exd5!

17.01.2010
– With the world's strongest kibitzer watching anxiously Magnus Carlsen pulled off his first win in the Super-GM in Wijk aan Zee, beating Dutch GM Jan Smeets in a tense 41-move game. Nakamura played an aggressive, exciting win over Loek van Wely, and Alexei Shirov scored a second full point against Fabiano Caruana. In Group B Anish Giri won a second game and leads. Full report.

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Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan began playing chess in the summer of 1972 and by 1979 he had won the World Junior Championship and in January of 1980 earned his final Grandmaster norm. What had he learned in seven and a half years that propelled him so far so quickly?
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Wijk aan Zee 2010 – Round two report

Report by Steve Giddins

Round two produced a fascinating day's play at Wijk aan Zee, with three decisive
results and a number of hard-fought draws. Amongst the interested spectators
was the world's strongest online kibitzer, Garry Kasparov, who shared some comments
and insights with ChessBase. Nakamura delighted the watching crowd, both real
and virtual, with a series of sacrifices against van Wely's Najdorf.

Nakamura,Hi (2708) - Van Wely,L (2641) [B96]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 17.01.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qf3
Qc7 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.g4 b5 11.g5 Nd7 12.0-0-0 Nc5 13.a3 Rb8 14.b4 Nd7

15.Nd5 exd5 16.exd5 Be7 17.Re1 Ne5 18.fxe5 Bxg5+ 19.Kb1 dxe5 20.Nc6
Bf6 21.Bd3 h5 22.Rxe5+ Bxe5 23.Re1 Bg4 24.Qf4 0-0 25.Rxe5 g6 26.Qf6 Rbe8

27.Ne7+ Rxe7 [27...Kh7 28.Bxg6+ fxg6 29.Qxg6+ Kh8 30.Qh6#] 28.Rxe7
Qxh2 29.Bxg6 Qh1+ 30.Kb2 Qxd5 31.Bxf7+ Qxf7 32.Rxf7 Rxf7 33.Qxa6 Kg7 34.Qxb5
Kg6 35.Qc4 Rd7 36.b5 Kg5 37.b6 Bf3 38.Qb5+ Rd5 39.Qb3 1-0. [Click
to replay]

Kariakin also sacrificed two pieces against the Sicilian, but Dominguez' defences
held.

Karjakin,Sergey (2720) - Dominguez Perez,L (2712) [B90]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 17.01.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3
h5 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Be7 11.h3 Qc7 12.Bd3 b5 13.g4 b4 14.Ne2 d5 15.g5 dxe4
16.fxe4 Nh7 17.Ng3 g6

18.Nf5 gxf5 19.exf5 Bd5 20.Rhe1 Bf3 21.f6 Nhxf6 22.gxf6 Nxf6

23.Bd4 exd4 24.Qf2 Qf4+ 25.Nd2 Ng4 26.Qxf3 Qxf3 27.Nxf3 Ne3 28.Rd2
Kf8 29.Nxd4 Bg5 30.Nf3 Bf4 31.Kb1 ½-½. [Click
to replay]

Kramnik's opening preparation netted him an extra hour on the clock, but as
Kasparov pointed out, Leko defended with typical skill, using his knights excellently,
and, Kramnik was lucky to get a draw in the final position. "An interesting
game", was our collocutor's summary.

Kramnik,V (2788) - Leko,P (2739) [E15]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 17.01.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3
d5 9.Nbd2 Nbd7 10.Qc2 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.0-0 0-0 13.Bb2 Rc8 14.Rfe1 d4 15.e3
dxe3 16.fxe3 Ne8 17.Rad1 Qb6 18.Ne4 Rd8 19.Neg5 g6 20.Qe4 Bb7 21.Qh4 h5 22.g4
Ndf6 23.h3 Ng7 24.Qg3 Nfe8 25.h4 Bf6 26.Be5 Bxf3 27.Nxf3 hxg4 28.Qxg4 Nh5 29.Bh2
Bc3 30.Rf1 Nef6 31.Qg5 Ne4 32.Qg4 Nef6 33.Qg5

½-½. [Click
to replay]

Vladimir Kramnik unhappy with a position during postgame analysis

Naturally, Kasparov's principal interest was the game Carlsen-Smeets. This
saw Black venture the ultra-sharp Botvinnik Variation, a brave choice by the
Dutchman, given the danger of running into a significant novelty from the famous
Kasparov database. In fact, though, it was Black who innovated first:

Carlsen,M (2810) - Smeets,J (2657) [D44]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 17.01.2010
1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4
g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 Bb7 12.g3 c5 13.d5 Qb6 14.Bg2 0-0-0 15.0-0
b4 16.Na4 Qb5 17.a3 Nb8 18.axb4 cxb4 19.Qd4 Nc6 20.Nb6+ axb6 21.dxc6 Bxc6 22.Bxc6
Qxc6 23.Qg4

23...Bc5N. Novelty. 23...Kb7 eventually led to a draw in Hebden-Prasad,
Edinbugh 2009. 24.Ra7 Rd7 25.Rxd7 Kxd7 26.h4 Kc7 27.h5 e5 28.h6 Bd4
29.Qe2 b3 30.Be3 Qd5?! 31.Rd1 Kc6?

