Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee Chess Tournament 1999
The position after move 24 in the Kasparov - Topalov game. Kasparov played Rxd4!![1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Venue | Wijk aan Zee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee Steel Chess Tournament 1999 was the 61st edition of the Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee Chess Tournament. It was held in Wijk aan Zee in January 1999 and was won by world number one Garry Kasparov.[2]
Kasparov, entering for the first time, finished half a point ahead of 1998 champion Viswanathan Anand, and whose final tally of 10 points included a seven-game winning streak, described the event as "by far the best tournament in my life" and stated that his preparation was the strongest it had ever been due to computers.[3] The game Kasparov played against Veselin Topalov is one of Kasparov's most famous games, and is called "Kasparov's Immortal";[4] it is considered a masterpiece and some even consider it the best Chess game ever played.[5][6]
61st Hoogovens tournament, group A, 15–31 January 1999, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, Category XVIII (2678)[7] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total TPR Place 1 
Garry Kasparov (Russia)2812 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 2878 1 2 
Viswanathan Anand (India)2781 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 9½ 2844 2 3 Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)2751 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 8 2758 3 4 
Ivan Sokolov (Bosnia and Herzegovina)2624 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 7 2710 4–7 5 
Jeroen Piket (Netherlands)2619 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 7 2711 4–7 6 
Alexei Shirov (Spain)2726 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7 2702 4–7 7 Jan Timman (Netherlands)2670 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 1 7 2707 4–7 8 
Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine)2714 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6½ 2674 8–9 9 Peter Svidler (Russia)2713 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 6½ 2674 8–9 10 
Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)2700 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 6 2646 10 11 
Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan)2606 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 5 2596 11 12 Loek van Wely (Netherlands)2632 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 4½ 2571 12 13 
Alex Yermolinsky (United States)2597 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 4 2542 13 14 Dimitri Reinderman (Netherlands)2541 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 3 2477 14
61st Hoogovens tournament, group B, 19–31 January 1999, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, Category XI (2520)[3] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total TPR Place 1 
GM Smbat Lputian (Armenia)2614 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 8½ 2722 1 2 
GM Rafael Leitão (Brazil)2545 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7½ 2650 2 3 GM Sergey Ionov (Russia)2551 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 7 2618 3–4 4 GM John van der Wiel (Netherlands)2529 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 7 2620 3–4 5 GM Igor Glek (Russia)2566 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 6½ 2580 5–6 6 GM Friso Nijboer (Netherlands)2534 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 6½ 2583 5–6 7 Dennis de Vreugt (Netherlands)2378 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 5 2496 7 8 GM Michail Brodsky (Ukraine)2530 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 4½ 2453 8 9 
GM Christian Bauer (France)2528 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 4 2417 9–10 10 Ruud Janssen (Netherlands)2445 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 4 2424 9–10 11 IM Jeroen Bosch (Netherlands)2470 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 3 2349 11 12 IM Erik van den Doel (Netherlands)2547 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 2½ 2306 12
References
- ^ Seirawan, Yasser (September 2003). "Yasser Annotates: Kasparov-Topalov Wijk aan Zee 1999 Hoogovens Tournament Round 4" (PDF). Inside Chess. Archived from the original on 2004-03-30.
Born of necessity the combination is nonetheless stunning.
- ^ "All-time Tournaments - Tata Steel Chess". history.tatasteelchess.com. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
- ^ a b Mark Crowther (1 February 1999). "The Week in Chess 221". The Week in Chess.
- ^ Kaehler, Arne. "Svitlana's Smart Moves - Kasparov's immortal".
one of the greatest chess games ever played is the one between Garry Kasparov and Veselin Topalov from 1999 in Wijk aan Zee
- ^ Alberto Colodro, Carlos. "Throwback Thursday: Kasparov's immortal".
Garry Kasparov defeated Veselin Topalov in what is now known as his 'immortal game'
- ^ "The Best Chess Games Of All Time". Chess.com.
Kasparov has a long list of brilliancies to his credit, but this game is his virtually undisputed masterpiece.
- ^ Mark Crowther (15 February 1999). "The Week in Chess 223". The Week in Chess.