January/February 2003
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The FICS SR Team

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   Corus 2003 - courtesy of: logis

Every year, the eyes of the chess world are turned to a place in the Netherlands. A place called Wijk aan Zee. Long ago, the steel factory Hoogovens started a modest chess tournament there. At first it was only open for the workers at the steel-factory itself...but nowadays the world's top chess players are present each year in
Wijk aan Zee.

A few years ago, Hoogovens was bought up by Corus and some addict chessplayers where worried that the marvelous tournament would dissepear. But, after taking some breaths, they could relax again. The only thing that would be changed was the name of the tournament: from Hoogovens to Corus.

This year we certainly had a lot to look out for! With Kramnik and Ponomariov in the field of 14 players, we could espect the battle of the world champions. With old, but not yet forgotten, Anatoly Karpov, and young, Teimour Radjabov (15 years old), who both are eager to prove that they (in Karpov's case still and in Radjabov's case already) can play chess, we could espect a clash between the old guard & the new.

Jan Timman and Loek Van Wely gave the dutch people something to look forward to. The bigest question for the Dutch was if Van Wely would finaly get rid of his horrible play... (Loek was always a strong contender for last place at Wijk aan Zee for the last couple of years) and could give the Dutch hope for a near, and long wanted, Dutch winner. And who knows, maybe old fox Jan could surprise once more like he did many times before in his long chess career.

But we must not forget Viswhanatan Anand, Vassily Ivanchuck, Evgeny Bareev, Veselin Topalov, Alexey Shirov, Alexander Grishuck and Micheal Krasenkow. They are all strong players who certainly will try to win this supertournament now that the king, Gary Kasparov, isn't present for the second time in the row. This absence is due to his match with his computer opponent, Deep Junior. (you can find more information about this man vs machine match at: X 3D World ).

But could it be that the above mentioned players would all have to leave the limelight attention and, why not, even the top spot to the ever amazing, Judit Polgar?

If you want to find out, check out the 13 round reports at: Official Corus Site
You can also download all games played from this site!
   US Championships - courtesy of: GBate

The U.S. Championship for both men and women was contested in Seattle WA, from 9-18 January. The somewhat unique format, in which both men's and women's championships were at stake, pitted 58 of the best players in the US who had earned their invitation.

The defending champions, GM Larry Chrsitiansen, and WIM Jennifer Shahade, were expected to face tough opposition in their quest to defend their titles.

Going into the final round, there was an 8-way tie for first place. After a little bit of play, 3 of the top four boards agreed to draws,and sat back, awaiting he finish of the Shabalov-Akobian game. If they drew, then there would be a massive eight-way playoff for the title. Appropriately, their game was the last one to finish the 9th round. Shabalov saved himself the trouble of playing extra games by forcing Akobian to resign after 61 moves to capture the title.

For the women's title, there was a three-way tie between former Champs WGM Irina Krush, WIM Jennifer Shahade, and WIM Anna Hahn.

WIM Anna Hahn won a three-way playoff between herself and WGM Irina Krush and WIM Jennifer Shahade to take her first US Women's Championship.

IM Hikaru Nakamura, 15, had a strong showing, finishing +2 against IM level opposition, while finishing with an even score against 6 grandmasters. Nakamura is one to watch out for in the future!

IM Varuzhan Akobian had a more sensational run, getting a chance to play for the title in the above mentioned game with GM Shabalov.

Final Leader Board standings after 9 rounds:

 

   Name                    Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7 Rd8 Rd9 Total
 1 GM Alexander Shabalov   +42 =22 +8  +26 =2  =4  +21 -5  +13  6.5
 2 GM Gregory Kaidanov     +31 +21 +15 =13 =1  =9  =6  =3  =7   6.0
 3 GM Alexander Goldin     +32 -26 =39 =17 =31 +44 +28 =2  +21  6.0
 4 GM Boris Gulko          +41 =27 +29 =40 =13 =1  =7  +14 =6   6.0
 5 GM Joel Benjamin        =50 =24 +41 =15 +40 =13 =23 +1  =8   6.0
 6 GM Alexander Stripunsky =34 +33 =22 =23 +27 =14 =2  +20 =4   6.0
 7 GM Alexander Ivanov     =24 =50 +16 =32 =17 +40 =4  +30 =2   6.0
 8 GM John Fedorowicz      =46 +55 -1  =35 =50 +31 +29 +9  =5   6.0
 9 GM Yasser Seirawan      =33 =34 +42 =20 +26 =2  =14 -8  +22  5.5
10 GM Nick De Firmian      +16 =23 =14 =27 -21 =17 =32 +31 +29  5.5