Thus far, Kasparov had not been too happy with his protege's position, but
after Black's last two moves, he perked up noticeably and predicted that now
White would win. 32.Qg4 b5 33.Bxd4 exd4 34.Rxd4 Qe5 35.Qd7+ Kc5 36.Qa7+.
This reptition was predicted by Kasparov a few moves earlier – "to
give yourself an extra minute on the clock!" There is a 30-second increment
per move, and both players were very short of time by this stage. 36...Kc6
37.Qd7+ Kc5

38.Rf4?! Here, although not having a computer to hand, Kasparov
instantly predicted 38.Rd1! which your engine will confirm is indeed winning.
He was aghast when Carlsen instead played the text. 38...Qxb2?
Kasparov's misery did not last long. 38...Kb6! was Black's only hope. 39.Rf5+
Kb4 40.Qxb5+ Kc3 41.Rf3+ 1-0. [Click
to replay]

Magnus Carlsen and Jan Smeets analyse after their game

For much of the afternoon, the engines were claiming that the World Champion
was in trouble with white against Short, but Kasparov felt differently. "Engines!",
he snarled, and was full of praise for Anand's double pawn sacrifice, which
he described as "very creative, very entertaining, and very impressive".
The Indian eventually regained both pawns, with a double rook ending, which
the thirteenth World Champion thought should be winning for White. However,
Anand was unable to convert his advantage, in the face of tenacious defence
from Short, and the game ended in a draw.

Anand,V (2790) - Short,N (2696) [D38]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 17.01.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Rc1 c6
8.e3 Qa5 9.Bd3 Qxa2 10.0-0 Qa5 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Ng4 13.Bf4 f6

14.e4 fxe5 15.Bg3 Bxc3 16.Rxc3 d4 17.Ra3 Qc5 18.Qd2 0-0 19.h3 Nh6 20.Ra5
b5 21.Rc1 Qd6 22.Qc2 Rf6 23.Qc5 Nf7 24.Qxd6 Rxd6 25.Rc5 Be6 26.Kf1 h6 27.Ke2
a6 28.b4 Bb3 29.Bxe5 Nxe5 30.Rxe5 Rg6 31.g3 Rg5 32.Re7 c5 33.bxc5 Rxc5 34.Rd7
Be6 35.Rd6 Bxh3 36.Raxa6 Rf8 37.f4 Rc1 38.Rxd4 Bf1+ 39.Kd2 Rfc8 40.Bxf1 Rxf1

41.Rd7 Rcc1 42.Rb7 Rcd1+ 43.Ke3 Rfe1+ 44.Kf3 h5 45.f5 Rd3+ 46.Kf4 Rf1+
47.Ke5 Rxg3 48.Rxb5 Kh7 49.Rb8 Rg4 50.Raa8 Kh6 51.Rh8+ Kg5 52.Rh7 Kh4 53.Rah8
Rg5 54.Rg8 Rfg1 55.Ra8 Re1 56.Rg8 Rg4 57.Rgxg7 ½-½. [Click
to replay]

Tiviakov's favourite 3...Qd6 Scandinavian yielded a solid queenless middlegame,
and although Ivanchuk eventually reached a rook ending in which his king was
vastly the more active, it proved insufficient for a win. Finally, Shirov-Caruana
looked for a long time as though it too would be a draw, but for the second
day in a row, Shirov showed his endgame magic, and squeezed out a win.

Shirov,A (2723) - Caruana,F (2675) [C80]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 17.01.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5
Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 d3 13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 15.b4 0-0
16.Re1 Qd7 17.h3 Bg6 18.Ba2 Kh8 19.Bf4 a5 20.bxa5 Rxa5 21.b4 Ra4 22.Bb3 Rxa1
23.Qxa1 Nd8 24.Qa7 Ne6 25.Bd2 Rd8 26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.Nd4 Bxb4 28.Nxb5 Qxb5 29.cxb4
Rc8 30.Qa5 Qd7 31.Ra1 Be4 32.Qc5 Qd5 33.Qxd5 Bxd5 34.f3 Bc4 35.Ra5 c6 36.Kf2
Kg8 37.Ke3 Rc7 38.Kd4 Bb5 39.g4 Rd7+ 40.Kc3 Kf7 41.h4 g6 42.h5 gxh5 43.gxh5
Ke8 44.h6 Rd5 45.f4 Ke7 46.Ra7+ Rd7 47.Ra1 c5 48.bxc5 Bc6 49.Rg1 Be4 50.Rg7+
Kd8 51.Kc4 Kc7 52.Rg8 Kc6 53.Rc8+ Rc7 54.Re8 Kd7 55.Rg8

55...Rb7? 56.Ba5 Rb2 57.Rd8+ Ke7 58.Rd6 Rc2+ 59.Bc3 Kf7 60.Rd4 d2 61.Kb3
Kg6 62.Bxd2 Kxh6 63.f5+ Kg7 64.f6+ 1-0. [Click
to replay]

In the B Group, Anish Giri continued his sensational start, by simply crushing
Nisipeanu – with the black pieces. The other three "N's" in
the group – Naiditsch, Nyback and Ni – all won,  whilst Kujpers,
Peng and Robson all scored the full point in Group C.

All photos by Gallina Tiviakova

Results of the day

Standings

Group A

Group B

Group C

Video reports by Europe Echecs

Europe Echecs video
report by GM Robert Fontaine

Commentary on Playchess

Schedule of commentators

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Schedule (playing days)

Read Full Post »

Wijk R01: Shirov, van Wely draw first blood

Posted in ChessBase on Янв 16, 2010

16.01.2010
– Loek van Wely, playing in Wijk an Zee for the 19th time is succession, started
off with a fine text-book victory over Nigel Short, while Alexei Shirov, playing
the black side of Ruy Lopez Moeller, punished Peter Leko's exchange sacrifice
in a fine endgame performance. Live coverage with audio commentary is available
on the Playchess server. Big pictorial report.

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Yasser Seirawan:
My best games
Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan began playing chess in the summer of 1972 and by 1979 he had won the World Junior Championship and in January of 1980 earned his final Grandmaster norm. What had he learned in seven and a half years that propelled him so far so quickly?
More information...

Wijk aan Zee 2010 – Round one report

Report by Steve Giddins

It was a fairly uneventful start to Corus 2010, with only two decisive games
in the top group. World no. one Magnus Carlsen drew a quiet game against Tiviakov's
favourite 5.Qe2 Spanish, whilst Kramnik's trusty Petroff led to an early draw
with Dominguez. World champion Vishy Anand wheeled out the New Archangel against
last year's tournament winner, Sergey Kariakin. A balanced struggle seemed to
swing in Anand's favour in the run-up to the time control, but the result was
a theoretically drawn queen ending, which Anand made no attempt to win.

