Corus A Players’ Profiles

Aviv on Chess – Players Profiles – GM Group

Name: Alexander Morozevich
Date of Birth: 18/07/1977
Country: Russia
World Ranking: 2
Rating: 2787

The Muscovite crowd-pleaser is making his return to Corus A after a 3-year hiatus – he finished next to last in 2005, with only 4.5/13. This time around he is back eyeing the other side of the cross table, with a new world ranking high, and close to his all time rating high. Alexander is a two-time Russian champion and a candidate for the world championships, who appeared on the chess scene radar in 1994, with his resounding 9.5/10 score in Lloyds Bank in London.

In 2008 he had a few mediocre results finishing equal fourth in the Russian championship, where he was the defending champion, and scoring 6/10 playing 3-4 board for Russia at the Olympiad. He won Bosnia with an impressive 7.5/9, a full point and a half ahead of second place, and tied for second at the Tal memorial (5/9) which he might have won if not for a slow finish.

Moro earns his popularity with his original, combative style, and by introducing openings or variations that are off the beaten track. Alexander is one of the heavy favorites, and is ‘marked’ by many as the one to watch in January.

Name: Magnus Carlsen
Date of Birth: 30/11/1990
Country: Norway
World Ranking: 3-4
Rating: 2786

The Norwegian Magnus express is simply not stopping. The Corus A 2008 co-champion is returning to defend his title, with a hefty new personal best rating, and a near-pinnacle position on the world-ranking list (including a brief stint as the world’s number 1 at one ‘real time’ moment). If last year we said he was en route to the top 10, having broken the 2700 milestone, this time around he is only thinking of the top spot, and a hairs distance away from crossing the magical number of 2800.

In addition to his great success in Corus, Carlsen had other very notable achievements: Second place at the super strong Linares, with an 8/14 result – second only to Vishy Anand a half a point above him, a tie for first at the Baku FIDE Grand Prix tournament with plus 3, and his best result: first place at the Aerosvit super GM event, with a stunning 8/11 score. He tied for second at the Bilbao Masters Grand Slam final, and only his Olympiad and Biel performances (two very reasonable results anyways), were below 2800 TPR!

One needs not ask or guess that top honors in January 2009’s Corus A edition is the only thing Magnus must be aiming for. It’s doubtful that you’d find many (or any!) who would bet against that.

Name: Vassily Ivanchuk
Date of Birth: 18/03/1969
Country: Ukraine
World Ranking: 3-4
Rating: 2786

Twenty years ago a virtually unknown 19-year-old Ukrainian came, saw and conquered the super strong New York open, ahead of many established Grandmasters, and announced his arrival on the chess scene. By now a regular at the very elite, Vassily is one of the most active players on the circuit. After an amazing year in 2007, this year has been quite a roller coaster one for Chuky: After peaking at 2787 he dropped nearly 50 ELO points, only to regain all of them but one!

In last year’s Corus A he tied for 5th place with 7/13, and later scored fantastically at both the Tal Memorial – first place with 6/9, a full point ahead of his nearest rivals, and his best success: clear first in M-Tel, with 8/10 – a stunning 1.5 points ahead of second place. He further sweetened the experience at the same venue, by winning the ultra-strong blitz tournament, held after the main event. Ivanchuk also had two strong second place finishes in the Aerosvit tournament (7/11), and the Bilbao Masters Grand Slam finals (Shared, with 5/10).

It’s been 13 years since the Ukrainian had won in Corus, can this be the year?

Here is the full commentary by Aviv Friedman.