Aronian draws with Radjabov in 12 moves, wins Tata Steel

Levon Aronian drew his last-round game with Teimour Radjabov in just 12 moves and thus secured clear first at the 74th Tata Steel chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Pentala Harikrishna won the B group while Maxim Turov emerged as the winner in 'C'.

Levon Aronian giving the traditional winner's speech at the closing ceremony on Sunday night

In the five and a half years that this site has existed, we have never witnessed what happened in the final round in Wijk aan Zee today: that a game between two elite players finished before the photographers had left the stage. The game between tournament leader Levon Aronian and runner-up Teimour Radjabov could have been an exicting one, because the player from Azerbaijan could still finish shared first if he won. Instead, already at move 10 the players started repeating moves and then shook hands. (Magnus Carlsen was the next player to shake Aronian's hand, and congratulated him.)

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.29"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Aronian, L."]
[Black "Radjabov, T."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbq1rk1/pp1n1pbp/4p1p1/3pN3/3P4/2N3P1/PP2PPBP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 0 10"]
[PlyCount "6"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

10. Nf3 Nf6 11. Ne5 Nfd7 12. Nf3 Nf6 1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian finished his game (and won the tournament) before finishing his tea

This was of course a big anti-climax of what had been a great tournament, and some (photo) journalists who were walking back from the stage to the press room, were joking whether they should be considering a different profession! Much has been said about short draws in chess, especially after the Candidates matches in Kazan last year, and also today this whole thing led to a heavy debat in the comments section below this article.

All we can add is that Aronian can certainly not be blamed. The Armenian played a fantastic tournament and finished as the deserved winner. In fact Aronian himself considered it to be the best individual performance in his career thus far, as he noted in a brief press conference on Sunday afternoon.

I woke up at 6am, went to bed at 1am. I had trouble sleeping as I wasn't sure what to play. I was in good form, but friends told me: 'You'll play for a win next time!' So I just tried to forget about te result and the tournament, but in the end I couldn't.

Aronian felt that his game in the penultimate round against Boris Gelfand had been his best.

Not because the game was good, but because it was was such a tense game. We both had timetrouble and the position was far from clear all the time. I think it was important that I managed to stay calm and he was the one who didn't handle the pressure.

The tournament winner felt that he had improved mentally.

I've been working on being able to strike back, not being upset about losing. [After the loss against Navara] I was very upset, but the more upset you are, the more you are motivated to come back. It's in any kind of activity that requires you to perform well all the time. I don't consider myself a good player unless I can strike back after a loss! Before the tournament I was thinking 'this might not be my tournament'. I felt I had problems in certain chess areas, and I would work on it in February, I would just do my best.. I still have those problems and I will still work on them!

Teimour Radjabov said about the short draw:

I was surprised by his opening choice. I had expected him to go for a win in an effort to reach first place on FIDE’s world rating list, and prepared for a completely different line. I ended up slightly worse with black and a draw was fine with me. I was happy to be the only player to remain unbeaten.

Radjabov eventually finished shared second with Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, who all scored 8/13, a point less than the winner. Carlsen tried to beat Loek van Wely, using the Stonewall, but only reached a slight advantage, not more.

Caruana joined the other two thanks to a last-round win against Boris Gelfand. The Israeli went back to his Petroff Defence, and the position was a draw for a long time, until Gelfand collapsed in the end.

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.29"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Caruana, F."]
[Black "Gelfand, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2739"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/5qp1/p6p/1p1pQ2P/8/1PP3P1/1KP5/8 b - - 0 34"]
[PlyCount "28"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

{This looks like a draw but somehow Black doesn't manage to hold it.} 34... Kh7
35. Qd6 Qxh5 36. Qxa6 Qe8 37. Qb7 Qe5 38. Qxb5 h5 39. Qd3+ Kh6 40. b4 g5 41. b5
h4 42. gxh4 gxh4 43. b6 Qb8 44. Qa6 Qd6 45. Qb5 d4 46. b7 dxc3+ 47. Ka2 Qe6+
48. Ka1 1-0

The Italian grandmaster, who will turn 20 later this year, won the 500-euro daily prize for this victory and he received the envelope on stage during the closing ceremony. He was also awarded a special 'young talent' prize and it was the now 101-year-old Professor Van Hulst who delivered it to him!

After congratulating Caruana (who by the way has entered the live ratings top 10!) Van Hulst urged him to enjoy other aspects in life as well, such as "art, literature and family!"

Gata Kamsky hasn't been given much attention in this event, but the American eventually finished his tournament on a respectable +1 score. In the final round he beat Veselin Topalov, who has been struggling with his form throughout the event.

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.29"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Kamsky, G."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "2732"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/3rbpp1/4p2p/qNp1P3/p1P4P/2R3P1/1P2QP2/6K1 b - - 0 33"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

33... Qd8 $6 {The start of a dubious plan.} 34. Ra3 Rd2 35. Qf3 Rd1+ 36. Kh2
Qd2 $6 {"Topalov is risking too much!" said commentator GM Ian Rogers.} 37.
Rxa4 Qe1 38. Nc3 Qg1+ 39. Kh3 Re1 40. Ra7 Qf1+ 41. Qg2 Qxg2+ 42. Kxg2 Bf8 43.
f4 {and White won the ending.} 1-0

With a number of draws in the key games, nothing changed in the B group either and so Pentala Harikrishna of India maintained his half-point lead until the very end. He will be invited to the A group of the 75th edition in 2013.

Pentala Harikrishna receiving the first prize from the mayor of Velzen

In the C group Maxim Turov won another convincing game against Etienne Goudriaan and saw co-leader Hans Tikkanen getting into big trouble against Tania Sachdev. Eventually the Swedish GM managed to draw the game, but it meant that Turov will be playing in B next year.

Maxim Turov qualified for the C group by winning the BDO tournament last summer, and now qualified for 'B'!

The traditional pea soup dinner & closing ceremony

Levon Aronian holding the special Wijk aan Zee plaque...

...giving the traditional winner's speech...

...and celebrating his victory with his girlfriend Arianne Caoili, who played in the 9-round event and in fact won her group as well! Behind them is a delegation of local Armenians, who came along and brought a flag.

Daily official video

Games group A, round 13

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group A | Pairings

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group A | Round 13 standings

Games group B, round 13

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group B | Pairings

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group B | Round 13 standings

Games group C, round 13

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group C | Pairings

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group C | Round 13 standings