Linares 2011 Cancelled
It appears that recent rumours regarding the famous Linares chess tournament have proved to be well founded, with recent press reports* now confirming that the 2011 edition has been cancelled.
The tournament had already been delayed, but the cancellation will still come as a blow to the chess community.
Linares is one of the highest-profile events in the elite chess calendar, but has struggled with funding in recent years, even sharing costs by splitting the tournament hosting duties with Morelia in Mexico from 2006-2008.
Last year's competition saw the number of players cut from 8 to 6, and with much of the funding coming from Spanish public bodies, the financial squeeze has hit Linares particularly hard.
The first Linares tournament was held in 1978, but it wasn't until the city hosted the world championship candidates matches in 1986/7 that succeeding tournaments really blossomed into major annual international events.
Many great tournaments followed, including the 1994 event which was won by Karpov (pictured) with an astonishing 11/13 against an excellent field (see cross-table and crushing game against Topalov below).
The organisers promise that Linares will host a 2012 tournament, tentatively scheduled for March next year.
| Name | Nat | ELO | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pts | |
| 1 | GM Anatoly Karpov | RUS | 2740 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11.0 | |
| 2 | GM Garry Kasparov | RUS | 2805 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8.5 | |
| 3 | GM Alexei Shirov | LAT | 2715 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8.5 | |
| 4 | GM Evgeny Bareev | RUS | 2685 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7.5 | |
| 5 | GM Joël Lautier | FRA | 2625 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 7.0 | |
| 6 | GM Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2710 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.0 | |
| 7 | GM Gata Kamsky | USA | 2655 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 6.5 | |
| 8 | GM Vishy Anand | IND | 2715 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| 9 | GM Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2640 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| 10 | GM Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2710 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 6.0 | |
| 11 | GM Boris Gelfand | ISR | 2685 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 5.5 | |
| 12 | GM Miguel Illescas | ESP | 2590 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 | |
| 13 | GM Judit Polgár | HUN | 2630 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 4.0 | |
| 14 | GM Alexand. Beliavsky | SLO | 2650 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
*Mig Greengard at the Daily Dirt quotes this interview (in Spanish)
