| Round 4: Friday, September 28, 15:00h | ||
Fabiano Caruana |
1-0 |
Francisco Vallejo |
Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
Sergey Karjakin |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
This is one of the many views to be seen within the huge and lovely Ibirapuera Park
Blue sky. This was my first thought upon greeting the day. After miserable cold, and dreary grey skies, here was a chance to take some pictures of this beautiful park. To be honest, the day was still quite chill, but the appearance of the sun made it much more bearable.
The park is inhabited by flocks of black swans
The ever friendly Cathy and Ian Rogers, covering the event for their part of the world
Schools schedule regular field trips to the park for cultural activities
as there are also several museums and exhibits to be found within.
The visits included seeing the elite chess tournament. The newest generation, all aged
between five and seven, came
equipped with smartphones, digital cameras and tablets
to take pictures and share
on social networks.
The round saw the continuing surprise leader, Italian Fabiano Caruana, extend his lead even further with an even more incredible 3.5/4 and a lofty 2785 Elo on the Live Ratings lists.
A determined Fabiano Caruana came ready for battle
It is true that one could almost say it was expected of him, as he was white against the lowest rated player in the field, but to presume a win against a player rated 2700 would be kind of mad. Paco chose to challenge Caruana with the French Defense, and Fabiano opted for the Advance variation. It was a dangerous choice for the Spaniard as a single imprecision was all it took to reach a lost position. While the Italian missed the surgical win, he did get his due.
Fans came for autographs
Visiting spectators watch the players through the glass panes
Magnus Carlsen steals a glance to see what Anand and Karjakin open with
Sergey Karjakin focused on the starting struggle
Karjakin seemed to get a potentially menacing position against Anand, but the world champion kept things under tight control and a draw was agreed.
Magnus Carlsen has been having trouble keeping the pressure to the end
The final, and most dramatic game of the day, was Magnus Carlsen against Levon Aronian, the world number one against the world number two. At first it seemed as if the game would be a quiet grind between the two, but the Armenian showed he had other plans and promptly began lining up his heavy pieces as if ready to start the assault. While impressive looking on the surface, White’s positions was perfectly solid, and there was no reason to get overly concerned… except that Magnus then gave Levon his dream chance in time trouble and found himself staring at a mating line. To his infinite relief, Aronian missed it, and the game then steered toward calmer waters.
Carlsen reveals to Aronian the missed win
However, as he mentioned in the press conference after it was over, though a person should be able to put this sort of thing behind him, the truth is that he was shaking in his boots for the remainder. As someone who saw him after this dance with disaster, I can only say that he would make a fine poker player.
In spite of the nerve-wracking revelation, Aronian was always ready to pose for pictures
or sign an autograph.
Photos by Albert Silver and official site
Date |
Round |
Commentator |
29.09.2012
|
round 05
|
Trent
|
08.10.2012
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round 06
|
D‘Costa
|
09.10.2012
|
round 07
|
King
|
10.10.2012
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round 08
|
King
|
11.10.2012
|
rest day
|
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12.10.2012
|
round 09
|
King
|
13.10.2012
|
round 10
|
D'Costa
|
|
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LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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