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Topalov and Leko Share Slim Corus Lead

Peter Leko defeated Nigel Short, and Veselin Topalov held a surging Viswanathan Anand to a draw to keep a share of the lead as the 9th round of the Corus Chess Tournament drew to a close. Leko and Topalov each have six points, while Anand and Michael Adams are just a half point back.

Anand, who stuggled early in the tournament, has rallied back to contention with a series of strong performances. After a disappointing first four rounds, Anand won three consecutive games over Morozevich, Ponomariov and Bruzon to climb into a first place tie. Kramnik, who is currently a point behind in 5th place, finally held Anand to a draw in round eight.

The field in the Corus A section features eight of the world's top ten players, including all of the players ranked second through eighth. Judit Polgar, although currently off the FIDE rating lists due to her inactivity in 2004, would be ranked 9th if she were included.

Here are the complete standings so far:

Topalov, Veselin................ 6.0
Leko, Peter........................ 6.0
Adams, Michael................. 5.5
Anand, Viswanathan......... 5.5
Kramnik, Vladimir............. 5.0
Grischuk, Alexander.......... 4.5
Ponomariov, Ruslan........... 4.5
Bruzon, Lazaro.................. 4.5
Van Wely, Loek................ 4.0
Polgar, Judit...................... 4.0
Svidler, Peter.................... 4.0
Short, Nigel....................... 4.0
Morozevich, Alexander..... 3.0
Sokolov, Ivan................... 2.5

With just four rounds remaining, there will be few chances for players to gain points the rest of the way. Several Round 10 games may have a large impact on the final standings: Adams plays Kramnik in the only matchup between players near the top of the standings; Anand, Topalov and Leko will look to try to gain points against Van Wely, Svidler and Morozevich respectively; and Grischuk will play Ponomariov, in a game which could vault the winner back into contention.

We will continue to provide updates on the Corus Chess Tournament A Group in the coming weeks. The following is a win by Anand, part of his three game winning streak:

White: Anand, V (2786)
Black: Ponomariov, R (2700)
Corus A, Round 6
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 Qb6 7. Nb3 e6 8. Bf4 Nbd7 9. g4 Be7 10. Qe2 h6 11. h4 Qc7 12. O-O-O b5 13. a3 Rb8 14. Qg2 Nc5 15. g5 Nh5 16. Be3 Na4 17. Rd3 g6 18. Kb1 Bb7 19. Be2 e5 20. Qf2 Bc6 21. gxh6 Nb6 22. f4 Nf6 23. fxe5 dxe5 24. Rf1 O-O 25. Nc5 Bb7 26. Ne6 fxe6 27. Bxb6 Qc6 28. Qg1 Kh7 29. Rdf3 Qe8 30. Bc5 Bxc5 31. Qxc5 Nd7 32. Qe3 Qe7 33. Qg5 Qxg5 34. Rf7+ Rxf7 35. Rxf7+ Kh8 36. hxg5 Bc6 37. b4 Nf8 38. Rf6 Kg8 39. Bg4 Bd7 40. Kb2 Re8 41. Nd1 Re7 42. Nf2 Be8 43. Rf3 Rf7 44. Rxf7 Kxf7 45. Kc3 Nh7 46. Nh3 Bc6 47. Kd3 Ke7 48. Ke3 Kd6 49. Be2 Ke7 50. Bd3 Kd6 51. Kf3 Ke7 52. Kg4 Nf8 53. Ng1 Nh7 54. Nf3 Kd6 55. Kg3 Be8 56. Kf2 Bc6 57. Ke3 Bd7 58. c4 bxc4 59. Bxc4 Bc8 60. a4 Bb7 61. a5 Bc8 62. Bd3 1-0

Mamedyarov Still Ahead in B Group; 3 Tied for Group C Lead

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov holds a slim half-point lead over young sensation Sergey Karjakin in the B Group of the Corus Chess Tournament. Mamedyarov, who has led throughout the event, currently stands on 7 points after nine rounds.

Alexander Onischuk, the only American participating in Wijk aan Zee, has rebounded from a rough start and is back to an even score, with 4.5 out of 9. Onischuk currently sits in 7th place.

While not as prestigous as the A Group, the B and C tournaments at Corus are strong events in their own right. The B group boasts 12 grandmasters, and the C group has 4 in its field. Each group also has a special prize; the winner has the honor of playing in the next group up at the following year's tournament. Last year's C winner, Magnus Carlsen, is currently 5th in this year's B group. Lazaro Bruzon, who won the 2004 B group, has played competitively among the best players in the world during this year's A group.

In C Group action, three players are tied for first: early leader Evgeny Alekseev, IM Erwin L'Ami, and GM Vladimir Georgiev. All three players have scored 7 points in the first 9 rounds of play. GM Alexey Korotylev and WGM Natalia Zhukova are each a half-point back.

We will cover the conclusion of the Corus tournaments in next week's issue.