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The Morelia-Linares tournament is taking place from February 15th to 23rd February in Morelia, Mexico, and from 28th February to 7th March in Linares, Spain.
Round 7: Saturday, February 23rd |
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| Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Alexei Shirov |
1-0 |
Teimour Radjabov |
Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Levon Aronian |
Peter Leko |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Once again, the last round on Mexican soil delighted the audience with good fighting chess. The players showed up in an enterprising mood and a decision was reached in no less than three games!
Carlsen-Aronian – This game was the first to produce a result. In an Archangel-like Ruy Lopez (with a3 played to sideline the Marshall), the sharp tactical play of Aronian went wrong soon. The weaknesses Black incurred to grab White’s d4 pawn proved very costly. Black was left with a minor piece deficit insufficiently compensated by three pawns. The rest was a pretty straightforward demonstration of Carlsen’s technique.
Anand-Ivanchuk – Here a Scheveningen Sicilian was tried where Anand went for the usual pawn assault aimed at the black castling. Nevertheless, Ivanchuk took proper measures at the center, neutralizing the attacking attempts and proceeding to keep the game balanced. The draw was agreed on move 31.
Leko-Topalov – Another Sicilian was seen in this game, with Leko adopting a sound setup, very much in his style. Nevertheless, White’s relative passivity allowed Topalov to play d5 and seize the initiative and a fairly free game for his pieces. Later, the white queen was traded by the black rooks, leaving Black with advantage, given the lack of coordination of the white pieces. Under time pressure Leko made a final blunder and Topalov pocketed the full point.
Shirov-Radjabov – This game was a continuation of recent discussions these two players have maintained in the King Indian Defense. Even under well trodden field, both sides spent a long time finding the most appropriate setups to carry out their typical strategies on opposite flanks: White undermining Black’s queenside with Black undertaking a direct attack on the white king. But Shirov was the one who emerged triumphant after depleting Radjavbov’s attacking attempts and benefiting from a final blunder where the black queen got trapped.
Ready for the final round in Morelia: Morelia-Linares organiser Francisco
Albalate, Salvador Jara, President of the Chess Festival in Morelia, and arbiters
Faik Gasanov and Juan Vargas.
Veselin Topalov waits backstage for the start of the round
Vishy Anand arranging the tools of his trade
Vassily Ivanchuk preparing to face Anand
Their game starts with 1.e4 (after which Ivanchuk left the stage for five minutes)
Magnus Carlsen begins his final game in Morelia, against Levon Aronian
Magnus at the start of what Vishy Anand later called "one heck of a game"
Alexei Shirov trying to get into the mood (he succeeded)
Peter Leko begins what will become a traumatic round seven game
He faces a grimly determined Veselin Topalov...
... who goes for a Sicilian Scheveningen
And the game is under way
Magnus Carlsen comes over to see the position
Radjabov is struggling against Alexei Shirov
Magnus Carlsen's game against Levon Aronian is in its last throes
In the end Lev Aronian resigns the game – with an appreciative smile!
The two discuss the game on the stage, while the arbiter waits to collect the
paperwork
Alexei Shirov is pressing hard against Teimour Radjabov and ultimately wins
the game
Peter Leko will soon collapse in his game against Veselin Topalov
As he emerges Magnus Carlsen is mobbed by fans
He spends half an hour signing autographs, posing for pictures and speaking
to journalists
Players and dignitaries lined up at the closing ceremony
Just the players: Ivanchuk, Topalov, Radjabov, Carlsen, Anand, Shirov, Leko
and Aronian
Afterwards dinner with Anand, Aruna, Magnus and Henrik Carlsen
We enjoy anecdotes, stories, jokes and gossip
Both Anand and Magnus are Monty Python fans and know entire episodes by heart,
like this famous sketch, which they reconstructed almost verbatim
Monty Python – the Pope and Michelangelo
All pictures by Frederic Friedel in Morelia
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Links
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