Candidates Tournament, Round 4: Carlsen Wins, Catches Aronian in First

Magnus Carlsen is now fully awake, so his fellow Candidates had better stay (or get) sharp if they hope to compete with him. With his second consecutive win, Carlsen has caught up with Levon Aronian; both are +2 after four rounds.

Carlsen got there by defeating Alexander Grischuk on the white side of a 4.d3 Berlin. Grischuk played very aggressively, hoping that his bishops and space would offer him good attacking chances, but after some inaccuracies in the early middlegame it was Carlsen's structural pluses that gave him a material and a positional advantage. Grischuk did his best to complicate, but with plenty of time to work out the tricks Carlsen neutralized his opponent's attack and won the game.

Aronian came into the round half a point ahead of both Carlsen and his opponent in round 4, Peter Svidler. With the white pieces Aronian surely had some hopes, but Svidler parlayed some fine prep to the already drawish 3.Nf3 a6 line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted to split the point.

The world's #3 and #4 players (on the Live List) faced off, both hoping to move to a plus score in the tournament. Unfortunately for Teimour Radjabov and Vladimir Kramnik, their game was a draw. A well-played draw in the Karpov Variation of the Nimzo-Indian, but a draw nonetheless.

Finally, tailenders Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk drew their game as well, but it was probably the most interesting game of the round. Ivanchuk's creative play was sound, too, and the combination he initiated with 20...c5 was simply brilliant. These two don't look like they're going to fight for first place, but all the same this game is absolutely worth examining.

Speaking of which, you can replay the games (with my annotations) here.

Standings:

1-2. Carlsen, Aronian 3
3. Svidler 2.5
4-5. Kramnik, Radjabov 2
6. Grischuk 1.5
7-8. Gelfand, Ivanchuk 1

Round 5 Pairings:

• Ivanchuk - Carlsen
• Svidler - Gelfand
• Kramnik - Aronian
• Grischuk - Radjabov

Candidates Tournament, Round 3: Aronian Wins Again; Carlsen, Svidler Also Win

It didn't take long for the Candidates tournament to heat up. There were four draws in round 1, but all the decisive results the last two days have really stratified the field. Levon Aronian's score of 2.5/3 will pressure the other players to push a bit harder to keep up, while Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk's score of half a point out of 3 leaves them almost out of contention already, even with 11 rounds to go.

Let's review the round 3 action. Aronian won on time with Black against Vassily Ivanchuk. Aronian had been winning on the board with a crushing counter-attack after Ivanchuk's kamikaze handling of a Trompowsky-turned-Torre Attack, but in his opponent's time trouble got sloppy and let him off the hook at the board. From a competitive standpoint it didn't matter much, as Ivanchuk had something ridiculous like 15 seconds to make 17 moves, and that simply wasn't going to happen.

Peter Svidler defeated Teimour Radjabov, going to +1 while sending Radjabov back to 50%. Svidler's preparation on the white side of a Saemisch King's Indian was excellent, and Radjabov's attempt to handle it in a Benko Gambit style didn't give him anything for the pawn. Svidler had a hiccup on move 38 when he didn't play 38.Rc1, but that was just an aesthetic blemish; Svidler still won pretty easily and confidently.

The last game to finish saw Magnus Carlsen grind out a win with the black pieces against Boris Gelfand. A misjudgment at the end of the first time control turned a practically sure draw into something a bit less clear, but only the blunder 47.Qxd8+?? turned it into a loss.

Finally, the one draw was a well-played game between Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk. Kramnik prepared well and had Grischuk under serious pressure, but a well-timed pawn sacrifice by the latter gave him enough counterplay to hold the draw. Some commentators felt that Kramnik may have had better chances, and Kramnik didn't rule it out, but it was hard to find something that worked for him. They couldn't in the post-game press conference, and the engines don't reveal anything either, at least nothing obvious. (You can see what I did - or didn't come up with - by replaying this and the other round 3 games here.)

Standings After Round 3:

1. Aronian 2.5
2-3. Carlsen, Svidler 2
4-6 Grischuk, Kramnik, Radjabov 1.5
7-8. Gelfand, Ivanchuk .5

Monday is a rest day, and round 4 will be on Tuesday, with the following pairings:

• Carlsen - Grischuk
• Radjabov - Kramnik
• Aronian - Svidler
• Gelfand - Ivanchuk

Candidates Tournament, Round 2: Aronian, Radjabov Win

Happily, it didn't take too long to get some decisive wins in the 2013 Candidates. Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov both won with the white pieces to seize the early lead with 1.5/2.

