The Chess Mind

Morelia/Linares starts Saturday, but Wijk aan Zee co-champ Teimour Radjabov won't be playing. Last Saturday Radjabov and his father were already in Mexico, getting acclimated, and when they went to dinner his father's room was burgled, the thief or thieves making off with with items significant to both individuals' professional activities. Neither the police nor the local organizers handled the situation as Radjabov felt they should, and so he has withdrawn. Fortunately for chess fans, his replacement is the equally strong and entertaining Vassily Ivanchuk, but of course this is not the way we would have liked to see him invited.

You can read the full text of Radjabov's press release here.

The games start tomorrow at 4:30 pm ET, and will be carried live on the major chess servers. Here's what we have to look forward to:

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

Readers, predictions? (Either for the round or the tournament as a whole, which is a double-round robin. The first go-round is in Morelia, Mexico, then, after about five days off, the second loop takes place in Linares, Spain.)

Making predictions is easy, but getting them right is another matter. A few posts ago, I wrote this about the tournament line-up: "Carlsen is still an outsider at this point (to judge from his rating and his performance at Wijk aan Zee), but it looks to be a marvelous tournament". Needless to say, after all of one round, Carlsen stands in clear first place! (I don't expect him to be anywhere near first by the time it's all over, but within a year or two his "underdog" status will be a thing of the past.)

His victory over Morozevich was by far the most interesting game of the round. Carlsen devised an interesting piece sacrifice, and Morozevich couldn't find anything better than returning the material - with interest. Carlsen had the pawn, Morozevich the initiative, but the initiative didn't last. Still, the game was not easily won, and even though Carlsen won a second pawn Black managed to reach an opposite-colored bishop ending. Maybe he could have drawn it, but he didn't, and Carlsen became the sole leader.

Topalov-Anand reprised their game from last month's Wijk aan Zee tournament, but although Topalov won that contest he varied first with 14.Nxe4. Anand replied with 14...b5, and now Topalov deviated from another successful White game, producing the novelty 15.Qe2. Although Topalov has terrified Queen's Indian players the past couple of years, Anand's preparation seemed perfect and he drew with ease.

Svidler-Aronian reprised another of Anand's games from Wijk aan Zee, this time Anand-Aronian. Our game, a Marshall Gambit (zzzzzzz) followed its predecessor through White's 23rd move. Against Anand, Aronian played 23...Bb1 and drew with a neat perpetual check; this time Aronian played 23...Bd3. It allowed White's Ra1 to come into play more quickly, but he still managed to keep White locked up, and this game was also quickly drawn.

Finally, Ivanchuk-Leko was also quickly drawn. Ivanchuk, who is capable of playing practically any opening at any time, essayed a relatively rare line of the Scotch. Leko was well-prepared (as always), and within three moves of Black's novelty White sacrificed a piece for perpetual check.

Pairings for Round 2:

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

Games, with my brief comments, here.

As if to punish my continued lack of faith in his prospects for the tournament, Carlsen nearly won again, this time against Aronian, and with Black! Aronian had offered a dubious piece sac, but Carlsen's time shortage led to an error just before he managed to consolidate the material. The result: a draw.

The youngster was caught by Ivanchuk, who was outplaying Topalov before the latter blundered a piece. That's certainly good news for Ivanchuk, who had very little time to prepare for the event and will probably start to suffer from jet lag if he isn't already. And it's not especially bad news for Topalov, who has made a habit of overcoming early-round losses on his way to winning one tournament title after another.

Leko-Morozevich was a McCutcheon French with a new move by Black in a known position. Black's position soon looked precarious, but in truth he was in good shape, and Leko had to sweat a while before achieving the draw.

Anand-Svidler was an Anti-Marshall with a few interesting tactical moments, but at no time was the balance significantly disturbed. Another draw.

Standings After Round 2:

1-2. Carlsen, Ivanchuk 1.5
3-6. Anand, Aronian, Leko, Svidler 1
7-8. Morozevich, Topalov .5

Pairings for Round 3:

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

Games, with brief comments, here.

Round 3 saw a familiar script, with one decisive game and three hard-fought draws. In that one decisive game, Carlsen played passively with White, and after missing a clear drawing chance on move 27 he went down with a thud. That knocked Carlsen out of first and Anand into it.

Ivanchuk, the other leader after round 2, maintained his co-lead, drawing a long, hard fight against Svidler. That game seems to have been very accurately played, in contrast to Morozevich-Aronian. Morozevich had a completely winning position, but missed opportunities on moves 35, 38 and 39 allowed Aronian to escape a lost position for a second straight round.