Karjakin,Sergey (2720) - Anand,V (2790) [C78]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (1), 16.01.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4
Rb8 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.Na3 0-0 12.Nxb5 Bg4 13.Bc2 exd4 14.Nbxd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4
Bxf3 16.gxf3 Nh5 17.Kh1 Qf6 18.Ra4 Ra8 19.Be3 Rxa4 20.Bxa4 Nf4 21.Rg1 g6 22.Bb3
Rb8 23.Rg4 Ne6 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 25.Rg1 c5 26.d5 Qf6 27.b3 c4 28.Bxb6 Rxb6 29.bxc4
Rb2 30.c5 Rxf2 31.Rf1 Rb2 32.Qe1 dxc5 33.e5 Qf4 34.Rf2 Rxf2 35.Qxf2

35...c4 36.d6 Qxe5 37.d7 Qc7 38.Qd4 Qd8 39.Kg2 c3 40.Qxc3 Qxd7 draw.

Smeets-Nakamura and  Caruana-Ivanchuk were also both drawn, leaving van
Wely and Shirov to take the lead, by becoming the day's only two winners. The
Dutchman beat Short with a textbook minority attack:

Van Wely,L (2641) - Short,N (2696) [D37]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (1), 16.01.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 c6 7.e3 Be7 8.Qc2
0-0 9.Bd3 Re8 10.h3 Nf8 11.Bf4 a5 12.0-0 Ng6 13.Bh2 Bd6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Rfe1
Be6 16.a3 Re7 17.Rab1 Rae8 18.b4 axb4 19.axb4 Bd7 20.b5 Ne4 21.bxc6 bxc6

22.Rb6 Nxc3 23.Qxc3 Qf6 24.Bxg6 Qxg6 25.Kf1 f6 26.Ra1 Qh5 27.Ne1 Qf5
28.Kg1 Qg5 29.Kh2 Qf5 30.Nd3 Qe6 31.Kg1 Rc8 32.Rb7 Rf7 33.Raa7 Be8 34.Qb4 Rd8
35.Nc5 Qc8 36.Qb6 h5 37.Rc7 Rxc7 38.Rxc7 Qa8 39.Ra7 Qc8 40.Rb7 Bf7 41.Qa7 Rf8
42.Nd7 Re8

43.Nxf6+ gxf6 44.Rxf7 Qf5 45.Rg7+ Kh8 46.Qf7 1-0.

In the day's longest game, Shirov ground out a long endgame win against Leko,
who never justified his exchange sacrifice:

Leko,P (2739) - Shirov,A (2723) [C78]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (1), 16.01.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.Nxe5
Nxe5 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Qxd4 d6 11.f4 Nc6 12.Qc3 Ne7 13.Qd3 0-0 14.Nc3 b4 15.e5 Bf5
16.Qxa6 Nd7 17.exd6 bxc3 18.dxe7 Qxe7 19.bxc3 Nc5 20.Qc4 Rfd8 21.Ba2 Bxc2

22.f5 Bd3 23.f6 gxf6 24.Qg4+ Kh8 25.Bh6 Rg8 26.Qd4 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Rg6
28.Be3 Nxa4 29.Bf2 Nb6 30.Bb1 Rg7 31.Re1 Qd6 32.Bf5 Nd5 33.g4 Rgg8 34.c4 Nf4
35.Qxd6 cxd6 36.Bg3 Nh3+ 37.Kg2 Ng5 38.Bxd6 Rb2+ 39.Kg3 Ra8 40.Re3 Kg7 41.h4
Ne6 42.g5 Raa2 43.gxf6+ Kxf6 44.Bxh7 Re2 45.Rf3+ Kg7 46.Bd3 Re1 47.Be7 Rd2 48.Bf6+
Kg8 49.Kg4 Nc5 50.Bf5 Ne4

51.Bxe4 Rxe4+ 52.Kh5 Rxc4 53.Rg3+ Kf8 54.Bg7+ Ke7 55.Re3+ Kd7 56.Bf6
Rf2 57.Be5 Rf5+ 58.Kh6 Rxh4+ 59.Kg7 Rg4+ 60.Kf8 Rf1 61.Rd3+ Ke6 62.Bc7 Rc4 63.Rd6+
Kf5 64.Rd7 Kg4 0-1.

In the B Group, the youthful Dutch champion Anish Giri got off to a fine start,
by beating Harakrishna, whilst there were also wins for Nisipeanu and Sutovsky.
The C Group, or Kindergarten Group, as Nigel Short described it, saw wins for
Robson, Chao, Vocaturo and Grandelius.

Results of the day

January 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Group A: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 16th Sergey Karjakin - Vishy Anand ½-½ Leinier Dominguez - Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Peter Leko - Alexei Shirov  0-1 Fabiano Caruana - Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Sergey Tiviakov - Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Jan Smeets - Hikaru Nakamura ½-½ Loek van Wely - Nigel Short  1-0	Group B: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 16th Ni Hua - Erwin l'Ami ½-½ Emil Sutovsky - Dimitri Reinderman  1-0 Tomi Nyback - Liviu Nisipeanu  0-1 Anish Giri - Pentala Harikrishna  1-0 David Howell - Parimarjan Negi ½-½ Anna Muzychuk - Varuzhan Akobian ½-½ Arkadij Naiditsch - Wesley So ½-½
Group C: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 16th Ray Robson - Soumya Swaminathan  1-0 Robin Swinkels - Abhijeet Gupta ½-½ Mariya Muzychuk - Nils Grandelius  0-1 Stefan Kuipers - Kjetil Lie ½-½ Peng Zhaoqin - Robin van Kampen ½-½ Benjamin Bok - Li Chao  0-1 Daniele Vocaturo - Sjoerd Plukkel  1-0	Replay all games from Group A Replay all games from Group B Replay all games from Group C

---

Pictures Gallery by Jeroen van den Belt

Before the start of round one

Can't wait for the start of round one: Anish Giri

Pentala Harikrishna, himself a former child prodigy,...

