Wijk R03: Ivanchuk, Morozevich lose in roller coaster event

Results of round three

Group A: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 19th Magnus Carlsen - Sergei Movsesian ½-½ Levon Aronian - Daniël Stellwagen ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk - Teymour Radjabov 0-1 Sergei Karjakin - Wang Yue ½-½ Loek van Wely - Jan Smeets ½-½ Gata Kamsky - Alex. Morozevich 1-0 Michael Adams - Leinier Dominguez ½-½	Group B: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 19th Krishnan Sasikiran - R. Kasimdzhanov 0-1 Dimitri Reinderman - Hou Yifan 1-0 Nigel Short - Erwin l'Ami 1-0 Andrei Volokitin - Francisco Vallejo ½-½ Henrique Mecking - Jan Werle ½-½ Alexander Motylev - Fabiano Caruana ½-½ David Navara - Zahar Efimenko ½-½
Group C: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 19th David Howell - Roeland Pruijssers 1-0 Friso Nijboer - T. Hillarp Persson ½-½ Oleg Romanishin - Manuel Bosboom ½-½ Anish Giri - Wesley So ½-½ Abhijeet Gupta - Ali Bitalzadeh 0-1 Eduardo Iturrizaga - Frank Holzke 1-0 M. Leon Hoyos - Dronavalli Harika 1-0	Replay all games from Group A Replay all games from Group B Replay all games from Group C

GM Group A

GM Group B

GM Group C

---

Death of a press room legend

Round three report by Steve Giddins

In my round one report, I described the Wijk aan Zee tournament as "a gathering of the clans", as players and officials come together each year, for the event. The same is true of the press room. Regular habitues meet up each year, to follow the progress of the tournament. Many have their own favourite seats in the crowded room, and last year, I witnessed the peremptory way in which one leading Dutch chess journalist evicted an interloper, who had occupied his regular spot. "I have been sitting at this table every day for fifteen years!", declared the outraged IM. I waited with baited breath, to see whether the squatter would come back with the obvious retort "Well, it must be someone else's turn then!" But no – decorum prevailed, and the suitably chastened outsider meekly moved aside.

Nowadays, the press room is under the charge of Tom Bottema, but amongst his "great predecessors", few could stand higher than the legendary Berry Withuis, whose death was announced yesterday. Throughout the 1960s and onwards, Withuis was the king of the Beverwijk/Wijk aan Zee press room, and generations of chess journalists depended on him to enable them to file their copy. Everyone who has written extensively about Dutch chess of the period, from Hein Donner to Hans Ree to Jules Welling, has a story about Withuis. Apart from his numerous chess activities, he was a political activist with strong Communist leanings, a friend of Botvinnik and other leading Soviet players, and a controversial and lively character in all respects. The official tournament website reports that he died on 16 January, just a couple of days short of his 89th birthday. Thus is another link broken with the glorious past of the Wijk aan Zee tournament.

The tournament web master and IT chief in the press room: Dennis van Veen

Round 3 of the tournament certainly provided plenty for the Press Room crowd to get their teeth into. The big drama of the day came in the match-up between Ivanchuk and Radjabov, which culminated in a furious time-scramble.

Ivanchuk,V (2779) - Radjabov,T (2761) [E97]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 19.01.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Ne8. 9...Nh5 is much the most usual move, and has been the scene of several successful Radjabov games, notably against Van Wely. 10.a4 f5 11.a5 Nf6 12.Bg5 Nh5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Qd2 Nf6 15.c5 Bd7 16.b5 Be8 17.c6!? Commenting on Playchess, Yasser Seirawan expressed his surprise at this move, as locking the queenside should be in Black's favour. Positionally, 17.b6 is White's programmed move, undermining the base of Black's pawn chain on c7, in good Nimzowitschian fashion. However, it is not clear that it results in so much after 17...axb6 18.axb6 Rxa1 19.Rxa1 cxb6 20.cxd6 Qxd6. 17...b6 18.Nh4 Bf7 19.Bd3 Bg6 20.f3 Qe8

