After thoughts

The 2009 Corus Tournament ended yesterday with Sergey Karjakin pulling away from the pack in the last round to win the event outright. I am not surprised. When I had the privelege of being in the back rooms at Corus, I had a sense that he was in the best mental shape for the tournament (in the A Group). He was playing confidently, taking risks, while many of the other top GM's just seemed to be struggling.





And with the end of the tournament, I realize if I am to write any more about my experience there, now is the time. So I will add a couple more blogs this week and that will be it. They will be short as that will encourage me to actually get them done. (Not requiring much time.)

I have one anecdote with Karjakin, pronounced Keer-ee-AH-kin. It was at the very end of my big day as a reporter. I was tired, and ready to call it a day, when I came upon Karjakin watching two "B Group GM's", Alexander Motylev and Jan Werle, going over their game. It was a wild and extremely complicated position and they were looking for better lines. Wow, this was so cool. Their ratings were 2706, 2676 and 2607 respectively and I am just watching them explore ideas I couldn't fathom, and I was loving it.

But I was needing to get some rest and it went on for a while. And knowing my press pass was used up (as the next day the GM's were off), I decided to try something - I suggested a move. Ha!!! It took some gall, yes, but what the heck, let's see what happens!

Well it was subtle but very clear ... Motylev's hand over the board just paused for a second, he frowned and then kept talking to Werle. While Karjakin, who was quietly slumped in a chair next to them, slowly lifted his head and looked me in the eye curiously. The look was "you actually said something ... patzer??!!" I felt a chill and just smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

That seemed like the right time to end my 24 hours as a chess reporter. They kept going and I went on to my room. Tired but totally satisfied with my great time so far - and tomorrow I had a real chess game of my own to play!