... was badly mangled by this one, 15-year-old Anish, reigning Dutch Champion

Straight in the eye: Vladimir Kramnik was the first to finish his game in
round one

Hikaru Nakamura, who drew Jan Smeets with black in 34 moves

The typical deep thinking pose of Vassily Ivanchuk

Nigel Short of Greece trying to weather the cold in windswept Wijk

Nigel wore his scarf even during part of the game

His opponent, Dutch GM Loek van Wely, played a model game in round one

Alexei Shirov, one of the great endgame artists in top international chess

Shirov punished Leko's exchange sacrifice in a 64-move victory with the
black pieces
Tiviakov vs Carlsen, which ended in a 27-move draw

Karjakin vs Anand, with Muzychuk vs Akobian in the foreground

US GM Varuzhan Akobian played a 20-move draw with black against...

... Anna Muzychuk, the only female player in Group B

Tomi Nyback lost the white side of a Bogo Indian to Romania's Liviu Nisipeanu

Indian GM Parimarjan Negi drew with black against British Champion David
Howell

GM Peng Zhaoqin drew a Slav against IM Robin van Kampen in 35 moves

IM Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine lost with white against Nils Grandelius in
73 moves

WGM Soumya Swaminathan, World Junior Champion 2009, lost against GM Ray
Robson

The amateur tournament takes place in the same hall, the top groups are
in the background

The public can watch the A, B and C groups from the amateur section

GM Ivan Sokolov commenting in the Chess Tent a few hundred yards from the venue

He'll gladly tell you! An arbiter reading a book entitled "What's wrong,
Mr. Kasparov?"

Video reports by Europe Echecs

Europe Echecs video
report by GM Robert Fontaine

---

Live commentary on Playchess

Naturally the games of the Wijk aan Zee tournament were broadcast live on Playchess.
Anyone who used Fritz 12 to log into the server was able to appreciate the new
features, like the following:

In the broadcast room the different events are listed as separate tournaments.

Double-clicking "Important broadcasts" loads eight top games into
one window. You can start an analysis engine, which follows any game you click.
Naturally all boards are kept up-to-date as the moves come in.

Live audio commentary today was by FM Tiger Lilov of Bularia

There were over 7000 members online at peak hours on Playchess.com. Each
dot on the map represents a player and his or her place of residence. The dots
in the middle of the ocean are people who have not given their location correctly

Schedule of commentators

16th Jan   FM Valeri Lilov 5:00 p.m. 17th Jan GM Yasser Seirawan   5:00 p.m. 18th Jan GM Yasser Seirawan 6:00 p.m. 19th Jan GM Yasser Seirawan 6:00 p.m. 20th Jan Free Day   21st Jan GM Daniel King 6:00 p.m. 22nd Jan GM Daniel King 6:00 p.m. 23rd Jan GM Yasser Seirawan 5:00 p.m.

24th Jan   GM Yasser Seirawan   5:00 p.m. 25th Jan Free Day   26th Jan GM Yasser Seirawan 6:00 p.m. 27th Jan GM Daniel King 6:00 p.m. 28th Jan Free Day   29th Jan GM Daniel King 6:00 p.m. 30th Jan GM Yasser Seirawan 5:00 p.m. 31st Jan GM Yasser Seirawan 4:00 p.m.

