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The first round of the Corus Chess 2009 edition at Wijk aan Zee started with two upsets. Karjakin beat Morozevich and low ranked Smeets beat Ivanchuk. Radjabov held Carlsen to a draw with the black pieces in a nerve wracking game. In other significant games, Kasimdzhanov beat Yifan in a Group B game which the Chinese girl should have easily held. To her credit, she rejected a draw early in the game by playing on and not repeating moves. Results of Round 1 Group A D. Stellwagen - S. Movsesian ½-½ M. Carlsen - T. Radjabov ½-½ L. Aronian - W. Yue ½-½ V. Ivanchuk - J. Smeets 0-1 S. Karjakin - A. Morozevich 1-0 L. Van Wely - L. Dominguez (Game in Progress) G. Kamsky - M. Adams ½-½ Ivanchuk vs Smeets 0-1 Karjakin vs Morozevich 1-0 Carlsen vs Radjabov (Draw) Results of Round 1 Group B H. Yifan - R. Kasimdzhanov 0-1 K. Sasikiran - E. l'Ami ½-½ D. Reinderman - F. Vallejo Pons 0-1 N. Short - J. Werle ½-½ A. Volokitin - F. Caruana ½-½ H. Mecking - Z. Efimenko 0-1 A. Motylev - D. Navara 0-1 R...

The field for Corus Wijk Aan Zee 2009 Group A has been announced. The first Grand Slam event boasts an impressive list but will miss the presence of Anand, Topalov, and Kramnik. Topalov could use the absense at Wijk Aan Zee to prepare for a possible postponed match against Kamsky. Ironically, Kamsky has signed up for the event. The players to watch are Wang Yue of China, Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia, and Leinier Dominguez of Cuba. Also under the scanner are the dutch newcomers Smeets and Stellwagen. Wang Yue shocked everyone with his Grand Prix performances and is at the cusp of the top ten in the world rankings. The chess world is curious to see how he performs in a world class event like Corus. Movsesian had an equally impressive climb, although he did not have any major achievement in terms of tournament wins. Leinier Dominguez won the world blitz championship, but this is a completely kettle of fish, but Dominguez is a fighter and his games will be worth watching. Alexander Moroze...

Update Kramnik - Van Wely (Draw) Ivanchuk - Polgar (Draw) Adams - Gelfand (Draw, what else) In other interesting games in the other groups, Harikrishna was winning against Short but he seems to have messed up his winning chances. Same with Stellwagen and Li Chao, they both lost significant winning edges against Humpy and Irina Krush respectively. Hou Yifan is putting up a good show against the 2700 Bacrot. A draw is still possible although Bacrot is piling on the pressure now. The other prodigy Negi is almost equal against Sweden's Pontus Carlsson.

This is my favorite list of players to watch at this year's Corus Chess tournament. What's yours, any suggestions ? I'll soon be adding the reasons to the players names. GM Group A Anand vs Kramnik - a preview of the titanic struggle later in the year ! Magnus Carlsen - can he start this year like he ended the last one ? Veselin Topalov - a bit forgotten last year. This is his chance, right ? GM Group B Ivan Cheparinov - How about Topalov winning the A Group and Cheparinov the B ? Nigel Short - His first real chance to start climbing up. Come on, Short. Koneru Humpy - Her chance to make an impression in an elite men's tournament. Hou Yifan - Can she hold her own against such a strong field ? Stellwagen (for locals) - Time to move up and take the place of veterans in Holland. GM Group C Fabiano Caruana - Top favorite to win the C and try for the B next year. Parimarjan Negi - Other prodigies have left you behind. Wake up, you can do it ! John van der Wiel - Show the kids...

The GM Group B is by no means less interesting. There are super Grand Masters, dangerous floaters, and teenagers looking to break through. Bacrot, Cheparinov, Short are very strong and will go all out. Humpy is riding on her successful year 2007. She needs to be watched. In fact Humpy - Yifan is a potential future rivalry. Yifan must have done some serious work the last few months. She's gained heavily in the January ratings list, so lets see if she can put up a fight, even though the opposition is pretty strong for her. Nepomniachtchi and Stellwagen need to be watched carefully. GM Group B GM Etienne Bacrot FRA 2695 GM Gabriel Sargissian ARM 2673 GM Ivan Cheparinov BUL 2670 GM Sergey Movsesian SLK 2670 GM Pentala Harikrishna IND 2668 GM Michal Krasenkow POL 2668 GM Nigel Short ENG 2649 GM Daniel Stellwagen NED 2639 GM Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2611 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2606 GM Erwin L’Ami NED 2577 GM Jan Smeets NED 2558 WGM Hou Yifan CHI 2502 IM Wouter Spoelman NED 2445