In one of the strongest tournaments of the year the World Champion Viswanathan Anand (India) is facing the former title-holder Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), last year’s World Championship challenger Boris Gelfand (Israel) and the rising star Fabiano Caruana (Italy). At the Savoy Hotel, Paradeplatz, Zurich, the four masters are playing a double round-robin tournament from 23 February to 1 March 2013.
The elegant Savoy Baur en Ville hotel in Zurich, Switzerland
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1st round: 23 February 2013 at 15:00
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| Fabiano Caruana | 2757 |
½-½
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Viswanathan Anand | 2780 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 2810 |
½-½
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Boris Gelfand | 2740 |
Vishwanathan Anand vs Fabiano Caruana saw a somewhat unusual variation of the Sicilian Najdorf where White plays 6.Be3 – as Caruana had done against Anand just ten days ago in Baden Baden, and against Naiditsch two weeks ago in the same event (the game against Anand was drawn, Caruana beat Naiditsch in this line). Caruana got a slight advantage and was clearly playing for a win. In spite of time trouble he spurned a repetition and then dropped a pawn. On move 41 he then overlooked a way to regain it with a clear draw, and had to suffer Anand's attempts to take the full point himself. The World Champion played on until move 65 but was unable to break down his young opponent's defence.
Vladimir Kramnik vs Boris Gelfand (above in the postmortem) started 1.Nf3 c5 2.b3, something Kramnik had used successfully against Gawain Jones at the London Chess Classic last December. Against Gelfand he gained a slight advantage, but was unable to make headway against last year's World Championship challenger. The game ended with repetition on move 59 in a clearly drawn position.
In the following videos commentators GM Yannick Pelletier and IM Werner Hug (rhymes with 'book') comment on the games as they progress, and also interview the players after they are over.
