2013 World Chess Candidates (London, ENG)
The World Chess Candidates Tournament begins today completing the final stage in determining who will face World Champion Viswanathan Anand later this year. If we look at this objectively, there are eight players in the field and eight players with a legitimate chance to win. There are no easy outs here as the eight-seed was the last challenger to Anand. There is a good mixture of youth and experience and all of the players are tough fighters.
Each of the Candidates qualified through various methods. Loser of 2012 Championship Match (Boris Gelfand); three players qualified on ELO rating (Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian); three players (Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and Vassily Ivanchuk) coming from the 2011 World Cup; one nominee (Teimour Radjabov). (See more on candidates here)
While the cycle has been through an number of palpitations, there are not many who will debate the strength and representativeness of the field. Certainly future cycles will include more diversity from other regions as there are a number of young promising players looking for a shot at glory. Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wang Hao, Wesley So and many other aspirants will certainly be taking notes.
Chessvibes ran an interesting story on predictions of the candidates by selected Grandmasters which included a far-reaching poll asking respondents who is likely to win and a whopping 57% chose Magnus Carlsen as the consensus pick. Levon Aronian was a distant second at 15.67% and Vladimir Kramnik at 8.9%. (see results)
The tournament will begin today March 15th and extend through April 4th (including tiebreaks). There will be four rest days (one after every three rounds) and the time control will be 40 moves in 2 hours, 20 moves in 1 hour and 15 minutes to finish the game, with 30 seconds increment from move 61. The total prize fund is €510,000.
Opening Ceremony
Official Site: https://london2013.fide.com/
Photo by Ray Morris-Hill: https://raymorris-hill.smugmug.com/
March 15th-April 2nd 2013 (London, England) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#
|
Name
|
Title
|
Federation
|
Flag
|
Rating
|
||
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | GM | Norway |
 |
2872 | ||
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | GM | Russia |
 |
2810 | ||
| 3 | Aronian, Levon | GM | Armenia |
 |
2809 | ||
| 4 | Radjabov, Teimour | GM | Azerbaijan |
 |
2793 | ||
| 5 | Grischuk, Alexander | GM | Russia |
|
2764 | ||
| 6 | Ivanchuk Vassily | GM | Ukraine |
 |
2757 | ||
| 5 | Svidler, Peter | GM | Russia |
|
2747 | ||
| 8 | Gelfand, Boris | GM | Israel |
 |
2740 | ||
Long live the chess drum!
The lineup as you say is strong, yet I and many others would like to see a different selection process. A world championship should only allow one player per country. Would anyone not agree Bobby F is rolling over in the grave in regards to the number of russians in the lineup? Looks like a replay of the cold war days of chess when BF took on the iron curtain machine. 6 out of 8 contestants fall within the former boundary on the so called evil empire. The more things change the more they stay the same applies here.
This is not the Olympics, and certainly not the place for national restrictions. The world championship should be contested by the best players, regardless of their current (or previous) FIDE flag.
If you want to be the world champion, you should have to beat the best players on the planet, and I defy anyone to tell me that any of these players aren’t qualified to be in London on objective merit. The lowest-rated participant? All he did was win the Candidates’ Matches in the previous cycle.
If we can’t have candidates’ matches, this is definitely the next best thing. If you don’t want the Russians to dominate the WC, then beat them – like Fischer and Anand did, and like Carlsen is attempting to do.
I agree with Boyd Reed. What if every top 20 player in the world besides Carlsen and Anand was from the former Evil Empire (which is not a very far-fetched scenario)? Would you exclude all but one of them just to keep nations balanced?
I would like to see someone from China’s very strong field though…
Where is Nakamura? Did he not qualify for this tournament?
cpercy
Regrettably, Naka did not qualify, but I hope he continues to press on. I am making it my business to study the games of Carlsen, Fisher, Kasparov and the other greats in great details. With every goal, the preparation has to starts very early. There’s no reason why after so many years, there has never been a player of African Descent who has qualified for the world championship. Barriers have been broken in golf and it surely can be done in chess. I would not be fully satisfied to see my son with an IM and GM title. I think like the Russians, the Chinese and the Indians. If you’re going to go for it, go all the way. Otherwise, try something else.
Thanks Guy and Daaim! Guy, I was thinking about your comments about chess achievements and wondering among the elite players just how much of their success is due to a team approach. I understood in the past the Russians took national pride in chess research and new concepts were not to be share with the outside world except at game time. I have often wondered if Nakamura achievements will be limited because of a lack of a superior team approach. Just a thought.
cpercy
Thanks for sharing Cleveland, i think your right about the team approach thing it gives them an edge. I was kinda wondering about that myself by the look of some of the results in the top events. He seems to scoe well with just littlejohn if i recall the name.
Cleveland,
I can only guess on this subject. I think that being able to integrate the talents of others into your own game is matter of individuality. It may work for some and may not for others. It seemed to have worked for past and current champions like: Anand and Kasparov. So, in due course, if Nakamaura is able to make it to the championship stage, I think he should at least give it a try.
Thanks for the information Daaim. Now that chess seems to be really catching on in Africa, the Caribbean, USA and many other places, there is hope that one day we will see a player of African Descent go further than round one of a championship qualifier.
Sensational! This only proves even more that it’s not a matter of whether it can be done, but a matter of when. It’s been almost 12 years since IM Watu Kobese stunned the 2700 + Leko. It’s time to start stirring things up again!
It will be fascinating to see how Carlsen plays round 8 after a disappointing round 7. Will he now play guardedly, main-line opening, or will he let round 7 cloud his thinking and play unsteadily. Getting my coffee ready for this one!
This was a swift handshake between Aronian and Magnus. I suppose this eight round draw was part of a strategy. However, round 7 should serve as a cue that there are no weak opponents in this tournament. Anyhow, the door has opened up somewhat to allow for Kramnik and others to join the lead. It was sort of unexpected to observe how Carlsen acknowledge his draw against Timor. It remains to be seen how he will face up to a loss.
Magnus was not at ease after his 7th round draw, but today he showed that he is determined not to lose a game. For one thing, when you face this guy, you better be ready to fight to the very end. I think there is some truth to this saying that, luck tends to favor the prepared mind.
I don’t see Aronian beating Kramnik, but anything can happen….
Carlsen must WIn his White games,…and at least 1 more black….!
He is in a very good position, but realistically speaking, i see either Carlsen, Aronian or Kramnik taking this IMO.
Strange things are happening in this tournament. What a turn of events as of round 12. Kramnik takes the lead?!
Both Carlsen and Aronian lost in the endgame. Are today’s players too focus on opening prep and not enough on basics like the endgame?
The fans are all over Radjabov on websites. The fact that he was handpicked and he’s having a bad tourney as led many fans to take vicious pot shots at him.
It was meant to be! Carlsen and Kramnik both went down in the final round, yet only one moves on. Congrats to all the players, but Magnus in particular deserves a tip of the hat. He is GOOD!
You did not miss a beat! This was an excellent reporting from beginning to end. Thank you Daaim.