So what does an International Grandmaster do to get into shape for New Year's Eve? These guys chose to spend a couple of weeks at Groningen in the Netherlands trying to score points in a little Category 16 tournament (average rating 2634):Vladimir Akopian, Boris Gelfand, Julian Michael Hodgson, Viktor Korchnoi, Peter Leko, Alexander Onischuk, Alexey Shirov, Nigel Short, Ivan Sokolov, Peter Svidler, Jan Timman, Loek van Wely.
And after 11 rounds of that, a New Year's Day hangover is a relief.
Timman jumped out in front by winning his first four games, but a round 6 loss to Hodgson brought him back to the pack. Van Wely kept close, and was even tied for first with Timman after eight rounds. But Van Wely followed with two losses in a row, as Short won the biggest game of the tournament over Timman to take a half-point lead. A couple of quiet rounds kept it that way while Gelfand, who was undefeated but never quite came out of hiding, tied Timman for second place.
And a word needs to be said about Viktor Korchnoi. After eight rounds he had scored only three draws, and was in last place by two points. Saddened whispers were surely circulating that the 65-year-old couldn't keep up any more.
So Korchnoi proceeded to win his last three games. Not all fans may love the guy, but sometimes they can't help but admire him.
Groningen, Netherlands, 19-30 December 1996
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1 Short * 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 7
2 Timman 0 * ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 6½
3 Gelfand ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 6½
4 Leko ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 6
5 Shirov 1 0 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6
6 Van Wely ½ 0 ½ 0 1 * ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 6
7 Svidler ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 1 5½
8 Onischuk ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 0 ½ 0 4½
9 Hodgson 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 * ½ 1 0 4½
10 Akopian ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 4½
11 Sokolov 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * 1 4½
12 Korchnoi 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 * 4½
Round-by-round summary: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1 Short 1.0 1.5 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.5 5.0 5.0 6.0 6.5 7.0
2 Timman 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.5 4.5 5.0 5.5 5.5 6.0 6.5
3 Gelfand 0.5 1.0 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 6.0 6.5
4 Leko 0.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.5 6.0
5 Shirov 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.5 5.5 6.0
6 Van Wely 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 6.0
7 Svidler 0.5 1.5 1.5 2.5 3.0 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5
8 Onischuk 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.5
9 Hodgson 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 3.5 3.5 4.5 4.5 4.5
10 Akopian 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.5 3.0 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.5
11 Sokolov 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.5 2.5 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.0 4.5
12 Korchnoi 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
Original collection: Game Collection: Groningen 1996, by User: Phony Benoni.
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