---

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Group A: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 16th Sergey Karjakin - Vishy Anand ½-½ Leinier Dominguez - Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Peter Leko - Alexei Shirov  0-1 Fabiano Caruana - Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Sergey Tiviakov - Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Jan Smeets - Hikaru Nakamura ½-½ Loek van Wely - Nigel Short  1-0	Group A: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 17th Vishy Anand - Nigel Short   Hikaru Nakamura - Loek van Wely   Magnus Carlsen - Jan Smeets   Vassily Ivanchuk - Sergey Tiviakov   Alexei Shirov - Fabiano Caruana   Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko   Sergey Karjakin - Leinier Dominguez
Group A: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 18th Leinier Dominguez - Vishy Anand   Peter Leko - Sergey Karjakin   Fabiano Caruana - Vladimir Kramnik   Sergey Tiviakov - Alexei Shirov   Jan Smeets - Vassily Ivanchuk   Loek van Wely - Magnus Carlsen   Nigel Short - Hikaru Nakamura	Group A: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 19th Vishy Anand - Hikaru Nakamura   Magnus Carlsen - Nigel Short   Vassily Ivanchuk - Loek van Wely   Alexei Shirov - Jan Smeets   Vladimir Kramnik - Sergey Tiviakov   Sergey Karjakin - Fabiano Caruana   Leinier Dominguez - Peter Leko
Wednesday, January 20th – Free day
Group A: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 21st Peter Leko - Vishy Anand   Fabiano Caruana - Leinier Dominguez   Sergey Tiviakov - Sergey Karjakin   Jan Smeets - Vladimir Kramnik   Loek van Wely - Alexei Shirov   Nigel Short - Vassily Ivanchuk   Hikaru Nakamura - Magnus Carlsen	Group A: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 22nd Vishy Anand - Magnus Carlsen   Vassily Ivanchuk - Hikaru Nakamura   Alexei Shirov - Nigel Short   Vladimir Kramnik - Loek van Wely   Sergey Karjakin - Jan Smeets   Leinier Dominguez - Sergey Tiviakov   Peter Leko - Fabiano Caruana
Group A: Round 7- Sat. Jan. 23rd Fabiano Caruana - Vishy Anand   Sergey Tiviakov - Peter Leko   Jan Smeets - Leinier Dominguez   Loek van Wely - Sergey Karjakin   Nigel Short - Vladimir Kramnik   Hikaru Nakamura - Alexei Shirov   Magnus Carlsen - Vassily Ivanchuk	Group A: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 24th Vishy Anand - Vassily Ivanchuk   Alexei Shirov - Magnus Carlsen   Vladimir Kramnik - Hikaru Nakamura   Sergey Karjakin - Nigel Short   Leinier Dominguez - Loek van Wely   Peter Leko - Jan Smeets   Fabiano Caruana - Sergey Tiviakov
Monday, January 25th – Free day
Group A: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 26th Sergey Tiviakov - Vishy Anand   Jan Smeets - Fabiano Caruana   Loek van Wely - Peter Leko   Nigel Short - Leinier Dominguez   Hikaru Nakamura - Sergey Karjakin   Magnus Carlsen - Vladimir Kramnik   Vassily Ivanchuk - Alexei Shirov	Group A: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 27th Vishy Anand - Alexei Shirov   Vladimir Kramnik - Vassily Ivanchuk   Sergey Karjakin - Magnus Carlsen   Leinier Dominguez - Hikaru Nakamura   Peter Leko - Nigel Short   Fabiano Caruana - Loek van Wely   Sergey Tiviakov - Jan Smeets
Thursday, January 28th – Free day
Group A: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 29th Jan Smeets - Vishy Anand   Loek van Wely - Sergey Tiviakov   Nigel Short - Fabiano Caruana   Hikaru Nakamura - Peter Leko   Magnus Carlsen - Leinier Dominguez   Vassily Ivanchuk - Sergey Karjakin   Alexei Shirov - Vladimir Kramnik	Group A: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 30th Vishy Anand - Vladimir Kramnik   Sergey Karjakin - Alexei Shirov   Leinier Dominguez - Vassily Ivanchuk   Peter Leko - Magnus Carlsen   Fabiano Caruana - Hikaru Nakamura   Sergey Tiviakov - Nigel Short   Jan Smeets - Loek van Wely
Group A: Round 13 - Sun. Jan. 31st Loek van Wely - Vishy Anand   Nigel Short - Jan Smeets   Hikaru Nakamura - Sergey Tiviakov   Magnus Carlsen - Fabiano Caruana   Vassily Ivanchuk - Peter Leko   Alexei Shirov - Leinier Dominguez   Vladimir Kramnik - Sergey Karjakin

---

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Group B: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 16th Ni Hua - Erwin l'Ami ½-½ Emil Sutovsky - Dimitri Reinderman  1-0 Tomi Nyback - Liviu Nisipeanu  0-1 Anish Giri - Pentala Harikrishna  1-0 David Howell - Parimarjan Negi ½-½ Anna Muzychuk - Varuzhan Akobian ½-½ Arkadij Naiditsch - Wesley So ½-½	Group B: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 17th Erwin l'Ami - Wesley So   Varuzhan Akobian - Arkadij Naiditsch   Parimarjan Negi - Anna Muzychuk   Pentala Harikrishna - David Howell   Liviu Nisipeanu - Anish Giri   Dimitri Reinderman - Tomi Nyback   Ni Hua - Emil Sutovsky
Group B: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 18th Emil Sutovsky - Erwin l'Ami   Tomi Nyback - Ni Hua   Anish Giri - Dimitri Reinderman   David Howell - Liviu Nisipeanu   Anna Muzychuk - Pentala Harikrishna   Arkadij Naiditsch - Parimarjan Negi   Wesley So - Varuzhan Akobian	Group B: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 19th Erwin l'Ami - Varuzhan Akobian   Parimarjan Negi - Wesley So   Pentala Harikrishna - Arkadij Naiditsch   Liviu Nisipeanu - Anna Muzychuk   Dimitri Reinderman - David Howell   Ni Hua - Anish Giri   Emil Sutovsky - Tomi Nyback
Wednesday, January 20th – Free day
Group B: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 21st Tomi Nyback - Erwin l'Ami   Anish Giri - Emil Sutovsky   David Howell - Ni Hua   Anna Muzychuk - Dimitri Reinderman   Arkadij Naiditsch - Liviu Nisipeanu   Wesley So - Pentala Harikrishna   Varuzhan Akobian - Parimarjan Negi	Group B: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 22nd Erwin l'Ami - Parimarjan Negi   Pentala Harikrishna - Varuzhan Akobian   Liviu Nisipeanu - Wesley So   Dimitri Reinderman - Arkadij Naiditsch   Ni Hua - Anna Muzychuk   Emil Sutovsky - David Howell   Tomi Nyback - Anish Giri
Group B: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 23rd Anish Giri - Erwin l'Ami   David Howell - Tomi Nyback   Anna Muzychuk - Emil Sutovsky   Arkadij Naiditsch - Ni Hua   Wesley So - Dimitri Reinderman   Varuzhan Akobian - Liviu Nisipeanu   Parimarjan Negi - Pentala Harikrishna	Group B: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 24th Erwin l'Ami - Pentala Harikrishna   Liviu Nisipeanu - Parimarjan Negi   Dimitri Reinderman - Varuzhan Akobian   Ni Hua - Wesley So   Emil Sutovsky - Arkadij Naiditsch   Tomi Nyback - Anna Muzychuk   Anish Giri - David Howell
Monday, January 25th – Free day
Group B: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 26th David Howell - Erwin l'Ami   Anna Muzychuk - Anish Giri   Arkadij Naiditsch - Tomi Nyback   Wesley So - Emil Sutovsky   Varuzhan Akobian - Ni Hua   Parimarjan Negi - Dimitri Reinderman   Pentala Harikrishna - Liviu Nisipeanu	Group B: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 27th Erwin l'Ami - Liviu Nisipeanu   Dimitri Reinderman - Pentala Harikrishna   Ni Hua - Parimarjan Negi   Emil Sutovsky - Varuzhan Akobian   Tomi Nyback - Wesley So   Anish Giri - Arkadij Naiditsch   David Howell - Anna Muzychuk
Thursday, January 28th – Free day
Group B: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 29th Anna Muzychuk - Erwin l'Ami   Arkadij Naiditsch - David Howell   Wesley So - Anish Giri   Varuzhan Akobian - Tomi Nyback   Parimarjan Negi - Emil Sutovsky   Pentala Harikrishna - Ni Hua   Liviu Nisipeanu - Dimitri Reinderman	Group B: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 30th Erwin l'Ami - Dimitri Reinderman   Ni Hua - Liviu Nisipeanu   Emil Sutovsky - Pentala Harikrishna   Tomi Nyback - Parimarjan Negi   Anish Giri - Varuzhan Akobian   David Howell - Wesley So   Anna Muzychuk - Arkadij Naiditsch
Group B: Round 13 - Sun. Jan. 31st Arkadij Naiditsch - Erwin l'Ami   Wesley So - Anna Muzychuk   Varuzhan Akobian - David Howell   Parimarjan Negi - Anish Giri   Pentala Harikrishna - Tomi Nyback   Liviu Nisipeanu - Emil Sutovsky   Dimitri Reinderman - Ni Hua