Round about here, Fritz 11 is highly optimistic about White's position, but it may be that it overrates White's space advantage on the queenside. 21.Kh1 Kh8 22.Bc2 Qf7 23.g4!? Always a critical idea in such structures, trying to wrench control of the central white squares, but in the words of George W Bush, the danger to the white king should not be "misunderstimated". 23...Nfg8 24.Ra4 Rae8 25.axb6 axb6 26.Ra7 Rc8 27.Nxg6+ Qxg6 28.Rg1 Qf7. By this stage of the game, Ivanchuk was down to barely a minute on the clock, to reach the time control at move 40 (Wijk uses a classical time control, with no increments in the main stage of the game). Radjabov himself had only about ten minutes, but in such a complicated position, such a lead on the clock is almost worth an extra piece. 29.Rg3 e4 30.Ne2 Nf6 31.Nf4. Now the real blitz started, with the rest of the game being played in about about a minute. 31...exf3 32.gxf5 Nfxd5 33.Rxf3 Nxf4 34.Qxf4 Bf6 35.Bb3 Qh5 36.Bxf6+ Rxf6 37.Be6 Rcf8

38.Rxc7?? Tragic. After 38.Rg3 best play seems to be 38...Rxe6 39.fxe6 Qd1+ 40.Kg2 Qe2+ and a draw by perpetual. 38...Rxe6 39.fxe6 Rxf4 40.Rxf4 Qd5+. The final sting in the tail; the rook on g4 drops off. 41.Kg1 Qg5+ and 0–1. [Click to replay]

A disaster for Ivanchuk, who now has 0/2 with the white pieces. In his Playchess commentary, Seirawan pointed out that during the Wijk aan Zee tournament, Ivanchuk faces a FIDE disciplinary hearing, with respect to his missed drug test at the Dresden Olympiad. Given the Draconian nature of the sanctions he potentially faces (a possible two-year ban), it would not be surprising if that were playing on his mind, and may explain his poor form so far.

---

Just as in round one, both top seeds lost. Morozevich obtained a comfortable position as Black against Kamsky, but then, in the words of Seirawan, "...did some horrible things to his position".

Very impressive against Morozevich: US grandmaster Gata Kamsky

Kamsky,G (2725) - Morozevich,A (2771) [C78]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 19.01.2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.axb5 axb5 10.d3. The main line is 10.d4 with long and heavily-analysed complications. In keeping with his style ever since his junior days, Kamsky prefers a less critical continuation, leading to a more manoeuvering style of game. 10...0–0 11.h3 Ne7 12.Na3 Ng6 13.Nc2 h6 14.Re1 Bb6 15.Ne3 c6. Black looks to be very comfortable here, but it soon becomes clear that Morozevich has ambitions to complicate the game. 16.Nh2 Kh8. 16...Be6 would be a solid option, but Black instead starts a plan of taking the initiative on the kingside. 17.Nhg4 Nxg4?! Commenting on the game for the Russian site Crestbook, Sergey Shipov was critical of this risky move, but it is all part of Black's idea. 18.hxg4 Qh4 19.d4 exd4?! Another move which drew the opprobrium of the online GM commentators. Black concedes the centre without good reason, but Morozevich clearly felt that his piece pressure on the centre would be effective. 19...Be6 is again a solid alternative. 20.cxd4 Qf6

21.Nf5! Kg8. Shipov speculates, highly plausibly, that Morozevich had intended 21...Bxf5 22.exf5 Bxd4 but only now spotted the dastardly refutation 23.g5! hxg5 24.Qh5+ Kg8 25.Qxg6. 22.Be3. Now White has been able to support his centre, and it is clear that Black's entire strategy over the past few moves has been refuted. As so often, a poor strategic decision results from a tactical oversight. Having obtained a clear positional advantage, Kamsky punches it home in convincing style. 22...Bxf5 23.gxf5 Ne7 24.Bc2 Rfd8 25.b4 c5. Passively waiting for White to prepare the e4-e5 break was hardly attractive, so Morozevich tries his only breakout, but it is crisply refuted. 26.bxc5 dxc5 27.Qg4! Rxd4 27...cxd4 is met by 28.e5 Qxe5 29.Bxh6 Qf6 30.Bg5 winning. 28.Bxd4 Qxd4 29.Qg3 Nc6 30.e5 c4 31.Rad1 Qb2 32.f6 g5 33.Re2 Qb4 34.Qh3 1–0. As Fritz 11 will inform you in a nanosecond, it is mate in 11! For the human player, it is enough to see that there is no defence to the threats of Qxh6 and Qf5. [Click to replay]

