Candidates R14 – leaders lose, Carlsen qualifies
1.4.2013 - Magnus Carlsen overpressed a messy position against Peter Svidler and was swiftly punished. However Kramnik gambled all of his chips, and Ivanchuk simply took them all! Carlsen’s luck has not abandoned him and he is now the official challenger against Anand for the World Chess Championship, edging out the Russian’s great performance by virtue of his better tiebreak. Full report with GM analysis.
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From March 14 to April 1, 2013, FIDE and AGON – the World Chess Federation’s commercial partner – are staging the 2013 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2013. It will be the strongest tournament of its kind in history. The venue is The IET, 2 Savoy Place, London. The Prize Fund to be shared by the players totals €510,000. The winner of the Candidates will become the Challenger to Viswanathan Anand who has reigned as World Champion since 2007. The main sponsor for the Candidates is State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic SOCAR, which has sponsored elite events chess in the past.
Round fourteen report
By GM Alejandro Ramirez
The most spectacular tournament of recent years has come to an end. The drama of the last few rounds has been unprecedented in recent memory. The excitement brought spectators flocking to every chess site, even to the point of overloading some of them! The fans were eager to know who would challenge Anand, and here is how it all unfolded.
| Round 14 April 1 at 14:00 | ||
Magnus Carlsen
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0-1
| Peter Svidler |
Vassily Ivanchuk
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1-0
| Vladimir Kramnik |
Boris Gelfand
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½-½
| Alexander Grischuk |
Levon Aronian
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1-0
| Teimour Radjabov |
Playchess commentary: GM Maurice Ashley
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Gelfand-Grischuk ½-½
Grischuk’s Gruenfeld was more than sufficient to neutralize any attempts for a lastround victory by the Israeli, and the game ended in a draw after White’s king was too exposed and had to allow a perpetual.
Aronian-Radjabov 1-0
Aronian, who after the first half seemed to be the only one with chances to stop Carlsen from playing Anand, suffered some serious setbacks in the second half and tried to have a strong finish. Radjabov, who probably wants to forget this tournament as soon as possible and losing over thirty (!?) rating points in the process, was looking to at least not lose the last round. Unfortunately the Armenian’s will was stronger and a complicated game led to an interesting endgame in which White had two rooks for Black’s queen. Although theoretically equal, the endgame was more pleasant to play with White, and after Radjabov made just one slip Aronian’s brutal attack on the king was enough to win the game.
Carlsen-Svidler 0-1
Everyone knew the tournament situation. Carlsen would look for a win, and try to clinch first place regardless of Kramnik’s result. A typical Spanish gave White a very minimal edge, and both sides tried to attack the enemy king using their knights and long range bishops. On move 31, disaster strikes. Svidler’s simple mate threat on g2 can be parried in two ways: one is a simple tactic that uses Black’s king on f8 to not only trade off the dangerous light squared bishop, but it also won a pawn. The other simply gave Black a strong attack. Carlsen, maybe exhausted from his efforts, chose the latter and almost paid dearly. The advantage was too strong; the pair of bishops and extra pawn were too much even for the Norwegian magician. Svidler defeated Carlsen.
Carlsen, Magnus2872–Svidler, Peter2747C77FIDE Candidates 20131401.04.2013Ramirez,Alejandro
1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 e7 6.d3 The increasingly popular quick d3 system, yet again seen in London. Carlsen crushed Svidler with the black side of this system, surely he can also outplay him with white. b5 7.b3 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.c3 b710.d2 d7 11.a4 d8!? Very solid play, though there were viable alternatives for sure. The idea of moving the knight from c6 is nothing new in the Spanish. It is now being rerouted to f4. 12.axb5 axb513.xa8 xa8 14.e2 e6 15.g3 c5 16.f5 d8 17.c4 bxc418.xc4 White has a maybe microscopically more pleasant position. His bishop on c4 is well placed, the knight on f4 is relatively uncomfortable, but Black still has many resources. c7 19.e1 e820.c1 h520...d4 already blunders the game. 21.3xd4 cxd4 22.xg7+-21.g321.b4! cxb4 22.xb4 Would've given him a pleasant edge, but the symmetrical position gives Black good chances for a draw. 21...g6 22.h6+ g7 23.g5 xg5 24.xg5 d5 25.exd5 xd526.g4 f3 Svidler thought this idea was very strong, and that Carlsen underestimated it. However, it is possible both missed White's resource on move 31. 27.f6+ g8 28.h6+ f8 29.e329.xf7 xf6 30.h6+ e7? Suggested by Svidler.30...g8‼ is just a draw, according to the engines, as there are no good discoveries. Notice how in no variation can White take on e5 as the opening of the e-file will be lethal to him because of his weakened back rank. 31.xe5+? d5 32.xd7 xe1# 31.g5! Was missed by both players. 29...b7 30.h4 h3 31.f3? The start of Carlsen's demise.31.d5! This strong resource would've simply left White a pawn ahead. White's knight on h6 can be left en prise! xd5 32.xc5+g7 33.xd5 xh6 34.xf7 a534...c8? Svidler admitted he had no idea what was going on, and this was his suggestion. However this loses to the very strong...35.e7! and Black is closed to getting mated. 35.xe8 xe1 36.xe5 White's three pawns are stronger than the piece, and it is in Black's best interest to give it back immediately.xf2+ 37.xf2 xh2+ 38.e1 With only chances for White. 31...f4 32.gxf4 xh4 33.xf7 xf3 34.f2 g4+ 35.g3exf4 Now Black's advantage is clear and decisive. The pair of bishops is too strong. 36.xe8+ xe8 37.xg4 xg4 38.g5 h6 39.f7h5 40.h6 d1 41.f2 f3 42.h3 f4 43.f7 g5 44.e1 g4Simple calculation, White cannot stop the pawns. 45.hxg4 hxg446.xd1 g3 47.e1 g2 48.f2 h2 Carlsen loses, but his lucky stars had not yet abandoned him.Ivanchuk-Kramnik 1-0
“If someone had told Volodia (Kramnik) that Carlsen would lose today, I’m afraid he wouldn’t have gone with the Pirc…” is the translation of Vallejo Pons earlier Facebook status. Truer words could not have been spoken! Knowing that the odds of Carlsen losing with White twice in one tournament were astronomical, Kramnik went for the all-out kill against Ivanchuk. However the Ukrainian is not someone to be trifled with.. He punished Kramnik’s excessive opening aggression, and quickly took over the initiative. A strong positional sacrifice left him with the pair of bishops and pressure all over the board, especially against the queenside pawns. Black’s position became increasingly worse with every move, until White’s passed b-pawn was too strong. It was all over. Ivanchuk equally slayed Kramnik and Carlsen, and the Norwegian edges out on tiebreak.
