Chess

Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Levon Aronian of Armenia won the elite Corus grandmaster tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, yesterday with an 8-5 score. They edged world champion Vishy Anand of India and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan by a half point.

A Victorious Knight

It is Carlsen's best result of his young career, and the 17-year-old Norwegian made it to the top with a roller-coaster finish. Being in the lead, he lost to Anand but recovered by beating former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. In the dynamic English Hedgehog, Carlsen outplayed his opponent mixing tactics with a positional squeeze. The most remarkable piece in that game was Carlsen's king's knight, circling the board until it finally sealed Kramnik's fate.

Kramnik-Carlsen

1.Nf3 Nf6 (The journey of this heroic knight begins modestly.) 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Rd1 a6 10.Ng5 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 Nc6 12.Qf4 0-0 13.Nce4 Ne8! (Keeping the white horses entangled.) 14.b3 Ra7 15.Bb2 Rd7 16.Rac1 (The Hedgehog is a deceiving defense. It seems white is completely in charge at this point, but the luck can turn quickly.) 16...Nc7!? (Threatening to win with f7-f5, Carlsen finds an original way to push Kramnik's pieces back.) 17.Nf3 f5 18.Nc3 g5 19.Qd2 g4 20.Ne1 Bg5! (Forcing white to weaken the square f3.) 21.e3 Rff7 22.Kg1 Ne8 23.Ne2 Nf6 24.Nf4 Qe8 25.Qc3 Rg7 26.b4 Ne4 (Suddenly, the knight becomes a dominant piece in the center.) 27.Qb3 Rge7 28.Qa4 (Kramnik, who is usually great in coordinating his pieces, takes his queen out of play. He should have tried either 28.f3 or even 28.h4.) 28...Ne5! (Defending tactically. After 28...Nb8? 29.f3 white is slightly better.)

29.Qxa6? (The pawn-hunting gets Kramnik in trouble.) 29...Ra7 30.Qb5 (Forced, since after 30.Qxb6? Reb7 31.Qd4 Bf6, threatening 32...Nf3+, and black wins. Kramnik offered a draw that was promptly declined. Black is already better.) 30...Qxb5 31.cxb5 Rxa2 32.Rc8+?! Kf7 33.Nfd3 Bf6 34.Nxe5+ dxe5 35.Rc2 Rea7 36.Kg2 Ng5 37.Rd6?! e4! 38.Bxf6 Kxf6 (Carlsen is winning. He can combine mating threats on the kingside with material gains on the queenside.) 39.Kf1 Ra1! 40.Ke2 Rb1 41.Rd1 (After 41.Rxb6? white loses either after 41...Raa1 42.Ng2 Nf3, threatening 43...Re1+!; or after 41...Rd7 42.Rcc6? Rxe1+! 43.Kxe1 Nf3+ and black mates.) 41...Rxb4 42.Ng2 Rxb5 (Black is two pawns up. The end is near.) 43.Nf4 Rc5 44.Rb2 b5 45.Kf1 Rac7 46.Rbb1 Rb7 47.Rb4 Rc4 48.Rb2 b4 49.Rdb1 Nf3 50.Kg2 Rd7! 51.h3 (After 51.Rxb4 Rxb4 52.Rxb4 Rd1 53.Ne2 Ne1+ 54.Kf1 Nc2+ wins.) 51...e5 52.Ne2 Rd2 53.hxg4 fxg4 54.Rxd2 Nxd2 55.Rb2 Nf3 56.Kf1 b3 57.Kg2 Rc2 (After 58.Rxc2 bxc2 59.Kf1 Nd2+ 60.Ke1 Nb3 the knight finally finishes his victorious journey.) White resigned.

Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia won the Corus B-group with a 9 1/2 -3 1/2 score and will play in the top group next year. Fabiano Caruana, the 15-year-old Italian champion who grew up in the United States, dominated the C-group with a 10-3 score. Ljubomir Ljubojevic of Serbia prevailed at the tournament of veteran grandmasters with a 4-2 score.

Solution to today's study by L. Mitrofanov (White: Kf3,Qe8,Bg8,P:e3,f4,f5; Black: Kh4,Qa6,Rb5,Bb7,P:c6,f6,h6):1.Qh5+! Kxh5 2.Kg3 Qa2 3.Bxa2 Rd5 4.Bc4 Ba6 5.Bxa6 Rb5 6.Kh3 Rxf5 7.Be2+ Kg6 8.Bd3 wins.