---

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Group C: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 16th Ray Robson - Soumya Swaminathan  1-0 Robin Swinkels - Abhijeet Gupta ½-½ Mariya Muzychuk - Nils Grandelius  0-1 Stefan Kuipers - Kjetil Lie ½-½ Peng Zhaoqin - Robin van Kampen ½-½ Benjamin Bok - Li Chao  0-1 Daniele Vocaturo - Sjoerd Plukkel  1-0	Group C: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 17th Soumya Swaminathan - Sjoerd Plukkel   Li Chao - Daniele Vocaturo   Robin van Kampen - Benjamin Bok   Kjetil Lie - Peng Zhaoqin   Nils Grandelius - Stefan Kuipers   Abhijeet Gupta - Mariya Muzychuk   Ray Robson - Robin Swinkels
Group C: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 18th Robin Swinkels - Soumya Swaminathan   Mariya Muzychuk - Ray Robson   Stefan Kuipers - Abhijeet Gupta   Peng Zhaoqin - Nils Grandelius   Benjamin Bok - Kjetil Lie   Daniele Vocaturo - Robin van Kampen   Sjoerd Plukkel - Li Chao	Group C: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 19th Soumya Swaminathan - Li Chao   Robin van Kampen - Sjoerd Plukkel   Kjetil Lie - Daniele Vocaturo   Nils Grandelius - Benjamin Bok   Abhijeet Gupta - Peng Zhaoqin   Ray Robson - Stefan Kuipers   Robin Swinkels - Mariya Muzychuk
Wednesday, January 20th – Free day
Group C: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 21st Mariya Muzychuk - Soumya Swaminathan   Stefan Kuipers - Robin Swinkels   Peng Zhaoqin - Ray Robson   Benjamin Bok - Abhijeet Gupta   Daniele Vocaturo - Nils Grandelius   Sjoerd Plukkel - Kjetil Lie   Li Chao - Robin van Kampen	Group C: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 22nd Soumya Swaminathan - Robin v. Kampen   Kjetil Lie - Li Chao   Nils Grandelius - Sjoerd Plukkel   Abhijeet Gupta - Daniele Vocaturo   Ray Robson - Benjamin Bok   Robin Swinkels - Peng Zhaoqin   Mariya Muzychuk - Stefan Kuipers
Group C: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 23rd Stefan Kuipers - Soumya Swaminathan   Peng Zhaoqin - Mariya Muzychuk   Benjamin Bok - Robin Swinkels   Daniele Vocaturo - Ray Robson   Sjoerd Plukkel - Abhijeet Gupta   Li Chao - Nils Grandelius   Robin van Kampen - Kjetil Lie	Group C: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 24th Soumya Swaminathan - Kjetil Lie   Nils Grandelius - Robin van Kampen   Abhijeet Gupta - Li Chao   Ray Robson - Sjoerd Plukkel   Robin Swinkels - Daniele Vocaturo   Mariya Muzychuk - Benjamin Bok   Stefan Kuipers - Peng Zhaoqin
Monday, January 25th – Free day
Group C: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 26th Peng Zhaoqin - Soumya Swaminathan   Benjamin Bok - Stefan Kuipers   Daniele Vocaturo - Mariya Muzychuk   Sjoerd Plukkel - Robin Swinkels   Li Chao - Ray Robson   Robin van Kampen - Abhijeet Gupta   Kjetil Lie - Nils Grandelius	Group C: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 27th Soumya Swaminathan - Nils Grandelius   Abhijeet Gupta - Kjetil Lie   Ray Robson - Robin van Kampen   Robin Swinkels - Li Chao   Mariya Muzychuk - Sjoerd Plukkel   Stefan Kuipers - Daniele Vocaturo   Peng Zhaoqin - Benjamin Bok
Thursday, January 28th – Free day
Group C: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 29th Benjamin Bok - Soumya Swaminathan   Daniele Vocaturo - Peng Zhaoqin   Sjoerd Plukkel - Stefan Kuipers   Li Chao - Mariya Muzychuk   Robin van Kampen - Robin Swinkels   Kjetil Lie - Ray Robson   Nils Grandelius - Abhijeet Gupta	Group C: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 30th Soumya Swaminathan - Abhijeet Gupta   Ray Robson - Nils Grandelius   Robin Swinkels - Kjetil Lie   Mariya Muzychuk - Robin van Kampen   Stefan Kuipers - Li Chao   Peng Zhaoqin - Sjoerd Plukkel   Benjamin Bok - Daniele Vocaturo
Group C: Round 13 - Sun. Jan. 31st Daniele Vocaturo - Soumya Swaminathan   Sjoerd Plukkel - Benjamin Bok   Li Chao - Peng Zhaoqin   Robin van Kampen - Stefan Kuipers   Kjetil Lie - Mariya Muzychuk   Nils Grandelius - Robin Swinkels   Abhijeet Gupta - Ray Robson

Schedule (playing days)

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Chessmile – orthodontic braces with a difference

Posted in ChessBase on Янв 16, 2010

16.01.2010
– What if you are a young chess fan – with crooked teeth? Braces is the answer, but now an orthodontic doctor has come up with a way to combine a healthy set of straight teeth with your love for the game. Chessmile offers braces in the form of chess pieces. You can set up endgames, puzzles and even checkmates. And this is the brainchild of? WIM Dr Carolina Blanco,
that's who.

