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The top-seated Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian was the heavy favorite to emerge as the winner of the 2011 FIDE Candidates matches in Kazan, Russia, and challenge Vishy Anand of India for the world chess title in 2012. According to the same scenario, Aronian's opponent in the Candidates Final was supposed to be the Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov. But both grandmasters are gone now, having lost the Candidates quarterfinal matches. Topalov was eliminated by the U.S. champion Gata Kamsky, Aronian lost to Alexander Grischuk of Russia.
The semifinals – Kamsky vs. Gelfand and Kramnik vs. Grischuk – resume Thursday and can be followed life on the FIDE web site or on Playchess.com.
Here is the quarterfinal wrap-up.
Alexander Grischuk - Levon Aronian 4.5 - 3.5
The match began in earnest with the rapid games after the first four
regular games were drawn. Grischuk won the match with an excellent victory in
the last rapid game. He came into prominence during the 2000 FIDE knockout world
championship in Delhi, qualifying for the semifinals where he lost to Alexei
Shirov. In 2002, I talked to Grischuk after the Prague agreement was signed
in the Czech capital. The agreement was a clumsy attempt to bring Garry Kasparov
back to big chess and to unite the two world championship titles, but it left
Vishy Anand and Grischuk out in the cold. "I don't mind," the 19-year-old
Grischuk said. "I still have time, but I feel sorry about Vishy."
Time heals all wounds. Anand, 41, is the world champion. Grischuk, 27, is going
to meet the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik in the semifinal in Kazan.
Could this be his year?
Vladimir Kramnik - Teimur Radjabov 7:5
For years, Radjabov tried to succeed in the elimination events by betting on
the blitz games. The shorter the time limit, the better for him. It almost worked
against Kramnik. After drawing four regular and four rapid games, Radjabov won
the first blitz game. Kramnik needed a win in the next game and got only a small
edge in the endgame when the game clock stopped working. When the game resumed,
Radjabov's position collapsed quickly. Kramnik, who in his youth could match
Garry Kasparov move by move in blitz games, clinched the victory in the match
by triumphing in the last two games.
Boris Gelfand - Shakryiar Mamedyarov 2.5 - 1.5
Gelfand made his victory look easy by drawing three and winning one
game, leaving his opponent without chances. The Israeli grandmaster knows the
Najdorf Sicilian with the black pieces inside out and Mamedyarov played right
into it in the only decisive game. Gelfand blunted white's attack with a thematic
exchange sacrifice and grabbed many pawns, forcing the Azerbaijani GM to resign.
Gelfand will meet Kamsky in the semifinals.
Gata Kamsky - Veselin Topalov 2.5 - 1.5
Despite winning the U.S. championship last month, Kamsky was not given
much hope against Topalov. After all, the Bulgarian grandmaster beat him 4.5
- 2.5 in the World Chess Challenge in Sofia in 2009. For the match in Kazan,
Topalov as white prepared a few novelties against the Grunfeld defense and twice
gained some advantage from the opening. But Kamsky has always been a terrific
fighter, not to be brought down easily. In the game he won, Kamsky played creatively
and neutralized white's initiative rather quickly. Topalov's initiative stalled,
he could not find a good plan and succumbed to Kamsky's fiery attack (see below).
In the last game, Kamsky needed a draw to clinch the match. He was in the same situation at the U.S. championship. His opponent, Yuri Shulman, opened the game too early and Kamsky equalized handily and won the title. "He should have built up the game more slowly and put pressure on me," Kamsky advised. And it was precisely what Topalov did. In time trouble, Kamsky blundered and it seemed Topalov could win as he pleased. But he picked the wrong way and Kamsky found a way out.
Topalov (left) conceding the quarterfinal match to Kamsky
Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to follow the game.
Original column here – Copyright Huffington Post
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