3/15/2013 – Peter Svidler vs Vladimir Kramnik finished as a draw in 23 moves. Levon Aronian vs Magnus Carlsen lasted 31 moves before a draw was agreed. Gelfand-Radjabov lasted 36 moves and Ivanchuk-Grischuk 44. Anyone hoping for major upsets or heroic wins will have to wait until the players shrug off their caution. Full report with pictures, video and 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 one express report
Round 1 March 15 at 14:00
Levon Aronian
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Teimour Radjabov
Vassily Ivanchuk
½-½
Alexander Grischuk
Peter Svidler
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel King
The first round of the Candidates was not quite anti-climactic, but anyone
hoping for major upsets or heroic wins will have to wait until the players shrug
off their caution. The game between Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen was a tame
affair and neither pushed the pace.
Carlsen (above) played a line that IM Pein described as reminiscent of Petrosian,
and that would seem as appropriate as possible for the Norwegian.
Aronian (above middle) was less happy and had hoped to at least be the one
threatening to pressure the other as White, but instead found himself close
to having to worry, a less than ideal start.
[Event "Candidates"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.03.15"] [Round "1"] [White "Aronian,
L."] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2809"]
[BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator "Zura Javakhadze"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate
"2013.01.12"] [SourceDate "2013.01.13"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ {In
the first round Carlsen choses one of the most solid continuations of the
Bogo-Indian.} 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 d5 6. Nc3 O-O 7. e3 Qe7 8. Rc1 Rd8 9. Qc2
a6 {The first little surprise offered by the top seed of the tournament; 9...dxc4
and 9...Nbd7 are the main lines here.} ( 9... Nbd7) (9... dxc4) 10. a3 Nbd7
11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 c5 13. Be2 b5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. b4 Qe7 16. O-O Bb7 17.
a4 {Aronian didn't manage to get any advantage from the opening, so after
further simplifications the game finishes faster than spectators were expecting
from the two tournament favourites.} Qxb4 18. axb5 axb5 19. Qb1 Qxb1 20. Rxb1
Bxf3 21. Bxf3 Rab8 22. Nxb5 Ne5 23. Nd4 Nxf3+ 24. Nxf3 Rxb1 25. Rxb1 h6 26.
h3 g5 27. g4 Kg7 28. Kg2 Rd7 29. Rb2 Rc7 30. Nd4 Nd5 31. Rc2 1/2-1/2
Vassily Ivanchuk (above) is said to have a huge score against Grischuk, though
to the Russian’s defense, he had black in ten of their twelve classical
games, now eleven of thirteen. No loss today, though the Ukrainian was the one
with the initiative throughout.
Peter Svidler (above) faced Vladimir Kramnik and a Gruenfeld was the name of
the game. Even though it was the encounter that presented the most chances for
a decisive result, in favor of the six-time Russian champion, it never quite
swung off balance that far and they too drew.
Boris Gelfand faced a savvy Teimour Radjabov (above FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
makes the first move), who played a seemingly innocuous opening with unambitious
looking moves such as e6 and d6. The general feeling was that the Azeri player
was baiting Gelfand into trying to punish him for his opening play, but whatever
the reason, the Israeli was on his guard and did not get himself into trouble.
[Event "Candidates"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.03.15"] [Round "1"] [White "Gelfand,
B."] [Black "Radjabov, T."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2740"]
[BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator "Zura Javakhadze"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate
"2013.01.12"] [SourceDate "2013.01.13"] 1. d4 e6 {Radjabov is a known expert
in the King's Indian Defense, but he refuses to employ it in his first round.}
2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 {The game transposed to the main line of the
Bogo-Indian.} O-O (4... b6 {is another very played continuation}) 5. a3 Be7
6. e4 d6 {It looks like the players decided to avoid sharp openings in the
first round.} (6... d5 {Many players make this move automatically. In my opinion
the text move gives white a small edge due to his space advantage, but he
still has to work hard to prove anything clear.} 7. e5 Nfd7 8. b4 a5 9. b5
c5) 7. Be2 {It's unclear whether the bishop stands better on d3 or on e2.}
Nbd7 8. b4 {White delays castling and gains more space.} (8. O-O a5) 8...
e5 9. Bb2 a5 10. O-O exd4 11. Nxd4 Re8 12. Qc2 Bf8 {In my opinion, Radjabov
had an original intention to play a KID type of position and he tried to ''trick''
his opponent to avoid the Saemisch System, which is what Gelfand regularly
plays. That's why he played 6...d6 and not 6...d5. If Gelfand didn't force
further simplifications now, after g6 - bg7, Black would get a typical KID
position.} 13. N4b3 axb4 14. axb4 Rxa1 15. Rxa1 c6 16. Bf1 d5 {Black managed
to carry out his main goal in such positions, opening the center with a typical
d5 break.} 17. exd5 Bxb4 18. dxc6 bxc6 { After clarifying the situation in
the center, Neither side has clear prospects, thus, the game quickly ended
in peace.} 19. Nd4 Qc7 20. N2f3 Bf8 21. g3 Bb7 22. Bg2 Qb6 23. Re1 Rxe1+ 24.
