
From March 14 to April 1, 2013, FIDE and AGON – the World Chess Federation’s
commercial partner – are staging the 2013 Candidates Tournament for the
World Chess Championship 2013. It will be the strongest tournament of its kind
in history. The venue is The IET,
2 Savoy Place, London. The Prize Fund to be shared by the players totals €510,000.
The winner of the Candidates will become the Challenger to Viswanathan Anand
who has reigned as World Champion since 2007. The main sponsor for the Candidates
is State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic SOCAR,
which has sponsored elite events chess in the past.
Round thirteen report
In yet another truly dramatic 13th round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates'
Tournament Magnus Carlsen (Norway) caught Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) in first
place. Carlsen, who ground down Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) in 89 moves, is
now first on tie-break because of his higher number of wins. Kramnik had a promising
position against Boris Gelfand (Israel) but couldn't get more than a draw. Alexander
Grischuk (Russia) and Levon Aronian (Armenia) drew as well, while Vassily Ivanchuk
(Ukraine) lost yet another game on time against Peter Svidler (Russia).
Round 13 March 31 at 14:00 |
Teimour Radjabov
|
0-1
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Levon Aronian |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Boris Gelfand |
Peter Svidler
|
1-0
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel King
|

In the 13th round “giant killer” Vassily Ivanchuk (above) returned
to his bad habit in this tournament of handling the clock terribly. It’s
hard to believe but it’s true: the Ukrainian overstepped the time limit
for the fifth time. It must be said that this time his position was lost. “It
was a new experience for me. When he played 27…Rd7 he looked away, and
after I played 28.a4 and pressed the clock, he lost about half a minute trying
to figure out which move I made,” said Svidler.

The game was a French Advance, and the Russian grandmaster played concrete moves
from the start. “If I do nothing Black will develop very naturally so
I went 11.Bg5 and 12.Be3 asking questions with every move.” Then, on move
15, Svidler went for pawn sacrifice. It was “one of those moments”
where he thought: “If I don’t play this I will kind of regret it
forever.” After 23.Re1 he was “very happy for a while” until
he realized that Black has 23…Nd6 there. Svidler then showed an amazingly
complicated computer line which his seconds told him about after the game. “Good
luck finding that. There’s absolutely no one who can find that out at
the board!”
Ivanchuk didn’t spot it, again spent too much time and after White’s
37th move his flag fell. “I saw White’s ideas but I didn’t
know what to do. From the opening my position wasn’t very comfortable,”
the Ukrainian said. At the press conference GM Danny King asked him the question
that needed to be asked: how can you explain to yourself the masterpieces you
played against Radjabov and Carlsen, and at the same time losing on time in
five games? Ivanchuk: “Everything has happened. I don’t like to
focus too much on my lost games. I’d like to forget them as quickly as
possible and soon start a new tournament.” On his game against Kramnik
tomorrow, he said: “For me it’s not important, it’s just a
normal game.”

Alexander Grischuk and Levon Aronian (above) drew a Slav/Catalan in 38 moves.
“I think I got a comfortable advantage out of the opening. Black has of
course decent chances to equalize but he has to play very accurately because
White has a positional advantage in the centre,” said Grischuk, who thought
that Aronian’s 12…a5 was “very ambitious”. White got
a nice endgame advantage with the bishop pair and more active rooks, but somehow
Grischuk misplayed it. “White has to be precise and it will be long suffering
for Black,” he said. A tactical phase followed and Aronian could save
the half point. At the press conference Grischuk said that he did play for a
win: “Of course I lost a big part of my motivation but it’s not
every day that I can play against such a brilliant player like Levon!”

Moving on to the two key games of the round, Vladimir Kramnik (above) and Boris
Gelfand were the first to finish. This encounter started as a Fianchetto Grünfeld
and the former World Champion came up with a new idea as early as move five
– something that’s very rare in chess.

“It’s amazing how many ideas he’s introducing, maybe more
than all of us together!” said Gelfand (above). “At least I got
a game, I got a game,” said Kramnik, who needed to keep all options open:
going for a solid draw or playing for a win, depending on the developments in
Radjabov-Carlsen.
After move 17 White seemed to have nice pressure and with giving up his dark-squared
bishop Black appeared to be walking a tightrope. Kramnik: “One little
mistake and everything starts to collapse!” About the position after 21.Qd3
he said: “Black cannot even create a threat. I think I’m clearly
better, strangely enough.” The critical moment of this game was perhaps
at move 30 where with little time on the clock Kramnik might have missed a stronger
continuation. But, throughout the game Gelfand defended fantastically, and the
Israeli fully deserved the half point he got.
About his game in the last round, against the unpredictable Ivanchuk, Kramnik
said: “It doesn't matter with whom you play. The last game is the last
game. I played many decisive games already, it doesn’t matter. I’m
not nervous, I’m OK.”

