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From 3 to 27 May 2011 the FIDE Candidates matches are being held in Kazan,
the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, with eight strong GMs competing to
qualify as Challenger for the 2012 World Champion match. Time controls in the
four regular games are 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the
next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, plus an additional
30 seconds per move starting from move 61. In case of a tie there will be four
rapid chess games, and if the tie is still not broken then up to five two-game
blitz matches 5'+3". Finally there may be a sudden-death final decider.
The prize fund of the candidates is 500,000 Euros.
Scoreboard
|
Nat. |
Rtg |
G1 |
G2 |
G3 |
G4 |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
Tot. |
Perf |
Vladimir Kramnik |
RUS |
2785 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
|
|
|
|
2.0 |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
RUS |
2747 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
|
|
|
|
2.0 |
|
|
Nat. |
Rtg |
G1 |
G2 |
G3 |
G4 |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
Tot. |
Perf |
Boris Gelfand |
ISR |
2733 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
|
|
|
|
2.0 |
|
Gata Kamsky |
USA |
2732 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
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2.0 |
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Semifinals – Game four
Once again emotions were high, and once again the audience was left wanting.
Kamsky came well-prepared and repeated the opening from game two that had nearly
cost him a full point. After blitzing out his opening moves and his preparation,
there was little fight left in the position, and they players soon shook hands.
Gelfand,Boris (2733) - Kamsky,Gata (2732) [D80]
WCh Candidates Kazan RUS (2.4), 15.05.2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.e3 Be6 8.Nf3
c5 9.Be2 Bg7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rb1 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Bd5 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Rfd1 Bxd4 15.cxd4
Qe6 16.Bf3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Nd7 18.Qe4 b6 19.Rdc1 Rac8 20.Rb4 c3 21.Rb3 Nf6 22.Qxe6
fxe6 23.Bxf6 1/2-1/2. [Click
to replay]
In the very last regular game Kramnik and Grischuk deviated from their Valium
chess, and it was a rocky ride for both. Emerging from a Symmetrical English,
Grischuk seemed to have the better chances until a couple of opportunites to
capitalize on them passed under his radar and the tide began to shift. In typical
fashion, Grischuk got into bad time trouble with under three minutes for the
last ten moves, and his exposed king gave Kramnik his chance to decide the game
in his favor.

If Kramnik had played 31.Nf4! instead of 31.Rd8, things might have gone
differently

Grischuk looked puzzled. Had he seen the move Vladimir missed?

Nervously glancing at the clock as his time dips under two minutes

The increment has saved him more than once from losing on time, but not
necessarily
from botching a beautiful position.

Kramnik trying to find something in his favor but the c-pawn ensured the
draw...

... as a dejected Vladimir, close to tears, realizes when he has to repeat the
position

With the commentators still analysing furiously in Fritz the two agree to a
draw

For Grischuk fans here a portrait which you can click to enlarge to desktop
size
Round one commentary by GM Fabiano Caruana
Click for
full-page replay or download
PGN – you can also replay the game in this window.
Note that in the replay window below you can click on the notation to follow
the game.
 |
About the author
Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is a grandmaster
and chess prodigy with dual citizenship of Italy and the United States.
On 15 July 2007 he made his final GM norm and, at the age of 14 years,
11 months, 20 days, the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy
and the United States. In the January 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating
of 2721, making him 25th in the world. His current rating is 2714, at
rank 28.
Over the years we have had a lot of fun with Fab Fab (Fabulous Fabiano).
Take a look at this
page, and after that at this
page. We however add a word of caution: the second report contains
images that some readers may find unbearably cute. |
Tomorrow the tiebreaks will take place. Four rapid games, and in the event
of a tie, they proceed to two-game mini-matches of blitz, for as many as five
such mini-matches.
Remaining schedule
All games start at 15:00h local time – 13:00h Berlin/Paris, 07:00
New York (check
your local time here)
Day |
Date |
Game |
Commentary on Playchess |
Sunday |
May 15 |
Round 2 Game 4 |
Daniel King |
live |
Monday |
May 16 |
Tiebreaks |
|
|
Tuesday |
May 17 |
Free day |
|
|
Wednesday |
May 18 |
Free day |
|
|
Thursday |
May 19 |
Round 3 Game 1 |
van Wely/Gustafsson |
live |
Friday |
May 20 |
Round 3 Game 2 |
Dejan Bojkov |
live |
Saturday |
May 21 |
Round 3 Game 3 |
Sam Collins |
live |
Sunday |
May 22 |
Free day |
|
|
Monday |
May 23 |
Round 3 Game 4 |
Loek van Wely |
live |
Tuesday |
May 24 |
Round 3 Game 5 |
Daniel King |
live |
Wednesday |
May 25 |
Round 3 Game 6 |
Daniel King |
live |
Thursday |
May 26 |
Tiebreaks, closing |
|
|
Friday |
May 27 |
Departure |
|
|
Live broadcast
The games are being broadcast live on
the FIDE web site and on the chess server Playchess.com.
In addition you can watch the games live on a regular browser on our
live broadcast site, which can be accessed in any regular browser, even
Apple, without the need to download a special client.

When you go to the Chesslive broadcast
page you get a list of all the games that are currently available in the
broadcast room. The ones with the most viewers are on top, so it is easy to
access the most important games. You can load and follow multiple games by clicking
on "Games" on the left, to get the list. Each loaded game has its
own icon, and clicking on these will jump to that game. If there is a "public
engine" running its assessment of the position will appear as a bar chart
below the notation. Note that you can resize the windows in the game applet.

Deep Fritz displays the evaluation changes in the game Kramnik-Grischuk

The Russian Chess Federation is providing excellent hi-res
live video coverage from
the playing hall in Kazan, with live commentary (in Russian).

Watching a game on the Playchess server with live audio GM commentary
Links
The games are being broadcast live on the
official web site and on the server Playchess.com.
If you are not a Playchess member you can download ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. |
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