Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

Corus Group A (2008) Played at the De Moriaan Centre in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands 12-27 January 2008. Rest days: 16, 21 and 24 January. The rounds began at 1:30 pm, except the last round which began at 0:30 pm. Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 60 more minutes for the next 20 moves, followed by 30 more minutes to finish the game. Tournament category: XX (2742). Chief arbiter: Thomas van Beekum. Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen shared the win with 8/13. Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 =1 Aronian 25 2739 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 8 =1 Carlsen 17 2733 ½ * 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 8 =3 Anand 38 2799 ½ 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 7½ =3 Radjabov 20 2735 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 7½ =5 Leko 28 2753 ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 7 =5 Ivanchuk 38 2751 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 7 =7 Adams 36 2726 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6½ =7 Kramnik 32 2799 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 6½ =9 Topalov 32 2780 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ 0 0 1 6 =9 Polgar 31 2707 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 6 =9 Mamedyarov 22 2760 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 6 =12 Eljanov 24 2692 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ * ½ 0 5 =12 Van Wely 35 2681 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 5 =12 Gelfand 39 2737 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ * 5 Official site: https://web.archive.org/web/2008013... Crosstable: https://history.tatasteelchess.com/... Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/aro... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/wijk-... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/html/twi... FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/tournament... Previous: Corus Group A (2007). Next: Corus Group A (2009). See also Corus Group B (2008), Corus Group C (2008) and Corus Honorary Group (2008)  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 60  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Eljanov vs Leko ½-½ 27 2008 Corus Group A E15 Queen's Indian 2. Kramnik vs Van Wely ½-½ 25 2008 Corus Group A D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 3. Ivanchuk vs J Polgar ½-½ 24 2008 Corus Group A E15 Queen's Indian 4. Adams vs Gelfand ½-½ 21 2008 Corus Group A C42 Petrov Defense 5. Topalov vs Ivanchuk ½-½ 36 2008 Corus Group A A70 Benoni, Classical with 7.Nf3 6. Van Wely vs J Polgar ½-½ 37 2008 Corus Group A E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 7. Anand vs Mamedyarov ½-½ 36 2008 Corus Group A C76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation 8. Kramnik vs Radjabov ½-½ 79 2008 Corus Group A E97 King's Indian 9. Leko vs Adams ½-½ 98 2008 Corus Group A C92 Ruy Lopez, Closed 10. Aronian vs Leko ½-½ 28 2008 Corus Group A E15 Queen's Indian 11. Ivanchuk vs Gelfand ½-½ 22 2008 Corus Group A A20 English 12. Radjabov vs Van Wely ½-½ 85 2008 Corus Group A D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 13. Eljanov vs Anand ½-½ 17 2008 Corus Group A E34 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Noa Variation 14. Mamedyarov vs Kramnik ½-½ 23 2008 Corus Group A C43 Petrov, Modern Attack 15. J Polgar vs Topalov ½-½ 45 2008 Corus Group A B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 16. Adams vs Carlsen ½-½ 38 2008 Corus Group A C80 Ruy Lopez, Open 17. Radjabov vs Mamedyarov ½-½ 28 2008 Corus Group A D97 Grunfeld, Russian 18. Leko vs Ivanchuk ½-½ 42 2008 Corus Group A B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation 19. Anand vs Adams ½-½ 56 2008 Corus Group A E15 Queen's Indian 20. Carlsen vs Aronian ½-½ 36 2008 Corus Group A C78 Ruy Lopez 21. Aronian vs Anand ½-½ 20 2008 Corus Group A D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 22. Ivanchuk vs Carlsen ½-½ 19 2008 Corus Group A C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 23. Adams vs Kramnik ½-½ 25 2008 Corus Group A C42 Petrov Defense 24. J Polgar vs Leko ½-½ 35 2008 Corus Group A C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall 25. Radjabov vs Adams ½-½ 25 2008 Corus Group A C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 60    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 306 OF 307 ·  Later Kibitzing> Feb-03-08    minasina: User: ahmadov 's post at The Kibitzer's Café (Feb-01-08): <"Some pictures from Corus 2008 User: lostemperor sent me kindly http://picasaweb.google.com/zahirah... "> Feb-07-08    LKor: I’m a bit surprised by the organizers’ choice for single round robin tournaments with even number of participants. I saw it at Corus and Tal Memorial. That makes some players to have more games with black than others, which is unfair in my opinion. At Corus that did not even count as tiebreak criteria (Aronian played 7 games as white, Carlsen only 6). Are you OK with it? Feb-07-08    Eyal: <LKor> Perhaps organizers of single round-robin tournaments tend to avoid an odd number of participants because of the awkwardness that would result in the pairings - one player being left out each round. That would also make it somewhat less comfortable to follow the development of the standings along the tournament, because you'd have to take into consideration not only the number of points but also the number of games played by each participant (e.g., after round 4 you'd have 4 players with only 3 games etc.). But on the other hand, it would indeed eliminate the element of unfairness or inequality that you mention, which is built into single round-robin tournaments with an even number of players. Btw, do you know of any tournament where having one