Magnus Carlsen wins Aerosvit 2008
Magnus the boy genius wins by a full point
On 30th November 2008, Magnus Carlsen will turn 18 years of age and I guess that then we will have to stop calling him a boy genius, and simply call him a genius instead. His performance at the Aerosvit 2008 tournament in Foros has been astonishing, not just for his clear victory, but for the maturity of his games and the iron will and self-belief which seems to permeate his being to the very core.
Other prodigies have flattered to deceive and fallen short of the ultimate prize. Still only 17, Magnus Carlsen looks set to rise to No.2 in the FIDE rankings when the next quarterly list is published on 1st July. Only the World Champion Vishy Anand stands between him and the No.1 spot. The stability of the World Chess Championship cycle is hard to predict, but surely a shot at the title will come Magnus' way in the near future. Kasparov who, anyone?
In the final round Carlsen drew with Karjakin to complete the tournament win and so end the tournament undefeated. However, despite the reputation of last rounds of chess events having wall-to-wall drawn results, there were 3 decisive games on the final day.
Plaudits go to Vassily Ivanchuk who defeated Pavel Eljanov to take second place outright. Ivanchuk has been overshadowed by Carlsen here, but has also had a great tournament, with his only loss being at Carlsen's hands in the very first round. Vassily's reward looks set to be a No.3 ranking on the new rating list, pushing Vladimir Kramnik down to No.4.
Another winner in the last round was the ever-popular Alexei Shirov who beat the American Alexander Onischuk with the Black pieces in just 29 moves. Shirov had an inconsistent tournament, but ends it on a high.
The third winner was Andrei Volokitin who overcame Evgeny Alekseev to finish in 5th place. Despite this, he was the lowest placed finisher of the four Ukranians in the event!
Aerosvit provided some great chess and a result which should live long in the memory of chess fans.
The final round results:
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | - Eljanov, Pavel | 1-0 | 60 | D37 | QGD 5.Bf4 |
| Karjakin, Sergey | - Carlsen, Magnus | ½-½ | 29 | D86 | Gruenfeld Simagin |
| Volokitin, Andrei | - Alekseev, Evgeny | 1-0 | 45 | C67 | Ruy Lopez Berlin |
| Jakovenko, Dmitry | - Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ½-½ | 18 | E11 | Bogo Indian Defence |
| Svidler, Peter | - Van Wely, Loek | ½-½ | 37 | B90 | Sicilian Najdorf Variation |
| Onischuk, Alexander | - Shirov, Alexei | 0-1 | 29 | D27 | QGA |
The final standings:
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2765 | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8 |
| 2 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2740 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 7 |
| 3 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2732 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 6 |
| 4 | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2687 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | Volokitin, Andrei | UKR | 2684 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 5½ |
| 6 | Jakovenko, Dmitry | RUS | 2711 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5½ |
| 7 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2740 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5½ |
| 8 | Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 2711 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 5 |
| 9 | Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2746 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5 |
| 10 | Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ROU | 2684 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 5 |
| 11 | Van Wely, Loek | NED | 2677 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | 4 |
| 12 | Onischuk, Alexander | USA | 2664 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 3½ |