11 GM Larry Christiansen   +35 =40 =27 +29 =14 -21 =22 +24 =16  5.5
12 GM Alex Yermolinsky     +43 =39 =23 =22 +34 =24 =20 =21 =17  5.5
13 IM Varuzhan Akobian     +36 +28 =26 =2  =4  =5  =24 +23 -1   5.5
14 IM Hikaru Nakamura      =37 +44 =10 +39 =11 =6  =9  -4  +30  5.5
15 GM Gennadi Zaitshik     +47 +49 -2  =5  =22 =29 -30 +32 +33  5.5
16 IM Ron Burnett          -10 +56 -7  +52 +39 =22 =18 +27 =11  5.5
17 IM Justin Sarkar        =25 =20 +30 =3  =7  =10 =27 +26 =12  5.5
18 IM Ben Finegold         +45 -29 +50 =24 =32 -23 =16 =34 +37  5.0
19 GM Gregory Serper       =44 =37 =34 =36 +42 -28 +41 =33 =23  5.0
20 IM Boris Kreiman        =55 =17 +43 =9  =23 +32 =12 -6 =24   5.0

21 GM Alex Fishbein        +51 -2  =36 +37 +10 +11 -1  =12 -3   5.0
22 GM Dmitry Gurevich      +52 =1  =6  =12 =15 =16 =11 +28 -9   5.0
23 FM Igor Foygel          +56 =10 =12 =6  =20 +18 =5  -13 =19  5.0
24 FM Stephen Muhammad     =7  =5  +28 =18 +25 =12 =13 -11 =20  5.0
25 GM Sergey Kudrin        =17 +46 -40 =45 -24 +43 -33 +35 =28  4.5
26 IM Yury Lapshun         +48 +3  =13 -1  -9  =41 =34 -17 +46  4.5
27 GM Walter Browne        +38 =4  =11 =10 -6  +45 =17 -16 =34  4.5
28 IM Michael Mulyar       +58 -13 -24 +48 +35 +19 -3  -22 =25  4.5
29 IM Jesse Kraai          +54 +18 -4  -11 +36 =15 -8  +48 -10  4.5
30 IM Greg Shahade         -49 +47 -17 +57 =45 +50 +15 -7 -14   4.5

31 FM Tegshsuren Enhbat    -2  +51 =37 =44 =3   -8 +45 -10 +47  4.5
32 IM William Paschall     -3  +48 +49 =7  =18 -20 =10 -15 +45  4.5
33 IM John Donaldson       =9  -6  -46 +53 =44 +36 +25 =19 -15  4.5
34 GM Anatoly Lein         =6  =9  =19 +46 -12 =39 =26 =18 =27  4.5
35 IM Larry Kaufman        -11 =53 +54 =8  -28 =37 +55 -25 +48  4.5
36 WGM Irina Krush         -13 +58 =21 =19 -29 -33 +57 +41 =40  4.5
37 WIM Jennifer Shahade    =14 =19 =31 -21 =43 =35 +50 +40 -18  4.5
38 WIM Anna Hahn           -27 -41 +58 -50 +57 -55 =42 +53 +54  4.5
39 GM Maurice Ashley       +57 =12 =3 -14  -16 =34 =44 =46 =43  4.0
40 IM Eugene Perelshteyn   +53 =11 +25 =4  -5  -7  =48 -37 =36  4.0

41 FM Aaron Pixton         -4  +38 -5  =43 +46 =26 -19 -36 +50  4.0
42 IM Dean Ippolito        -1  +52 -9  +49 -19 -48 =38 +55 =44  4.0
43 WGM Elena Donaldson     -12 +57 -20 =41 =37 -25 +52 =44 =39  4.0
44 IM John Watson          =19 -14 +55 =31 =33 -3  =39 =43 =42  4.0
45 WGM Kamile Baginskaite  -18 =54 +53 =25 =30 -27 -31 +49 -32  3.5
46 David Pruess            =8  -25 +33 -34 -41 =52 +53 =39 -26  3.5
47 FM Gregory Markzon      -15 -30 -52 =56 +49 =53 +54 =50 -31  3.5
48 WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg  -26 -32 +56 -28 +54 +42 =40 -29 -35  3.5
49 Julia Shiber            +30 -15 -32 -42 -47 +56 =58 -45 +57  3.5
50 IM Stanislav Kriventsov =5  =7 -18  +38 =8 -30 -37  =47 -41  3.0