Advertisement

Yasser Seirawan:
My best games
Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan began playing chess in the summer of 1972 and by 1979 he had won the World Junior Championship and in January of 1980 earned his final Grandmaster norm. What had he learned in seven and a half years that propelled him so far so quickly?
More information...

Chessmile – orthodontic braces with a difference

It is quite a coincidence that a complete set of permanent teeth in a human
being numbers 32 and a game of chess begins with 32 pieces. The beauty of chess
lies in the harmonious patterns the pieces are arranged in. Likewise, a healthy
set of straight teeth gives one a beautiful smile. Dr. Carolina Blanco, a Women
International Master in chess and an orthodontist in normal life, had developed
a new product for chess-loving kids with dental irregularities.

Chessmile TM is offering braces can be worn by kids and adults in any phase
of orthodontic treatment. Anyone who needs braces can have them in the shape
of any combination of chess pieces, such as a rook and pawn endgame, a winning
position from your favourite game, or even a checkmate.

We assume that legality and soundness of the chess tactics will be checked
by Dr Blanco

A smile with a difference: with a little imagination you can set up a checkmate
position

Chessmile braces work the same as other vestibular braces,
and feel just like regular braces in your mouth.

---

Dr Carolina Blanco, WIM and orthodontist

Dr Carolina Blanco is an orthodontic specialist who received her dental training
at the University of Carabobo in Venezuela. She earned her specialist degree
in Orthodontics from the University of Campinas in Sao Paulo Brazil.

Yep, that's her, WIM Dr Carolina Blanco, in a 2007 glamour shoot

Carolina is also a chess player who has been representing her native country
in international tournaments since she was eight years old. This activity gave
her the opportunity to visit more than 35 countries around the world and has
had "the marvelous luck to meet exceptional people throughout my life,
people who combine a high level of competence in their professional life with
an equally high level of competition in sports." Which pretty much sums
up Carolina Blanco herself, who has always tried to combine her two passions
– dentistry and chess – in an expedient way.

Posing with one of the tools of her trade

Dr Carolina has a brother, IM Cristobal José Blanco, who happens to
be a medical doctor working on a PhD in neurosurgery at the Univeristy of Cordoba,
Spain.

IM Cristobal José Blanco, working on a PhD in neurosurgery

Christobal is an IM with a rating of 2379. He has been living in Spain for
four years now, doing his medical residence, but he is also active in chess.
Actually Cristobal Blanco is a world champion – in chess for doctors,
having won the World Medical Games in Germany in 2008.

The winner of the chess section of the World Medical and Health Games 2008

he has a great performance in the Continental tournament last year with the
7th place and he plays often there in Sevilla, Barcelona and the Spain ligue.
i Would love to include him in the article since we are very close and always
from our childhood we were supporting each other and combining our chess tournaments
with our strict medical profession and was very challenging. also a picture
of my parents in which we feel very proud too.

Carolina with her brother IM Cristobal José Blanco

January 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

So how do you get Chessmile braces on your teeth? A patient can order them or ask their orthodontist to contact Chessmile to order them. The braces will be deliverd to any place in the world. While ordering you get to choose which braces you want. Chessmile gives you several options to ensure a truly unique orthodontic smile with your own chess puzzle position. Visit the Chesssmile site for further details Dr Carolina Blanco's home page

Chessbase.com

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15.01.2010
– Just one more day without top-level chess. On Saturday the action starts, in the Dutch seaside town, with three incredibly strong invitationals. Friday was the opening ceremony and pairings, on Saturday we will see the first round at 13:30h local time. Live coverage is available on Playchess, with audio commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Daniel King. Pictures and video report.

Advertisement

Yasser Seirawan:
My best games
Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan began playing chess in the summer of 1972 and by 1979 he had won the World Junior Championship and in January of 1980 earned his final Grandmaster norm. What had he learned in seven and a half years that propelled him so far so quickly?
More information...

Wijk aan Zee 2010 – let the games begin

Pictures by Jeroen van den Belt and Gallina Tiviakova

The city of Wijk aan Zee, with the steel mill in the background

One of the players' hotels in the wind-swept dunes

The opening ceremony is held in the Corus Chess Pavilion, on the Village Green

World Champion Vishy Anand (with Hikaru Nakamura in the background)

Hungarian GM Peter Leko

Young Italian GM Fabiano Caruana

Top seed Magnus Carlsen from Norway

Chinese GM Ni Hua, Dutch Champion GM Anish Giri

Lineup on the stage: Nisipianu, Negi, Harikrishna, Sutovsky, Nyback, Anna Muzychuk,

Akobian, So, Naiditsch, Giri, Ni Hua

Dignitaries, players and visitors at the opening ceremony

Norwegian GM Kjetil Lie, Magnus Carlsen, father Henrik

Romanians: GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu with WGM Alina Motoc

Mother and son: Tatiana and Sergey Karjakin

The Corus Board President with the ambassadors of India and Russia

Anand chatting with the Indian ambassador

Aruna Anand with the man who won Wijk aan Zee five times (1989, 1998, 2003,
2004, 2006)

Europe Echecs video
report by GM Robert Fontaine

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Schedule (playing days)

January 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Games begin at 13:30h local time (15:30 Moscow, 12:30 London, 7:30 a.m. NY),
except for the last round on January 31st, which begins at 12:30h. There are
three rest days, on January 20th, 25th, and 28th. For all three groups the rate
of play is 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 minutes/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move.

