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Aronian 1/2 Radjabov

Levon Aronian secured clear first place in the Tata Steel tournament with a quick draw by repetition against Teimour Radjabov. Aronian slightly surprised his opponent with a solid line, Rajdabov's main hope were that Aronian would himself be more aggressive in the persuit of more rating points and with black he didn't see any reason to avoid the draw. Aronian said he was happy that "I've played my best chess" and goes into winter training in February ahead of his match against Kramnik in April and the Candidates later in the year. This was a great performance from Aronian and with seven wins, four draws and just two losses he was also a huge part of the entertainment in the tournament.

Radjabov was more or less satisfied with his result. He was critical of his play at the end of his game against van Wely where he could have hoped for a win. Also he said that against a clearly rather wild Ivanchuk he should have played faster and taken advantage of his opponents mood but he was put off by a miscalculation he made during the game, the deficit on the clock and the unclear position. Radjabov has been praised by many for clearly taking a step forward after his preparation and play in the Candidates last year but he clearly needs to start pressing better with white now if he wants to consolodate this position. His result, although a great one, was a little bit uninspiring (3 wins, 10 draws) and wouldn't necessarily persuade organisers that he was the player to enliven their events.

Levon were you surprised Radjabov didn't play for a win?

Yeah, actually I was. but pleasantly surprised.

How do you feel about the tournament? You won it in great style.

Yeah, I've played my best chess, I'm very happy.

Did you expect it when you started the tournament?

Not really. I was thinking I'm not really so well prepared with my openings so maybe after I train in February then I will be a better player, here I'll have a normal tournament but it all started off really well.

When Magnus beat you in the beginning of the tournament did you still think you would win it?

I was ready to fight back. Because normally when I lose I play better.

Aronian,Levon - Radjabov,Teimour [A15]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13.5), 29.01.2012

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 d5 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.d4 0-0 8.Ne5 e6 9.0-0 Nfd7 10.Nf3 Nf6 11.Ne5 Nfd7 12.Nf3 Nf6 1/2-1/2

Kamsky beat Topalov

Gata Kamsky got to a plus score by beating the suffering Veselin Topalov in the final round. Topalov equalised as black but perhaps seduced by Kamsky's time pressure he didn't go for equalising simplifications but went active. This burned itself out just after move 40 and he was left with a bad bishop which Kamsky exploited nicely for a win.

Veselin Topalov's opening preparation was pretty much as good as it has ever been but his general play was far below his normal standard. It would not surprise me if he turn up in a few strong opens in an attempt to get game sharpness back in time for tougher events in the last half of the year. Kamsky as he himself said played "quite OK" and a plus score will increase his rating.

Is this a good finish of the tournament?

Yeah I would say it was pretty good. Considering the game today was horrible, actually it was really complicated but at some point I thought he just plays c4, take on a3, Ne7, exchange the light squared bishops and then I could even be worse. So when he let me play 24.c4 I thought I would equalise but then of course later his bishop is bad, my knight is coming out slowly at that point I thought my position was already better and I was playing for a win. But before that, especially in my time troubles, horrible.

How do you look back at the tournament?

That is such a global question, that requires quite a few analysis. Overall I would say I'm happy with the way I played because the quality of my games is quite OK. I blundered one game, got outplayed, I missed a lot of opportunities as well, so I'm happy.

Kamsky,Gata - Topalov,Veselin [A46]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13.1), 29.01.2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 b5 5.c3 a5 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Bf4

[7.Nbd2 Bb7 8.e4 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Ng5 Nf6 11.Qe2 Qd5 12.Re1 h6 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Qxe4 15.Qxe4 Bxe4 16.Rxe4 Kd7 17.a4 b4 18.Bd2 bxc3 19.Bxc3 Bd6 20.Rd1 c6 21.Rg4 Rhg8 22.h4 g6 23.Re4 1/2-1/2 Golubovic,B (2441)-Bilobrk,F (2384)/Vogosca BIH 2007/The Week in Chess 657]

7...Be7 8.Qc2 c5 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.Ne5 0-0 11.a4 bxa4 12.Qxa4 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nd7 14.h4 Qc7 15.e4 Nb6 16.Qc2 Rfd8 17.Rfc1 h6 18.Be3 Qd7 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Nc4 a4 21.Re1 Qb5 22.Na3 Qa6 23.Rad1

23...Rab8

[23...c4 24.Bd4 Bxa3 25.bxa3 Ne7 was the kind of plan Kamsky was advocating for Topalov after the game.]

