Aronian and Carlsen share first at Corus

Movsesian wins Corus B, Caruana wins Corus C

This year's edition of Corus has clearly been the tournament of the young stars. Carlsen, Aronian, Radjabov, Caruana, Movsesian, Negi, and Harikrishna showed superior in their respective groups.

Corus group A

This year's competition was an exciting race for the first place. The leaders were changing round after round with several names always orbiting the top spot - Carlsen, Radjabov, and Aronian. They had to determine the winner in the last round. Aronian played with black against Polgar and in a rapid tempo they reached to a fast draw. Thus, all the attention was towards the direct encounter Carlsen - Radjabov. Even though Carlsen fell early into time trouble, he managed to hold the position and secure a draw. The Norwegian prodigy collected a total of 8 points, the same as Aronian, and they shared the first place.

It was clearly not a good tournament for the top five seeded, or at least they did not achieve what was expected from them. Vishy Anand was the only one that could have had a shot at the first place, but a loss from Radjabov, a slow start, and a draw in the last round with Kramnik, gave the world champion a shared third. Vladimir Kramnik tried to play attacking chess, but it proved opposite to his style and he scored losses against Topalov and Carlsen. Topalov himself played very irregular chess with lot's of risks. The only good thing for him was the victory over Kramnik with a beautiful knight sacrifice. Peter Leko proved the tendency to be the least loosing and the least winning player in the history of Corus and scored 10 draws, although he had a nice win in the last round as well.

Corus 2008 pgn, photos, and more

General Corus 2008 page/ TWIC pgn / Chessvibes video / Corus photos / TotoScacco

Corus group B

GM Sergei Movsesian did not leave any question in group B who should be the one to win the competition. Movsesian secured at least shared forst place one round before the end, and with a draw against Koneru in the last round he became the sole winner of the Corus B tournament. The Slovak GM did not lose a single game and finished with 9,5 points - 6 wins and 7 draws.

This year's Corus B will also be remembered for the events in round 8. The unsportsmen's refusal of handshake by Cheparinov and the sharp reaction of the not acquainted with current FIDE laws Nigel Short, led to an intense situation and scandals (full log of Short - Cheparinov story).

The top seeded Cheparinov himself disappointed with the performace at this tournament, finishing mid table with.... Ettiene Bacrot, the 2nd top seeded, had a nice performance, finishing without a lost game with 8,5. Pentala Harikrishna showed one more time he will soon be a top class GM and finished with 7,5, only loosing to the winner.

Corus group C

The competition in group C was very exciting all the way through. IM Arik Braun had a perfect 4,0/4 score after the first rounds. However, two draws and a series of losses brought him down the standings. At the same time, the two top seeded, GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Friso Nijboer, were scoring and heading towards the first place. The race there culminated with a direct match in round 12, where Caruana won with black and secured at least shared first place. In the last round he won his third direct fight, this time with Negi. Thus, he finished top of group C, 2 points ahead of competition.

Aronian going to Grand Slam final

The tradition at Corus is not allowing different treatment for the joint winners of the event. However, according to the Grand Slam rules, only one player qualifies for the final tournament in Bilbao. On better tiebreak this will be Levon Aronian. He will be present at the final together with the winners from Morelia Linares, Mtel Masters 2008, and the Grand Slam tournament in Mexico, as well as the two players that get direct invitations - Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand.

We can be almost sure that Carlsen will be granted a spot at the final as well. Kramnik and Anand have already been invited, but their semi final match for the World Chess Championship is very soon after the event. It is very probable that they refuse participation, so it will be logical the joint winner of Corus, Magnus Carlsen, to substitute them.

