Corus 2008 chess tournament

The 2008 Corus chess tournament was a Grandmaster level chess tournament held in the de Moriaan Community Centre, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands from 12 January to 28 January 2008. It consisted of three main Grandmaster groups and the Honorary group, comprising former A group champions; groups A, B and C were won respectively by Levon Aronian (on tiebreak from Magnus Carlsen, after both finished with 8 points), Sergei Movsesian (9½ points, one point ahead of Nigel Short and Étienne Bacrot) and Fabiano Caruana (10 points, two ahead of Dimitri Reinderman and Parimarjan Negi). The Honorary group was won by Ljubomir Ljubojević (4 points) ahead of Viktor Korchnoi, Jan Timman (both 3) and Lajos Portisch (2).

Crosstable

Corus A Wijk aan Zee (NED), 12-27 i 2008 cat. XX (2742)

	Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	Tot	Perf
1	Levon Aronian (Armenia)	2739	*	½	½	1	½	½	½	0	1	½	½	½	1	1	8	2829
2	Magnus Carlsen (Norway)	2733	½	*	0	½	0	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	½	8	2830
3	Viswanathan Anand (India)	2799	½	1	*	0	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	½	½	7½	2794
4	Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)	2735	0	½	1	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	7½	2799
5	Peter Lékó (Hungary)	2753	½	1	½	½	*	½	½	½	0	½	1	½	½	½	7	2770
6	Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)	2751	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	7	2770
7	Michael Adams (England)	2726	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	0	½	½	1	½	6½	2743
8	Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)	2799	1	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	0	½	½	1	½	½	6½	2737
9	Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)	2780	0	½	0	½	1	½	½	1	*	½	½	0	0	1	6	2710
10	Judit Polgár (Hungary)	2707	½	0	0	½	½	½	1	½	½	*	½	0	½	1	6	2716
11	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan)	2760	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	½	6	2711
12	Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine)	2692	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	0	1	1	½	*	½	0	5	2659
13	Loek van Wely (Netherlands)	2681	0	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	1	½	0	½	*	½	5	2660
14	Boris Gelfand (Israel)	2737	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	0	0	½	1	½	*	5	2655

Notable stories

Handshake controversy

In round 8 of group B, Ivan Cheparinov twice refused the handshake offered to him by Nigel Short, the reason for which was later given in a statement by his manager Silvio Danailov as "some time ago in one of his interviews Mr. Short insulted him and our team gravely" - a reference to Short's accusations that the allegations made by Danailov and Veselin Topalov against Vladimir Kramnik during the 2006 World Championship match between Topalov and Kramnik (during which Cheparinov was a member of Topalov's analysis team) were an act of gamesmanship. Short protested to the arbiter that Cheparinov's actions were in breach of the recently introduced FIDE regulation stating that "Any player who does not shake hands with the opponent (or greets the opponent in a normal social manner in accordance with the conventional rules of their society) before the game starts in a FIDE tournament or during a FIDE match (and does not do it after being asked to do so by the arbiter) or deliberately insults his/her opponent or the officials of the event, will immediately and finally lose the relevant game."; the arbiter, after explaining the situation to Cheparinov, informed Short that he was now willing to shake hands, but Short insisted that his initial refusal to do so constituted a deliberate insult regardless of any subsequent action, and the arbiter awarded him the game by default. Danailov submitted an appeal against this decision, and the tournament Appeals Committee (comprising Kramnik, Judit Polgár and Michał Krasenkow) ruled that, provided that Cheparinov apologised for his actions, the game should be replayed the following day (scheduled as a rest day). An apology was duly forthcoming, although described by one journalist as "as cynical and insincere a document as I have ever read", and Short, after considering withdrawing from the tournament in protest, agreed to replay the game. After winning it, he announced to journalists "There is a God, and he is not Bulgarian!".

Topalov and Kramnik were drawn against each other in round 9 of group A; they did not shake hands and indeed avoided making eye contact throughout the game, but avoided any contravention of FIDE regulations - neither player refused his opponent's handshake, because neither offered it.

