 encounters, albeit two in blitz and one in blindfold chess. Today I went for the sharp Sicilian Dragen, but Anand chose a quiet line and after I had solved black's opening problems he offered a draw already on the 19th move. A bit early to call it a day maybe, but with black against the reining World Champion in a position that would be "dead" drawn in a few moves I accepted his offer.
Kramnik, Domingez and Leko won their games.
Shirov is leading with 5.5 points, I'm shared second with Kramnik, Ivanchuk and Nakamura with 4 points with 7 rounds to go. Saturday I'm white against Ivanchuk.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee
January 21th
On the free day Wednesday I was invited to play a football match against a Dutch team. Together with GM Kjetil Lie (who is a former 3rd division goal-getter), we played against Van Wely and Smeets whom I beat in round 2 and 3 of the chess tournament. Dutch Television was present and duly documented our short but intense match ending in a Norwegian 5-1 victory.
Today I played H.Nakamura, USA (2708). He is rated as number 8 in the tournament but following his good result in the recent World Championship for National teams in Turkey and his shared 2nd place after 4 rounds, I did not expect an easy game.
He avoided mainline theory in the opening. I did not have any real problems, but got a bit too optimistic early on and underestimated maybe his ensuing attacking chances. At a critical junction I could have given an exchange for two pawns and an unclear position, but chose instead to give a knight for 3 pawns. In a fairly equal ending I offered a draw. He somewhat surprisingly declined, but after I had made a few inaccurate moves, he was seriously playing for a win.
In the end I found a way to defend and after swapping most pieces and all pawns the game was drawn after 5,5 hours. A tough fight.
I'll have the black pieces two rounds in row, facing reigning World Champion V.Anand Thursday.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 21th
January 19th
Today I played former World Championship match participant Nigel Short. In London last month I was close to winning against him when I made a serious oversight and had to play very accurately to make a draw.
Today I was white and he chose the Scandinavian opening. I got a very promising position in the early middle game but unfortunately
I again made a blunder against him and my advantage disappeared. I might have had a few more opportunities to get renewed
chances later on but I was not at my best today. We reached an equal rook ending and a draw was agreed.
A.Shirov won again to take the lead with impressive 4/4 when going into the first free day. I'm shared second together with
Nakamura and Ivanchuk at 3 points.
Earlier this evening the traditional management dinner with a simultaneous exhibition was held in the event tent here in Wijk, and we thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed and friendly atmosphere. In round 5 on Thursday I'll play black against H.Nakamura, USA.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 19th
January 18th
When we arrived in Wijk last week snow covered the ground and it was pretty cold. The last few days we've had plenty of sunshine and warmer weather. (Nearly all the snow is gone.) Still in his 30's, Look van Wely is an uncompromising player with a total of 19 appearances in a row in the Corus A-group.
I played him with the black pieces today, and based on an idea from my trainer Kasparov I sacrificed a pawn followed by a new move (13'Bf8) in the opening. Van Wely spent time but anyhow made some minor inaccuracies so that I was slightly better in the early endgame. He managed to defend fairly well until he got into time trouble, but then he made serious mistakes and allowed my c-pawn to queen on move 40. 0-1. I think my play held decent quality today.
Surprisingly all the leaders won (with black). Shirov is still in first place with 3/3 ahead of Nakamura and I with 2.5 and Ivanchuk with 2 points. Anand and Kramnik have 50% (1.5 points).
K.Lie won in the C-group and together we celebrated the Norwegian victories at the local Italian restaurant.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 18th
January 17th
I've played against today's opponent Jan Smeets (24) in the C-group, B-group (twice) and A-group since 2004. He had a good year in 2009 and is just a few rating points short of being the highest rated Dutchman. He won the qualifier for the Amber Rapid and Blindfold back in August so we'll meet again in March in Nice.
Today I went for the sharp Botvinnik variation in the Slav although it is a favourite line of my opponent. He surprised me with a somewhat unusual knight move on the 17th move and I spent half an hour thinking. I found an interesting continuation and fortunately he was out of his preparation a few moves later. It was his turn to think, but to his credit he used the time well and came up with a good plan. We each had a large pawn majority on opposite sides, and the game continued to be balanced but extremely complicated until we both were down to increments (30 seconds per move) until the first time control (40 moves). At this point he went wrong, I started to chase his king around and just after the time control he resigned in face of heavy material losses.
With 1.5/2 I'm in shared 2nd place after the leader A.Shirov.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 17th
January 16th
Not much to tell from the game today. My opponent Dutch S.Tiviakov plays extremely solid with white. I tried to create some
complication on the queenside but never got any advantage.
After about 3 hours play I offered a draw in a slightly worse endgame and as expected he accepted my offer.
There has been significant media interest after I became number one on the January 2010 ranking list. After we arrived in
Wijk aan Zee 4 days ago I have given a number of interviews with various media including local and foreign newspapers and
the TV channel Al Jazeera.
In my first appearance here in Wijk I played in the Grandmaster C-group in 2004. This year Norwegian Kjetil Lie (who was my
second in the candidates back in 2007) and 16-year old Swedish Nils Grandelius play in the C-group, and Finnish Tommy Nyback
in the B-group. I'm glad to see some fellow Scandinavians participating here.
In round 2 Sunday I'm white against another Dutchman, Jan Smeets.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 16th 2010
January 15th
For me 2010 started with a training camp in Marrakech in Morocco. It might not be that well known (except in France) these days, but Marrakech has a remarkable number of high-end hotels. We stayed at the excellent Es Saadi just outside the old city. The Atlas mountain ranging up to nearly 4200 meters are less than 50 kilometres away, and the picturesque view following the heavy snowfall in the mountains last week was awesome.
We spent a full week preparing for the Corus Chess Tournament starting tomorrow in the small seaside village Wijk aan Zee outside Amsterdam in Holland.
It is the 7th year in a row I'm playing in the Corus event (that is staged for the 72nd time)!
There are 3 grandmasters groups with 14 players in each, and numerous amateur events.
In the A-group I'm top ranked ahead of World Champion V.Anand and former World Champion V.Kramnik. We will play 13 rounds
all-play-all and with 3 rest days after round 4, 8 and 10, the tournament lasts until the end of January.
During the opening ceremony today I drew start number 10 resulting in the black pieces (against Dutch Tiviakov) in round 1
Saturday at 13:30.
Magnus Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 15th 2010