more game to play with Black DID count as a tiebreak criterion? I don't think it makes such a good criterion - among other things, because this is supposed to be completely a matter of luck and out of the players' control. If you want to reward a greater effort with Black, there's the criterion sometimes used of greater number of wins with Black (and by that Carlsen would have the advantage over Aronian). Feb-07-08    LKor: Thanks, <Eyal>, for the clarification! I just think that rewarding only wins with black is still not enough: managing a draw with black is more respectable than the same "achievement" with white! Feb-08-08    percyblakeney: Wijk aan Zee (A) statistics 1996-2008 for the participants of the latest edition of the tournament: Anand +50 -9 =84 Topalov +36 -25 =69 Kramnik +30 -12 =75 Adams +28 -13 =77 van Wely +23 -56 =90 Ivanchuk +18 -6 =54 Leko +17 -6 =81 Polgar +12 -12 =41 Aronian +11 -4 =24 Radjabov +11 -5 =23 Gelfand +9 -14 =42 Carlsen +5 -6 =15 Eljanov +2 -5 =6 Mamedyarov +1 -6 =19 Feb-08-08    adair10: Thank you, <percyblakeney>. I took the liberty to use your statistics in rearranged form showing overal plus or minus (number of wins minus number of losses) and total number of games played. Anand +41/143 Kramnik +18/117 Adams +15/118 Ivanchuk +12/78 Topalov +11/130 Leko +11/114 Aronian +7/39 Radjabov +6/39 Polgar 0/65 Carlsen -1/26 Eljanov -3/13 Gelfand -5/65 Mamedyarov -5/26 van Wely -33/169 The most games were played by Anand and van Wely with strikingly different outcomes Feb-08-08    percyblakeney: <adair10> Interesting, and if Kasparov is added his score would be +18/39. Players like Aronian and Radjabov have good chances to advance in these statistics if they can keep playing anything similar to their latest starts. Feb-08-08    Eyal: <Players like Aronian and Radjabov have good chances to advance in these statistics if they can keep playing anything similar to their latest starts.> And so does Carlsen, of course... His overall score doesn't look very impressive yet (still "suffering" from the weak performance of last year), but he's already won a tournament - something which a player like Adams, with his supposedly more impressive score, never managed to do (though he came quite close at 2004) and probably never will. Feb-08-08    slomarko: <-33> omg Feb-08-08    percyblakeney: <And so does Carlsen, of course...> Indeed. At the same time the results show that it's not easy to line up the wins in a tournament like Wijk. Pono has never had a plus score, also Svidler has a career minus. I think Shirov has in total +1 after many starts. Carlsen, Radjabov and Aronian are probably able to get a plus many years in a row, but not many other players will be able to do it. Feb-08-08    SwitchingQuylthulg: <percyblakeney, adair10> There are some things wrong with those numbers. Leko's +11/114 should be +11/104 (which indeed is what <percyblakeney>'s initial stats show). Adams having 118 games also looks a bit strange, given that this number is not divisible by 13... perhaps there's one draw too many or something? Feb-08-08    percyblakeney: <Adams having 118 games also looks a bit strange, given that this number is not divisible by 13... perhaps there's one draw too many or something?> Correct, it should be +28 -13 =76 for him. Link worth reposting: http://pagesperso-orange.fr/eric.de... Feb-08-08    adair10: Leko's score should be as <SwitchingQuylthulg> corrected me +11/104, not +11/114. As much as we think Aronian, Radjabov and Carlsen have the best chance to get to the top, it still will be very difficult. For example, Aronian needs to participate (or more accurately needs to be invited) in 8 more tournaments and produce an astonishing average score of +4.25 to catch present Anand. Only now I realized how good a record Anand has. <SwitchingQuylthulg> please correct me if my math has failed me again Feb-09-08    percyblakeney: <Only now I realized how good a record Anand has> Anand's eleven latest scores in Wijk: +3 +4 +6 +3 +4 +4 +4 +3 +5 +2 +2. Not easy to ever get comparable results for anyone. But apart from Anand (and of course Kasparov in his three starts) the other top players have scores that look very possible to reach. Feb-09-08    sapfy: Carlsen will probably beat Anand's record. Barring the unforseen, he is likely to play every single WaZ for the next 20+ years. Feb-15-08    hitman84: Nursery pot from chessbase : http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... Finally we get to know more about the writers and journalists whose contributions are overlooked by many chess fans. This is just hilarious! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGRX... Chess players are better footballers :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJKz... http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... Feb-15-08    Red October: Vladimir Potkin looks like Shirov's brother Feb-15-08    hitman84: I wonder who is the better chess player among the trio Aruna Anand, Sofi Leko and Pilar Molina :) Feb-15-08    slomarko: <I wonder who is the better chess player among the trio Aruna Anand, Sofi Leko and Pilar Molina> who the cares who is the better chess player question is which of the 3 looks best. i vote for Pilar. Feb-15-08    hitman84: umm.. slo, looks like santa disappointed you :p Feb-15-08    Open Defence: I have an Iraninan friend who looks a bit like Sofia Leko Jan-25-09    notyetagm: <Open Defence: I have an Iraninan friend who looks a bit like Sofia Leko> Lucky you. Jan-25-09    Open Defence: <notyetagm> I am a mother lol Jan-25-09    whiteshark: Oops! Wrong year... :D Jan-25-09    NakoSonorense: <whitesshark> Got lost? Here are the directions: Corus (2009) xD Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 307) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 306 OF 307 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC