Archive for March 6th, 2009

Vassily Ivanchuk, who won Linares in 1991, is poised to do so again, eighteen years later, when he defeated Levon Aronian to join Alexander Grischuk in the lead. The latter was unable to convert a very promising position against Vishy Anand. The tragedy was Magnus Carlsen, who had a well-deserved win on the bat, but spoilt it to a draw. Big pictorial report with annotations by Anish Giri.

Three weeks ago the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) and ChessBase sent out a poll to top chess players. Their answers kept coming in, with more expected soon. Full results will be presented soon. However, we have decided to send the following preliminary results to the FIDE Presidential Board, which is meeting in Istanbul from the 6-8th of March 2009. Figures and opinions.

In the critical game of the tournament Magnus Carlsen took down Alexander Grischuk, who has been the sole leader by a full point since round seven. With his victory the Norwegian GM joined Vassily Ivanchuk in the second slot, half a point behind Grischuk. The other games were drawn, with Radjabov-Dominguez producing an exciting fight. Big pictorial report, commentary by Anish Giri.