World Candidates 2014-11: Drawing Closer
March 11th-April 1st, 2014 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#
|
Name
|
Flag
|
Rating
|
Result
|
Name
|
Flag
|
Rating
|
| 11.1 | Svidler |
 |
2758 |
½-½
|
Aronian |
 |
2830 |
| 11.2 | Topalov |
 |
2785 |
½-½
|
Karjakin |
|
2766 |
| 11.3 | Kramnik |
|
2810 |
½-½
|
Anand |
 |
2773 |
| 11.4 | Andreikin |
|
2709 |
½-½
|
Mamedyarov |
 |
2757 |
A champion has to have determination and Anand has shown what made him a 5-time World Champion.
Viswanathan Anand has inched closer to his rematch with Magnus Carlsen. All games were drawn today, but it appeared as if Sergey Karjakin would break through against Veselin Topalov. It was actually Topalov who took the risk to climb out of the cellar, but it almost cost him dearly. The Bulgarian had a nice space advantage on the queenside and tried to bust through with 35.a5!? bxa5 36.b6. The idea was to drum up play on the queenside with both rooks supporting the passed b-pawn.
Karjakin sacrificed the exchange for a pawn and tried to win with his two outside passed pawns. The position appeared to be a bit dangerous as black was looking for the opportune moment to sacrifice a pawn with …e4, …Ke5 and invading either flank. Topalov had to play some precise moves to avoid the pitfalls that were lurking. Once he got the rook to h5 and the king to a2, the fortress was completed.
Svidler-Aronian saw little action in a game where only one set of pawns was traded. Kramnik could not break through with his “Killer Catalan” he was able to hold the balance after Anand’s pawn sacrifice. Anand’s rook activity brought only a level position after 23…Rxa2. An interesting try was 23…Rfc8 since 24.Rfc1? Qxd3! 25.exd3 Rxc1+ 26.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 27.Kg2 Rc2 snaring the queen. Of course white has 24.a3 and only has to withstand the mounting pressure. Not much happened in Andreikin-Mamedyarov, but the young Russian must be pleased with his performance thus far.
Dmitri Andreikin
Photos by FIDE.com.
Official Site: https://candidates2014.fide.com/
Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2014/03/13/2014-world-chess-candidates-khanty-mansiysk-rus/
Viswanathan Anand, 7/11 (+3 -0 =8), Levon Aronian, 6/11 (+3 -2 =6), Shakriyar Mamedyarov, 5.5/11 (+3 -3 =5), Sergey Karjakin, 5.5/11 (+2 -2 =7), Peter Svidler, 5.5/11 (+3 -3 =5), Vladimir Kramnik, 5/11(+2 -3 =6), Dmitri Andreikin 5/11 (+1 -2 =8), Veselin Topalov, 4.5/11 (+1 -3 =7),
We’ll find out in the next three decisive rounds whether the obvious appearance of peace shown all over Anand’s face will prolong and help him become what I would consider as, The Come Back Kid of The Year. I hope so!
I believe he gets through and gets the rematch.
It looks promising, but he must remain alert. Aronian can shift gear at any moment.
I guess Arionian is stuck on neutral! It may be too late to switch to drive at this point.
Anand has showed S???????????? much discipline a?????n????d??? focus but till the final whistle ????§ blown the battle ????§ on.