24.c4 Nxe3 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Rxe3 Bxg2 27.Kxg2 Qb7+ 28.Kg1 Qb4 29.Rc3 Qb8 30.Re3 Qb4 31.Rc3 Rd7 32.Nb5 Qa5 33.Qe2 Qd8 34.Ra3 Rd2 35.Qf3 Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Qd2 37.Rxa4 Qe1 38.Nc3 Qg1+ 39.Kh3 Re1 40.Ra7 Qf1+ 41.Qg2 Qxg2+ 42.Kxg2

Having survived time trouble Kamsky's position is already much better as his knight is so much better than Topalov's.

42...Bf8 43.f4 g5 44.h5 gxf4 45.gxf4 Kg7 46.Rd7 Re3 47.Rb7 Re1 48.b3 Re3 49.Nd1 Re2+ 50.Nf2 Rc2 51.Kf3 Rc3+ 52.Ke2 Rg3 53.Ne4 Rh3 54.Nf6 Rh1 55.Rd7 Rh2+ 56.Kd3 Rh3+ 57.Kc2 Rh4 58.Ne8+ Kg8 59.f5 Rh2+ 60.Rd2 Rxd2+

There is no longer any defence.

61.Kxd2 exf5 62.Nf6+ Kg7 63.Ke3 Be7 64.Nd7 Bg5+ 65.Kf3 Bd2 66.Nxc5 f6 67.e6 Kf8 68.Nd3 Ke7 69.Nf4 Kd6 70.c5+ Kc6 71.Nd5 1-0

Van Wely 1/2 Carlsen

Loek van Wely felt he should have played more aggressively against an out of sorts Magnus Carlsen who chose an unusual sideline of the Stonewall Dutch. It soon became clear Carlsen had at least equalised. They traded into a bishops of opposite colours ending which was a trivial draw.

Magnus Carlsen almost lost the number one spot in the tournament as he put it "it went OK until about round 7 and then after that it was a total mess." Like many others he will have to decide what he is going to do for the first half of 2012 as there aren't any elite events. His general chess abilities are still increasing but his openings are getting considerably worse, he now has the time to put this right but he has admitted that recently he doesn't do a lot of work outside tournaments, something that will surely have to change if he wants a successful candidates.

Magnus Carlsen interview

Magnus, how to do you look back at the tournament?

I played well in the first three rounds, it went OK until about round 7 and then after that it was a total mess and I was even lucky to finish on +3.

Did you expect Aronian-Radjabov would be a quick draw? Did you hope Radjabov would play for a win?

No I had pretty much given up hopes for first place. They can do what they really want. If they want to make a draw that's OK. It's a little bit surprising that Radjabov doesn't even try, but I guess he was happy with his result anyway.

Will you be here for the 75th tournament here?

We'll see. I've been here nine times in a row, so it would be a shame to miss the tenth.

Loek van Wely Interview

Loek how do you look back at your tournament?

5.5 points not so bad but somehow I'm not very happy about a bit of my play. Especially the last two games. I feel it was kind of timid play. I should have played more aggressive. Especially in the end of the tournament I should have more energy, I think my shape is better than most of the players so in the last two games I should try to play very aggessive to win but somehow it didn't work out.

It's a pity that you didn't win a game?

Well, OK, it's not so easy and also my openings were kind of shakey, especially with white, I was a bit frustrated in trying to get something. Those guys know their fate with black and so they are happy with a draw and I felt kind of toothless with white.

