Elista F6: Aronian qualifies, Grischuk and Rublevsky in tiebreak

The Finals of the Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Chess Championship Tournament are being held in Elista, Russia, from June 6th to June 14, 2007. Eight candidates advanced from the first stage and are now playing six-game matches to fill four places in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico City.

Finals: Round six report

Finals Round Six

Commentary by GM Mihail Marin

Rublevsky,S (2680) - Grischuk,A (2717) [C45]
WCh Candidates Finals Elista RUS (6), 12.06.2007 [Mihail Marin]

Playing with the white pieces and desperately needing to win, Shirov did not find the key to Aronian's defence.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6 6.Qf3 bxc6 7.Qg3 h5 8.h4 Nh6 9.f3 d5 10.Nc3

10...Bd4. Deviating from 10...Bb4 , as played in the 4th game. Abstractly speaking, moving with the bishop for the second time along the same diagonal looks like a loss of tempo, while the text move can rather be considered a centralization. 11.Bd2 Rb8 Besides, the b-file is available for the rook, now. 12.0-0-0 Be5 13.Qg5 Qd6 14.exd5 0-0 Black has taken his king into safety and threatens ...Qb4, with a crushing attack. 15.Bc4. Parrying the threat by developing a piece. 15...cxd5. Releasing the tension in the centre. 15...Bf5 or 15...Nf5 are worth investigating. 16.Bxd5

16...Qxd5!? Leading to an immediate draw and to... play-offs. 16...Rxb2 would have sacrificed a smaller amount of material, but, paradoxically, would have been a more ambitious decision. After 17.Kxb2 Qxd5 18.Rhe1 Bf5 Black has ample compensation for the exchange, in view of the exposed position of the white king. 17.Nxd5 Bxb2+ 18.Kb1 Bc3+! Only here, so that White cannot interfere the rook in efficient way. 19.Kc1 Bb2+ 20.Kb1 Bc3+ 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

Sergei Rublevsky, preparing to do battle in the final game

Decisions, desicions – Alexander Grischuk decides not to risk all

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Shirov,A (2699) - Aronian,L (2759) [C88]
WCh Candidates Finals Elista RUS (6), 12.06.2007 [Mihail Marin]

A tensioned but nonetheless short playing session. In Rublevsky-Grischuk Black played a novelty, sacrificed a pawn and then the queen, but it all ended by perpetual after 20 moves.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.d3. In the semifinals, Shirov managed to equalize the score in the very last game. Now, he finds himself in a similar situation. The most difficult thing is to choose the "best" opening. "Should I jump over my opponent, or leave him commit suicide because of the high nervous tension?" Maybe Aronian also drew some conlcusions after his semifinal match, in which he allowed Carlsen to equalize in the 5th game, the last where Aronian had Black. 8...d6 9.c3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 Nc6 12.Nf1 Re8 13.a3 h6 14.b4 Be6 15.Ng3 d5 16.exd5 Qxd5

The outcome of the opening does not look too encouraging for Shirov. For the first time in this match, when playing with White, he has not managed to put any kind of pressure on his opponent. 17.Be3 Rac8 18.Nd2 Nb8 19.Nge4 Nbd7

20.Bb3!? Qxd3! A brave decision. Aronian correctly estimates that White will not be able to maintain the blockade on e4, which will make the weakness of the double pawns less relevant. 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.Qf3 cxb4 23.axb4 Nxe4 24.Nxe4 Nf6 25.Nxf6+ Bxf6 26.Rxa6 Qxc3 27.Rb1. White has no advantage at all. In fact, Black has an active position. However Shirov's decision to offer a draw looks slightly premature. With so many mighty pieces on board, things can still happen, especially under the psychological pressure. 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

Aronian's girlfriend Arianna Caoili and his second Vladimir Potkin watch the game

Counting the Russians – Mexican organiser Jorge Saggiante, takes an understandably keen interest in who is qualifying for the World Championship in Mexico City in September

Alexei Shirov and Lev Aronian in the press conference after their final game

Eliminated by Aronian in Elista: Alexei Shirov

Is this the face of victory? Come on, lighten up, Lev!

You can do better than that, dear friend. Lighten up!

Okay, that's better, now it is sinking in: you are going to Mexico!

You can have all the habaneros you want! Jorge Saggiante briefs Levon Aronian on culinary conditions during the World Championship in Mexico City.

Current standings

Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	TB	Tot.	Perf.
Levon Aronian	2759	1	½	½	½	½	½		3.5
Alexei Shirov	2699	0	½	½	½	½	½		2.5
Peter Leko	2738	1	½	1	½	½			3.5
Evgeny Bareev	2635	0	½	0	½	½			1.5
Alexander Grischuk	2717	1	½	½	0	½	½		3.0
Sergei Rublevsky	2680	0	½	½	1	½	½		3.0
Gata Kamsky	2705	½	½	0	½	0			1.5
Boris Gelfand	2733	½	½	1	½	1			3.5

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Live coverage by Yasser Seirawan on Playchess

Playchess commentator GM Yasser Seirawan

The games of the Candidates Matches, which start at 15:00h local time (13:00h CEST), will be broadcast live on the official site and on Playchess.com server. On the latter there will be daily live audio commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, with a minimum of three one hour lectures per round, beginning approximately thirty minutes after play has started. For a charge of ten Ducats (about one Euro) a visitor gets a twelve hour pass to listen to the live lectures. Furthermore, GM Seirawan will be awarding daily prizes of Gambit books to the person or persons who have been of the greatest assistance. "We are interested in verbal commentary about a given position (not computer generated analysis), as well as witty insights," he says. "Each and every one is welcome to join in the fun!”

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