Carlsen Wins Bazna Kings 2011
The final round clash of the Bazna Kings tournament in Medias between joint leaders Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin ended as a draw, which meant that Carlsen finished as winner thanks to his superior tie-break score.
The regulations at the official website give the first tie-break as games won (Carlsen and Karjakin both won three), then games against each other (both were drawn), then the Neustadtl tie-break (Carlsen's score is superior, thanks mainly to his win against Nakamura).
By way of compensation, Sergey Karjakin has probably earned a place in the Bilbao Final Masters since Carlsen has already qualified by winning Nanjing last year.
Carlsen looks set to reclaim the #1 spot from Vishy Anand in the world rankings on the July rating list. The latest 2700+ rankings can be seen on the live rating website.
Elsewhere, Vassily Ivanchuk awoke from his nightmare in the previous round to finish with an excellent win against Hikaru Nakamura. The game between Teimour Radjabov and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu was a draw.
The final standings of Bazna Kings 2011:
| Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2815 | *** | ½ ½ | 1 ½ | ½ ½ | ½ 1 | 1 ½ | 6.5 | 29.75 |
| Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2776 | ½ ½ | *** | ½ ½ | ½ ½ | 1 1 | ½ 1 | 6.5 | 29.50 |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2774 | 0 ½ | ½ ½ | *** | ½ ½ | ½ 0 | 1 ½ | 4.5 | 22.25 |
| Radjabov, Teimour | AZE | 2744 | ½ ½ | ½ ½ | ½ ½ | *** | 0 ½ | ½ ½ | 4.5 | 23.50 |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2776 | ½ 0 | 0 0 | ½ 1 | 1 ½ | *** | 0 ½ | 4.0 | 18.75 |
| Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ROU | 2662 | 0 ½ | ½ 0 | 0 ½ | ½ ½ | 1 ½ | *** | 4.0 | 19.25 |
Nakamura claimed third place ahead of Radjabov thanks to scoring more wins (one, against Nisipeanu!). Similarly, Ivanchuk just avoided last place by virtue of his two wins against Nisipeanu's single victory (despite the fact that Nisipeanu's sole win was against Ivanchuk).
Got that? Good! 