Nxe1 c5 25. Nb5 Bc6 26. Qe2 Qb7 27. Bxf6 Nxf6 28. Bxc6 Qxc6 29. Ng2 g6 30.
Nc3 h5 31. Nf4 Qe8 32. Kf1 Qxe2+ 33. Kxe2 Nd7 34. Nd3 Nb6 35. Ne4 Nxc4 36.
Nexc5 1/2-1/2
Yes, Magnus, that's what it is like when you are
a star...
Live
commentary provided in round one by IMs Lawrence Trent and Malcolm Pein
Afterwards there is postgame analysis, above for
instance with Peter Svidler
The other links are to the live games (above Gelfand-Radjabov),
with chat by registered visitors
Replay all games of the round
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
Schedule and results
Round 1 March 15 at 14:00
Levon Aronian
½-½
Magnus Carlsen
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Teimour Radjabov
Vassily Ivanchuk
½-½
Alexander Grischuk
Peter Svidler
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
Round 2 March 16 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen
-
Vladimir Kramnik
Alexander Grischuk
-
Peter Svidler
Teimour Radjabov
-
Vassily Ivanchuk
Levon Aronian
-
Boris Gelfand
Playchess commentary: GM Chris
Ward
Round 3 March 17 at 14:00
Boris Gelfand
-
Magnus Carlsen
Vassily Ivanchuk
-
Levon Aronian
Peter Svidler
-
Teimour Radjabov
Vladimir Kramnik
-
Alexander Grischuk
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser
Seirawan
Round 4 March 19 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen
-
Alexander Grischuk
Teimour Radjabov
-
Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian
-
Peter Svidler
Boris Gelfand
-
Vassily Ivanchuk
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
Round 5 March 20 at 14:00
Vassily Ivanchuk
-
Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler
-
Boris Gelfand
Vladimir Kramnik
-
Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk
-
Teimour Radjabov
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser
Seirawan
Round 6 March 21 at 14:00
Peter Svidler
-
Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik
-
Vassily Ivanchuk
Alexander Grischuk
-
Boris Gelfand
Teimour Radjabov
-
Levon Aronian
Playchess commentary: GM Chris
Ward
Round 7 March 23 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen
-
Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian
-
Alexander Grischuk
Boris Gelfand
-
Vladimir Kramnik
Vassily Ivanchuk
-
Peter Svidler
Playchess commentary: GM Alejandro
Ramirez
Round 8 March 24 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen
-
Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov
-
Boris Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk
-
Vassily Ivanchuk
Vladimir Kramnik
-
Peter Svidler
Playchess commentary: GM Alejandro
Ramirez
Round 9 March 25 at 14:00
Vladimir Kramnik
-
Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler
-
Alexander Grischuk
Vassily Ivanchuk
-
Teimour Radjabov
Boris Gelfand
-
Levon Aronian
Playchess commentary: GM Maurice
Ashley
Round 10 March 27 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen
-
Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian
-
Vassily Ivanchuk
Teimour Radjabov
-
Peter Svidler
Alexander Grischuk
-
Vladimir Kramnik
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser
Seirawan
Round 11 March 28 at 14:00
Alexander Grischuk
-
Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik
-
Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler
-
Levon Aronian
Vassily Ivanchuk
-
Boris Gelfand
Playchess commentary: GM Chris
Ward
Round 12 March 29 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen
-
Vassily Ivanchuk
Boris Gelfand
-
Peter Svidler
Levon Aronian
-
Vladimir Kramnik
Teimour Radjabov
-
Alexander Grischuk
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
Round 13 March 31 at 14:00
Teimour Radjabov
-
Magnus Carlsen
Alexander Grischuk
-
Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik
-
Boris Gelfand
Peter Svidler
-
Vassily Ivanchuk
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
Round 14 April 1 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen
-
Peter Svidler
Vassily Ivanchuk
-
Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand
-
Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian
-
Teimour Radjabov
Playchess commentary: GM Maurice
Ashley
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.
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