Van Wely - Radjabov once more

Have to love these guys! Today in Corus they played their sixth high level game in the 9.b4 Bayonet Attack in the King's Indian. All that time Van Wely was clearly lower rated, but as White in the KID he can beat anyone :-)

The first games was in 2005, in the World Cup, where Van Wely won and knocked out Radjabov.

The next times they met, Van Wely had black. But in 2007, Radjabov had a chance for revenge. He went on to win three in a row, winning in Monaco (blindfolded), Biel and 2007's Corus. 1-3, That had to hurt.

The next time they met, the colors were again reversed, so no new chance. But in the 2008 Olympiad, with an out of form Van Wely, Radjabov was Black again. Was Van Wely going to back down? No, he played the same old variation, played his improvement, and went on to win :-)

Today in Corus 2009, the latest chapter was added. Another Van Wely win. 3-3! Will one of them ever blink?

I hope the games come out in the right order, but I doubt it a bit...

This game won the Sokolov/expert prize in round 5.

"Unsurprisingly, the Sokolov prize was awarded to Van Wely, for his fine showing against Radjabov. As the prize wasn't awarded in round 4, it was now doubled to € 500,--."