Khan has dispatched his opponents with ease, in contrast to the champion, who has been having some notable opposition at the chess board. Irshad Mohamed held him to a draw, while Loris Nathoo, with a clear endgame win, made an elementary blunder in the final stages of his game and allowed Meusa to queen a rook pawn.
In the first round, Kenrick Braithwaite had an equal game with Meusa when he refused to play on, following a dispute with the champion in relation to the completion of his scoresheet.
Tempers flared involving Braithwaite and the tournament director, and Braithwaite resigned the game and retired from the tournament.
In the junior category of the tournament, it is Saeed Ali, Rashad Hussein and Ron Motilall who are tied for first with 3½ points each after four rounds. The tournament could be won by any of the three. The Trophy Stall Tournament concludes today.
Karjakin v Carlsen
At the Wijk aan Zee chess tournament in the Netherlands, Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik has taken the lead after ten rounds ahead of some illustrious names: World ChampionVishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen, the highest rated player in the world, Shirov, Ivanchuk, Nakamura, Karjakin and others.
The Carlsen-Karjakin clash was a much anticipated one since the two players were once the youngest grandmasters in the world, and Karjakin was second (an assistant) to the FIDE Knockout World Championship winner Ruslan Ponomariov at age eleven! Carlsen is currently the world’s highest rated player ahead of the world champion.
In the following game, Carlsen chooses the French defence and outplays his opponent.
Karjakin, Sergey (2720) – Carlsen, M (2810)
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (10), 27.1.2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 0–0 9.Be2 a6 10.0–0 b5 11.Kh1 Qc7 12.a3 Bb7 13.Rad1 Rac8 14.Qe1 cxd4 15.Nxd4 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Bc5 17.Qh4 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 f6 19.Bd3 h6 20.exf6 Rxf6 21.f5 Rcf8 22.Rg1 Nc5 23.fxe6 Nxe6 24.Rg4 Nf4 25.Qg3 Qe7 26.Rxf4 Rxf4 27.Ne2 Rf1 28.Nd4 Rxg1+ 29.Kxg1 Re8 30.h4 Qe1+ 31.Kh2 Qxg3+ 32.Kxg3 Kf7 33.Kf2 Kf6 34.g3 Bc8 35.c3 Bg4 36.Bc2 g5 37.hxg5+ hxg5 38.Bb3 Ke5 39.Bc2 Rf8+ 40.Kg2 Bd7
41.Nf3+ Kf6 42.Bb3 g4 43.Nd4 Ke5 44.Bc2 a5 45.Bd1 Ke4 White Resigns! 0-1.