Location: The tournament takes place in the De Moriaan Community
Centre (Dorpsduinen 4, 1949 EG Wijk aan Zee). There is running commentary on
the games of the Grandmaster Groups in a special Chess Pavilion, on the Village
Green in Wijk aan Zee (one minute walk from De Moriaan).

Live commentary on Playchess

Watch the games live on Playchess, with commentary by Yasser Seirawan (and Daniel
King)

Schedule

Links Official web site All games in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2010 + reports 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

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14.01.2010
– We hear a collective sigh of relief: after the Tal Memorial, the World Blitz,
the London Chess Classic and the World Team Championship (ended yesterday),
some chess fans out there were feeling a twinge of withdrawal. Not to worry:
top GMs are currently arriving in the Dutch seaside town for the annual chess
festival. We will provide full coverage on Playchess.
Here are the tournament details.

Advertisement

Yasser Seirawan:
My best games
Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan began playing chess in the summer of 1972 and by 1979 he had won the World Junior Championship and in January of 1980 earned his final Grandmaster norm. What had he learned in seven and a half years that propelled him so far so quickly?
More information...

Wijk aan Zee 2010 – information and schedule

Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast
of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North
Holland of the Netherlands.

View
Larger Map

The prestigious yearly tournament takes place in three Grandmaster Groups.
There are also a number of amateur groups taking part at the same time. The
three Grandmaster tournaments have 14 players each and are round robins (each
competitor plays against every other).

Participants of Grandmaster Group A

Title	Player	Nat.	Rating	rank	born
GM	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810	1	1990
GM	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790	3	1969
GM	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788	4	1975
GM	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749	8	1969
GM	Peter Leko	HUN	2739	12	1979
GM	Alexei Shirov	SPA	2723	20	1972
GM	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720	21	1990
GM	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712	25	1983
GM	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	28	1987
GM	Nigel Short	ENG	2696	38	1965
GM	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675	51	1992
GM	Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	62	1973
GM	Jan Smeets	NED	2657	73	1985
GM	Loek van Wely	NED	2641	104	1972
Average rating: 2719 – Category: 19

The average rating in Group A is almost exactly the same as in the previous
year: 2719, making this a category 19 tournament. At the top is the world's
highest rated player, Magnus Carlsen, followed by World Champion Viswanathan
Anand and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Hikaru Nakamura comes straight
from his resounding success in the World Team Championships in Bursa, Turkey,
and is good for providing interesting games. Two players from last year's Group
B have moved up to the A section: Nigel Short, former World Championship challenger,
and Fabiano Caruana, who at 17 is Italy's strongest ever grandmaster. Sergey
Karjakin, you might remember, is the winner of last year's event.

Participants of Grandmaster Group B

Title	Player	Nat.	Rating	born
GM	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	1985
GM	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681	1976
GM	Pentala Harikrishna	IND	2672	1986
GM	Hua Ni	CHN	2657	1983
GM	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2657	1977
GM	Wesley So	PHI	2656	1993
GM	Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643	1985
GM	Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	1983
GM	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621	1993
GM	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615	1985
GM	David Howell	ENG	2606	1990
GM	Anish Giri	NED	2588	1994
GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573	1972
WGM	Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	1990
Average rating: 2629 – Category: 16

Eleven players are rated over 2600, and there are three interesting youngsters
in the field: Wesley So and Parimarjan Negi, both 16 years old, and Dutch champion
Anish Giri, who is just 15. Anna Muzychuk, the only female in the field, is
19 and the number seven ranked women player in the world.

Participants of Grandmaster Group C

Title	Player	Nat.	Rating	born
GM	Li Chao	CHN	2604	1989
GM	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577	1989
GM	Ray Robson	USA	2570	1994
GM	Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547	1980
IM	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515	1993
GM	Robin Swinkels	NED	2495	1989
GM	Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	1989
IM	Robin van Kampen	NED	2456	1994
WGM	Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447	1992
GM	Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	1968
FM	Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340	1990
WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323	1989
FM	Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	1995
	Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	1983
Average rating: 2455 – Category: 11

In Group C the average has dropped by 66 points, but the category is maintained.
There are three female players, including the sister of Anna Muzychuk, Marya,
and the eleven-times Dutch Women's Champion Zhaoqin Peng, who at 41 is the oldest
player in the field. The youngest is FM Benjamin Bok, 14, followed by GM Ray
Robson and IM Robin van Kampen.

Rate of play
For all three groups the rate of play is 40 moves in two hours, then 20 moves
in one hour, followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 second
increment per move.

Location: The tournament takes place in the De Moriaan Community
Centre (Dorpsduinen 4, 1949 EG Wijk aan Zee). There is running commentary on
the games of the Grandmaster Groups in a special Chess Pavilion, on the Village
Green in Wijk aan Zee (one minute walk from De Moriaan).

Accommodation: For information contact the local Tourist Office.
VVV IJmond Noord, Julianaplein 13-15, 1949 AT Wijk aan Zee. Telephone: + 31
(0)251 374253. E-mail: info@vvvijmondnoord.nl Website: http://www.visitwijkaanzee.nl

Schedule (playing days)

January 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Games begin at 13:30h local time (CET), except for the last round on January
31st, which begins at 12:30h. There are three rest days, on January 20th, 25th,
and 28th.

Links

• Official web
  site
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2009 (winner: Sergey Karjakin)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2008 (winners: Aronian, Carlsen)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2007 (winner: Teimour Radjabov)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2006 (winners: Anand, Topalov)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2005 (winner: Peter Leko)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2004 (winner: Viswanathan Anand)

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