Shirov's Chances

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  • Shirov's Chances

    Corus 2010 is being watched with particular interest from Ottawa and Toronto in anticipation of Shirov's visit next month. After his blazing start with five straight wins, what are his chances of achieving a smashing victory? He can never be counted out. After all, in last year's Mtel Masters he scored a great victory, beating out the top players in the world.
    That said, it is much too soon to be counting chickens. The fact is that he has benefited from a relatively soft early draw in the pairings, having played the five lowest rated players in the tournament. Only his first round opponent, Peter Leko, was higher rated and that by 16 points.
    As for the other top guns, Alexei has done reasonably well against Kramnik, whom he trounced in the match to decide the challenger to Kasparov. Carlsen is of course very dangerous and has held Shirov to just 4.5 out of 12 in their previous encounters. Meanwhile, Shirov has been "owned" by Ivanchuk (-12 with only 37 of 86) and even more by Anand (-21 with 30.5 of 82 points).
    I have no idea what all of this will mean for the final result. But based on past form, Shirov's toughest challenges lie ahead.
    (Note: all stats based on MegaBase 2009 updated through to the New Year)
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