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Chess Niggemann

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.

Nigel Davies: A busy person’s opening system Players with interests and commitments away from the chess board often find it difficult to compete against those with more study time. Their opponents come to the board armed with the latest theory and can bash out moves well into the middle game. On this DVD Nigel Davies addresses this issue by demonstrating a simple and easy to learn opening system designed for the busy person. More information...

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2004 – Round 6

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

The Open, then the C, B, and A groups all in the same hall.

In classical chess, as opposed to rapid and blitz, having the white pieces gives you much better chances of winning a game than having black. The stronger the players, the bigger the relative advantage of having the first move. The other number that rises with Elo is the percentage of draws, unfortunately. Among the 2600 crowd white wins run almost two to one over black, but draws hit 65% in 2003 at the top level.

Basically all these number reflect what we already know. Winning a chess game requires a mistake and the top players don't make many mistakes. Another consideration is that since drawing with black is considered a minor victory you regularly see draws when black is slightly better and would likely play on in the same position with white.

After adding four more in round six, wins by white are over four to one over black in Wijk aan Zee's A group, although draws are still at the usual 65%. The white factor may work out in Kramnik's favor down the home stretch. The pairings give him the first move against rivals Anand, Topalov, and Leko. Anand has black against his co-leaders (and already had black against Leko and Svidler, ouch!).

Bareev and Adams preparing for a short day at work. 1-0 in 25.

Going into the round the leaders knew they had to push hard with the first move, especially since they all outrated their opponents. It made for a day of thrilling, hard-fought games. Adams was the first to hit the media room with a full point in his hand. Bareev blundered a pawn to a fairly simple fork and resigned in disgust on move 25. Topolov out-dueled Bologan in a sharp game to keep pace.

Longer grinds were required for Kramnik and Anand to beat Zhang and Shirov, respectively. Kramnik's inexorable win has the look of a work of art. He will simply not be denied. Anand and Shirov swapped and swapped until they both got what they wanted. Shirov had a theoretically drawn endgame and Anand had excellent winning chances. As so often happens, practical chances beat theory hands down.

The Maestro: Anand limbers up before beating Shirov.

Leko was the only "white leader" who couldn't keep the pace. He was held to a tough draw by Akopian. The audience was denied good chance for a second celebration day when Timman agreed to a draw against Svidler in an endgame that was very close to winning for the Dutchman. Timman had lost his previous two whites so maybe he figured this was good enough. Call it karma for Svidler, who resigned in a drawn position against Kramnik in round four. In yet another wild game the rivalry match-up between Sokolov and van Wely ended in a draw after both sides missed wins.

A battle of heavyweights. Timman could have pressed for a win over Svidler.

The field is starting to stretch and none of the leaders meet tomorrow either. But they all have black, so anything can happen. Will the underdogs charge the net against the big dogs or be content with serve-and-volley draws?

Mig Greengard

Standings after round six

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