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Topalov Crushes Aronian for Wijk aan Zee Lead

Sacrificing the exchange - giving up a rook for a bishop or knight - often leads to a dynamic, exciting game. Doing it twice in the same game and winning is enough to make a game a classic, and the winner a legend.

FIDE Champion Veselin Topalov pulled off just that feat while simultaneously vaulting to the front of the Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. In a heart-pounding victory over Levon Aronian, Topalov showed why he is the highest-rated active player in the world, playing a near flawless game to move a half-point ahead of Viswanathan Anand.

After ten rounds, Topalov has 7.5 points, with Anand at 7/10. Anand held Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to a draw in the 10th round after just 26 moves, keeping himself within striking distance with three rounds to play. Michael Adams and Boris Gelfand remain tied for third at 6 points.

American Gata Kamsky has continued to struggle in his first super-tournament since his return to chess. Kamsky lost to French GM Etienne Bacrot in round 10, and sits far behind the field with just 2.5 points. He will try to recover with the white pieces against Loek Van Wely on Friday. His one shining moment thusfar was a shocking win over Anand, which could allow Kamsky to play the role of spoiler should Topalov hold onto a slim lead.

Here are the complete standings so far in the A section:

Topalov, Veselin 7.5
Anand, Viswanathan 7.0
Adams, Michael 6.0
Gelfand, Boris 6.0
Ivanchuk, Vasssily 5.5
Karjakin, Sergey 5.5
Van Wely, Loek 5.0
Aronian, Levon 4.5
Leko, Peter 4.5
Tiviakov, Sergei 4.5
Etienne Bacrot 4.0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 4.0
Sokolov, Ivan 3.5
Kamsky, Gata 2.5

In Group B, Magnus Carlsen has 7.5 points and holds a half-point lead over Alexander Motylev, while early co-leader Arkadij Naiditsch has fallen into a tie for 7th with just 5 points. In Group C, Suat Atalik has virtually clinched first place, holding a two point lead at 8.5/10 with only three rounds to play. His closest competitor is Jan Werle, at 6.5 points.

We will be providing complete coverage of this tournament, as well as the always competitive B and C sections, over the next few weeks. For the official tournament site, click here. For now, here is Topalov's impressive round 10 victory over Aronian.

White: Topalov, V (2801)
Black: Aronian, L (2752)
Corus, Round 10
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. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Nf6 13. e4 b5 14. exd5 exd5 15. Re1 Rb8 16. c5 Bc8 17. Nf3 Ne4 18. Rxe4 dxe4 19. Ne5 Qd5 20. Qe1 Bf5 21. g4 Bg6 22. f3 b4 23. fxe4 Qe6 24. Bb2 Bf6 25. Nxc6 Qxc6 26. e5 Qa6 27. exf6 Rfe8 28. Qf1 Qe2 29. Qf2 Qxg4 30. h3 Qg5 31. Bc1 Qh5 32. Bf4 Rbd8 33. c6 Be4 34. c7 Rc8 35. Re1 Qg6 36. Rxe4 Rxe4 37. d5 Rce8 38. d6 Re1+ 39. Kh2 Qf5 40. Qg3 g6 41. Qg5 Qxg5 42. Bxg5 Rd1 43. Bc6 Re2+ 44. Kg3 1-0