With black you had some surprising openings too.

Actually it was more pleasant to play with black because they're going to try to kill you and I had some surprise weapons, I didn't even managed to show all my surprise weapons, I had some coffee house stuff. I didn't know how this was going to work out but I wanted to get them out of their comfort zone and I think I succeeded in a few games.

So next year you're back?

Well first of all it's up to the organisers. I don't know yet myself, lets see, in one year a lot of things can happen. If I think I can win a game I might come back otherwise there is no point of returning.

Van Wely,Loek - Carlsen,Magnus [A40]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13.3), 29.01.2012

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 d5 5.0-0 Bd6 6.c4 c6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Ne5 b6 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nc4 Nc6 11.Nxd6+ Qxd6 12.a4 Qd7 13.Ba3 Kf7 14.Nc3 Ba6 15.f3 Rhe8 16.Qd2 Kg8 17.Rfc1 Rac8 18.Ra2 h6 19.Rac2 Na5 20.Rb1 Rc7

21.Na2 Rxc2 22.Qxc2 Nc6 23.Qd2 e5 24.dxe5 Rxe5 25.Re1 Qe6 26.f4 Rxe2 27.Rxe2 Bxe2 28.Nc3 Bh5 29.Bxd5 Nxd5 30.Qxd5 Qxd5 31.Nxd5 Bf7 32.Ne7+ Nxe7 33.Bxe7 Bxb3 34.a5 bxa5 35.Kf2 a4 36.Ke3 Kf7 37.Ba3 g5 38.h4 Kg6 39.hxg5 hxg5 40.Kd2 Kh5 41.fxg5 Kxg5 1/2-1/2

Caruana beat Gelfand

Fabiano Caruana didn't seem that thrilled with his joint second place after he defeated Boris Gelfand. Caruana had a very slight advantage going into a Queen and Pawn ending and Boris Gelfand just misplayed it horribly. These are worrying times for Gelfand who now goes into deep preparation for his world title match against Viswanathan Anand in May. It is possible that Gelfand subconciously couldn't find the proper attitude with such an important match coming up. But misplaying endings like this was certainly not what you expect. Gelfand didn't even get any counterplay to make his opponents life hard.

Fabiano Caruana Interview

Fabiano, great end of a great tournament?

Yes it was a good result, always nice to end with a win, but probably it was about drawn somewhere. At least I felt the queen ending should be a draw but somewhere I got chances and after 35.Qd6 I had good chances to win. It's a good win I think.

You shared second in the Tata Steel Chess tournament, aren't you happy?

Actually I wasn't even sure what place I had. It's a really good result.

I think your best until now right?

Yes it's one of my best results I think.

So it promises something for next year.

I hope so. I can always try to do better but of course I'm very happy with the result.

Caruana,Fabiano - Gelfand,Boris [C42]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13.6), 29.01.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Ne5 10.h4 c6 11.Bg5 f6 12.Bf4 Qa5 13.a3 Bg4 14.Be2 d5 15.Nxe5 fxe5 16.Bxe5 Rxf2 17.Rde1 Bxe2 18.Rxe2 Rf7 19.g3 Raf8 20.Rhe1 Qd8 21.Qd4 b5 22.Kb1 Qd7 23.h5 Bg5 24.a4 Re8 25.axb5 cxb5 26.Qd3 Rfe7 27.Bd4 Rxe2 28.Rxe2 Rxe2 29.Qxe2 Bf6?

[29...a5]

30.Qf2?

[30.Bxa7 winning a pawn.]

30...Bxd4 31.Qxd4 h6

[31...a5]

32.b3 Qf7 33.Qe5 a6 34.Kb2 Kh7 35.Qd6

After this move Caruana felt that he had good chances to win.

35...Qxh5

[35...Qb7 36.Qg6+ Kh8 37.Qe8+ Kh7]

36.Qxa6 Qe8

Black seems to be lost after this.