Finally, Leko played the main line of the Queen's Indian against Topalov, following Topalov-Anand from San Luis 2005. Topalov varied with 19.Nb3; unfortunately, we didn't get to see what Leko had planned against 19.Nc4.

Standings after Round 3:

1-2. Anand, Ivanchuk 2
3-6. Aronian, Carlsen, Leko, Svidler 1.5
7-8. Morozevich, Topalov 1


Pairings for Round 4: (On Wednesday; Tuesday is a rest day.)

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


Games, with comments, here.

Filming Corus was far more convenient for the crew of ChessVibes, but it looks like they'll have some video coverage of Morelia as well. First, if you ever wondered what it's like to be assaulted by the paparazzi, this clip from the start of round 1 might offer an inkling as to what that miserable experience might be like. More to the point for us as chess fans, the Svidler-Aronian and Ivanchuk-Leko post-mortems from round 1 can be seen here.

Chess fans everywhere should be grateful to Morozevich for his willingness to buck convention, especially in the opening. Today he demonstrated his unconventionality in a most unusual way; namely, by playing one of the most popular openings of all time! More specifically, he avoided the dreary Marshall Gambit/Marshall Gambit bluff with the straightforward 7...d6, and after 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 he chose the comparatively staid Breyer Variation with 9...Nb8. The Breyer has been under a cloud the last few years, but despite Anand's control of the d5 square Black enjoyed the advantage until move 33. Morozevich's queen swap marked the turning point, and he rapidly went from slightly better to lost - perhaps due to time pressure.

This win kept Anand in clear first, half a point ahead of...Carlsen, who bounced back from his loss to Anand with his second win of the event - and it should have been his third! His victim today was Ivanchuk, though it must be said that Ivanchuk helped the youngster. The Ukranian great was better after an unusual opening, and he maintained that edge up to his 32nd move. His idea was correct, but the implementation was not, and Carlsen very astutely seized a tactical opportunity. After the time control they reached an equal rook and bishop vs. rook and knight ending with equal pawns. The game should have been drawn, but a combination of strong endgame play by Carlsen and self-destruction by Ivanchuk decided the game.

Topalov-Svidler was a "correct" draw. The former FIDE champ had a slight edge out of the opening, but Svidler neutralized it so successfully that Topalov, the biggest fighter in top-class chess, offered the draw on move 29.

Finally, Leko, uncharacteristically, went for a speculative attack against Aronian, giving up the exchange for unclear chances. Aronian was never in danger, and Leko had make a few accurate moves to achieve a draw in the endgame.


Standings after Round 4:

1. Anand 3
2. Carlsen 2.5
3-6 Aronian, Ivanchuk, Leko, Svidler 2
7 Topalov 1.5
8 Morozevich 1

Pairings for Round 5:

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

Games, with comments (except to Topalov-Svidler), here.

Can I pick 'em or what? (The correct answer: "or what".)

Carlsen is in clear first, thanks to a heroic effort on his part and a correspondingly huge lapse by Topalov, who resigned in a drawn position. It was an incredible, anti-climactic finish to a game that saw both players fight for the win, especially Carlsen - who missed a win several moves before the end. It's a really terrific game, and I look forward to seeing it properly analyzed by a real player in due course.

The effect was to catapult the youngster into clear first place, thanks to Anand's loss to Aronian. On the White side of a QGA/Slav hybrid favored by Wojtkiewicz, Aronian headed for a line that gave him the bishop pair in exchange for a damaged kingside pawn structure. On this occasion, the bishop pair did the trick, and a neat tactical finish crowned the victory in style.

The other two games were nowhere near as dramatic. Morozevich got nowhere against Ivanchuk's Berlin Defense, while Svidler-Leko was a Marshall Gambit, and (therefore?) a draw.


Standings after Round 5:

1. Carlsen 3.5
2-3. Anand, Aronian 3
4-6. Ivanchuk, Leko, Svidler 2.5
7-8. Morozevich, Topalov 1.5

Pairings for Round 6: (On Saturday; Friday is a rest day.)

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

The games, with my comments, are here.

Today's round goes into the super-tournament hall of shame.

First, there was Aronian-Topalov. To be fair, although the game ended quickly (22 moves), the final position looks pretty uninspiring - both sides will lose their queenside pawns (excepting Black's d-pawn, which is an honorary member of the kingside), and then there will be nothing to play for. The game was short, but that's more a matter of bad luck for the spectators than the fault of the players.

