Author Archives: Yelena Dembo

The World Chess Candidates Tournament – London 2013 10th round

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Kramnik
(Photo taken from the official site of the event)

Yesterday’s results

GM Carlsen Magnus 2872 1-0 GM Gelfand Boris 2740
GM Aronian Levon 2809 1-0 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2757
GM Radjabov Teimour 2793 1/2 GM Svidler Peter 2747
GM Grischuk Alexander 2764 0-1 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2810

Carlsen got a slightly more pleasant position out of the opening, with 14.a3 being a novelty. Both players had made an incredible amount of precise moves up to about move 30 when possible suggestions can be 30.Rd8, 32.Rd7 and 33.Qe7. Black’s only real mistake was 39…Ra1 when eliminating the R gives white a winning endgame.
Kramnik equalized quite easily against Grischuk in the Berlin and even got some space advantage on the kingside in the endgame. Had white chosen 30.Ke3 instead of 30.Bxd4 he would have drawn without much difficulty.
Aronian-Ivanchuk game saw the Budapest Gambit! It seemed as white got a slightly better position and an extra pawn out of the opening but Black always had counerplay due to good N and bad pawn structure of white. Perhaps, 18…e4 looked like a good idea, blocking the B and expanding in the center as well as 28…h5 to try and stop the attack. Unfortunately, Black didn’t manage to get out of the time pressure and lost on time on move 30, already in a lost position.
Radjabov-Svidler was an early repetition of moves. Black could have tried to play on with 19…Qa3 or 19…Qc3 but white had a decent compensation anyway.

So, Carlsen is leading the event with 7 points, Aronian is 2nd with 6.5, Kramnik has 6.

Today’s pairings

Round 11 on 2013/03/28 at 14.00

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

Official Site.

The World Chess Candidates Tournament – London 2013 9th round

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Gelfand
(The photo is taken from the official site of the event)

GM Kramnik Vladimir 2810 1/2 GM Carlsen Magnus 2872
GM Svidler Peter 2747 1/2 GM Grischuk Alexander 2764
GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2757 1-0 GM Radjabov Teimour 2793
GM Gelfand Boris 2740 1-0 GM Aronian Levon 2809

Kramnik played his favorite Catalan against Carlsen, got a better position out of the opening and won a pawn on move 23. Perhaps 25.Qd4 was a better choice as 25.Be5 allowed a simplification which helped Black to equalize.
Svidler and Grischuk created an incredible game! In the Saemisch variation of the King’s Indian Grischuk made a novelty on the 12th move instead of the usual 12…Neg4 and got a very good game due to much better development and king placement. Probably, the queen sacrifice wasn’t justified as Black pieces were very active. Black sacrificed an exchange on move 25 to eliminate the bishop pair and open more files and diagonals. Because of Svidler’s mistake on move 29, Black could have won a piece with 29…Qe5.
Aronian got a pleasant equality against Gelfand and had some pressure in the center after the opening. Perhaps improvements can be suggested on moves 18, 20 and 25. 26…Bf7 for sure was a mistake and instead of it I like 26…Bd1, activating the B and having in mind the invasion on the d-file. Later on it is possible to improve white’s play many times but time-pressure can be a tricky thing :).
Ivanchuk entered the middlegame having a slight space advantage but Black’s position looked very solid although without any counterplay. Perhaps in the rook endgame it was better to continue the tour of the king and to march all the way to c7-square where it would help Black to push b7-b6 and create a passed pawn.

Standings after 9 rounds

1. Carlsen 6 out of 9
2. Aronian 5.5
3. Kramnik 5
4-5. Gelfand, Grischuk 4.5
6. Svidler 4
7. Ivanchuk 3.5
8. Radjabov 3

Today is a rest day!

Official website.