[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Corus, Round 10: Carlsen gets a gift

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Corus, Round 10: Carlsen gets a gift
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201121898.shtml


   Horrible. Loek van Wely was completely destroying Magnus Carlsen, but
   after several consecutive blunders turned a pretty straightforward win
   into a loss. This gave the youngster clear first, as Levon Aronian
   drew a quick game (with Black) against Michael Adams. That kept
   Aronian in clear second, half a point behind Carlsen, while Adams
   remained in a big tie for third another half a point back.
   Also in that third-place tie is Viswanathan Anand, who got nothing
   with White against Peter Leko and drew in 19 moves. Teimour Radjabov
   almost moved into a tie for second, as he enjoyed what looked like a
   big advantage against Veselin Topalov, but he couldn't convert it and
   that too ended in a draw. Vladimir Kramnik remained in the tie as
   well, as his attempts to press against Boris Gelfand were in vain.
   Vassily Ivanchuk is the fifth member of the third-place quintet,
   graduating from the lower score group with a long grind 'em out win
   against Pavel Eljanov.
   The last game, which, amazingly, was the only one not to feature
   someone who wound up tied for third or better, was the quick draw
   between Shakhriyard Mamedyarov and Judit Polgar. Even they're not so
   far back, though, so the tournament remains very much in the air - at
   least as long as Carlsen doesn't receive more gifts!
   Round 10 Results:
   van Wely - Carlsen 0-1
   Anand - Leko 1/2-1/2
   Kramnik - Gelfand 1/2-1/2
   Radjabov - Topalov 1/2-1/2
   Mamedyarov - Polgar 1/2-1/2
   Eljanov - Ivanchuk 0-1
   Adams - Aronian 1/2-1/2
   Standings after Round 10:
   1. Carlsen 6.5
   2. Aronian 6
   3-7. Adams, Anand, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Kramnik 5.5
   8-10. Leko, Topalov, Mamedyarov 5
   11. Polgar 4.5
   12. van Wely 4
   13. Gelfand 3.5
   14. Eljanov 3
   Pairings for Round 11:
   Aronian - van Wely
   Ivanchuk - Adams
   Polgar - Eljanov
   Topalov - Mamedyarov
   Gelfand - Radjabov
   Leko - Kramnik
   Carlsen - Anand
   Other Groups:
   In the B-group, Movsesian won, giving a full-point lead over Bacrot,
   who drew, and Short, who also won. C-group leader Caruana lost but
   maintained his half-point lead over Reinderman, who also lost. While
   Caruana's lead remains, the chase pack has grown, as Nijboer (who beat
   Reinderman) and Negi are also just half a point back. (In the Braun
   watch, he just lost his fourth game in a row, so we'll put an end to
   the GM-norm watch at this point.)
   Last but definitely not least, the Honorary Group had a great round
   today. Ljubojevic decided to go macho against Timman, playing the
   black side of the Cheparinov knight sac from yesterday's
   Topalov-Kramnik game. And he won! Meanwhile, Korchnoi also won with
   Black, against Portisch, and now enjoys a full-point lead in that
   event.
   Leading Standings in Group B:
   1. Movsesian 7.5
   2-3. Short, Bacrot 6.5
   4. Nepomniachtchi 6
   Leading Standings in Group C:
   1. Caruana 7
   2. Nijboer, Reinderman, Negi 6.5
   Honorary Group Standings:
   1. Korchnoi 3 (out of 4)
   2-3. Timman, Ljubojevic 2
   4. Portisch 1
   Group A games, with comments, [1]here.

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/waz2008_rd10.htm