[36...Qe2 37.Qb7 h5 38.Qxd5 Kh6 39.b4 (39.c4 bxc4 40.b4 Qe1 41.Qd6+ g6 42.b5 c3+ 43.Ka2 Qe2 44.Qd3 Qe6+ 45.Ka3 g5 46.Qxc3 h4 47.Qh8+ Kg6 48.gxh4 Qe3+ 49.Ka4 Qe4+ 50.Ka5 gxh4 51.Qc8 Qf5 52.Qe8+ Kg5 53.Qe3+) 39...Qe1 40.Qxb5 Qxg3 41.Qc6+ Kg5]

37.Qb7 Qe5

[37...h5 38.Qxd5 g6 39.b4 Qb8 40.Qg5 Kg7 41.c4 bxc4 42.b5; 37...Kg6 38.Qxd5 Qb8 39.g4 Qf4 40.Qxb5 Qxg4 41.Qc6+ Kh7 42.Qd6 Qg6 43.Qd4 h5 44.c4 Qg3 45.c5 Kg6 46.Qd5 h4 47.Qe6+ Kh7 48.Qd6 Kg8 49.Qe7 h3 50.c6 h2 51.c7 Qh3 52.Qe8+ Kh7 53.c8Q Qxc8 54.Qxc8 h1Q]

38.Qxb5 h5

Now white wins by force.

[38...Qxg3 39.Qxd5 and white should win.]

39.Qd3+ Kh6 40.b4 g5 41.b5 h4 42.gxh4 gxh4 43.b6 Qb8 44.Qa6! Qd6 45.Qb5 d4 46.b7 dxc3+ 47.Ka2 Qe6+ 48.Ka1 1-0

Gashimov 1/2 Nakamura

"Nothing to play for but rating points". Nakamura on ICC

Hikaru Nakamura might have been expected to go for a win against Vugar Gashimov for whom this event has been an unmitigated disaster but even though Nakamura got a sharp position he was quite happy to draw out the event and finish with a gain in rating points. Gashimov was obviously happy to just finish the event without any more damage. The game itself didn't leave theory. A Sicilian Kan that followed part of Iordachescu-Ionescu Bucharest 1999, they drew in 11 moves.

Hikaru Nakamura Interview

Hikaru are you satified with how you played this tournament?

Overall yes. There were a few opportunities I missed. Certainly my game against Vassily in the first round was very, very up and down, I could have won that game, I could have lost that game. Overall I think it was good. The other game that I was a bit unhappy with was the game against Levon in the 3rd round I guess [actually round 2]. Overall it's very good because. One thing that I like in general is usually when I'm trailing the leader, I have a chance to play against him and maybe beat him at some point and take the lead and even though I played Levon very early on I felt like that was the game where we both had big chances to possibly win, he came out on the victorious end of things. Even if I had played him later I would have played the same way so having taken my chances again him and well maybe not so much against Magnus I felt over all it was quite good and I don't think there is very much I would have done differently.

Last year you won the tournament was it a disappointment you couldn't fight for the first place this year?

It was a slight disappointment but really the game against Levon was the turning point, once I lost that game it was very hard to to get back in the hunt because I had to win so many games, I actually won two in the middle but overall it's just an uphill battle and when you get off to a bad start especially here in Wijk aan Zee I feel that you sort of have to minimise the damage and take your chances where you get them. I didn't win as many games as I would have liked but at the same time I didn't lose many games either. Overall it's a pretty respectable performance I think.

How do you look back at your first appearance in a Wijk aan Zee tournament?

Vugar Gashimov: It was not so good as I wished. It was different and probably I had to play more games before coming to Wijk aan Zee, because I always had a break two or three months before playing such a tournament so it's maybe better to play something just before. When I started the tournament everything went wrong and then it was difficult, when I started with -3, somehow to play good. What to do? I have to come again here.

This was one of the first tournaments where you really had to play against all the world top players. Was it hard?

Well it's always hard to play against such players because you have to be really good in everything....

