Norwegian world number one Magnus Carlsen won the Grand Slam tournament in Wijk aan Zee after an exciting finish. Alexey Shirov of Spain won his first five games, but missed a winning move in the last round, and was half a point behind Magnus. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik shared second place with Shirov.

 Magnificent Magnus and super coach Garry

The traditional grandmaster tournament in Wijk aan Zee was the first tournament for Magnus as official world number one. Expectations were high, but it was not obvious that Magnus would manage to win the Corus tournament. Among his competitors were Vishy Anand, the world champion, and Vladimir Kramnik, the Russian chess genius who beat Garry Kasparov in 2000.

Nevertheless, Magnus proved triumphant in the end. In round nine he lost with the white pieces to Kramnik, who played a splendid game as black in his beloved Catalan opening. As a result of this loss, Magnus’ chances for first place seemed slim. Kramnik only scored 1,5 points in the last four rounds, however, losing to Anand and drawing his other three games. Alexey Shirov had the same result in the final four rounds – one loss and three drawn games. Carlsen’s finish with two wins and two draws was a lot stronger.

Last round blunder: Alexey Shirov (photo: Commons/Karpidis) 

Going in to the last round, Magnus was the clear odds favourite. He had half a point more than Kramnik and Shirov, and the general opinion was that Magnus had every chance of winning his last round game against Italian 17-year-old Fabiano Caruana. Caruana had a different opinion.

Carlsen,M (2810) - Caruana,F (2675)
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (13), 31.01.2010

Caruana’s play has been close to perfection, and Magnus is now in big trouble. Black’s pawn structure is clearly better, which means that all pawn endings are won for Black. Magnus takes a bold decision. Sacrifing a pawn, he gains some activity for his pieces. 29.b4! Not the computer’s preferred move, but the best move in practical move. After a move like 29.Ke2, white would be condemned to passive defence, with small chances of survival. 29...Rd3 30.bxc5 Rxc3 31.Kd2 Rxc4 32.Bb3 Rxc5 33.Nxf7

White is a pawn down, but at least his pieces are decently placed. The best move is 33...Ne8. Instead Caruana makes a tactical error. 33...a5? 34.Rc1! Rxc1 35.Kxc1 a4 36.Bc4 b5 37.Nd6! bxc4 Caruana probably thought that this position was winning for him. In fact White is able to draw with very accurate play. 38.Nxc8 h4 39.Nb6 Nh5 40.Nxc4 Kf6 41.Kd2 Nf4 42.Ke3 Nxg2+ 43.Kf2 Nf4 44.Nb2 a3 45.Nc4 Nd3+ 46.Kg2 Kg5 47.Nxa3 Kf4 48.Nc2 Nb2 49.Nb4 h3+ 50.Kxh3 Kxf3 51.Kh4 Kf4 52.Nd5+ Kxe4 53.Ne7 Kf3 54.Nxg6 e4 55.Ne5+ Kf4 56.Ng4 Na4

Draw. ½–½

This draw meant that Kramnik and Shirov had the chance to share first place, if they won their games. Kramnik got nowhere against fellow Russian Sergej Karjakin. Alexey Shirov’s last round game was a different story altogether.

Shirov,A (2723) - Dominguez Perez,L (2712)
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (13), 31.01.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qb6 8.Bb3 e6 9.Qd2 Be7 10.0–0–0 Nc5 11.f3 Qc7 12.Kb1 0–0 13.g4 b5 14.a3 Rb8 15.h4 Bd7 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.g5 Bd8 18.h5 a5 19.g6 Nxb3 20.Nxb3 fxg6 21.hxg6 h6 22.Nxa5 Rxf3 23.e5 Be8 24.exd6 Qxa5 25.Rxh6 gxh6 26.Qxh6 Bf6 27.d7 Bxc3 28.dxe8Q+ Rxe8 29.Qh1 Re7 30.Qxf3 Bg7??

Both players were very short of time at this point. Black’s last move was a big mistake, as White now has a winning move: 31.b4! and the black queen can not defend both a8 and d8. If 31...Qc7, White wins with 32.Qa8+ Bf8 33.Rf1. Amazingly, Shirov did not see the rather simple pawn move, and instead accepted a draw proposal from Dominguez. ½–½