Downs and ups and this time downs: Alexander Morozevich

---

Carlsen drew his third straight game, after making no impression on Movsesian's Slav. Daniel Stellwagen continued his excellent start, holding Aronian very comfortably as Black, and indeed, standing rather better in the final position.

Aronian,L (2750) - Stellwagen,D (2612) [B13]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 19.01.2009
1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 dxc4 7.Bxc4 h6 8.Bh4 Qxd4 9.Qxd4 Nxd4 10.0-0-0 e5 11.Nf3 Nxf3 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Bb5+ Ke7 14.Nd5+ Kd8 15.gxf3 Bd6 16.Rd2 Be6 17.Rhd1 Bc5 18.Nb6+ Ke7 19.Nxa8 Rxa8 20.Bd7 Bxa2 21.Bg4 Bd4 22.f4

draw. [Click to replay]

---

Of the remaining games, Adams-Dominguez saw Black hold, seemingly without too much trouble, in a 6.Bc4 Najdorf, whilst the all-Dutch pairing of van Wely and Smeets saw a theoretical battle in the Botvinnik Semi-Slav.

Van Wely,L (2625) - Smeets,J (2601) [D44]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 19.01.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 Bb7 12.g3 c5 13.d5 Qb6 14.Bg2 0–0–0 15.0–0 b4 16.Rb1 Qa6 17.dxe6 Bxg2 18.e7 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Bxe7 20.fxe7 Rdg8 21.Ne4

21...Rxg5. Novelty. 21...Qc6 was Kamsky-Kramnik, Dos Hermanos 1996. 22.Nxg5 Re8 23.Qe2 Qg6 24.Ne4 Rxe7 25.Re1 Kd8 26.Qxc4 Qg4 27.Qd5 f5 28.Qa8+ Kc7 29.Qxa7+ Kc6 30.Qa8+ Kc7 draw. [Click to replay]

The longest game of the day was a grim struggle between Kariakin and Wang Yue. A Rossolimo Sicilian produced a typical petrified type of middlegame structure, and although Fritz was claiming a large advantage for White in the early middlegame, nothing concrete seems to have been missed. The players get full credit for their fighting spirit, but the eventual results of 75 moves' of remorseless battle was a draw.

Amazing: IM Manuel Bosboom, the second-lowest seed in the event, is leading in the C-Group

Finally, I should point out that, whilst these daily reports are concentrating on the A Group, much excellent chess is also being played in the B and C groups. Here on ChessBase, we will have a "catch-up" report on these two sections, on Wednesday's rest day.

Nigel Short leaves out a round to follow the other games on Playchess? No, the former World Championship challenger finished his game against Erwin l'Ami in just 19 moves and THEN came over to the chess server to listen and watch.

Amongst other games, I will bring you coverage of Nigel Short's demolition of Erwin l'Ami, in today's third round, which is bound to please all lovers of open, attacking chess!

In deadly form, with 2½ out of three: GM Nigel Short from Britain

Short,N (2663) - L'Ami,E (2603) [C48]
Corus B Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 19.01.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.Nxe5 Nxb5 6.Nxb5 c6 7.Nc3 Qe7 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.0-0 Nxc3 10.dxc3 d5 11.Bg5 Qd6 12.Re1+ Be6 13.Nd4 c5 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Qh5+ g6 16.Qg4 Kf7 17.c4 d4 18.Qf3+ Kg8 19.Bf6 1-0.

