Carlsen set to take Corus crown

Anand does Carlsen a favour by beating Vladimir Kramnik in the Petroff. Definitely the Indian's best game for some time!
Otherwise Smeets recued some honour by making a mess of Van Wely's Najdorf.
Read on for further details and the latest Video report.

Kramnik tried to keep things solid by playing the Petroff, but it was clear that Anand was well-prepared and was thus able to keep a pull out of the opening. The Indian then initiated a sharp sequence at the end of which he was the exchange down, but in return had two central passed pawns and the safer king and indeed a decisive advantage.

Karjakin and Shirov battled out yet another theoretical battle in the Spanish line that Shirov has popularized over the years and again frequently here in Wijk aan Zee.

The result of all the excitement: an entertaining draw that allows Shirov to catch Kramnik.

Jan Smeets has won again thus salvaging some honour although he still stays bottom. In fact he won convincingly and quickly as Van Wely's Najdorf again looked rather shaky.

Carlsen and Leko fought out their Najdorf to a drawn rook ending. Despite great intentions, neither side ever looked like getting any advantage.

Ivanchuk livened-up his struggle against Dominguez with an enterprising piece sacrifice. He obtained interesting compensation and set numerous practical problems but the Cuban held firm.

Nakamura played an early ...h5 and then ...d5. So although the game started as a Richter-Rauzer, it then resembled a Najdorf, before the closing of the centre finally made everything seem like a French!

Later on it was the American who was trying to win but although he finally won a piece he ran out of pawns.

Tiviakov kept a nominal edge against Short's Caro-Kann but it came to nothing.

Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788	C42	Petroff's Defence
Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720	0.5-0.5	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2723	C78	Spanish Modern Archangel
Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712	0.5-0.5	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749	B01	Scandinavian Defence
Peter Leko	HUN	2739	0.5-0.5	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810	B90	Sicilian Najdorf
Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675	0.5-0.5	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	B67	Sicilian Richter-Rauzer
Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	0.5-0.5	Nigel Short	ENG	2696	B16	Caro-Kann Defence
Jan Smeets	NED	2657	1-0	Loek van Wely	NED	2641	B96	Sicilian Najdorf

Kramnik's loss enables Carlsen to become sole leader and with the White pieces tomorrow he must fancy his chances. Shirov and Kramnik are just behind and also have White in the last round.

Anand's win takes him to fourth alone and he is now the only unbeaten player.

Seed	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1=	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810	8
1=	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788	7.5
3	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2723	7.5
4	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790	7
5=	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749	6.5
5=	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720	6.5
5=	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	6.5
8=	Peter Leko	HUN	2739	6
8=	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712	6
10	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675	5
11=	Nigel Short	ENG	2696	4.5
11=	Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	4.5
11=	Loek van Wely	NED	2641	4.5
14	Jan Smeets	NED	2657	4

See the latest video report here plus, in case you missed them before, those covering the earlier rounds.

B-Group

Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	0-1	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	C69	Spanish Exchange
Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615	0.5-0.5	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573	A52	Budapest Defence
Ni Hua	CHN	2657	0.5-0.5	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681	B83	Sicilian Scheveningen
Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2666	0.5-0.5	Penteala Harikrishna	IND	2672	B17	Caro-Kann Defence
Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643	1-0	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621	D85	Gruenfeld Exchange
Anish Giri	NED	2588	0.5-0.5	Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	B07	Pirc Defence
David Howell	ENG	2606	0.5-0.5	Wesley So	PHI	2656	C07	French Tarrasch

Giri needs just half-a-point to win the Group and book his place in the top section in 2011.

Rank	Title	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1	GM	Anish Giri	NED	2588	8.5
2=	GM	Ni Hua	CHN	2657	7.5
2=	GM	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615	7.5
2=	GM	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	7.5
5	GM	Wesley So	PHI	2656	7
6=	GM	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621	6
6=	GM	Penteala Harikrishna	IND	2672	6
6=	GM	David Howell	ENG	2606	6
9	GM	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2657	5.5
10=	IM	Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	5
10=	GM	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681	5
12=	GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573	4.5
12=	GM	Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643	4.5
14	GM	Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	3.5

Group C

Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323	0-1	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577	B67	Sicilian Scheveningen
Ray Robson	USA	2570	0.5-0.5	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515	C67	Spanish Berlin
Robin Swinkels	NED	2495	0.5-0.5	Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547	B39	Sicilian Accelerated Dragon
Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447	1-0	Robin van Kampen	NED	2456	B51	Sicilian Moscow/Rossolimo
Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340	0.5-0.5	Li Chao-b	CHN	2604	C42	Petroff's Defence
Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	0-1	Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	A40	Keres
Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	1-0	Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	C99	Spanish Chigorin

Li Chao has a decisive lead and thus wins the C-Group with a round to spare.

Rank	Title	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1	GM	Li Chao-b	CHN	2604	9
2=	GM	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577	7.5
2=	GM	Ray Robson	USA	2570	7.5
4=	GM	Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	7
4=	IM	Robin van Kempen	NED	2456	7
6=	IM	Robin Swinkels	NED	2495	6.5
6=	FM	Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	6.5
8=	IM	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515	6
8=	FM	Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340	6
10	GM	Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547	5.5
11=	WGM	Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447	5
11=	GM	Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	5
13	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323	3
14	-	Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	2.5

For further information official site