Aronian Leads the Way; Ivanchuk In the Basement!
After today’s Round 3, the Candidates tournament is about a quarter way through games and against what many expected, Magnus Carlsen is not leading the way, but Armenian GM Levon Aronian. With keen eyes on Mag-Town, it’s actually the “Aronian Train” flying up the tracks, winning two of his first three games, leading both Magnus and Petr Svidler by a ½ point.
On the other hand, Vassily Ivanchuk is not doing so well. Drawing in game one, flagging in game two, and dropping another one today, he’s sharing the basement with the 2012 Championship match runner-up Boris Gelfand, both with ½ out of 3. In the middle of all this craziness are Vladimir Kramnik, Teimour Radjabov and Alexander Grischuk all with 1.5/3. It should make for some thrills and chills as we get deeper into the tournament. 
With Round 4 coming up on Tuesday, I have to admit having Magnus in the fold in this Cycle, it’s a lot more fun to watch than the debacle of 2011. Ivanchuk is unstable sometimes and even Anand said you never know which Ivanchuk will show up from one day—or one minute—to the next. He’s picked a hell of a time to be unstable. Obviously he’s earned his way to the Candidates tournament, but he’s not showing his mettle with only a half-point to his name. He’s been under a lot of time pressure so far and I really feel bad for him. I hope he can pull it together for the later rounds. 
There haven’t been as many draws as there were in 2011, back when I was live-blogging the entire tournament. Watching those games was torturous for me, along with my horrifying assumptions of what would probably happen based on the previous day’s games. There was a lot of fallout from that, so I think they got their act together for this one.
Along with the excellent coverage on Chess.com/TV, I’ve also enjoyed the commentary between IMs Malcolm Pein and Lawrence Trent, but have one gripe: the live video feed of the players needs adjusting; the glare from the lighting takes away from being able to see the players’ mannerisms, body language and the fidgets I relish so much. I especially like when Boris Gelfand takes the bishop and twirls it in his hand. I really enjoy seeing how they react to certain moves and situations; it’s a large part of the entertainment for me. How about you?
For those who missed it, here are today’s games:
It’s been an enjoyable tourney so far and I’m determined to not miss a day of it, especially since I missed most of the 2012 World Championship Match. As far as who I’m rooting for this time around, my top 3 favorites are: 1) Magnus, 2) Kramnik, and 3) Aronian. I think if any player can beat Anand, it will be Carlsen, and if he does it, I don’t see Carlsen losing it for a while. That’s just my opinion.
Tomorrow’s an off day, but here’s the schedule for Day 4, taken from the official site:
|
Round 4 on 2013/03/19 at 14.00 |
||||||||
|
SNo. |
Name |
Rtg |
Res. |
Name |
Rtg |
SNo. |
||
|
8 |
GM |
Carlsen Magnus |
2872 |
- |
GM |
Grischuk Alexander |
2764 |
6 |
|
7 |
GM |
Radjabov Teimour |
2793 |
- |
GM |
Kramnik Vladimir |
2810 |
5 |
|
1 |
GM |
Aronian Levon |
2809 |
- |
GM |
Svidler Peter |
2747 |
4 |
|
2 |
GM |
Gelfand Boris |
2740 |
- |
GM |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2757 |
3 |
The top 3 games on Monday will affect the standings more than the bottom game with Ivanchuk and Gelfand will. Those two players desperately need a win. I would really like to see Ivanchuk do well, even if he doesn’t win the entire event or place among the top 3.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my outlook on things so far, and look forward to hearing your insights on what’s happened so far. Just keep it clean. 
Have a good night! 
-Mark
