Linares R14: Anand wins Morelia/Linares by a full point

Round fourteen (final)

Final standings

Note that the official site lists Magnus Carlsen in second place, which can be explained by the same tiebreak score.

Here are some statistics: Anand's performance was 2816, while Topalov ended at a dismal 2691. This means that Anand will be number one on FIDE's April 1st list, something he has been looking forward to and been close to achieving for more than a decade. [The deadline for submission of results is February 28, 2007, but we are sure that FIDE will include Morelia/Linares in its calculation.]

The new number one in the world rankings: Vishy Anand of India

Veselin Topalov, who had occupied this place since Garry Kasparov's retirement,
which was announced in this hall exactly two years ago (on March 10th 2005)

Magnus Carlsen (with father Henrik) ended with a loss but a shared second
and gave an unprecedented 2778 performance

Magnus Carlsen's shared second and his sterling 2778 performance is truly remarkable for a 16-year-old who was the tournament's underdog. At the start some writers were bemoaning the decision of the organisers to include a "rabbit" in such a great event. Cannon fodder, they called him. Henrik Carlsen told us at the start of the tournament that his son had to decide whether to play safe (i.e. defensively) and try to achieve an honorable minus two result, or to go for broke and slug it out with the big boys. We know what the lad decided. Just half of his games were drawn, producing four wins and three losses on his score card.

Downs and ups, bottom and top: typical for Alexander Morozevich

Exactly the same result was achieved by the mercurial Alexander Morozevich, though while Magnus was first or second on the table during the entire tournament, "Moroz" started by firmly occupying last in the first half of the event. Let us look back at the standing after seven rounds in Morelia, and compare it with Morozevich performance in Linares:

The performance values are equally remarkable: in Morelia Morozevich was giving an accurate impression of a 2587-rated player taking part in this Super-GM event. His result would not have been enough to achieve a grandmaster norm. In Linares he played as if he was rated 2971, winning four games and drawing three. What a player! Incidentally Morozevich did not take a second to Morelia, but had former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov join him in Linares. The two are friends and their joint efforts paid off handsomely.

Peter Svidler finished the event with 50% and a 2748 performance

Last year's winner Levon Aronian also scored 50% with a 2745 performance

Peter Svidler had a constant tournament of sorts, drawing all his games in Morelia and winning one and losing one in Linares. His 50% score is twenty points better than his nominal 2728 rating. Aronian's 50% was almost exactly what you would expect from a 2744 player.

He'll be back, with a vengence: Peter Leko, who disappointed in Morelia/Linares

The big disappointment, apart from Veselin Topalov, was Peter Leko, who played 53 points worse than his 2749 rating – and was saved from an even more dismal result (and an unshared last place) by his final round victory over Magnus Carlsen. But Peter is tough as nails and he will be back in fighting spirit in the Candidates Tournament which start on May 26 in Elista. Many predict a big all-Hungarian showdown in the second round between Peter Leko and Judit Polgar.

Schedule

Links

• Official web site (Linares)
• Official web site (Morelia)
• All games played so far
• All ChessBase reports on Morelia 2007
• ChessBase reports on Morelia/Linares 2006