The Chess Mind

Heading into the final rest day, Anand and Carlsen maintained their positions atop the Linares leaderboard. Anand's Anti-Marshall achieved little against Aronian, while Carlsen drew quickly against Topalov. The latter game was more interesting, but when Topalov was unwilling to risk a two-pawn sacrifice the game concluded in a repetition.

There was more excitement in the chase pack, as Ivanchuk and Leko continued their unfortunate descent. Ivanchuk was simply outplayed by Morozevich, whose queenside initiative finally bore fruit in major piece ending. Likewise, Leko endured Svidler's queenside initiative for a while, but blundered on move 32, breaking Svidler's tournament drawing streak at 11.

Standings after Round 12:

1. Anand 7.5
2. Carlsen 7
3. Svidler 6.5
4. Aronian 6
5-7. Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Topalov 5.5
8. Leko 4.5

Pairings for Round 13: (On Friday)

Anand - Leko
Carlsen - Svidler
Aronian - Ivanchuk
Morozevich - Topalov

And for those who want to look ahead to Saturday's final round, here are the pairings for Round 14:

Ivanchuk - Anand
Leko - Carlsen
Topalov - Aronian
Svidler - Morozevich

[Note: If the pairings followed those of the first cycle, the round 14 pairings would have been used for round 13 and vice-versa.]

Games, with light notes, here.