Erwin l'Ami showing us what it feels like to face an in-form Nigel Short

All pictures by Jeroen van den Belt

---

Live commentary on Playchess by Yasser Seirawan

Today on the server Playchess.com GM Yasser Seirawan entertained the visitors with three hours of live commentary. Espeically poignant was the way Yasser and, we might add, many visitors and GM colleagues, suffered when Vassily Ivanchuk blew a good position to lose again just before the time control.

Yasser Seirawan will be on Playchess with live commentary again on Friday January 23, Saturday January 24 and Sunday January 25. Additional days of commentary will be announced. Seirawan provides a minimum of three one hour lectures per round, beginning approximately thirty minutes after play has started. For a charge of ten Ducats (about one Euro) a visitor gets a twelve hour pass to listen to the live lectures.

Playchess commentator GM Yasser Seirawan

Ducats are the currency used on Playchess.com. You can purchase Ducats here. The amount will be credited to your playchess.com account. You need to allow at least one working day for processing. If you want your Ducats immediately you can order them using our Click&Buy service. Ducats can also be used to buy ChessBase products. Note that you can also purchase Ducats directly from Fritz or the Playchess client using the menu "Edit – Payments – Fill up account". This takes you to a special purchase page with your account name automatically passed on, to simplify the process.

Videos reports by Europe Echecs

GM Robert Fontaine wraps up each round for the French Chess magazine and portal Europe Echecs

---

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Group A: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th Daniël Stellwagen - Sergei Movsesian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen - Teymour Radjabov ½-½ Levon Aronian - Wang Yue ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk - Jan Smeets 0-1 Sergei Karjakin - Alex. Morozevich 1-0 Loek van Wely - Leinier Dominguez ½-½ Gata Kamsky - Michael Adams ½-½	Group A: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 18th Sergei Movsesian - Michael Adams 1-0 Leinier Dominguez - Gata Kamsky ½-½ Alexander Morozevich - Loek van Wely 1-0 Jan Smeets - Sergei Karjakin ½-½ Wang Yue - Vassily Ivanchuk 0-1 Teymour Radjabov - Levon Aronian ½-½ Daniël Stellwagen - Magnus Carlsen ½-½
Group A: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 19th Magnus Carlsen - Sergei Movsesian ½-½ Levon Aronian - Daniël Stellwagen ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk - Teymour Radjabov 0-1 Sergei Karjakin - Wang Yue ½-½ Loek van Wely - Jan Smeets ½-½ Gata Kamsky - Alex. Morozevich 1-0 Michael Adams - Leinier Dominguez ½-½	Group A: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 20th Sergei Movsesian - Leinier Dominguez   Alex. Morozevich - Michael Adams   Jan Smeets - Gata Kamsky   Wang Yue - Loek van Wely   Teymour Radjabov - Sergei Karjakin   Daniël Stellwagen - Vassily Ivanchuk   Magnus Carlsen - Levon Aronian