For Magnus Carlsen (above) the big question was how he would cope with what
was his first loss since September last year. According to commentator IM Lawrence
Trent the Norwegian’s strategy was basically “not to go crazy”.
Against Teimour Radjabov, Carlsen played a rare line of the Nimzo-Indian in
which he had to give up the bishop pair at an early stage. With simple developing
moves Radjabov got a slight edge, but the Azerbaijani missed a tactic and Carlsen
grabbed the initiative.

Avoiding further mistakes, Radjabov (above) managed to reach an ending that
was only slightly worse for him, and which should have led to a draw. However,
as he has down so often lately, Carlsen just kept on trying and trying and eventually,
after 89 moves, he managed to “squeeze water from a stone”, as one
chess fan put it, and win the ending. Knowing that he was leading the tournament
again, Carlsen entered the press room relieved and excited, doing a joyous and
explosive high-five with his manager Espen Agdestein.
At the start of the press conference Radjabov put a smile on everyone’s
face, including Carlsen’s: “I prefer to lose today than all my previous
games because at least there is an intrigue in the tournament and it might be
one historical loss for me!” Carlsen: “It was tough. I was really
upset after the last game, I couldn’t sleep and I was not feeling so great
today. I think I got a pleasant position at some point but then I couldn’t
make any of it and then we got this endgame which is basically equal but I felt
because of the tournament situation I have to try and take whatever little chance
I might have. (…) Probably it was a draw right till the end, I don't know,
I couldn’t calculate. But I managed to keep the game going and he made
enough mistakes so that I could win. I’m back in the running and after
my last game that’s all I can ask for!”
Report by Peter Doggers, photos by Pascal Simon
Current standings

Replay all games of the round
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
Schedule and results
Round 1 March 15 at 14:00 |
Levon Aronian
|
½-½
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Boris Gelfand
|
½-½
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
½-½
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Peter Svidler
|
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
|
|
Round 2 March 16 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Teimour Radjabov
|
1-0
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Levon Aronian
|
1-0
|
Boris Gelfand |
Playchess commentary: GM Chris
Ward
|
|
Round 3 March 17 at 14:00 |
Boris Gelfand
|
0-1
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
0-1
|
Levon Aronian |
Peter Svidler
|
1-0
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser
Seirawan
|
|
Round 4 March 19 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
1-0
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Teimour Radjabov
|
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Levon Aronian
|
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Boris Gelfand
|
½-½
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
|
|
Round 5 March 20 at 14:00 |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
½-½
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Peter Svidler
|
½-½
|
Boris Gelfand |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Levon Aronian |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser
Seirawan
|
|
Round 6 March 21 at 14:00 |
Peter Svidler
|
0-1
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Boris Gelfand |
Teimour Radjabov
|
0-1
|
Levon Aronian |
Playchess commentary: GM Chris
Ward
|
|
Round 7 March 23 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
½-½
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Levon Aronian
|
½-½
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Boris Gelfand
|
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Playchess commentary: GM Alejandro
Ramirez
|
|
Round 8 March 24 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
½-½
|
Levon Aronian |
Teimour Radjabov
|
0-1
|
Boris Gelfand |
Alexander Grischuk
|
1-0
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
1-0
|
Peter Svidler |
Playchess commentary: GM Alejandro
Ramirez
|
|
Round 9 March 25 at 14:00 |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Peter Svidler
|
½-½
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
1-0
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Boris Gelfand
|
1-0
|
Levon Aronian |
Playchess commentary: GM Maurice
Ashley
|
|
Round 10 March 27 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
1-0
|
Boris Gelfand |
Levon Aronian
|
1-0
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Teimour Radjabov
|
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Alexander Grischuk
|
0-1
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Playchess commentary: GM Yasser
Seirawan
|
|
Round 11 March 28 at 14:00 |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
1-0
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Peter Svidler
|
1-0
|
Levon Aronian |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
½-½
|
Boris Gelfand |
Playchess commentary: GM Chris
Ward
|
|
Round 12 March 29 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
0-1
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Boris Gelfand
|
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
Levon Aronian
|
0-1
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Teimour Radjabov
|
½-½
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
|
|
Round 13 March 31 at 14:00 |
Teimour Radjabov
|
0-1
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Alexander Grischuk
|
½-½
|
Levon Aronian |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
½-½
|
Boris Gelfand |
Peter Svidler
|
1-0
|
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Playchess commentary: GM Daniel
King
|
|
Round 14 April 1 at 14:00 |
Magnus Carlsen
|
-
|
Peter Svidler |
Vassily Ivanchuk
|
-
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Boris Gelfand
|
-
|
Alexander Grischuk |
Levon Aronian
|
-
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Playchess commentary: GM Maurice
Ashley
|
|
The games start at 14:00h = 2 p.m. London time = 15:00h European time,
17:00h Moscow, 8 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here.
Note that Britain and Europe switch
to Summer time on March 31, so that the last two rounds will start an hour
earlier for places that do not swich or have already done so (e.g. USA). The
commentary on Playchess begins one hour after the start of the games
and is free for premium members.
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