Linares R14: Anand wins Morelia/Linares by a full point

by ChessBase
3/10/2007 – With a final-round draw over Vassily Ivanchuk Indian superstar Vishy Anand clinched victory in the Morelia/Linares Super-GM tournament. Carlsen lost to Leko and Morozevich beat Svidler, so that in the end (would anyone have expected this after his disastrous start?) Alexander Morozevich shared second with Magnus Carlsen. Final results and statistics.

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Round fourteen (final)

Round 14: Saturday, March 10th

Peter Leko  
1-0
 Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler 
0-1
 Alex. Morozevich
Veselin Topalov 
½-½
 Levon Aronian
Vassily Ivanchuk 
½-½
 Vishy Anand

Final standings

Note that the official site lists Magnus Carlsen in second place, which can be explained by the same tiebreak score.

Here are some statistics: Anand's performance was 2816, while Topalov ended at a dismal 2691. This means that Anand will be number one on FIDE's April 1st list, something he has been looking forward to and been close to achieving for more than a decade. [The deadline for submission of results is February 28, 2007, but we are sure that FIDE will include Morelia/Linares in its calculation.]


The new number one in the world rankings: Vishy Anand of India


Veselin Topalov, who had occupied this place since Garry Kasparov's retirement,
which was announced in this hall exactly two years ago (on March 10th 2005)


Magnus Carlsen (with father Henrik) ended with a loss but a shared second
and gave an unprecedented 2778 performance

Magnus Carlsen's shared second and his sterling 2778 performance is truly remarkable for a 16-year-old who was the tournament's underdog. At the start some writers were bemoaning the decision of the organisers to include a "rabbit" in such a great event. Cannon fodder, they called him. Henrik Carlsen told us at the start of the tournament that his son had to decide whether to play safe (i.e. defensively) and try to achieve an honorable minus two result, or to go for broke and slug it out with the big boys. We know what the lad decided. Just half of his games were drawn, producing four wins and three losses on his score card.


Downs and ups, bottom and top: typical for Alexander Morozevich

Exactly the same result was achieved by the mercurial Alexander Morozevich, though while Magnus was first or second on the table during the entire tournament, "Moroz" started by firmly occupying last in the first half of the event. Let us look back at the standing after seven rounds in Morelia, and compare it with Morozevich performance in Linares:

The performance values are equally remarkable: in Morelia Morozevich was giving an accurate impression of a 2587-rated player taking part in this Super-GM event. His result would not have been enough to achieve a grandmaster norm. In Linares he played as if he was rated 2971, winning four games and drawing three. What a player! Incidentally Morozevich did not take a second to Morelia, but had former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov join him in Linares. The two are friends and their joint efforts paid off handsomely.


Peter Svidler finished the event with 50% and a 2748 performance


Last year's winner Levon Aronian also scored 50% with a 2745 performance

Peter Svidler had a constant tournament of sorts, drawing all his games in Morelia and winning one and losing one in Linares. His 50% score is twenty points better than his nominal 2728 rating. Aronian's 50% was almost exactly what you would expect from a 2744 player.


He'll be back, with a vengence: Peter Leko, who disappointed in Morelia/Linares

The big disappointment, apart from Veselin Topalov, was Peter Leko, who played 53 points worse than his 2749 rating – and was saved from an even more dismal result (and an unshared last place) by his final round victory over Magnus Carlsen. But Peter is tough as nails and he will be back in fighting spirit in the Candidates Tournament which start on May 26 in Elista. Many predict a big all-Hungarian showdown in the second round between Peter Leko and Judit Polgar.

Photos by Nadja Woisin and Frederic Friedel


Schedule

Round 8: Friday, March 2nd

Peter Leko 
½-½
 Vassily Ivanchuk
Vishy Anand 
½-½
 Veselin Topalov
Levon Aronian 
½-½
 Peter Svidler
Alex. Morozevich 
½-½
 Magnus Carlsen

Round 9: Saturday, March 3rd

Alex. Morozevich 
1-0
 Peter Leko
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
 Levon Aronian
Peter Svidler 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Veselin Topalov 
½-½
 Vassily Ivanchuk

Round 10: Sunday, March 4th

Peter Leko 
½-½
 Veselin Topalov
Vassily Ivanchuk 
½-½
 Peter Svidler
Vishy Anand 
1-0
 Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian 
½-½
 Alex. Morozevich
Free day: Monday, March 5th

Round 11: Tuesday, March 6th

Levon Aronian 
½-½
 Peter Leko
Alex. Morozevich 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Magnus Carlsen 
1-0
 Vassily Ivanchuk
Peter Svidler 
½-½
 Veselin Topalov

Round 12: Wednesday, March 7th

Peter Leko 
0-1
 Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov 
½-½
 Magnus Carlsen
Vassily Ivanchuk 
0-1
 Alex. Morozevich
Vishy Anand 
½-½
 Levon Aronian
Free day: Thursday, March 8th

Round 13: Friday, March 9th

Vishy Anand 
½-½
 Peter Leko
Levon Aronian 
½-½
 Vassily Ivanchuk
Alex. Morozevich 
1-0
 Veselin Topalov
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
 Peter Svidler

Round 14: Saturday, March 10th

Peter Leko  
1-0
 Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler 
0-1
 Alex. Morozevich
Veselin Topalov 
½-½
 Levon Aronian
Vassily Ivanchuk 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Closing Ceremony

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