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Magnus Carlsen`s Blog

Corus 2010 Last Round

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

2010-02-01 02:46:11

Corus 2010 Penultimate Round

I’ve played Peter Leko, Hungary in many tournaments over the last three years. After some initial losses I scored two wins last year. Anyhow, black against Leko is not an easy task. As in some previous rounds I played the same main opening against this opponent as in our previous encounter (in Tal Memorial). In a fairly sharp position he decided to trade off pieces to enter a slightly better endgame, and I had to find some precise moves to make a draw. This was a satisfactory result today as V.Anand outplayed and beat V.Kramnik in a great game, and Shirov drew with Karjakin. Going into the last round as white against F. Caruana, Italy, I’m sole leader half a point ahead of Kramnik and Shirov and a full point ahead of V.Anand. Magnus Carlsen, Wijk aan Zee

2010-01-31 00:50:55

Corus 2010 Round 11

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

2010-01-30 01:12:45

Corus 2010 Round 10

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 later until I briefly went past him in October 2004 and permanently (up to now) in October 2006. 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

2010-01-28 17:53:16

Corus 2010 Round 9

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

2010-01-27 01:16:11

Corus 2010 Round 8

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 but 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 we share second place half a point behind Shirov. After a free day, I’ll play white against Kramnik on Tuesday. Magnus Carlsen, Wijk aan Zee

2010-01-25 00:59:41

Corus 2010 Round 7

Yesterday the 10-kamp started, 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

2010-01-24 00:13:41

Corus 2010 Round 6

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 (with no losses) 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

2010-01-22 23:39:57

Corus 2010 Round 5

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 here 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

2010-01-22 00:45:57

Corus 2010 Round 4

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. In the end 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

2010-01-20 01:23:00