
World Championship 2007 Mexico
The World Championship 2007 is taking place from September 12 to 30 in the
Sheraton Centro Histórico Hotel in Mexico City. Eight players are qualified
– the tournament is a double round robin. The prize fund is US $1.3 million.
Round five express report
Round 5: Tuesday, Sept. 18th 2007, 14:00h |
Viswanathan Anand |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
Alexander Grischuk |
1-0 |
Alexander Morozevich |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Boris Gelfand |
1-0 |
Levon Aronian |
|
Current standings
Full chess commentary by GM Mihail Marin will follow
Pictures from round five

The only game that ended in a draw in round five

Boris Gelfand out-manoeuvering Armenian GM Levon Aronian (right)

Aronian tries to defend...

... but Gelfand does not let him get away

Finally the Armenian has to capitulate and resigns the game with a handshake

And the winner has words of comfort for his unfortunate opponent
Photos by Joeal Martinez and Fernando Castillo
Getting to the World Championship

The impossibly gigantic Boeing 747-400^, which actually flies, and that
from Amsterdam to Mexico City in just over eleven hours. Spacious plane, good
way to travel.

Sniffer dogs at the airport. It was fascinating to watch: this one scrambled
over the bags on the conveyor belt and then sat down resolutely on a suspicious
one. The officers tagged the bag and let it go around again. The next time it
turned up the dog identified it again. It was taken away for examination.

What you want to see: somebody waiting at the airport holding up a sign
with your name

Mexico is rainy at this time of the year

En route to the hotel we pass the Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest in
the Western Hemisphere. We shall have to go there again under better weather
conditions.

Heavy traffic and heavy rain in the narrow streets of downtown Mexico City

The Sheraton
Centro Histórico Hotel, where the world championship is being held,
looms

Nightfall in Mexico: the view from my 15th storey hotel window

It is late, but the organising committee is meeting to plan the next round

Naturally the round is over – the hall is being maintained

A worker on a fork lift refocuses a lamp above one of the tables

Hey, wait a minute... It is the chief sponsor and organiser of the world
championship, Jorge Saggiante, and the President of the Turkish Chess Federation,
Ali Nihat Yazici, who are playing a quick game of blitz on one of the official
tables – a special edition made in France.

The sponsor does not have a chance against the president, who is a bit of a
hustler
Report and pictures by Frederic Friedel
Full Schedule and Results (first half)
Round 1: Thursday, Sept. 13th 2007, 14:00h |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Alexander Morozevich |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Boris Gelfand |
Alexander Grischuk |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 2: Friday, Sept. 14th 2007, 14:00h |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Boris Gelfand |
½-½ |
Alexander Grischuk |
Levon Aronian |
0-1 |
Viswanathan Anand |
Vladimir Kramnik |
1-0 |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
|
Round 3: Saturday, Sept. 15th 2007, 14:00h |
Alexander Morozevich |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Alexander Grischuk |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Boris Gelfand |
|
|
Round 4: Sunday, Sept 16th 2007, 14:00h |
Peter Svidler |
|
Boris Gelfand |
Levon Aronian |
|
Peter Leko |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Games – Report |
|
Free
day: Monday, Sept. 17th 2007 |
|
Round 5: Tuesday, Sept. 18th 2007, 14:00h |
Viswanathan Anand |
1-0 |
Peter Svidler |
Alexander Grischuk |
1-0 |
Alexander Morozevich |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Boris Gelfand |
1-0 |
Levon Aronian |
|
|
Round 6: Wednesday, Sept. 19th 2007, 14:00h |
Peter Svidler |
|
Levon Aronian |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Boris Gelfand |
Alexander Morozevich |
|
Peter Leko |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Games – Report |
|
Round 7: Thursday, Sept. 20th 2007, 14:00h |
Alexander Grischuk |
|
Peter Svidler |
Peter Leko |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Boris Gelfand |
|
Alexander Morozevich |
Levon Aronian |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Games – Report |
|
Live coverage by Yasser Seirawan on Playchess

Playchess commentator GM Yasser Seirawan
The games of the World Championship 2007, which start at 14:00h local time
(check the time in your location here),
will be broadcast live on the official site and on Playchess.com
server, where 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.
Ducats are the currency used on Playchess.com. You can purchase Ducats
here.
The amount will be credited to your playchess.com account. You need to allow one
working day for processing. If you want your Ducats immediately you can order
them using our
Click&Buy
service. Ducats can also be used to buy ChessBase products. 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.
Links