
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 five report
By GM Alejandro Ramirez
Round 5 March 20 at 14:00 |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
½-½
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Peter Svidler
|
½-½
|
Boris Gelfand |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Levon Aronian |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser Seirawan
|
Svidler-Gelfand
Peter Svidler (above, with Chief Arbiter Werner Stubenvoll behind him) played
yet another Gruenfeld… but this time with white! The system he employed
is unusual but has a dangerous bite to it, as in many cases White is simply
able to control the center without any typical Gruenfeld counterplay.

This is exactly what happened in this game and after the original and strong
f4!? and h4-h5 ideas White had a powerful and unopposed center and prospects
on the kingside. On move 23, however, Svidler played the very mysterious move
e6?!, giving away all of his advantage. After some more strange moves the game
reached a position in which both players had enough of the melee that this game
was and agreed to a draw.
Grischuk-Radjabov

This idea in the Queen’s Gambit Declined of playing Bf4 and an early
c5 is well known, but it seems that there is no advantage to White. Black was
able to powerfully control the open a-file, which fully compensated for his
lack of space. Radjabov at some point decided to give his dead bishop for two
pawns, which might have been unnecessary, but it was still good enough to hold
a draw.
Kramnik-Aronian

A somewhat bland opening gave Kramnik the opportunity to slowly but surely
outplay Aronian in a symmetrical pawn structure position. And endgame was reached
in which only White had chances, but a win was nowhere in sight. White’s
passed d-pawn and pair of bishops were very menacing, but they had to deal with
that annoying black passed pawn on b2. In the end, after finding some very resourceful
moves, Aronian successfully simplified into an opposite colored bishop endgame
that was drawn despite White’s two extra pawns.
Ivanchuk-Carlsen

Another Gruenfeld. This time it put Magnus Carlsen (above) against the ropes
relatively quickly as he was after all a pawn down. However his activity and
White’s poor pawn structure did not allow Vassily Ivanchuk to easily capitalize
on his gain. White went into the knight endgame up a pawn, but it offered no
chances to win. It is hard to say if Ivanchuk (below) really missed any better
winning opportunities.

Current standings

Pictures by Ray
Morris-Hill
Official broadcast of the round
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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
|
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Teimour Radjabov
|
1-0
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Levon Aronian
|
1-0
|
Boris Gelfand |
Playchess commentary: GM Chris
Ward
|
|
Round 3 March 17 at 14:00 |
Boris Gelfand
|
0-1
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
0-1
|
Levon Aronian |
Peter Svidler
|
1-0
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser
Seirawan
|
|
Round 4 March 19 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
1-0
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Teimour Radjabov
|
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Levon Aronian
|
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Boris Gelfand
|
½-½
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
|
|
Round 5 March 20 at 14:00 |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
½-½
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Peter Svidler
|
½-½
|
Boris Gelfand |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Levon Aronian |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
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.