Shirov is an incredible fighter. Even when he has a bad tournament, he continues to play aggressively. Today, he won his first game against Navara as Black.
GM Navara – GM Shirov [A05]
Corus Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, 23.01.2007
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.0-0 Bg4 5.d3 Nbd7 6.Nbd2 e5 7.e4 dxe4 8.dxe4 Bc5 9.h3 Bh5 10.Qe1 0-0 11.a4 Ne8 12.Nh4 a5 13.Nb3 Bb6 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.Qxe3 Nc7 16.Nf5 Ne6 17.h4 Qc7 18.Bh3 Rfd8 19.Kh2 Nf6 20.f3 c5 21.Qc3 b6 22.Rad1 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Nxe4 24.Qe3 Nf6 25.Re1 Rd8 26.g4 c4 27.Nxa5 e4+ 28.Kh1 Bg6 29.Ne7+ Qxe7 30.Nc6 Qc7 31.Nxd8 Qxd8 32.h5 Nd5 33.Qf2 e3 34.Qh2 Bxc2 Black wins 35.Qxc2 Qh4 0-1
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GM Tiviakov – GM Motylev [B10]
Corus Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, 23.01.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 g6 4.Ngf3 Bg7 5.g3 e5 6.Bg2 Ne7 7.0-0 0-0 8.b4 a5 9.bxa5 Qxa5 10.Bb2 Qc7 11.Re1 d4 12.c3 dxc3 13.Bxc3 c5 14.a4 Nbc6 15.Nc4 Be6 16.Qb3 Nd4 17.Bxd4 cxd4 18.Rec1 Nc6 19.Rab1 Bh6 20.Rc2 Ra5 21.Qa3 Bxc4 22.Rxc4 Rfa8 23.Qb3 R8a7 24.h4 Qc8 25.Kh2 Qa8 26.Bh3 Rxa4 27.Rxa4 Rxa4 28.Qxb7 Qxb7 29.Rxb7 Ra2 30.Kg1 Ra1+ 31.Kg2 Ra2 32.Ng5 Ra7 33.Rb6 Rc7 34.Bd7 Nd8 35.Bg4 Nb7 36.Nf3 Bg7 37.Nd2 h5 38.Bd1 Nc5 39.Be2 Ra7 40.Rb5 Game drawn 1/2-1/2
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Good for Alexi. He is a great chess player. I really think he was having some personal problems affect his chess. Good to see him win one for the Gipper.
Wish Magnus would win some. I thought he had a reasonable good position when he took a draw today. He needs more tournaments at this top level to grow. Glad to see he will be in Linares.
All competition is difficult. The other player is trying to win and he is very good also. It is not easy to win consistently especially against the worlds best.
great game…i’m a topalov’s fan but…good game shirov!
Dario
At this point, Shirov doesn’t need wins any more. He should have donated it to the needy.
how come no one is mentioning the gibraltar trnmt that started today-adams, nakamura, sutovsky, etc. are playing in it
I’m happy for shirov 🙂 he is a great player and i also think he is a great person too – never heard anything but good things on him
yeah i was following the nakamura game all day (for some reason i can get that site but not corus)- nakamura was moving so quickly and wound up being outplayed in the endgame by a much lower rated player (and a woman) – he still has 9 rounds to bounce back but his problem seems to be consistency- and the bigger problem is that blitz effects his trmt games
What tournament did Nakamura play in?
I’m glad that Shirov won, I have lot of esteem for the guy. But it seems like Navara made some incredible mistakes in this game.
Bxc2 and navara took the bait. the passed pawn would probaly have decided it for shirov anyways but navara got suckered into that one for an easy victory by the gambler. both players were fighting for the win which is good to see instead of 20 move draws like some other matches.
wolverine
Navara traded two knights for a rook and was punished for it… especially because this is not a rook-friendly position at all. I especially like the way that Shirov drove the e pawn (which Navara should have stopped way earlier) with 27. e4+ and 32..Nd5 33. Qf2 e3. I don’t see any way to stop this pawn without sacrificing a piece. The c pawn is dangerous, too.
“and wound up being outplayed in the endgame by a much lower rated player (and a woman)”
pawnstar3, do you think the sex makes a difference? Let’s say two players, a man and a woman, are rated at 2500 ELO. Do you think the man will be better, and if so, why?
shirov is not having a bad tournament. he is having a normal one considering his last tornaments
I Krush just took down a 2700 GM !
Paetz made a dubious move Qa5 for open check against Adams king and was dismantled… What I dont get is why GM Adams a 2700++ player isnt in Corus Wijk aan Zee
He better stop pouting and sand-bagging after losing to Kramnik in round 2.
Shirov once bragged about not owning a single chess book.
Perhaps it’s time he invested in one of Susan’s chess books.