[More]

Gashimov,Vugar - Nakamura,Hikaru [B43]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13.2), 29.01.2012

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Nxc6 Bxc6 9.Re1 Qb8 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.e5 Bc7 1/2-1/2

Ivanchuk 1/2 Karjakin

Vassily Ivanchuk again played very quickly, showing a weak mental state, against Sergey Karjakin. This time it was a Berlin Defence. Karjakin accepted a draw offer in 22 moves. Ivanchuk finished tied for 5th place with a +2 score and he wasted a number of opportunities to finish a lot better, after losing to Gelfand he wasn't in the mood to play anymore, but still his opponents feared him enough to give him two draw. Ivanchuk's wins mostly now come from the technical phase where he is quite lethal. His difficulty in playing properly when his mood is spoiled continues to be his major achilles heal and after a few years where these problems have been reduced they returned with a vengence in Reggio Emilia and a few times in Wijk aan Zee, so in that respect joint 5th is an amazing result.

Sergey Karjakin's result was really weird. 5 wins and 5 losses with just three draws. I think he really didn't play that well but profited from other players trying to target him and take risks but I'm sure he will be glad to get out of the tournament only losing a few rating points. Russian commentators have said that he needs to work on his openings which in the last year have been rather found out after being a strong part of his game, there is probably plenty of time to do that in the remaing part of the first half of the year.

Ivanchuk,Vassily - Karjakin,Sergey [C67]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13.4), 29.01.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 h5 11.Rd1 Be7 12.Bg5 Be6 13.b3 h4 14.Kf1 a5 15.a4 Rh5 16.Bc1 Bb4 17.Ne2 Bd5 18.Ne1 Rd8 19.Bb2 Rh6 20.c4 Be6 21.Nf3 Be7 22.Rxd8+ 1/2-1/2

Giri 1/2 Navara

Anish Giri got a small advantage against David Navara on the white side of a Ruy Lopez Berlin but Navara held reasonably comfortably so the two shared last place. This was all a bit of a come down for Giri after his win in Reggio Emilia. As the end of his interview pointed out he isn't yet a full time professional and returns to school shortly. He deflected questions about his five losses in a row but it seems to me that he ran out of gas after two major tournaments a month, he will inevitably get more stamina in a couple of years. The second problem he had was in at least a couple of games his opening preparation was superficial and his opponents knowledge far exceded his, something that his talent and time will take care of. Hopefully this hasn't been too bruising an experience.

Anish Giri Interview

So Anish back to earth after Reggio Emilia?

This is very rude of you, thankyou [laughing].

How do you look back?

Well I probably used up all my bunch of luck I had for January already in Reggio Emilia and there was nothing left so it was one after another falling apart.

Five zeros in a row it must be really hard.

No at some point it started to become rather irrelevant so it's not as bad as it sounds. [More in the video]

And now back to school.

Yes and I hope it goes better yeah?

David Navara Interview

David how do you look back at your tournament?

The tournament was very nice but my performance was not OK. I played badly. At least I played some interesting chess but it was also caused by the fact that the opponents wanted wanted to beat me. Today the opening was very peaceful or it looked so but I wanted to play it safely because I overlook too many lines and too many of my opponents resources in almost every game here so I wanted to play it quietly but then I had a bad idea of becoming original and Anish had some advantage. He was playing for the win and he got some chances but I started to defend well and basically I think it was a normal game because I equalised without too many problems. But of course it was not completely easy.

It was nice that you beat the winner of the tournament.

Yes I am happy about it it might have been the most memorable win so far.