51 Marc Esserman           -21 -31 -57 =58 -53 -54 +56 =52 +55  3.0
52 WIM Esther Epstein      -22 -42 +47 -16 =55 =46 -43 =51 =56  3.0
53 WFM Laura Ross          -40 =35 -45 -33 +51 =47 -46 -38 +58  3.0
54 WIM Elina Groberman     -29 =45 -35 =55 -48 +51 -47 +58 -38  3.0
55 FM Allan Bennett        =20 -8 -44  =54 =52 +38 -35 -42 -51  2.5
56 WIM Cindy Tsai          -23 -16 -48 =47 =58 -49 -51 +57 =52  2.5
57 WIM Olga Sagalchik      -39 -43 +51 -30 -38 +58 -36 -56 -49  2.0
58 Anna Levina             -28 -36 -38 =51 =56 -57 =49 -54 -53  1.5
FM Stephen Muhammad scored his third and final IM norm. FM Igor Foygel scored his third and final IM norm. WIM Jennifer Shahade scored both her second IM and second WGM norm.

The games presented below are the games that actually won the respective championships for GM Shabalov and WIM Hahn.

[Event "ch-USA"]
[Site "Seattle USA"]
[Date "2003.01.18"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Shabalov,A"]
[Black "Akobian,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2613"]
[BlackElo "2531"]
[EventDate "2003.01.09"]
[ECO "C02"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4 Nf5 9. Bb2 Be7 10. h4 h5 11. Bd3 g6 12. Bxf5 gxf5 13. Nc3 Rg8 14. g3 Bd7 15. Bc1 Rc8 16. Ne2 a5 17. b5 Qxb5 18. Bg5 a4 19. Rb1 Qa5+ 20. Kf1 Bxa3 21. Ra1 Qb4 22. Nf4 Rh8 23. Kg2 b5 24. Bf6 Rh6 25. Re1 Qf8 26. Qe2 Be7 27. Bg5 Rh8 28. Rec1 Rb8 29. Rab1 Bxg5 30. hxg5 Qa3 31. g6 fxg6 32. Nxe6 Bxe6 33. Rxc6 Qe7 34. Rxb5 Kf7 35. Ng5+ Qxg5 36. Rc7+ Qe7 37. Rxe7+ Kxe7 38. Rc5 Rhc8 39. Qa6 Rxc5 40. Qa7+ Ke8 41. dxc5 Rc8 42. Qxa4+ Bd7 43. Qd4 Be6 44. f4 Ke7 45. Qb4 Rc6 46. Kh3 Bd7 47. Kh4 Kf7 48. Kg5 Ke7 49. Qb3 Re6 50. Qxd5 Bc6 51. Qa2 Bd7 52. Kh6 Be8 53. Kg7 Bd7 54. Qh2 Rc6 55. Qh4+ Ke8 56. Qf6 Rxf6 57. exf6 Be6 58. c6 g5 59. fxg5 f4 60. g6 fxg3 61. f7+ 1-0

[Event "ch-USA w playoff"]
[Site "Seattle USA"]
[Date "2003.01.19"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Shahade,J"]
[Black "Hahn,A"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2330"]
[BlackElo "2219"]
[EventDate "2003.01.19"]
[ECO "B63"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 h6 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. O-O-O a6 10. Kb1 Bd7 11. f4 Qb6 12. Nf3 O-O-O 13. Bd3 Kb8 14. Rhf1 h5 15. Ne2 Be8 16. f5 Qc5 17. Qe1 Rc8 18. Nf4 Ne5 19. fxe6 Nxd3 20. cxd3 Qc2+ 21. Ka1 Bh6 22. g3 fxe6 23. Nd4 Qa4 24. Nfxe6 Bd7 25. Rf5 Be3 26. Ra5 Qxd1+ 27. Qxd1 Rc1+ 28. Qxc1 Bxc1 29. Rf5 h4 30. g4 h3 31. Rxf6 Rg8 32. Rf8+ Rxf8 33. Nxf8 Bxg4 34. Ng6 Be3 35. Nf5 Bg1 36. Nh6 Bc8 37. Nf4 Bxh2 38. Nxh3 Bxh3 39. Nf5 Bxf5 40. exf5 Be5 41. Kb1 Kc7 42. Kc2 Kc6 0-1

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