The first win of the tournament belongs to Aronian, who won a very nice game against Boris Gelfand. Gelfand chose a line against the English that has long had a reputation of being rather unpleasant, and so it was on this occasion as well. Gelfand suffered for a long time, but thought he was finally escaping when he played 25...Rc8. This was instead the losing move, and Aronian finished brilliantly - 30.g4!! was an especially fine idea. After bumpy starts in the 2007 World Championship and the last Candidates' event, it will be very interesting to see how he does when coming out to an early lead.

Radjabov's win over Vassily Ivanchuk was mostly convincing and even one-sided, but could have been ruined if Ivanchuk had a little more time at the end. Ivanchuk's handling of the Leningrad Dutch wasn't terribly convincing - 12...Rf7 in particular looked pretty dubious, and likewise his failure a bit later to play ...Bf8. After 17.Ng5! Black was pretty close to lost, and after 21.Bxe5! it was objectively resignable.

It turned out, however, that Ivanchuk started playing better at this point, and in mutual time trouble Radjabov started playing a bit worse. 29.Qxa7 was a somewhat risky decision, and then 33.Rxb6 was a blunder that went unpunished. Ivanchuk was in horrific time trouble; in fact, after 33...Bxb6 34.Qxb6 he lost on time making his next move. It would have taken him some time on the clock and a bit of imagination as well, but it looks like 33...g4!! (it seems g4 is the brilliant move of the day, for either side!) would have saved the game. This incredible possibility aside, the game was very one-sided, and not an auspicious beginning for Ivanchuk by any stretch.

The game that would have been the headline had either player won it was Magnus Carlsen vs. Vladimir Kramnik. Carlsen played a sideline in the Symmetrical English that resulted in a slight lead in development, but with a few accurate moves Kramnik neutralized the pressure and the game resulted in a very quick draw.

Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler also produced a draw in what is so far the only game in the tournament to begin with 1.e4. The game was always around equality in an Anti-Marshall, with perhaps first Grischuk and then Svidler enjoying a micro-edge. The game made it to the end of first time control, and was agreed drawn.

The games, with my notes, can be replayed here.

Standings After Round 2:

1-2. Aronian, Radjabov 1.5
3-6. Carlsen, Kramnik, Grischuk, Svidler 1
7-8. Ivanchuk, Gelfand .5

Round 3 Pairings:

• Gelfand - Carlsen
• Ivanchuk - Aronian
• Svidler - Radjabov
• Kramnik - Grischuk

Candidates Tournament, Round 1: Four Draws

And...they're off! The Candidates Tournament in London got underway earlier today, and all four games were drawn. The site had some technical difficulties, and for some reason they're using horrid computer demo boards with red pieces, but as the game's the thing let's turn to the actual play.

The marquee matchup between Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen turned out to be a bit of a dud. It's not that Aronian, who had the white pieces, lacked fighting spirit. Rather, Carlsen did a good job of surprising him in the opening with the Bogo-Indian. It seems that in the particular line Black chose, Aronian would have had to try 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 for any hopes of an edge. Instead, after 9.Qc2 a6 10.a3 Nbd7 11.Be2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 c5 13.Be2 b5 Carlsen not only didn't have any problems; he even had some hopes of getting an edge. Aronian's 17.a4 prudently started the process of liquidating the queenside pawns (and most of the pieces as well), and the game was quickly drawn.

Peter Svidler's game with Vladimir Kramnik was even shorter in terms of moves, but although it was Kramnik who created the first surprise by his choice of opening (the Semi-Tarrasch), it was clear that Kramnik wasn't perfectly prepared for the line Svidler chose against it. Kramnik was very nearly in trouble, but with accurate play just managed to keep out of serious trouble.

Like Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov also employed the Bogo-Indian, but Boris Gelfand's treatment was different from Aronian's. Gelfand enjoyed a space advantage, but before he could consolidate it and put it to work Radjabov came up with the plan of 15...c6 and 16...d5, and that just about equalized the chances. One last accurate idea was needed, and with 31...Qe8! and 33...Nd7! the draw was secured.

