Magnus Carlsen stands out from Corus

Position No. 6093: White to play and win. From the game Alexander Graf-Thomas Karius, Dresden 2010.

Solution to Position No. 6092: Black wins with 1 . . . g5!, threatening 2 . . . Rxe5 3 fxe5 g4+ 4 Kh4 Rxh2 mate. Neither 2 Rxc8 Qg1 nor 2 Rb2 Rxb2 3 Qxb2 Qxc5 saves White. If 2 fxg5 hxg5 3 g4, then 3 . . . Rxe5 4 Rxe5 (or 4 Rxc8 Re3+) fxg4+ 5 Kg3 Qf2 mate.

Magnus Carlsen, the 19-year-old grandmaster from Norway, won the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Since October, Carlsen has won three elite events plus the World Blitz Championship. His latest success will boost his 2810 rating to an estimated 2814, the second highest in history.

This triumph was more difficult, as first Alexey Shirov of Spain and then Vladimir Kramnik of Russia held the lead. Kramnik defeated Carlsen in the ninth round but finished weakly with three draws and a loss to world champion Viswanathan Anand of India. However, Carlsen rebounded with two more wins for a score of 8 1/2 -4 1/2 . Kramnik and Shirov (who began 5-0 but didn’t win another game) shared second place at 8-5.

Anand, whose only other victory came against Shirov, joked, “Basically, I’m spoiling other people’s tournaments!” He tied for fourth place at 7 1/2 -5 1/2 with U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura, who made an impressive debut at this level.

Others: Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and 2009 Corus winner Sergey Karjakin (Russia), 7-6; Leinier Dominguez Perez (Cuba) and Peter Leko (Hungary), 6 1/2 -6 1/2 ; Fabiano Caruana (Italy), 5 1/2 -7 1/2 ; Nigel Short (England) and Loek Van Wely (Netherlands), 5-8; and Jan Smeets and Sergey Tiviakov (both Netherlands), 4 1/2 -8 1/2 .

California’s best player, GM Varuzhan Akobian, had a disappointing 4 1/2 -8 1/2 result in the Corus B tournament, won by 15-year-old GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands. Prodigy Ray Robson of Florida began the Corus C tournament with 5 1/2 - 1/2 but ended up tied for fifth place with 7 1/2 -5 1/2 .

Team Championship

The 27th annual U.S. Amateur Team West begins Saturday in Woodland Hills. Any four players with an average rating below 2200 (master level) may form a team. All teams compete for national glory, but not a cent in prizemoney. This is truly an amateur event.

The West champion will qualify for a playoff against winners of regional tournaments in New Jersey, Wisconsin and Florida. The New Jersey regional, often the country’s largest adult tournament, regularly draws more than 1,000 participants. The West regional should attract around 200.

To register, or to get help joining a team, see westernchess.com.

Local news

Takashi Kurosaki and GM Melikset Khachiyan tied for first place in the Jan. 31 Westwood Winter Open, a 46-player tournament of 40-minute games at the Los Angeles Chess Club. Each scored 4-1. Ron Hermansen, Konstantin Kavutskiy and IM Tim Taylor tied for third at 3 1/2 -1 1/2 . Mher Mikayelyan led the under-1800 section with 4 1/2 - 1/2 , a half point ahead of Al Pena Jr. and Annie Wang. John Hillery directed.

The Jan. 31 report on the Orange County Open mistakenly omitted the name of David Portwood, who tied for second place.

Simon Kogan and Iqbal Maung led their sections in the Santa Monica Bay Chess Club’s January quads. The club meets at 7 p.m. Mondays in St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 11555 National Blvd. in Los Angeles.

