World Championship Candidates
: Created:09 May 2011 , byThe first round was completed today and Boris Gelfand, Alexander Grischuk, Gata Kamsky and Viktor Kramnik have qualified for the semi-final stage although Kramnik's victory was surrounded by some dispute.
In my previous posting I was 100% accurate in one point, "I'm a notoriously bad picker". All four of my choices were eliminated at the first hurdle and my prediction that Levon Aronian would triumph in this Candidates Tournament and defeat World Champion, Viswanathan Anand proved laughably wrong.
Draws proliferated in the first round and in the sixteen games played at standard time rates only two were decisive with surprise victories for Black in both cases. Gata Kamsky's use of the rejuvenated Queen's Gambit Declined, in game two of his match proved inspired against an exciting innovation by Topalov involving queenside castling. Another enterprising opening idea by Topalov in game four nearly paid off but Kamsky defended grittily.
For Gelfand the Sicilian Najdorf Defence did the trick for him as he gathered six pawns to counter his opponent's rook. Gelfand comfortably contained his opponent in the other three games.
In the rapidplays Grischuk produced some stunning chess in horribly compilcated positions to defeat Aronian although chess pundits will be shaking their heads for a long time about Aronian's weakening pawn move ...g5.
It always has been ridiculous that important matches should be decided by blitz games and proof positive was provided by the Kramnik-Radjabov debacle. Apparently a clock broke down at a crucial stage and Radjabov lost a game he should have drawn. I was following their games on the internet and online commentators were thick and fast with conspiracy theories. Undoubtedly we are going to hear much more about the ending of this match.