Finally, in the battle of the "chuks", Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk followed main line Open Catalan theory for 19 moves before Ivanchuk's 20.Bf1 set the game on a new course. For a few moves it looked like f4-f5 ideas might give White a pull, but after 28...Nb6 the burden of maintaining equality had shifted to Ivanchuk. He met the challenge, and after 44 moves the players split the point in a dead-drawn king and pawn ending.

You can replay the games here, with my comments. As for the pairings for round 2, tomorrow, they are as follows:

• Carlsen - Kramnik
• Grischuk - Svidler
• Radjabov - Ivanchuk
• Aronian - Gelfand

Candidates Tournament: Website and Pairings

Only three days to go! The tournament website is here, and the pairings are on this page. Here's what Friday's first round looks like:

• Levon Aronian (2809) - Magnus Carlsen (2872)
• Boris Gelfand (2740) - Teimour Radjabov (2793)
• Vassily Ivanchuk (2757) - Alexander Grischuk (2764)
• Peter Svidler (2747) - Vladimir Kramnik (2810)

Just for fun, here's round 2:

• Carlsen - Kramnik
• Grischuk - Svidler
• Radjabov - Ivanchuk
• Aronian - Gelfand

Predictions? If Aronian has something special prepared for the white pieces, he has the chance to get off to a fantastic start. Kramnik, on the other hand, has a harsh setup with Black in the first two rounds, including against the favorite. (It's also inconvenient that he'll finish the tournament with black as well.) And if Carlsen somehow manages a 2-0 start, defeating both his main rivals from the jump, he can probably start planning for his world championship match with Anand.

Whatever happens, it should be a lot of fun with 56 incredibly high-level games coming from March 15 through April 1. (No fooling.) Just try not to become a complete computer potato, for the sake of your health and your loved ones!

Anish Giri's Candidates' Predictions

Excerpted here. (HT: Thomas Richter.) It's in German, but Google Translate does a passable enough job. His prediction (prepare to be shocked...): Magnus Carlsen! Despite the conventional answer, it's worth reading nonetheless.

Anand on the Candidates

Regular reader of this blog and intrepid reporter Jaideep Unudurti has interviewed world champion Viswanathan Anand yet again (lucky him!), this time on the subject of the upcoming Candidates. Anand doesn't pick a winners, but has some nice things to say about some of the players. Even more than that, I appreciate some of the comments he makes about the event from a fan's perspective. Some chess professionals seem to have lost that, but Anand clearly has not, and that's a good thing for him and for the game.

While you're there, you may want to look at his (Jaideep's) brief preview on the event itself.

Candidates Previews: Svidler, Ivanchuk, Grischuk

ChessBase is doing a sort of countdown, profiling the eight Candidates going from lowest-rated to highest. So far they've done three: Peter Svidler, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk. The articles present the full record of how each player has done against all his rivals in Classical games, which is quite nice; I wouldn't put much (any) stock in the author's conclusions about what openings each player will or ought to play, however. Anyway, it's fun to skim this information, and as I run across other interesting previews I'll pass them along.

A Grischuk Interview

Alexander Grischuk is one of the eight ready to compete later this month in the Candidates' tournament, the winner of which will face Viswanathan Anand for the world championship. He came close in the last cycle, defeating Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik before getting eliminated by Boris Gelfand in the final game of the final match, so although he's not as big a favorite as Magnus Carlsen, he shouldn't be overlooked either.

Some good news and bad news. The good news is that there's a recent interview with him here; the bad news is that it's in Russian and the Google translation is far from ideal. Better than nothing though, so consider this the very first appetizer on the way to the main course.

Candidates Tournament Moved from October 2012 to March 2013

This is good news for the Bilbao and London Chess Classic tournaments, both of which were imperiled by FIDE's original decision to hold the next Candidates' event in London from October 24-November 12 of this year. With Linares and the Amber tournaments no longer holding that slot on the calendar, the move to March 13-31 of 2013 is uncharacteristically sensible of the international chess federation, though the decision came too late for the Tal Memorial organizers to maintain their original dates.

FIDE's announcement is here, while some commentary is here.