Giri,Anish - Navara,David [C65]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13.7), 29.01.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0 Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.Nd2 c6 8.Ba4 d6 9.c3 Bb6 10.Bb3 Bg4 11.Qe1 0-0 12.Nc4 Bc5 13.Kh1 Nh5 14.Bd1 Bxd1 15.Qxd1 g6 16.d4 exd4 17.cxd4 d5 18.dxc5 dxc4 19.f3 b5 20.cxb6 axb6 21.Be3 b5 22.Qc2 Qf6 23.a4 Nf4 24.b3 cxb3 25.Qxb3 Rfd8 26.Qc2 bxa4 27.Rxa4 Rxa4 28.Qxa4 Nd3 29.Qc2 1/2-1/2

74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee (NED), 14-29 i 2012																cat. XXI (2755)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2805	*	0	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	½	1	0	1	9	2891
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2835	1	*	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	1	1	1	½	½	8	2835
3.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2773	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	½	8	2840
4.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2736	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	½	1	8	2842
5.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2766	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	0	½	1	1	1	7½	2810
6.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2759	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	½	7½	2811
7.	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2732	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	1	½	½	1	½	1	0	7	2785
8.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2769	0	1	0	0	½	½	0	*	1	0	1	½	1	1	6½	2753
9.	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2692	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	*	½	½	½	½	½	5½	2702
10.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2739	0	0	½	0	1	0	½	1	½	*	½	½	½	0	5	2668
11.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2770	½	0	½	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	*	½	½	1	5	2666
12.	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2761	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	5	2667
13.	Navara, David	g	CZE	2712	1	½	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	4½	2647
14.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2714	0	½	½	0	0	½	1	0	½	1	0	0	½	*	4½	2647

Round 13 (January 29, 2012)
Aronian, Levon	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	12	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto
Caruana, Fabiano	- Gelfand, Boris	1-0	48	C42	Petroff's Defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Karjakin, Sergey	½-½	22	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Kamsky, Gata	- Topalov, Veselin	1-0	71	A46	Queen's Pawn Opening
Van Wely, Loek	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	41	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Gashimov, Vugar	- Nakamura, Hikaru	½-½	11	B43	Sicilian Paulsen
Giri, Anish	- Navara, David	½-½	29	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin

Groups B and C

B-Group: Pentala Harikrishna won the B-Group with 9/13. He had no winning chances against Dmitri Reinderman and had to wait for the results of Alexander Motylev and Erwin L'Ami before he knew he had won and qualified for next year's A-Group.

C-Group: Maxim Turov outlasted Hans Tikkanen in their battle for the C-Group. Turov beat Etienne Goudriaan, whilst Tikkanen could only draw against Tania Sachdev. Turov qualifies for next year's B-Group.

Final press conference extracts

Jeroen van den Berg: I can confirm that the 75th tournament will be held next year and for the year after I cannot tell anything yet. So it's just wait and see. Next year for sure in January again, the 75th edition.

How big is this achievement in your whole career.

Aronian: That's probably my best result so far. I also had some other good tournaments but winning in Wijk aan Zee is very special because after all it's one of these old tournaments that took place so many times before and it's like Wimbledon for tennis. It's very special for me to win it with such a margin.

Aronian: I didn't know what I should play for, at first I was thinking I'm in good form and I should play for a win with white and then friends of mine were telling me "you'll play for a win next time." I just tried to forget about the the result and the tournament but in the end I couldn't.

Best game?

Aronian: I'm actually proud of my achievement yesterday [against Boris Gelfand] not because the game was good but because it was such a tense game, he was in time trouble, I was in time trouble, position was far from clear for the biggest part of the game. So I think it as important I managed to stay calm and in the end he was the one who didn't handle the pressure.

[Much more in the video]