Group A

The players in group A (country, Elo rating and world ranking as of January 2008 in brackets) were Viswanathan Anand (India, 2799, 1=), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2799, 1=), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, 2780, 3), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, 2760, 6), Peter Leko (Hungary, 2753, 8), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 2751, 9), Levon Aronian (Armenia, 2739, 10), Boris Gelfand (Israel, 2737, 11), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan, 2735, 12), Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2733, 13), Michael Adams (England, 2726, 16), Judit Polgár (Hungary, 2707, 22), Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine, 2692, 27) and Loek van Wely (Netherlands, 2681, 35). The average rating of 2742 made it a Category 20 tournament.

Round 1

Radjabov won the exchange on move 42 against Anand, who missed a chance to force a draw by threefold repetition of position, and eventually ground out a win in 85 moves.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6 14.Re1 Bf8 15.Bg3 Bg7 16.Bd6 Bf8 17.Bxf8 Rxf8 18.b3 b4 19.Na4 c3 20.a3 a5 21.d5 Qe7 22.d6 Qf6 23.e5 Qf4 24.Bd3 bxa3 25.Qe2 Qd2 26.Rxa3 Qxe2 27.Rxe2 g4 28.Nxc3 Rg8 29.Ne4 Kd8 30.Nd2 c5 31.Bb5 Bd5 32.Nc4 Rg5 33.Rea2 Nxe5 34.Nb6 Rb8 35.Rxa5 Be4 36.Ra7 f6 37.R2a6 Rg8 38.Rc7 Rf8 39.Rxc5 Rf7 40.d7 Nxd7 41.Nxd7 Rxd7 42.Bxd7 Kxd7 43.Rc3 f5 44.Ra7+ Kd6 45.Rh7 Bd5 46.Rxh6 Bxb3 47.h3 gxh3 48.Rhxh3 Bd5 49.Rc2 Ke5 50.f3 Kf6 51.Kf2 Rb4 52.Re2 Kg6 53.Kg3 Ra4 54.Rh4 Ra7 55.Rb2 Kf6 56.Rhb4 Ke5 57.Re2+ Kf6 58.Rd2 Ke5 59.Re2+ Kf6 60.Kf4 Ra3 61.Rd2 Ra5 62.Re2 Ra3 63.Kg3 Ra8 63... Ra7 leads to the same position as after 57... Kf6 and 59... Kf6.64.Rc2 Ke5 65.Rh4 Rg8+ 66.Kh2 Ra8 67.Re2+ Kf6 68.f4 Ke7 69.Rh7+ Kd6 70.Kg3 Rg8+ 71.Kh3 Rg4 72.g3 Rg8 73.Rd2 Rc8 74.Kh4 Rc3 75.Rg7 Ra3 76.Rc2 Bc6 77.Rc1 Rb3 78.Rg1 Bd5 79.Kg5 Kc5 80.Kf6 Kd4 81.Re1 Rb6 82.Rd7 Rc6 83.Ke7 Ra6 84.Rd6 Ra7+ 85.Kf6 1-0