The same most certainly cannot be said for the Carlsen-Leko farce, which finished a few seconds later. While the previous game probably represented some nice prep or technique by Topalov in neutralizing White's play, this non-game represented mutual expedience: Carlsen was happy to consolidate his position in first, while Leko wanted to keep his perfect record (6 draws and counting!) intact. The game followed yesterday's battle between Carlsen and Topalov up to and including the moves 15...Bd6-b4 16.Re1-f1. Topalov played 16...Ba3, but Leko retreated and repeated with 16...Bd6, tacitly offering a draw. There followed the spell-binding 17.Rfe1 Bb4 18.Rf1 Bd6, repeating the position for the third time. Drawing so quickly would be embarrassing, though, so they put in a little overtime: 19.Rfe1 Bb4 20.Rf1 Bd6. Exhausted - especially understandable after a day off - the players at long last agreed to the draw.

A little while later, the shortest game of all (in number of moves) finished: that was the marathon 16-move struggle between Morozevich and Svidler (with one new move per player). In this way Morozevich remained in a last-place tie with Topalov while Svidler, like Leko, kept his perfect streak alive.

Fortunately, there was one reasonable fight, between Anand and Ivanchuk. In an English Attack (Najdorf Sicilian), Anand came up with an early novelty, 10.h3, and Ivanchuk went into a deep think, possibly spending more time on this one move than any of the players in the aforementioned draws spent for the entire game. He managed to achieve equality and even gain some advantage later, but an inaccuracy in time trouble allowed Anand to sneak out with a draw, thanks to a neat tactical resource.

I hope the spectators got their money back, and that the organizers took it out of the players' prize money.

Standings after Round 6:

1. Carlsen 4
2-3. Anand, Aronian 3.5
4-6. Ivanchuk, Leko, Svidler 3
7-8. Morozevich, Topalov 2

Tomorrow's Draws:

Leko - Anand (That one's a mortal lock.)
Ivanchuk - Aronian (Decent chances for a real game here.)
Topalov - Morozevich (The likeliest exception.)
Svidler - Carlsen (Don't anticipate a repeat of their Longyearbyen 2006 game.)


Games replayable here - blink and you'll miss them.

Once again, I demonstrated my nearly unparalleled skills as a prognosticator. Annoyed by the four quick draws in round 6, I cynically predicted four more draws to conclude the Morelia half of the tournament. That's exaggerating a bit, but I did claim that Leko-Anand would be drawn was "a mortal lock". Leko, a player with a drawish reputation already, had already split the point in his first six games, while Anand almost always draws with his peers when he has Black - generally pretty quickly. So, of course, the game had a decisive finish. Leko came out of the gate with a very nice position, and by the early middlegame was nearly winning. Unfortunately, he missed a great but deep shot on move 25, and then another error on move 26 brought him from slightly better to seriously worse. Leko's resignation was premature, certainly from the amateur's point of view, but winning would have been a routine matter for a player of Anand's caliber.

That brought Anand back into a tie for first with Carlsen, who drew against Svidler. Carlsen accepted an isolated d-pawn in an Accelerated Dragon, but didn't achieve any compensating activity. That gave Svidler the pleasure of playing two-result chess (i.e. the chance to play for a win while "risking" nothing worse than a draw), but a slightly careless 26th move allowed Carlsen to escape right away.

Aronian would have concluded the Morelia half of the event tied for first as well, had he defeated Ivanchuk with the black pieces, but that was never in the offing. Like Carlsen against Svidler, he found himself in an isolated pawn position where the most he could hope for was a draw, but unlike Carlsen, it was he who missed a tactic (on move 31). That cost him the d-pawn for nothing, and things went downhill from there - fast.

Finally, Topalov-Morozevich was a crazy game, as you'd expect from these two, and after a topsy-turvy struggle Topalov came out on top.

The players now have a few days off to get set up in Linares, Spain, and will resume play this Friday (March 2) at 9:30 a.m. EST.

Standings after Round 7:

1-2. Anand, Carlsen 4.5
3. Ivanchuk 4
4-5. Aronian, Svidler 3.5
6-7. Leko, Topalov 3
8. Morozevich 2

Pairings for Round 8: (With thanks to Rob Vlaardingerbroek for tracking them down for me.)

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

Games with comments, here.

Like round 6 back in Mexico, the opening day of the Linares, Spain half saw another disappointing round for the spectators.