Wednesday, January 21st – Free day
Group A: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 22nd Levon Aronian - Sergei Movsesian   Vassily Ivanchuk - Magnus Carlsen   Sergei Karjakin - Daniël Stellwagen   Loek van Wely - Teymour Radjabov   Gata Kamsky - Wang Yue   Michael Adams - Jan Smeets   Leinier Dominguez - Alex. Morozevich	Group A: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 23rd Sergei Movsesian - Alex. Morozevich   Jan Smeets - Leinier Dominguez   Wang Yue - Michael Adams   Teymour Radjabov - Gata Kamsky   Daniël Stellwagen - Loek van Wely   Magnus Carlsen - Sergei Karjakin   Levon Aronian - Vassily Ivanchuk
Group A: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 24th Vassily Ivanchuk - Sergei Movsesian   Sergei Karjakin - Levon Aronian   Loek van Wely - Magnus Carlsen   Gata Kamsky - Daniël Stellwagen   Michael Adams - Teymour Radjabov   Leinier Dominguez - Wang Yue   Alex. Morozevich - Jan Smeets	Group A: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 25th Sergei Movsesian - Jan Smeets   Wang Yue - Alex. Morozevich   Teymour Radjabov - Leinier Dominguez   Daniël Stellwagen - Michael Adams   Magnus Carlsen - Gata Kamsky   Levon Aronian - Loek van Wely   Vassily Ivanchuk - Sergei Karjakin
Monday, January 26th – Free day
Group A: Round 7 - Tues. Jan. 27th Sergei Karjakin - Sergei Movsesian   Loek van Wely - Vassily Ivanchuk   Gata Kamsky - Levon Aronian   Michael Adams - Magnus Carlsen   Leinier Dominguez - Daniël Stellwagen   Alex. Morozevich - Teymour Radjabov   Jan Smeets - Wang Yue	Group A: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 28th Sergei Movsesian - Wang Yue   Teymour Radjabov - Jan Smeets   Daniël Stellwagen - Alex. Morozevich   Magnus Carlsen - Leinier Dominguez   Levon Aronian - Michael Adams   Vassily Ivanchuk - Gata Kamsky   Sergei Karjakin - Loek van Wely
Thursday, January 29th – Free day
Group A: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 30th Loek van Wely - Sergei Movsesian   Gata Kamsky - Sergei Karjakin   Michael Adams - Vassily Ivanchuk   Leinier Dominguez - Levon Aronian   Alex. Morozevich - Magnus Carlsen   Jan Smeets - Daniël Stellwagen   Wang Yue - Teymour Radjabov	Group A: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 31st Sergei Movsesian - Teymour Radjabov   Daniël Stellwagen - Wang Yue   Magnus Carlsen - Jan Smeets   Levon Aronian - Alex. Morozevich   Vassily Ivanchuk - Leinier Dominguez   Sergei Karjakin - Michael Adams   Loek van Wely - Gata Kamsky
Group A: Round 13 - Sun. Feb. 1st Gata Kamsky - Sergei Movsesian   Michael Adams - Loek van Wely   Leinier Dominguez - Sergei Karjakin   Alex. Morozevich - Vassily Ivanchuk   Jan Smeets - Levon Aronian   Wang Yue - Magnus Carlsen   Teymour Radjabov - Daniël Stellwagen