74th Tata Steel GMB Wijk aan Zee (NED), 14-29 i 2012																cat. XV (2603)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2665	*	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	1	0	1	1	½	1	9	2738
2.	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	2677	½	*	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	8½	2706
3.	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	g	CUB	2691	0	½	*	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	8½	2705
4.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2596	½	½	½	*	1	½	½	0	½	0	1	1	1	1	8	2690
5.	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2677	½	0	½	0	*	1	½	1	1	0	1	½	1	1	8	2683
6.	Reinderman, Dimitri	g	NED	2581	½	½	½	½	0	*	1	0	1	1	½	1	½	½	7½	2661
7.	Nyzhnyk, Illya	g	UKR	2568	0	½	1	½	½	0	*	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	7½	2662
8.	Potkin, Vladimir	g	RUS	2684	½	½	0	1	0	1	½	*	½	0	½	½	½	1	6½	2596
9.	Timman, Jan H	g	NED	2571	0	½	0	½	0	0	1	½	*	1	½	½	1	½	6	2576
10.	Ernst, Sipke	g	NED	2606	1	0	0	1	1	0	½	1	0	*	0	0	0	½	5	2515
11.	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2557	0	0	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	1	*	½	½	½	4½	2496
12.	Vocaturo, Daniele	g	ITA	2545	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	1	½	*	1	½	4½	2497
13.	Cmilyte, Viktorija	g	LTU	2503	½	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	1	½	0	*	½	4	2469
14.	Harika, Dronavalli	g	IND	2516	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	3½	2434

Round 13 (January 29, 2012)
Harikrishna, Pentala	- Reinderman, Dimitri	½-½	44	A04	Dutch System
Tiviakov, Sergei	- Cmilyte, Viktorija	1-0	45	B45	Sicilian Classical
Nyzhnyk, Illya	- Harika, Dronavalli	1-0	59	D79	Gruenfeld 3.g3
Potkin, Vladimir	- L'Ami, Erwin	1-0	59	A29	English Four Knights
Timman, Jan H	- Motylev, Alexander	½-½	38	A20	English Opening
Ernst, Sipke	- Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	0-1	24	A04	Dutch System
Vocaturo, Daniele	- Lahno, Kateryna	½-½	52	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation

74th Tata Steel GMC Wijk aan Zee (NED), 14-29 i 2012																cat. IX (2454)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Turov, Maxim	g	RUS	2645	*	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	10.5	2690
2.	Tikkanen, Hans	g	SWE	2549	½	*	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	0	1	1	10.0	2657
3.	Brandenburg, Daan	g	NED	2527	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	8.5	2558
4.	Adhiban, Baskaran	g	IND	2561	0	½	½	*	1	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	8.5	2555
5.	Grover, Sahaj	m	IND	2532	½	0	½	0	*	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	0	7.0	2477
6.	Sadler, Matthew D	g	ENG	2660	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	7.0	2467
7.	Paehtz, Elisabeth	m	GER	2454	½	0	½	0	0	½	*	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	7.0	2483
8.	Tania, Sachdev	m	IND	2411	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	*	½	½	0	½	1	1	6.0	2428
9.	Danielian, Elina	g	ARM	2490	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	1	0	1	½	½	5.5	2394
10.	Goudriaan, Etienne	f	NED	2279	0	0	½	½	0	½	0	½	0	*	1	½	1	½	5.0	2380
11.	Ootes, Lars		NED	2326	0	0	½	½	0	½	0	1	1	0	*	1	0	0	4.5	2353
12.	Hopman, Pieter		NED	2342	0	1	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	0	*	0	1	4.0	2321
13.	Schut, Lisa	wm	NED	2290	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	0	1	1	*	1	4.0	2325
14.	Haast, Anne	wm	NED	2290	0	0	0	0	1	0	½	0	½	½	1	0	0	*	3.5	2291

Round 13 (January 29, 2012)
Turov, Maxim	- Goudriaan, Etienne	1-0	61	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Tikkanen, Hans	- Tania, Sachdev	½-½	63	A37	English Symmetrical
Grover, Sahaj	- Sadler, Matthew D	½-½	82	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Danielian, Elina	- Hopman, Pieter	1-0	36	A41	Modern Defence
Ootes, Lars	- Paehtz, Elisabeth	0-1	62	C97	Ruy Lopez
Schut, Lisa	- Adhiban, Baskaran	0-1	68	C95	Ruy Lopez Breyer
Haast, Anne	- Brandenburg, Daan	0-1	26	B60	Sicilian Rauzer

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