Corus 2008 commented games

Round 1: Mamedyarov Carlsen / Aronian - Topalov / Spoelman - Cheparinov / Peng - Caruana

Round 2: Topalov - Ivanchuk / Kramnik - Radjabov / Cheparinov - Movsesian

Round 3: Adams - Carlsen / Polgar - Topalov / Smeets - Cheparinov

Round 4: Van Wely - Topalov / Carlsen - Aronian

Round 5: Ivanchuk - Carlsen / Aronian - Anand/ Topalov - Gelfand / Grivas - Caruana

Round 6: Carlsen - Polgar / Leko - Topalov / Cheparinov - Konneru

Round 7: Topalov - Carlsen / Adams - Mamedyarov

Round 8: Anand - Topalov / Braun - Caruana / Short - Cheparinov

Round 9: Topalov - Kramnik /

Round 10: Van Wely - Carlsen

Round 11: Carlsen - Anand / Caruana - Ushenina

Round 12: Kramnik - Carlsen

Round 13: Carlsen - Radjabov

Corus videos by Vijay Kumar

Round 1 / Round 2 Round 3 / Round 4 / Round 5 / Round 6 / Round 7 / Round 8 / Round 9 / Round 10 / Round 11 / Round 12 /

More videos at Live Tele Shows and Chessvibes

Corus standings

Corus 2008 group A standings

N	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pts
1	Kramnik	*	½	0	½	½	½	1	½	½	0	½	½	1	½	6½
2	Anand	½	*	1	½	½	½	½	½	0	1	½	1	½	½	7½
3	Topalov	1	0	*	½	1	½	0	1	½	½	½	½	0	0	6
4	Mamedyarov	½	½	½	*	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	1	6
5	Leko	½	½	0	1	*	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	7
6	Ivanchuk	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	7
7	Aronian	0	½	1	½	½	½	*	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	8
8	Gelfand	½	½	0	½	½	½	0	*	0	½	½	0	1	½	5
9	Radjabov	½	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	*	½	½	½	1	½	7½
10	Carlsen	1	0	½	1	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	1	1	8
11	Adams	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	0	½	1	6½
12	Polgar	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	0	1	*	0	½	6
13	Eljanov	0	½	1	½	½	0	½	0	0	0	½	1	*	½	5
14	Van Wely	½	½	1	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	*	5

Corus 2008 group B standings

N	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pts
1	Cheparinov	*	½	½	½	0	0	1	1	½	1	0	0	½	1	6½
2	Bacrot	½	*	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	8½
3	Movsesian	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	9½
4	Sargissian	½	½	½	*	½	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	1	5
5	Harikrishna	1	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	1	1	7½
6	Short	1	½	½	1	½	*	1	½	½	½	1	1	0	½	8½
7	Krasenkow		0	0	1	½	0	*	0	0	½	1	½	½	1	5
8	Stellwagen	0	½	0	½	½	½	1	*	½	0	½	½	½	1	6
9	Koneru	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	*	½	0	0	½	0	5½
10	Nepomniachti	0	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	*	½	0	½	1	7
11	L'Ami	1	½	0	½	½	0	0	½	1	½	*	½	1	0	6
12	Smeets	1	0	0	½	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	*	0	0	6
13	Yifan Hou	½	0	0	1	0	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	*	½	6
14	Spoelman	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	1	1	½	*	4

Corus 2008 group C standings

N	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pts
1	Caruana	*	1	1	½	1	½	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	10
2	Nijboer	0	*	0	1	1	½	1	0	0	1	1	½	0	1	7
3	Braun	0	1	*	½	1	0	½	0	½	1	0	1	1	½	7
4	Reinderman	½	0	½	*	½	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	8
5	Negi	0	0	0	½	*	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	½	1	8
6	Grivas	½	½	1	½	0	*	0	½	0	0	1	1	0	1	6
7	Li	1	0	½	0	0	1	*	½	0	1	1	½	0	½	6
8	Carlsson	0	1	1	0	1	½	½	*	½	1	0	½	½	1	7½
9	van der Wiel	0	1	½	½	0	1	1	½	*	1	0	½	½	½	7
10	Ushenina	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	*	½	1	1	1	4½
11	Krush	1	0	1	½	0	0	0	1	1	½	*	½	½	1	7
12	Peng	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	*	½	1	4½
13	van der Werf	0	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	6½
14	Ruijgrok	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	0	0	½	*	2