---

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Group B: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th Hou Yifan - Rustam Kasimdzhanov 0-1 Krishnan Sasikiran - Erwin l'Ami ½-½ Dimitri Reinderman - Francisco Vallejo 0-1 Nigel Short - Jan Werle ½-½ Andrei Volokitin - Fabiano Caruana ½-½ Henrique Mecking - Zahar Efimenko 0-1 Alexander Motylev - David Navara 0-1	Group B: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 18th Rustam Kasimdzhanov - David Navara ½-½ Zahar Efimenko - Alexander Motylev ½-½ Fabiano Caruana - Henrique Mecking 1-0 Jan Werle - Andrei Volokitin ½-½ Francisco Vallejo - Nigel Short 0-1 Erwin l'Ami - Dimitri Reinderman ½-½ Hou Yifan - Krishnan Sasikiran 1-0
Group B: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 19th Krishnan Sasikiran - R. Kasimdzhanov 0-1 Dimitri Reinderman - Hou Yifan 1-0 Nigel Short - Erwin l'Ami 1-0 Andrei Volokitin - Francisco Vallejo ½-½ Henrique Mecking - Jan Werle ½-½ Alexander Motylev - Fabiano Caruana ½-½ David Navara - Zahar Efimenko ½-½	Group B: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 29th R. Kasimdzhanov - Zahar Efimenko   Fabiano Caruana - David Navara   Jan Werle - Alexander Motylev   Francisco Vallejo - Henrique Mecking   Erwin l'Ami - Andrei Volokitin   Hou Yifan - Nigel Short   Krishnan Sasikiran - Dimitri Reinderman
Wednesday, January 21st – Free day
Group B: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 22nd Dimitri Reinderman - R. Kasimdzhanov   Nigel Short - Krishnan Sasikiran   Andrei Volokitin - Hou Yifan   Henrique Mecking - Erwin l'Ami   Alexander Motylev - Francisco Vallejo   David Navara - Jan Werle   Zahar Efimenko - Fabiano Caruana	Group B: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 23rd R. Kasimdzhanov - Fabiano Caruana   Jan Werle - Zahar Efimenko   Francisco Vallejo - David Navara   Erwin l'Ami - Alexander Motylev   Hou Yifan - Henrique Mecking   Krishnan Sasikiran - Andrei Volokitin   Dimitri Reinderman - Nigel Short
Group B: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 24th Nigel Short - R. Kasimdzhanov   Andrei Volokitin - Dimitri Reinderman   Henrique Mecking - Krishnan Sasikiran   Alexander Motylev - Hou Yifan   David Navara - Erwin l'Ami   Zahar Efimenko - Francisco Vallejo   Fabiano Caruana - Jan Werle	Group B: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 25th R. Kasimdzhanov - Jan Werle   Francisco Vallejo - Fabiano Caruana   Erwin l'Ami - Zahar Efimenko   Hou Yifan - David Navara   Krishnan Sasikiran - Alexander Motylev   Dimitri Reinderman - Henrique Mecking   Nigel Short - Andrei Volokitin
Monday, January 26th – Free day
Group B: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 27th Andrei Volokitin - R. Kasimdzhanov   Henrique Mecking - Nigel Short   Alexander Motylev - Dimitri Reinderman   David Navara - Krishnan Sasikiran   Zahar Efimenko - Hou Yifan   Fabiano Caruana - Erwin l'Ami   Jan Werle - Francisco Vallejo	Group B: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 28th R. Kasimdzhanov - Francisco Vallejo   Erwin l'Ami - Jan Werle   Hou Yifan - Fabiano Caruana   Krishnan Sasikiran - Zahar Efimenko   Dimitri Reinderman - David Navara   Nigel Short - Alexander Motylev   Andrei Volokitin - Henrique Mecking
Thursday, January 29th – Free day
Group B: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 30th Henrique Mecking - R. Kasimdzhanov   Alexander Motylev - Andrei Volokitin   David Navara - Nigel Short   Zahar Efimenko - Dimitri Reinderman   Fabiano Caruana - Krishnan Sasikiran   Jan Werle - Hou Yifan   Francisco Vallejo - Erwin l'Ami	Group B: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 31st R. Kasimdzhanov - Erwin l'Ami   Hou Yifan - Francisco Vallejo   Krishnan Sasikiran - Jan Werle   Dimitri Reinderman - Fabiano Caruana   Nigel Short - Zahar Efimenko   Andrei Volokitin - David Navara   Henrique Mecking - Alexander Motylev
Group B: Round 13 - Sun. Feb. 1st Alexander Motylev - R. Kasimdzhanov   David Navara - Henrique Mecking   Zahar Efimenko - Andrei Volokitin   Fabiano Caruana - Nigel Short   Jan Werle - Dimitri Reinderman   Francisco Vallejo - Krishnan Sasikiran   Erwin l'Ami - Hou Yifan

