Six Lead Corus!

In the Corus Chess 2009 tournament, six players are tied for first in the Grandmaster A Group.

Standings after Twelve Rounds
1. Aronian, Dominguez, Radjabov, Movsesian, Karjakin, Carlsen 7.0
7. Kamsky 6
8. Ivanchuk, Smeets, van Wely 5.5
11. Adams, Wang, Stellwagen 5
14. Morozevich 4.5

Tomorrow, the games start an hour earlier--12:30pm CET.

The match-ups to watch:
Levon Aronian has Black against Jan Smeets
Leinier Dominguez has White against Sergei Karjakin
Teymour Radjabov has White against Daniel Stellwagen
Sergei Movsesian has Black against Gata Kamsky
Magnus Carlsen has Black against Wang Yue

Who wants it bad enough to take the risks necessary to win?


Corus C Group

Tournament leader Wesley So defeated Tiger Hillarp Persson, his closest pursuer. A draw tomorrow makes him the winner, and secures his invitation to next year's B Group.

Hillarp Persson - So [D11]
Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.Qb3 Bxf3 7.gxf3 Qc7 8.Nc3 e6 9.a4 Nbd7 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.a5 Nb8 12.Bd2 Nc6 13.Ke2 Bd6 14.Na4 0–0 15.Qb6 Qe7 16.Nc5 Rab8 17.f4 Bc7 18.Qb3 Bxf4 19.Qc3 e5 20.Nb3 Rfc8 21.dxe5 Bxe5 22.Qc5 Nd4+ 23.Qxd4 Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Ne4 25.Rag1 g6 26.Bxe4 dxe4 27.h4 Rc4 28.Bc3 Rxc3 29.bxc3 Qc7 30.Kf1 Qxa5 31.h5 Qa1+ 32.Kg2 Qxc3 33.hxg6 fxg6 34.Rh4 Re8 35.Rb1 b5 36.Rhh1 Qc5 37.Rbc1 Qg5+ 38.Kf1 Rf8 39.Rh2 Qxe3 0–1

The newest Grandmaster, Anish Giri, also won today.

Giri - Leon Hoyos [A41]
Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.g3 Bxf3 4.exf3 g6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0–0 c6 8.Nc3 Nb6 9.d5 Rc8 10.Qd3 Nf6 11.Be3 cxd5 12.cxd5 Nfd7 13.Bd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 0–0 15.Rfe1 Nf6 16.Re2 Rc4 17.Qd3 a6 18.Rae1 Rc7 19.f4 Nc4 20.b3 Na3 21.Bh3 Rc5 22.Ne4 Nxe4 23.Rxe4 Rc7 24.f5 Nb5 25.fxg6 hxg6 26.a4 Na7 27.Qd4 b5 28.Rh4 f6 29.Qe3 g5 30.Qe4 f5 31.Qe6+ Kg7 32.Qh6+ Kf7 33.Bxf5 1–0

With eight points, Giri is the only player capable of catching So. If he wins tomorrow (Black against Dronavalli Harika) and So loses (White against David Howell), the two will tie for first. I think we can expect some quick draws in the C Group.


Corus B Group

Nigel Short is still playing. Before today's games, he had half a point lead over Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Fabiano Caruana. Kasimdzhanov won and Caruana drew. Short and Kasimdzhanov both have Black tomorrow. If their opponents are ambitious, the conclusion could be very much in the air.

10:22am PST; 7:22pm CET

Nigel Short - Zahar Efimenko was drawn. Short and Kasimdzhanov are tied with 8.