Ivanchuk, Vassily2757–Kramnik, Vladimir2810B08FIDE Candidates 20131401.04.2013Ramirez,Alejandro
1.d4 d6 2.e4 The Pirc. An obscure opening in the realm of elite players. Kramnik wasn't satisfied with neutralizing Ivanchuk, he was risking everything for the win. f6 3.c3 g6 4.f3 g7 5.e2 0-06.0-0 a6 7.h3 A classical and sedate approach. Strong both because of its positional value, but also because it steers the game away from the sharp complications Kramnik is so desperately looking for. c68.g5 b5 9.a3 h6 10.e3 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.c1 h7?Already a mistake, however the 'correct' move was far from human.12...d4 13.xh6 b7 14.xg7 xg7 15.d1 c5 16.e3e7 And Black has some compensation, but no more. 13.c5 e8 14.d1 d7 15.b4 c8 16.e3 White has more space, better coordinated pieces and actual prospects of invading d5, unlike Black who cannot move to d4. Also White is the one that can break the queenside. A very uncomfortable situation for Black. d817.a4 bxa4 18.xa4 e6 19.c4 h5 20.c3 hf4 21.d5b5 22.b3 c6 23.a5 b7 24.g3! A valiant sacrifice. With the h-pawn gone, White can occupy the h-file, putting pressure on every side of the board. Further, Black is left without a plan and without the strong knight on f4. xh3+ 25.g2 hg5 26.h1 g8 27.xg5xg5 28.f3 xd5 29.xd5 c6 30.c4 c8 31.b3 h5 32.e3e6 33.ha1 h4 Giving back the pawn does not alleviate Black's problems - he doesn't even get access to the f4 square. However it was hard to suggest much of anything, let alone a way to win this game.34.gxh4 d8 35.xa6 c8 36.h1 c7 37.xe6 xe6 38.b5!White's now up a pawn, and Black has the horrible choice between exposing his king to a strong attack or allowing a strong passed pawn on b6. b738...cxb5 39.xe6 fxe6 40.xe6+ f7 41.xg6+- 39.b6 c5 40.b1 f8 41.d5 b8 42.ba1 d6 43.a8 xd544.xb8 xb8 45.exd5 d6 The b-pawn is too strong, White has only to march his king forward. 46.a6 b7 47.f1 The King goes to a6, the game is over, Kramnik resigns and Magnus wins the tournament!
Pictures by Ray Morris-Hill
GM Daniel King shows the highlights of the last round
Current standings
The table displays Kramnik ahead on traditional tiebreak points, but the Candidates Tournament rules counts the number of wins – Carlsen five, Kramnik four – to break the tie, after the first tiebreaker, score against each other, was even.
Replay all games of the round
Aronian, L2809–Radjabov, T27931–0E71FIDE Candidates1401.04.2013
1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.g5 a67.f3 c5 8.dxc5 a5 9.d3 dxc5 10.0-0 c6 11.d5 e612.b3 b5 13.ac1 bxc4 14.xc4 xe4 15.b7 ac8 16.xe7xd5 17.xf8 b8 18.xb8 xb8 19.xd5 xf8 20.xe4 d721.b3 xa2 22.cd1 e5 23.d8+ e7 24.b8 xf3+ 25.xf3d4 26.g3 a5 27.e1+ f6 28.e2 b1+ 29.g2 a4 30.b7a3 31.d5 a2 32.xf7+ g5 33.h4+ h6 34.ee7 g5 35.e41–0
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The games start at 14:00h = 2 p.m. London time = 15:00h European time, 17:00h Moscow, 8 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here. Note that Britain and Europe switch to Summer time on March 31, so that the last two rounds will start an hour earlier for places that do not swich or have already done so (e.g. USA). The commentary on Playchess begins one hour after the start of the games and is free for premium members.
Links
The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
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