Corus Chess Tournament 2007, Round 5

 by John Lee Shaw

The players did not just have to worry about their opponents in round 5, but also a vicious storm which decided to hit Holland (and other parts of Europe). For this reason, the spectator numbers were a little lower than one would normally expect at the event. Even as the opening moves were being played, the wind howled around Wijk aan Zee, and rain battered the roof of the venue. Bemused looks and nervous smiles were exchanged between one or two of the players who are perhaps not accustomed to such weather conditions.

Dutch hero, Loek van Wely -- another point on the board

Play was just as vicious as the weather, it seemed, with the most bloody round yet in Group-A. Poor Alexey Shirov seems to have hit a brick wall in this tournament, losing his 5th round game to Holland's Loek van Wely. Shirov seems to be very badly prepared, and suffering from a lack of confidence. Very early deep thinks are costing him dearly in the tournament so far, and this repeated itself in round 5. At move 23, he had just 44 minutes left on his clock. The rather worsening factor, however, is that Shirov obtained an excellent position, and could infact have siezed an initiative with 27.Bc4. Shirov opted for the mistaken 27.h5 though, and from here his game went downhill rather rapidly. A faulty sacrifice of the exchanged followed, and though Shirov regained the material, it was to the detriment of 2 pawns. Black had a decisive plus, and the game ended in van Wely's favour on move 40.

David Navara v Teymour Radjabov
could well have been 1-0, but in the end was 0-1

Star of the tournament so far, Teymour Radjabov, seems to be an unstoppable force at the moment. In round 5 he defeated David Navara, handing the Czech his first loss of the tournament. To be fair, Radjabov played the opening quite badly, and Navara obtained excellent play and a clear plus. At move 20, black's position was probably critical, however David seemed to tense up perhaps, and just take his eye off the ball a little. 21.e4? (21.a4! and black stands extremeky bad) was the first inaccuracy, but the blunder came upon 25.Qg5?? which hands black the better position and 28.Rb6 was the final nail in the coffin. A bit of a sigh of relief for Teymour after the game, as the score could (and probably should) have been the other way around.

Anand-Svidler -- a quicker 1-0 than one would expect

The other win of the day came from Vishy Anand against a seemingly badly prepared Peter Svidler. I talked to Peter before the start of the round and he told me that he was on rather strong medication for his foot, that he inexplicably injured just before the rest day. Apparently still having problems, 'let's see how it effects the head', he smiled. Well, the answer came so fast that I thought a quick draw had been agreed to be honest, as Peter overlooked an elementary tactic which lost his a couple of pawns. There was nothing left but to resign.

wearing his ribbon, World number 1, Veselin Topalov

World #1 Veselin Topalov came in to the hall wearing a ribbon on his jacket (see above picture). Upon asking his manager Silvio Danailov, (who was also wearing one), I was informed that this is in support of Bulgarian nurses who have been sentenced to death in Lybia, for allegedly deliberately infecting patients with HIV. Veselin managed to equalise quite easily playing black against Sergey Tiviakov, and when the queens came off the position already looked very drawish. The players continued for a while, but in the end they had nothing better than to repeat moves.

   

Other draws, were Karjakin-Motylev, who got in to an advance Caro Kann, which saw white with the bishop pair, but weak pawns. Ponomariov and Kramnik got in to a slav which resulted in a rather tame and quick draw after 19 moves. There was also a bit of a tame effort from Aronian-Carlsen, which after starting well abruptly ended with shared spoils.

Teymour Radjabov still leads, then, with a superb 4.5/5, that is some pace. Topalov and Anand chase him a point behind on 3.5. Topalov plays David Navara in round 6, with Vishy playing Kramnik. Could be two very exciting games.

1. T. Radjabov -- 4½
2. V. Topalov, V. Anand -- 3½
4. L. Aronian, V. Kramnik -- 3
6. S. Karjakin, D. Navara, R. Ponomariov, P. Svidler -- 2½
10. L. van Wely, A. Motylev -- 2
12. S. Tiviakov, M. Carlsen -- 1½
14. A. Shirov -- ½


Group-B is being led by 4 players, the first being Viorel Bologan, who beat round 4 leader Smeets earning him share of the lead and the award of the expert prize in the process. Group-C is being led by a point by Ian Nepomniachtchi, over Emanuel Berg, both having a great start to the tournament.


1. V. Bologan, J. Smeets, P. Eljanov, D. Jakovenko -- 3½
5. Bu Xiangzhi, M. Vachier-Lagrave -- 3
7. T. Kosintseva, F. Nijboer, D. Stellwagen -- 2½
10. G. Sargissian -- 2
11. V. Georgiev, J. Werle, E. L’Ami -- 1½
14. S. Atalik -- 1

1. I. Nepomniachtchi -- 4½
2. E. Berg -- 3½
3. P. Negi, M. Krasenkow, M. Bosboom, Hou Yifan -- 3
7. E. van Haastert, Z. Peng -- 2½
9. S. Brynell, N. Kosintseva -- 2
11. J. van der Wiel, H. Jonkman, W. Spoelman, T. Willemze -- 1½