---

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Group C: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th T. Hillarp Persson - Roeland Pruijssers ½-½ David Howell - Manuel Bosboom 0-1 Friso Nijboer - Wesley So 0-1 Oleg Romanishin - Ali Bitalzadeh 1-0 Anish Giri - Frank Holzke ½-½ Abhijeet Gupta - Dronavalli Harika 0-1 Eduardo Iturrizaga - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0	Group C: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 18th Roeland Pruijssers - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0 Dronavalli Harika - Eduardo Iturrizaga ½-½ Frank Holzke - Abhijeet Gupta 0-1 Ali Bitalzadeh - Anish Giri ½-½ Wesley So - Oleg Romanishin ½-½ Manuel Bosboom - Friso Nijboer 1-0 T. Hillarp Persson - David Howell 1-0
Group C: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 19th David Howell - Roeland Pruijssers 1-0 Friso Nijboer - T. Hillarp Persson ½-½ Oleg Romanishin - Manuel Bosboom ½-½ Anish Giri - Wesley So ½-½ Abhijeet Gupta - Ali Bitalzadeh 0-1 Eduardo Iturrizaga - Frank Holzke 1-0 M. Leon Hoyos - Dronavalli Harika 1-0	Group C: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 20th Roeland Pruijssers - Dronavalli Harika   Frank Holzke - M. Leon Hoyos   Ali Bitalzadeh - Eduardo Iturrizaga   Wesley So - Abhijeet Gupta   Manuel Bosboom - Anish Giri   T. Hillarp Persson - Oleg Romanishin   David Howell - Friso Nijboer
Wednesday, January 21st – Free day
Group C: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 22nd Friso Nijboer - Roeland Pruijssers   Oleg Romanishin - David Howell   Anish Giri - T. Hillarp Persson   Abhijeet Gupta - Manuel Bosboom   Eduardo Iturrizaga - Wesley So   M. Leon Hoyos - Ali Bitalzadeh   Dronavalli Harika - Frank Holzke	Group C: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 23rd Roeland Pruijssers - Frank Holzke   Ali Bitalzadeh - Dronavalli Harika   Wesley So - M. Leon Hoyos   Manuel Bosboom - Eduardo Iturrizaga   T. Hillarp Persson - Abhijeet Gupta   David Howell - Anish Giri   Friso Nijboer - Oleg Romanishin
Group C: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 24th Oleg Romanishin - Roeland Pruijssers   Anish Giri - Friso Nijboer   Abhijeet Gupta - David Howell   Eduardo Iturrizaga - T. Hillarp Persson   M. Leon Hoyos - Manuel Bosboom   Dronavalli Harika - Wesley So   Frank Holzke - Ali Bitalzadeh	Group C: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 25th Roeland Pruijssers - Ali Bitalzadeh   Wesley So - Frank Holzke   Manuel Bosboom - Dronavalli Harika   T. Hillarp Persson - M. Leon Hoyos   David Howell - Eduardo Iturrizaga   Friso Nijboer - Abhijeet Gupta   Oleg Romanishin - Anish Giri
Monday, January 26th – Free day
Group C: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 27th Anish Giri - Roeland Pruijssers   Abhijeet Gupta - Oleg Romanishin   Eduardo Iturrizaga - Friso Nijboer   M. Leon Hoyos - David Howell   Dronavalli Harika - T. Hillarp Persson   Frank Holzke - Manuel Bosboom   Ali Bitalzadeh - Wesley So	Group C: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 28th Roeland Pruijssers - Wesley So   Manuel Bosboom - Ali Bitalzadeh   T. Hillarp Persson - Frank Holzke   David Howell - Dronavalli Harika   Friso Nijboer - M. Leon Hoyos   Oleg Romanishin - Eduardo Iturrizaga   Anish Giri - Abhijeet Gupta
Thursday, January 29th – Free day
Group C: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 30th Abhijeet Gupta - Roeland Pruijssers   Eduardo Iturrizaga - Anish Giri   M. Leon Hoyos - Oleg Romanishin   Dronavalli Harika - Friso Nijboer   Frank Holzke - David Howell   Ali Bitalzadeh - T. Hillarp Persson   Wesley So - Manuel Bosboom	Group C: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 31st Roeland Pruijssers - Manuel Bosboom   T. Hillarp Persson - Wesley So   David Howell - Ali Bitalzadeh   Friso Nijboer - Frank Holzke   Oleg Romanishin - Dronavalli Harika   Anish Giri - M. Leon Hoyos   Abhijeet Gupta - Eduardo Iturrizaga
Group C: Round 13 - Sun. Feb. 1st Eduardo Iturrizaga - Roeland Pruijssers   M. Leon Hoyos - Abhijeet Gupta   Dronavalli Harika - Anish Giri   Frank Holzke - Oleg Romanishin   Ali Bitalzadeh - Friso Nijboer   Wesley So - David Howell   Manuel Bosboom - T. Hillarp Persson

Links Official web site All games in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2009 Live coverage is available on the Playchess server The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.