In the marquee matchup of the day, Anand-Topalov, White got an edge in a Najdorf-turned-Ruy Lopez. Anand's (possibly) overly restrained response to 21...g5 allowed Topalov to equalize, and they split the point on move 25.

Morozevich-Carlsen was by far the most interesting game of the day. Morozevich played an unusual (near-)novelty in a standard Open Ruy position, and spent the rest of the game bouncing between equality and a slight disadvantage. He was under pressure but didn't break, and the result was an entertaining draw in 42 moves.

Leko-Ivanchuk saw the players choose a very drawish line, and although the game made it to move 38 most spectators could see the writing on the wall back on move 17 or so. (Which doesn't guarantee that we could hold the draw against Leko!)

Last but least was Aronian-Svidler, drawn in just 16 moves. Yet even this game had its moments - on move 13 and then on move 14 Aronian had the chance to create some imbalances, but chose the safer path.


Standings after Round 8:

1-2. Anand, Carlsen 5
3. Ivanchuk 4.5
4-5. Aronian, Svidler 4
6-7. Leko, Topalov 3.5
8. Morozevich 2.5

Pairings for Round 9:

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

Games, with comments, here.

Vassily Ivanchuk was added to the tournament roster at practically the last minute, when Teimour Radjabov withdrew in the wake of the burglary of his father's room. Despite the lack of preparation, Ivanchuk has had a very successful event, and is currently just half a point out of first.

Very impressive, but it could have been even better! He missed a win in round 1 against Leko and lost a better position against Carlsen in round 4. Today, against Topalov, he let another opportunity slip, this time due to time trouble. (In fact, it's conceivable that Topalov could have tried to flag Ivanchuk, but he didn't.) So, a draw.

Carlsen-Aronian saw the youngster waste the White pieces (again). The players followed Topalov-Leko from round 3 until Carlsen varied with 27.Bg2-f1. (Topalov played 27.a4.) Aronian played 27...Bc4-d5, preventing White's knight from moving, and so Carlsen freed the knight with 28.Bf1-g2. Black responded with 28...Bd5-c4, repeating the position, and now they offered yet another novelty: a handshake.

Anand also remained in first place with a draw, but it wasn't easy. Svidler had a won position with an extra pawn, but "sacrificed" it back, thinking it was safe on account of a two-move tactic. Unfortunately, Anand looked to move three, and that was the end of Svidler's extra pawn and almost all of his advantage. Anand remains tied for first, and Svidler keeps his 100% score (9 games, 9 draws).

Finally, Morozevich was his dependable self, again providing the spectators with some dramatic chess. Playing White against Leko, he offered an early, speculative exchange sacrifice. Whatever its merits from a God's-eye perspective, it was a practical success. Morozevich's attack seemed to go on forever, and Leko's position finally broke down.


Standings after Round 9:

1-2. Anand, Carlsen 5.5
3. Ivanchuk 5
4-5. Aronian, Svidler 4.5
6. Topalov 4
7-8. Leko, Morozevich 3.5

Pairings for Round 10:

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

Games, with light comments, here.

In round 10, co-leaders Anand and Carlsen faced off in what will probably prove the decisive game of the tournament. In their first meeting, back in round 3, Anand outplayed Carlsen in an equal ending, and now, in the rematch, he made it two for two. Anand's form hasn't been that impressive so far, but in this game he was his usual brilliant self. Carlsen bravely - or foolishly - went into the old main line of the Closed Ruy Lopez, one of Anand's specialties, and was first strategically and then tactically crushed.

In other games, Ivanchuk remained in second (now tied with Carlsen) after an entertaining draw with Svidler, Aronian drew a relatively quick game with Morozevich, and then there was the extraordinary battle between Leko and Topalov. Topalov outplayed his opponent, but that was only good enough for an extra pawn in a drawn rook ending. But then the adventures began! Both sides made serious errors, but, at long last, the "right" result came to pass - a draw.


Standings after Round 10:

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

Pairings for Round 11: (Today was a free day; round 11 starts Tuesday morning)

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

Games here (unannotated tonight - sorry).

After drifting for several rounds and capsizing in round 10, Carlsen regained his bearings in round 11. Super-substitute Ivanchuk essayed the Gruenfeld, but his handling was too passive. A kingside space advantage and a stable center are two typical preconditions for an attack, and Carlsen mauled him.

