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Your support makes all the difference.While the main attention at Wijk aan Zee has naturally been focused on the top event, the second group, "GM B", has also been very interesting.
This 14-player event averaged 2,564 (category 13), and boasted four top 100 players - Predrag Nikolic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Alexander Onischuk (USA) and Peter Heine Nielsen (Denmark). It also included a terrifying contingent of young players: Mamedyarov and Jan Smeets (Holland) are both 19; Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria) is 18; Daniel Stellwagen (Holland) 17; Alejandro Ramirez (Costa Rica) 16; Sergei Karjakin (Ukraine) 15; and Magnus Carlsen (Norway) is 14.
This is not the sort of event you want to play in if you're older and out of form, and Nikolic had a wretched time, losing a bucketful of rating points to finish on just 4/13. It was the young titans who contested the lead. Mamedyarov sprinted off to 5/6, but was caught by Karjakin on 7.5/10, and then lost to Cheparinov in round 11. Karjakin, meanwhile, defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia), leaving him a point clear with two to play. However, the roles were reversed in the penultimate round: Mamedyarov beat Nikolic, and Karjakin was ground down by Nielsen in 101 moves.
So Mamedyarov and Karjakin started the last round equal first; the latter defeated Stellwagen, and the former lost to Smeets. The final scores, then, were Karjakin on 9.5/13; Smeets and Mamedyarov on 8.5; Nielsen on 8; Cheparinov and Onischuk on 7.5; Carlsen on 7; Stellwagen on 6.5; the Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) on 6; Kosteniuk on 5.5; Sipke Ernst (Holland) on 5; Friso Nijboer (Holland) on 4.5; Nikolic on 4; and Ramirez on 3.
From the heavy bloodshed I've chosen this crushing win by Carlsen against Nikolic. The pawn sacrifice was very dangerous but I believe that Black can get away with 16...0-0, when White has plenty of play but probably nothing decisive. 16...f6 was hubristic and 18...Na5 - rather than 18...Nd8 - suicidal. The end was gory.
Magnus Carlsen
vs Predrag Nikolic
Wijk aan Zee B 2005 (rnd 11)
French Tarrasch
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