Elista Tiebreaks: Shirov, Gelfand, Aronian qualify

The Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Chess Championship Tournament will be held in Elista, Russia, from May 26 to June 14, 2007. A total of 16 candidates play two rounds of six-game matches to fill four places in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico City. The prize fund is US $40,000 per match, most of the money ($320,000) coming from a personal fund of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE ($160,000) and the general sponsor, Rosenergomash.

Tiebreak report

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Levon Aronian vs Magnus Carlsen

Game 1: Carlsen played an aggressive Benoni, and got an advantage in a rare line. But Black's position remained acceptable. Subsequent inaccuracies of the opponent allowed Aronian seizing space on the kingside, patch the Black's king and carry out a decisive break. Once again Aronian took the lead in the match.

The start of a very tense, dramatic encounter

Game 2: Playing White, Magnus selected an unpretentious opening, and Black equalized without any trouble. In the middlegame, Levon delivered a tactical blow but underestimated the opponent's strong reply, after which Black had to sacrifice a queen. Yet, the compensation appeared sufficient, and in the end Aronian even tried playing for a win. A draw was agreed after lengthy maneuvering. The score became 1.5-0.5 in Aronian's favor.

It's Magnus Carlsen, grandmaster, 16, facing Levon Aronian, No. five in the world

Game 3: The game proceeded to the endgame right from the opening. White could hardly claim an advantage. A position with opposite-colored bishop emerged, and a draw was agreed soon. The score became 2-1 in Aronian's favor.

Game 4: Carlsen could continue fighting for the qualification only by winning this game. He obtained a small advantage in the Queen's Indian. True to his active style, Aronian found an opportunity to complicate the struggle. Magnus reacted interestingly – he sacrificed a pawn and invaded the enemy territory with the queen, locking the Black's bishop in passing. Levon misplayed, and his position became difficult. In mutual time trouble, Carlsen did not find the best move, and the position turned drawish. Aronian could have claimed a threefold repetition, but continuing the game seemed without risk for Black. The queen ending was totally drawn, however, Black made an incomprehensible mistake (82...Qc1+??) and lost it. Carlsen tied the score 2:2, and the players proceeded to blitz games.

The toughest fight in the entire Candidates Matches

Games 5 and 6 (blitz): Supporters of the Armenian grandmaster were obviously worried whether he is able to recover after such a shocking loss. He did! Aronian dominated in both games, confirming his reputation of one of the best blitz players in the world. The tiebreak score was 4-2 (2-2, 2-0) in Aronian's favor.

Alexei Shirov vs Michael Adams

Game 1: Shirov, playing white, got a small advantage in a rare line of the Ruy Lopez due to better pawn structure. As yesterday, Alexei did not shy away from an ending with a small advantage, which looked quite defendable for Black. However, the story repeated again: series of inaccuracies led Black to a disaster. Shirov took the lead 1-0.

Alexei Shirov made short work of Britain's Michael Adams

Game 2: Adams selected the Italian Opening, striving for an unhurried positional game. However, Shirov had other plans, and he started active kingside operations by 9...g5!? Such turn of events took Adams unprepared, and he allowed the opponent to seize the initiative. With consequent play, Shirov developed strong pressure. Defending was difficult for Adams, and his inaccuracies made it easier for Shirov to convert the advantage. White resigned in view of inevitable mate. The score became 2-0 in Shirov's favor.

Game 3: Shirov went for a popular line of the Ruy Lopez, not trying to simplify the position. Adams was prepared for white's central activity and delivered a counterblow which led to an slightly better ending for Black. Shirov did not defend in the best way, and his situation became critical. However, Adams was unable to obtain a decisive advantage, Shirov survived in the game and secured the overall victory. The tiebreak score is 2.5-0.5 in Shirov's favor.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov vs Boris Gelfand

Game 1: Boris Gelfand, playing black, slightly modified his opening compared to the sixth game of the match. In a tense position, Kasimdzhanov misplayed on the 19th and 20th moves. Black won a pawn and seized the initiative. It is possible that Gelfand could hav won quicker, but the plan implemented in the game allowed him to create mating attack. Gelfand took the lead, 1-0.

Oh the pain between the temples: Rustam Kasimdzhanov going down to Boris Gelfand

Game 2: A tense middlegame position arose from the Anti-Meran with 6.Qc2. White executed a forced sequence in order to spoil Black's kingside pawn structure. However, Black acted very energetically, and in the endgame developed dangerous attack against the king. Serious time trouble made Gelfand's situation even worse. On the move 34, Black possibly could achieve a decisive advantage. Having missed this moment, Kasimdzhanov allowed the opponent to consolidate and save half a point. The score after two games is 1.5-0.5 in Gelfand's favor.

Game 3: Kasimdzhanov demonstrated a novelty in the Petroff Defense on the 14th move, and seized the initiative, in addition gaining two-time lead on the clock. However, being under the time pressure, Gelfand found the defense, while Rustam played imprecisely. White did not handle the position in the best way, miscalculated, lost a piece, and soon resigned. The final tiebreak score is 2.5-0.5 in Gelfand's favor.

Legendary world champion Boris Spassky enthralling the audience with commentary

The players hwo qualified for the finals: (from left to right) Evgeny Bareev, Alexei Shirov, Alexander Grischuk, Gata Kamsky, Boris Gelfand, Alexey Rublevsky, Peter Leko and Levon Aronian.

FIDE press director Peter Rajcsanyi summarized the event so far as follows:

Final standings

*Performance only calculated for the long games

Pairings for the Candidates Finals:

Note that the colours may be different. We will modifiy the table if necessary

Links

• Official Candidates Matches web site

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!”

Note that you can also purchase Ducats directly from Fritz or the Playchess client using the menu "Edit – Payments – Fill up account". This takes you to a special purchase page with your account name automatically passed on, to simplify the process.