That brought him to within half a point of Anand, who had no trouble holding with Black against Morozevich. The other games were drawn as well. Topalov had an advantage with Black against Svidler, but the latter escaped. Aronian had an edge against Leko, but the roles were promptly reversed when he missed 24...Nxa2. Fortunately the damage wasn't too serious, and when Leko missed or underestimated Aronian's own little trick (29.Ne1 Re2 30.Nf3! Rxe4 31.Nd2! shutting the rook out of play), the position became equal.


Standings after Round 11:

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

[Only two plus scores!]

Pairings for Round 12:

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

In the first cycle, Aronian beat Anand while Carlsen beat Topalov. If it happens again, Carlsen would be back in first, but it's not very likely - Anand and Topalov both have White.

Games, with comments, here.

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.

Three games were drawn - and it could have been four - but every game had its dramatic moments.

Anand-Leko featured two players with a propensity for quick draws playing an opening - the Anti-Marshall - that almost guarantees a quick draw, but even it bears some examination. Leko's 17...Kh7 & 18...Rg8 was a nice defensive maneuver Ruy Lopez players should have in their toolkit, and there are entertaining complications around 21...Bxe4. (Maybe White should have "blundered" with 22.fxe4!) So although it was a speedy draw, it wasn't without interest.

Carlsen-Svidler threatened to be exciting once or twice, and Carlsen did what he could to put a dynamic twist into the game. Black's position was very solid, though, and in the end it was the youngster who steered the game to its peaceful conclusion.

Aronian-Ivanchuk reversed the pattern by starting wild and then calming down. Against the semi-antique 4...Bb7 + 5...Be7 Queen's Indian, Aronian employed Polugaevsky's wonderful 7.d5 pawn sac. Ivanchuk countered with the very unusual 12...d4, returning the pawn (the range of Ivanchuk's knowledge and preparation is staggering), and although it slowed White's kingside play, it didn't stop it. Aronian's 17.e5 set the board ablaze, but Ivanchuk's good defense (and perhaps a slight missed chance on move 19) resulted in mass exchanges and a drawn ending.

Morozevich-Topalov was hands-down the game of the day, going just about the full seven hours. After 31 moves the players reached an equal knight ending that could have been agreed drawn, but Topalov dared his opponent to create an imbalance. Morozevich "bit", and almost 50 moves later, after many errors by both sides, he won. Admirable fighting spirit from both players. For Morozevich, it's his third win of the second cycle, bringing him back to 50%, while Topalov falls to -2, just half a point out of last place.

Heading into tomorrow's final round, here are the standings:

Standings after Round 13:

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

Pairings for Round 14:

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

In theory at least, this could be an exciting and dramatic last round, with three players having a shot at first place. In reality, Anand and Carlsen will probably draw their games quickly and finish 1-2...but remember, if I predict it, it's probably wrong. (But now I've made a meta-prediction. Does that count?)

Games, with fairly thorough comments, here.

As expected, Anand drew quickly and comfortably against Ivanchuk to clinch at least a tie for first (which doesn't mean Ivanchuk didn't try), but I was mistaken about Leko-Carlsen. I thought Carlsen would be happy to draw quickly with Black, and that Leko would be eager to put this tournament behind him. To Leko's credit, he fought and was rewarded with his first and only win of the tournament. It was a very nice win, too, as he convincingly outplayed the youngster from beginning to end. (The game could have been a little faster though: Carlsen made an outright blunder on move 39, and Leko missed it. Both players were a little short of time, but it was still surprising!)

Svidler could have taken clear second with a win against Morozevich, and he had the White pieces, too. Unfortunately, Svidler - the only unbeaten player in the tournament going into the last round - missed or underestimated Morozevich's clever 14...d4!, and then went on a dubious fishing trip with 19.Qxc5. His opponent grabbed the material, neutralized the attack, and shockingly finished tied for second. After finishing the first half of the tournament at -3, Morozevich went an amazing +4 =3 in the second half. (Even as late as round 11 he was tied for last, but good things happen when you win three in a row.)

Finally, Topalov and Aronian limped to the finish with a 20-move draw. By my calculations, he'll lose 18.4 points in the tournament, which will not only put him well behind Anand on the next rating list, but pretty close to Kramnik as well. (He should still be a hair ahead, given their performances at Wijk aan Zee and Kramnik's Dutch League draw with Smeets.)

Final Standings:

1. Anand 8.5
2-3. Carlsen, Morozevich 7.5
4-5. Aronian, Svidler 7
6. Ivanchuk 6.5
7-8. Leko, Topalov 6

Games, with light notes, here.