The always amazing Corus supertournament in Wijk aan Zee has released its 2007 field. Six of the top ten are there, including the top four: Topalov, Anand, Kramnik, and Svidler. Then come Morozevich, Aronian, Radjabov, Shirov, Ponomariov, Carlsen, Tiviakov, van Wely, Karjakin, and Motylev. It should be an amazing show. Topalov and Anand are the big favorites; they tied for first with excellent 9/13 scores in the last event, a full 1.5 ahead of Adams and Ivanchuk. The tournament runs January 12-28.
Of course everyone will be watching the Topalov-Kramnik game, but the presence of the world's top three junior stars will add the most spice. Which of the trio will finish with a plus score? Karjakin made +1 last year by beating up the tailenders. Nice to see Moro and Shirov there this year.
It will be an amazing tournament indeed. I like Corus more than Linares. Btw anyone knows why Moro hasn't been played in Linares so far?
Hm-m-m... An interesting but strange decision: to invite Ponomariov and NOT to invite Ivanchuk. I wonder why...
I'm sad Michael Adams is not there.
Duncan
Finally Carlsen gets tested against the very top. He has never played against Topalov or Kramnik, Anand only in rapid+blitz. Not Lékó either, Svidler not in classical, etc... Karjakin has more experience of this although still not all that much.
Too bad there´s no Lékó and no Ivanchuk. As for promising youngsters I would have liked Mamedyarov, who is really on fire right now.
They should have invited Ivanchuk. Don't get it.
Yah, was a little strange considering that Adams and Ivanchuk both did well there last year. Aronian didn't but is back this year. I suppose variety is the spice of life and Moro and Shirov are a hardly a downgrade in the spice department. Pono was there in 2005 and had a very up-and-down event.
As for Corus selection:
Could anybody explain how do they choose these 3:
Teymour Radjabov (Azerbaijan, 2729, 11)
Alexey Shirov (Spain, 2720, 14)
Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, 2703, 20)
Al oof the above are definitely great players, but there are higher rated and more deserving like Ivanshuk and Adams.
In my humble opinion, with only 12 participants in a group, taking into account the tournament prestige, they should have given only one (not two) slot to home player(unless he/she really deserves it)
Why has Morozevich never (?) played in Linares, btw? Never been invited or turned invitations down?
Ok, that was already asked. Sorry. Well, perhaps the chances for an answer might increase. :-)
where is leko?!
I think Mig once said that Moro had a dispute with the Linares organisers and they never invited him back. I love Moro's play, but he's a flaky guy.
I think that the field is great. I have no complaints. Ivanchuk vs. Shirov and Leko/Adams vs. Morozevich isn't that big a deal to me, and Shirov either has the brilliancies or the awful losses. This will be the best Corus ever in terms of chess quality and competition - well, at least the best since the one with the Kasparov-Topalov game :).
Laj.
The organisers never bother about rating. The invite the players that they think will make the tournament interesting. I think they do a brilliant job every year.
I Agree Mark. Besides, there is a slight chance that Chucky or Mikey (maybe both?) have received an invitation but have denied it for some reason.
It surprises me that people still have something to complain with such a set up. Typical for a lot of so called chess fans. To me its annoying.
Nummero 1, 2 and 3!!! Thats all a real fan wishes.
Ryan,
they are not really complaints. Just comments on the field. I'm sure it will be a great tournament. Can't wait for it to start.
Duncan
Wasn't Anand the winner last time on tiebreaks? or was the trophy shared?
The organizers may also have budget constraints. So, they may invite players lower down in the pecking order. Alternatively, the other players may have tournament conflicts.
Any idea about B and C tournaments?
It looks like a superb tournament, but I do wish Leko and Ivanchuk were there. Perhaps they would have been better choices than Ponomariov and either Tiviakov or Van Wely? In any case, this could be the best tournament of the year and it is great to see Shirov back in a super tournament. It will also be interesting to see how the young players do. My prediction is that Radjabov will have the highest score of the youngsters.
Now, now. There are only so many invitations to go around; someone has to miss out. In any case, if they want interesting matchups (I don't think budget contraints really some into play, I'm pretty sure their budget is bigger than anyone's) they have done a good job as usual.
The always amazing Corus supertournament in Wijk aan Zee has released its 2007 field. Six of the top ten are there, including the top four: Topalov, Anand, Kramnik, and Svidler. Then come Morozevich, Aronian, Radjabov, Shirov, Ponomariov, Carlsen, Tiviakov, van Wely, Karjakin, and Motylev.
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It looks like budget has played a role in their invitations decisions. By and large, I would expect that the Appearance fees for the Eastern European players is a bit lower.
Tiviakov and van Wely are local flavor. Carlsen is the newest best thing. Aronian, Shirov, and Morozevich are the wild tacticians. Karjakin and Radjabov will be in a horse race with each other, and with Carlsen. In many ways, primacy among the young trio will be almost as interesting as the race for 1st place. This is a danger field for the big 4; I don't expect anybody to make it through unscathed.
Lékó isn't there, but at least ãnänd is, and Töpālôv, and Švǐďlēr, and Ķrãmnĩk.
"Lékó isn't there, but at least ãnänd is, and Töpālôv, and Švǐďlēr, and Ķrãmnĩk"
Yes, but where is 卜祥志?
Aronian is a wild tactician??
Svidler didnt play in 2006 while he only scored 6/13 in 2005; he has never managed to play well in Wijk aan Zee but let´s see this year as I think his chess has improved a lot since 2005, if he only stays focused for the whole tournament...
"Lékó isn't there, but at least ãnänd is, and Töpālôv, and Švǐďlēr, and Ķrãmnĩk"
Yes, but where is 卜祥志?
Posted by: zarghev at October 26, 2006 16:37
LOL!
Yes macuga, Aronian is a wild tactician, top-3 wild I'd say:) Check, for example, his game against Carlsen.
The main reason we do not see many spectacular combination by him is that his opening repertoire is a bit narrow for top-10 level, so sometimes he just doesn't get the positions he likes to play. Then, his great technique comes to help-he can score a win against a top player in an absolutely equal position.
They have the Corus-B players now on the website. Bu Xiangzhi and Jakovenko are the top seeds.
Will Corus have the "Topalov Wall?"
No, it may have the "Kramnik potty lockout " instead.
Jakovenko gets a nice invite finally. In principal, that man is a great hope for Russia. I expect him to run away with this event.