Aronian sacrificed the exchange for two pawns against Topalov, who was eventually forced to return it for one, and his opponent had no problems converting the resulting rook and pawn vs rook endgame into the full point.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Bf4 0-0 9.e3 h6 10.h4 Bg4 11.Rc1 e5 12.dxe5 Qe7 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Nb4 15.Qc4 Be6 16.Qxc7 Nd3+ 17.Kd2 Qb4+ 18.Qc3 Qxc3+ 19.Rxc3 Nxf2 20.Nd4 Nxh1 21.Bxh1 Rfd8 22.Rc7 Rac8 23.Rxb7 Bxa2 24.Rxa7 Be6 25.Rb7 Bf5 26.Bf3 Rc2+ 27.Ke1 Rc1+ 28.Kf2 Be6 29.g4 Bc8 30.Rb8 Rf8 31.h5 g5 32.Bg3 Ra1 33.Rb6 Re8 34.Be2 Bxe5 35.Bxe5 Rxe5 36.Rxh6 Re4 37.Bf3 Re5 38.Rc6 Be6 39.Nxe6 fxe6 40.Be2 Rb1 41.Rb6 Rd5 42.Bc4 Rd2+ 43.Kf3 Rbxb2 44.Rxe6 Rbc2 45.Rg6+ Kh8 46.Be6 Rc6 47.Ke4 Rd8 48.Kf5 Rc5+ 49.Kf6 Rf8+ 50.Ke7 Rf3 51.Bf5 Re5+ 52.Kf7 Rfxf5+ 53.gxf5 Rxf5+ 54.Ke6 Ra5 55.e4 Kh7 56.e5 Ra1 57.Rxg5 Kh6 58.Rg2 Kxh5 59.Kf6 Rf1+ 60.Ke7 Ra1 61.e6 Kh6 62.Kf7 1-0

Mamedyarov resigned against Carlsen when the latter was two pawns down but had a considerable positional advantage, although later analysis by Mihail Marin for Chessbase suggested that the position was not completely lost.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nf6 9.d3 0-0 10.Qd1 Nd7 11.f4 c4 12.dxc4 Na5 13.Nd5 Nxc4 14.c3 Ndb6 15.Qe2 Rc8 16.Kh2 e6 17.Nb4 Na4 18.f5 Re8 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Nd3 Qb6 21.h4 Qa6 22.Rf2 Ne5 23.Nf4 Nc5 24.Qxa6 bxa6 25.Re2 h6 26.Kh1 a5 27.Be3 a4 28.Rd1 Rc6 29.Bd4 g5 30.Nh3 g4 31.Nf4 Rb6 32.Nh5 Bh8 33.Red2 Reb8 34.Bxc5 dxc5 35.Rd8+ Kf7 36.Rxb8 Rxb8 37.Rd2 Nc4 38.Rd7+ Ke8 39.Rxa7 Be5 40.Rxa4 Ne3 0-1

The remaining games were short draws.

Kramnik - van Wely

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qb3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 g5 7.Bg3 Ne4 8.Nc3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Bg7 10.e3 Nd7 11.Bd3 Rb8 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.g4 a6 14.Ne2 Nf6 15.Ne5 Nd7 16.Nf3 Nf6 17.Ne5 Nd7 18.f4 gxf4 19.exf4 Nxe5 20.dxe5 Qa5+ 21.Qc3 Qxc3+ 22.bxc3 f6 23.exf6 Bxf6 24.Rb1 b5 25.a4 ½-½

Eljanov - Leko

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Qc2 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Bg2 h6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.0-0 Na6 14.Rad1 Qe7 15.Rfe1 Rfe8 16.Rd2 Rad8 17.Rc1 c5 18.e3 Nc7 19.Qd1 Ne6 20.Ne2 g6 21.h3 a6 22.Rdc2 Rc8 23.Nf4 Nxf4 24.gxf4 cxd4 25.Nxd4 Rc5 26.Qd3 Rec8 27.Ne2 Rxc2 ½-½

Adams - Gelfand

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 Bf5 9.Re1 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 0-0 12.Rb1 Na5 13.Qf5 c6 14.h4 Nc4 15.h5 b5 16.Bg5 Nd6 17.Bxe7 Nxf5 18.Bxd8 Rfxd8 19.Ne5 Rac8 20.Nd3 Kf8 21.Nc5 Nd6 ½-½

Ivanchuk - Polgar

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 d5 6.Bg2 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Ne5 0-0 9.0-0 Bb7 10.b3 a5 11.Bb2 Na6 12.Re1 Ne4 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Rc1 f6 15.Nc6 Bxc6 16.Rxc6 Nb4 17.Rc1 f5 18.a3 Nd5 19.e3 Qd7 20.Qc2 Rad8 21.Qc6 Qc8 22.Re2 Rd6 23.Qc4 Qd7 24.Rec2 ½-½