Today’s games

GM Jan Smeets (Netherlands)-GM Loek Van Wely (Netherlands), Corus A, Wijk aan Zee 2010: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bg5 The 1960s favorite, fashionable again against the Najdorf Sicilian. e6 7 f4 Nbd7 8 Qe2!? Instead of the customary 8 Qf3. Qc7 9 0-0-0 b5 Premature? Often Black chooses 9 . . . Be7 or 9 . . . h6. 10 g3 Inviting 10 . . . b4 11 Nd5! exd5 12 exd5+, with ample compensation. Be7 11 Bg2 Bb7 12 e5! Previous games had underestimated the strength of this move. dxe5 13 fxe5 Nd5 14 Bxe7 Nxc3 Consistent. The alternative 14 . . . Nxe7 fares poorly too, after 15 Ndxb5! axb5 16 Nxb5 Qb6 17 Nd6+ Kf8 18 Bxb7 Rxa2 19 Qb5. 15 bxc3 Bxg2? The immediate 15 . . . Kxe7 is tougher, although it’s doubtful that Black can withstand White’s attack after 16 Bxb7 Qxb7 17 Rhf1 and next 18 Qh5 or 18 Qg4. 16 Qxg2 Kxe7 White’s shattered pawns are irrelevant. The game will be decided by Black’s vulnerable King. 17 Nc6+ Kf8 Similarly awful is 17 . . . Ke8 18 Rd6. 18 Rhf1 Nb6 At least Black avoids 18 . . . Rc8 19 Qf2 f5 20 Rd6 Kf7 21 Rxe6! Kxe6 22 Qxf5+ Kd5 23 Nb4+ and 20 . . . Nxe5 21 Rxe6 Nxc6 22 Qxf5+ Kg8 23 Re8+. 19 Qf3 Re8 White refutes 19 . . . Nd5 by 20 Rxd5! exd5 21 Qxd5 Rc8 22 e6!, anticipating 22 . . . f6 23 Qd7 or 22 . . . Qxc6 23 e7+! Kxe7 24 Qxf7+ Kd6 25 Rd1+. 20 Nd8! Re7 21 Rd6 Threatening 22 Nxe6+. Ke8 22 Rxb6! Qxd8 Black must give up a Rook after 22 . . . Qxb6 23 Nxf7. If 23 . . . Rxf7 24 Qxf7+ Kd8, White clinches the win by 25 Qxg7 Re8 26 Rd1+ Kc8 27 Qd7+. 23 Rxa6, Black Resigns.

GM David Howell (England)-GM Tomi Nyback (Finland), Corus B, Wijk aan Zee 2010: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Bc5 5 Be3 Qf6 6 c3 Nge7 A popular position in the Scotch Game. 7 Bc4 Ne5 8 Be2 Qg6 9 0-0 d6 Threatening 10 . . . Bh3. After 9 . . . Qxe4 10 Nd2 Qg6 11 Bh5 Qd3 12 Be2 Qg6, White can repeat moves or try for more by 13 Nb5. 10 Kh1 Carlsen won with 10 f4!? Qxe4 11 Bf2, inviting 11 . . . Qxf4? 12 Nb5. 0-0 11 Nd2 Ng4 12 Bf4 Nc6 Theory claims Black has equalized. 13 f3 Nge5 14 Be3 Thinking of 15 Nxc6, when 15 . . . Bxe3?? would permit 16 Ne7+. Bb6 Most natural, but Black quickly falls into trouble against this “harmless” opening. Black needs an improvement here. The solution is not 14 . . . Re8, because White attacks with 15 f4 Nd7 (not 15 . . . Ng4?? 16 f5! Nxe3 17 fxg6 Nxd1 18 gxf7+) 16 Bh5 Qf6 17 e5. 15 f4 Nxd4 Possibly 15 . . . Qh6 lessens the danger. 16 cxd4 Nc6 17 f5 Qf6 18 e5! Overwhelming. dxe5 19 Ne4 Qd8 Neither 19 . . . Qe7 20 f6 nor 19 . . . Qh4 20 Bd3 (threatening 21 Bg5) h6 21 g3 Qd8 22 Qh5 will survive. 20 Bc4! To bring the Queen to g4 or h5. White can refute 20 . . . exd4 by 21 Bg5 Qd7 22 Nf6+! gxf6 23 Bxf6, winning. Na5 Not fearing 21 Bg5 Qxd4, but another disaster awaits. 21 f6! After 21 . . . Nxc4 22 Qh5, both 22 . . . Nxe3 23 Qg5 and 22 . . . Qd7 23 fxg7 lead to mate. Also 21 . . . g6 22 Qc1! Nxc4 23 Bg1! leaves Black helpless. Bxd4 22 fxg7 Kxg7 Black drops too much material by 22 . . . Bxe3 23 gxf8Q+ Qxf8 24 Rxf7. 23 Bg5, Black Resigns. The finish could be 23 . . . Qd7 24 Qh5 Qg4 25 Qh6+ or 23 . . . f6 24 Rxf6 Nxc4 25 Bh6+ Kg8 26 Rxf8+.