News
News
Candidates Tournament Round 13

Candidates Tournament Round 13

SonofPearl
| 125 | Chess Event Coverage

phpVSZ27C.jpeg
There was a very tense atmosphere in round 13 of the London Candidates Tournament - the penultimate day of the competition.  Both Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen were absolutely determined to win their games against Boris Gelfand and Teimour Radjabov respectively. 
Vladimir Kramnik had the advantage of the white pieces and played the novel idea 5.e3 in a fianchetto Gruenfeld sideline, putting Gelfand under great pressure and eventually winning a pawn.  But Gelfand was tenacious in defence, finding the crucial move 38...Rd8 as the time control approached to save the game.
A relaxed Boris Gelfand before the game
phpibKQN3.jpeg
.
Kramnik pressed hard, but Gelfand was equal to the task
phpfJOMrD.jpeg
.
.
Magnus Carlsen had the black pieces against Teimour Radjabov, and opted for the Nimzo-Indian after Radjabov played 1.d4.  Radjabov slowly drifted into a slightly worse endgame, and Carlsen kept trying everything he could to keep the game alive and induce a mistake from his opponent.  Deep into the 6th hour of the game Radjabov was surviving almost solely on the 30 second time increment and Carlsen picked up a vital pawn.  Finally, incredibly, after nearly 7 hours of play Carlsen won the game!
Magnus Carlsen won an amazingly tense game
phpO72OAz.jpeg
.
Teimour Radjabov finally succumbed to Magnus Carlsen after nearly 7 hours
phpjV8isJ.jpeg
.
.
The first game to finish today was the encounter between Peter Svidler and Vassily Ivanchuk. The spinning roulette wheel that seems to determine Chucky's choice of opening in this tournament stopped today at the French Defence. Svidler obtained a pleasant game with the advance variation and as Ivanchuk struggled to cope with his inferior position he lost on time for the fifth time in the tournament.
.
Peter Svidler did what Magnus Carlsen couldn't - beating Vassily Ivanchuk
phpUPhHid.jpeg
.

.

Despite his loss to Vladimir Kramnik yesterday, Lev Aronian still had a mathematical chance of winning the tournament, but even that minuscule possibility vanished when he only drew with Alexander Grischuk, in the second game to finish today. 

Alexander Grischuk and Lev Aronian drew their game

phpilnxTI.jpeg

.


So Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik both have a score of 8½/13 going into the final round tomorrow.  But Carlsen has the superior tie-break score, so as long as he achieves at least the same result as Kramnik he will win the tournament.  Carlsen has white against Svidler, and Kramnik has black against Ivanchuk.

The standings after 13 rounds

Name Fed Elo Pts
Magnus Carlsen NOR 2872
Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2810
Peter Svidler RUS 2747 7
Levon Aronian ARM 2809 7
Boris Gelfand ISR 2740 6
Alexander Grischuk RUS 2764 6
Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2757 5
Teimour Radjabov AZE 2793 4

.


.

The 2013 Candidates Tournament runs from 14 March - 2 April in London, with the winner earning the right to challenge current world champion Vishy Anand for the title.

The tournament is an 8-player double round-robin event and the venue is The IET at 2 Savoy Place on the banks of the river Thames. The total prize fund is €510,000 (approx 665,000 USD). 

All rounds start at 14:00 GMT, and the time control is 2 hours for 40 moves, then an extra hour added for the next 20 moves, then 15 minutes more with a 30 second increment to finish.

The official FIDE website coverage is at london2013.fide.com.

Round-by-Round Pairings

Round 1  15/03/13   
Levon Aronian ½ - ½ Magnus Carlsen
Boris Gelfand ½ - ½ Teimour Radjabov 
Vassily Ivanchuk  ½ - ½ Alexander Grischuk 
Peter Svidler  ½ - ½ Vladimir Kramnik
Round 2  16/03/13   
Magnus Carlsen ½ - ½ Vladimir Kramnik
Alexander Grischuk  ½ - ½ Peter Svidler 
Teimour Radjabov  1 - 0 Vassily Ivanchuk 
Levon Aronian 1 - 0 Boris Gelfand
Round 3  17/03/13   
Boris Gelfand 0 - 1 Magnus Carlsen
Vassily Ivanchuk  0 - 1 Levon Aronian
Peter Svidler  1 - 0 Teimour Radjabov 
Vladimir Kramnik ½ - ½ Alexander Grischuk 
Round 4  19/03/13   
Magnus Carlsen 1 - 0 Alexander Grischuk 
Teimour Radjabov  ½ - ½ Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian ½ - ½ Peter Svidler 
Boris Gelfand ½ - ½ Vassily Ivanchuk 
Round 5  20/03/13   
Vassily Ivanchuk  ½ - ½ Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler  ½ - ½ Boris Gelfand
Vladimir Kramnik ½ - ½ Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk  ½ - ½ Teimour Radjabov 
Round 6  21/03/13   
Peter Svidler  0 - 1 Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik ½ - ½ Vassily Ivanchuk 
Alexander Grischuk  ½ - ½ Boris Gelfand
Teimour Radjabov  0 - 1 Levon Aronian
Round 7  23/03/13   
Magnus Carlsen ½ - ½ Teimour Radjabov 
Levon Aronian ½ - ½ Alexander Grischuk 
Boris Gelfand ½ - ½ Vladimir Kramnik
Vassily Ivanchuk  ½ - ½ Peter Svidler 
Round 8  24/03/13  
Magnus Carlsen ½ - ½ Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov  0 - 1 Boris Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk  1 - 0 Vassily Ivanchuk 
Vladimir Kramnik 1 - 0 Peter Svidler 
Round 9  25/03/13  
Vladimir Kramnik ½ - ½ Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler  ½ - ½ Alexander Grischuk 
Vassily Ivanchuk  1 - 0 Teimour Radjabov 
Boris Gelfand 1 - 0 Levon Aronian
Round 10  27/03/13  
Magnus Carlsen 1 - 0 Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian 1 - 0 Vassily Ivanchuk 
Teimour Radjabov  ½ - ½ Peter Svidler 
Alexander Grischuk  0 - 1 Vladimir Kramnik
Round 11  28/03/13  
Alexander Grischuk  ½ - ½ Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik 1 - 0 Teimour Radjabov 
Peter Svidler  1 - 0 Levon Aronian
Vassily Ivanchuk  ½ - ½ Boris Gelfand
Round 12  29/03/13  
Magnus Carlsen 0 - 1 Vassily Ivanchuk 
Boris Gelfand ½ - ½ Peter Svidler 
Levon Aronian 0 - 1 Vladimir Kramnik
Teimour Radjabov  ½ - ½ Alexander Grischuk 
Round 13  31/03/13  
Teimour Radjabov  0 - 1 Magnus Carlsen
Alexander Grischuk  ½ - ½ Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik ½ - ½ Boris Gelfand
Peter Svidler  1 - 0 Vassily Ivanchuk 
Round 14  01/04/13
Magnus Carlsen Peter Svidler 
Vassily Ivanchuk  Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand Alexander Grischuk 
Levon Aronian Teimour Radjabov 

.

Look out for details of Chess.com TV coverage of the event at this page.

Pictures by Ray Morris-Hill.

More from SonofPearl
Chess.com News Is Changing...

Chess.com News Is Changing...

Beijing To Host 5th 2012/13 Grand Prix

Beijing To Host 5th 2012/13 Grand Prix