Vienna 1996

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Vienna 1996
Compiled by Phony Benoni

A cozy little Category 18 tournament, featuring these players:

Jaan Ehlvest Boris Gelfand Anatoly Karpov Viktor Korchnoi Vladimir Kramnik Peter Leko Judit Polgar Alexey Shirov Veselin Topalov Artur Yusupov

It was closely fought all the way. The only player to have the sole lead was Topalov, who started with three points in the first four rounds. He promptly lost in round 5, leading to a six-way tie at 3 points (Gelfand, Karpov, Leko, Polgar, Shirov, Topalov), just ½-point ahead of a surging Kramnik who was recovering from losing his first two games.

Round six proved critical, as Gelfand and Topalov won their games from Korchnoi and Shirov to go in front. They then drew the last three rounds (though Kramnik made Topalov sweat a bit in round 8) to tie for first with only Karpov being able to make up the gap and catch them.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 Gelfand X 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5.5 2 Karpov 0 X ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 5.5 3 Topalov ½ ½ X 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 5.5 4 Leko ½ ½ 1 X 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5.0 5 Polgar ½ ½ ½ 1 X 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 5.0 6 Kramnik ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 X 0 ½ 1 1 5.0 7 Shirov ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 X ½ 1 ½ 4.5 8 Yusupov ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ X 0 ½ 3.5 9 Ehlvest ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 X ½ 3.0 10 Korchnoi 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ X 2.5

I'd say my favorite games were Kramnik's sacrificial attack against Ehlvest in round 3, Leko's demolition of Topalov in round 5, the exciting round 8 draw between Korchnoi and Polgar, and Karpov's clutch performance against Shirov in the last round.

Round 1, Game #1
Gelfand vs Leko, 1996
(A35) English, Symmetrical, 59 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 1, Game #2
Karpov vs Ehlvest, 1996
(D60) Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, 53 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 1, Game #3
Korchnoi vs Topalov, 1996
(A04) Reti Opening, 37 moves, 0-1
Round 1, Game #4
Kramnik vs Shirov, 1996
(D15) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 35 moves, 0-1
Round 1, Game #5
J Polgar vs A Yusupov, 1996
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 22 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 2, Game #6
Ehlvest vs A Yusupov, 1996
(D37) Queen's Gambit Declined, 35 moves, 1-0
Round 2, Game #7
Karpov vs Kramnik, 1996
(D45) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 59 moves, 1-0
Round 2, Game #8
Leko vs Korchnoi, 1996
(C11) French, 24 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 2, Game #9
Shirov vs Gelfand, 1996
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 53 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 2, Game #10
Topalov vs J Polgar, 1996
(B47) Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation, 41 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 3, Game #11
Gelfand vs Karpov, 1996
(A14) English, 69 moves, 1-0
Round 3, Game #12
Korchnoi vs Shirov, 1996
(D15) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 22 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 3, Game #13
Kramnik vs Ehlvest, 1996
(A17) English, 29 moves, 1-0
Round 3, Game #14
J Polgar vs Leko, 1996
(B17) Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation, 53 moves, 1-0
Round 3, Game #15
A Yusupov vs Topalov, 1996
(A58) Benko Gambit, 23 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 4, Game #16
Ehlvest vs Topalov, 1996
(E92) King's Indian, 36 moves, 0-1
Round 4, Game #17
Karpov vs Korchnoi, 1996
(E12) Queen's Indian, 42 moves, 1-0
Rouind 4, Game #18
Kramnik vs Gelfand, 1996
(E97) King's Indian, 35 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 4, Game #19
Leko vs A Yusupov, 1996
(C74) Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 75 moves, 1-0
Round 4, Game #20
Shirov vs J Polgar, 1996
(B52) Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack, 60 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 5, Game #21
Gelfand vs Ehlvest, 1996
(A17) English, 21 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 5, Game #22
Korchnoi vs Kramnik, 1996
(A13) English, 42 moves, 0-1
Round 5, Game #23
J Polgar vs Karpov, 1996
(B14) Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack, 19 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 5, Game #24
Topalov vs Leko, 1996
(B13) Caro-Kann, Exchange, 28 moves, 0-1
Round 5, Game #25
A Yusupov vs Shirov, 1996
(D10) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 27 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 6, Game #26
Ehlvest vs Leko, 1996
(A01) Nimzovich-Larsen Attack, 26 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 6, Game #27
Gelfand vs Korchnoi, 1996
(E11) Bogo-Indian Defense, 40 moves, 1-0
Round 6, Game #28
Karpov vs A Yusupov, 1996
(B81) Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack, 17 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 6, Game #29
Kramnik vs J Polgar, 1996
(E97) King's Indian, 44 moves, 1-0
Round 6, Game #30
Shirov vs Topalov, 1996
(E92) King's Indian, 40 moves, 0-1
Round 7, Game #31
Korchnoi vs Ehlvest, 1996
(A13) English, 37 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 7, Game #32
Leko vs Shirov, 1996
(B06) Robatsch, 32 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 7, Game #33
J Polgar vs Gelfand, 1996
(B99) Sicilian, Najdorf, 7...Be7 Main line, 91 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 7, Game #34
Topalov vs Karpov, 1996
(A17) English, 27 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 7, Game #35
A Yusupov vs Kramnik, 1996
(D43) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 36 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 8, Game #36
Ehlvest vs Shirov, 1996
(D15) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 60 moves, 0-1
Round 8, Game #37
Gelfand vs A Yusupov, 1996
(E34) Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Noa Variation, 14 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 8, Game #38
Karpov vs Leko, 1996
(D97) Grunfeld, Russian, 24 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 8, Game #39
Korchnoi vs J Polgar, 1996
(E98) King's Indian, Orthodox, Taimanov, 9.Ne1, 73 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 8, Game #40
Kramnik vs Topalov, 1996
(A15) English, 79 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 9, Game #41
Leko vs Kramnik, 1996
(B62) Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer, 17 moves, 1/2-1/2
Round 9, Game #42
J Polgar vs Ehlvest, 1996
(C10) French, 38 moves, 1-0
Round 9, Game #43
Shirov vs Karpov, 1996
(B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 40 moves, 0-1
Round 9, Game #44
Topalov vs Gelfand, 1996
(D37) Queen's Gambit Declined, 20 moves, 1/2-1/2
Rouind 9, Game #45
Korchnoi vs A Yusupov, 1996
(E43) Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation, 37 moves, 1/2-1/2
45 games

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