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Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament begins today
09.01.2004 – Corus is the sponsor, a steel manufacturing company responsible for 10% of total EU production; "wyke aahn zay" is the Dutch seaside resort north-west of Amsterdam; the tournament is a category 19 with an average rating of 2702. It all comes together today, the first round is on Saturday. Details... |
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Corus Round 1: Akopian beats Kramnik and leads
10.01.2004 – While the other dozen players were splitting the points, the battle of the Vladimirs provided action to spare. Akopian finished off Kramnik with a spectacular rook sacrifice to become the first leader of the year. Games with notes and report here. |
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Corus Round 2: The favorites strike back
11.01.2004 – One day after the top rated player lost to an outsider, the top tenners took revenge. Vladimir Akopian's run of glory lasted just one day. Kramnik bounced back by beating van Wely. Vishy Anand took a share of the lead with a win over Akopian and was joined by Peter Leko, who beat Timman. Full report and analysis here. |
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Corus Round 3: The calm after the calm
13.01.2004 – We're still waiting for the storm in Wijk aan Zee. There was only one decisive game today, making just 5 of 21 games total. There were three short draws, but the one win was even shorter! Displaying a total lack of nationalistic solidarity, Russian champ Peter Svidler demolished countryman Evgeny Bareev in just 17 moves. He joins Anand and Leko in the lead with 2/3. Full report here. |
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Corus Round 4: Action in Wijk aan Zee
14.01.2004 – All of the pent-up energy in Wijk aan Zee finally burst free today. There were as many wins as we'd seen in the first three rounds combined. No one managed to break out of the leading pack, which grew to five players on +1. van Wely beat Timman in the Battle of Holland and Kramnik put the brakes on Svidler. Full report with photos and analysis here now. |
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Corus Round 5: Jan Can!
16.01.2004 – Things quieted down on the scoreboard but not on the chess board. Marathon games of 80, 101, and 182 moves gave endgame fans more than their money's worth in round five. The only wins in the A group were by Akopian and Dutch legend Jan Timman, who got his first WAZ win in two years. The leading pack of five remained unchanged. Report, photos, and analysis here. |
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Corus Round 6: White is Okay
17.01.2004 – Chessplayers often explain the advantage of the first move by comparing it to having the serve in tennis. Today the aces were serving aces and all four wins came with the white pieces. All four were also scored by the leaders: Adams, Kramnik, Anand, and Topalov moved to +2. Report with photos and analysis here. |
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Corus Round 7: Anand leads alone at last
18.01.2004 – As inevitable as tears at a wedding, Vishy Anand has taken the lead in Wijk aan Zee. The Indian won the all-Asia game against Zhang Zhong with black while his co-leaders could only draw (or lose, in Topalov's case). Is Anand's second consecutive title also inevitable? Svidler, Bologan, and Shirov also won. Full report with analysis and photos here now. |
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Corus Round 8: Anand sprints, Adams follows
19.01.2004 – It was a good day from A to Z in Wijk aan Zee. Or maybe just for A and Z. Players with names starting with A scored 2.5/3 led by wins from Anand over Bareev and Adams over Kramnik. Z, represented by Zhang, got its first full point. B was a disaster, going 0-2. Anand keeps the clear lead and will have black against Kramnik tomorrow. Full report and analysis. |
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Corus Round 9: Heavyweight battle drawn short and sweet
20.01.2004 – Right after rook sacrifices shook the board in Kramnik-Anand, the players shook hands. Did someone resign? What was going on? It turns out a perpetual check was unavoidable. Adams lost to van Wely to join Leko a full point behind Anand. Full report and analysis. |
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Wijk in the Winter
20.01.2004 – A trip to the Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament is something you don't want to miss – even if it is winter and you have to brave rain and gale-force winds. You are rewarded for your enterprising spirit by meeting a lot of interesting people and seeing a lot of interesting games. Here is our first picture report from the Super-GM in Wijk. |
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Corus Round 10: Adams doesn't test Anand, no change at the top
22.01.2004 – 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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For every Tom, Dick and Garry
22.01.2004 – Indian newspapers, which in the past years used to cover European chess events
very intensely, have cut back on foreign travel for their chess correspondents. Only
one major broadsheet is represented in Wijk aan Zee, the south Indian Deccan
Herald. Yesterday Pune-based Manisha Mohite published an interview
with a "ChessBase guru". |
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Corus Round 11: Read all about it! Anand wins, Leko gives chase
23.01.2004 – We should thank Peter Leko for at least making it look close. Unstoppable Vishy Anand beat Jan Timman to move to +5. Leko defeated Zhang to stay a full point back. Sokolov seems intent on taking his turn as "Dutch player to finish last in WaZ," a role played by Timman or van Wely for the past four years. Soko lost to Bareev and now faces Kramnik and Anand! Report with photos and analysis here now. |
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Corus Round 12: Tough day for top seeds
24.01.2004 – No need to peek into Anand's ear to look for gears and wires, he's human. He suffered his first loss of the event, to Topalov. Leko drew and Adams won, so they are both a half-point behind Anand. Sokolov beat Kramnik. Anand has white in the final round; his pursuers have black. (Bareev (right) actually drew, but we liked the picture!) Full report and analysis |
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Last day impressions of Wijk
25.01.2004 – What do you do on a Sunday when you feel like driving your new car? You find an excuse for your family to spend a day away from home. Useful that on this very Sunday is the final round of the Wijk aan Zee chess tournament. ChessBase programmer and sometimes roving journalist Jeroen van den Belt sent us this illustrated report. |
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Corus Round 13: Anand Anand! Wins 2nd straight Wijk aan Zee
26.01.2004 – Vishy Anand played a short draw to get the half point he needed to guarantee at least a share of first place. That was enough for clear victory when Adams and Leko also drew. They shared 2-3 a half-point back. Topalov and Bologan both won and shared 4-5. Bruzon won the B group and 13-year-old Carlsen the C. We've got lots of photos and a video clip of Anand-Sokolov! Report and games |
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The Mozart of Chess
27.01.2004 – That is the title conferred by GM Lubomir Kavalek of the Washington
Post on Magnus Carlsen, a 13-year-old Norwegian who made
his first grandmaster norm and won the Corus C-group in Wijk aan Zee. We bring you a portrait and the games of
this remarkable young lad whom you will definitely want to watch carefully in the future. |
