Candidates Tournament 2013

[Trefor Owens]

I am visiting next (Easter) weekend

Does anyone know whether it is possible/practical to drive and park to watch the Candidates rather than risk the railway? . . . knowing my luck it is bound to be the wrong type of weather for the trains to run on time if at all

Thanks
Trefor

[David Gilbert]

I am visiting next (Easter) weekend

Does anyone know whether it is possible/practical to drive and park to watch the Candidates rather than risk the railway? . . . knowing my luck it is bound to be the wrong type of weather for the trains to run on time if at all

Thanks
Trefor

You might find a space in Waterloo Road (by the Old Vic) or in the back turnings around Waterloo, or around Keyworth Street at the Elephant & Castle, all of which should be free over the holiday, then walk across Waterloo Bridge to the venue. Another option might be to park at Dartford where you have three choices of trains to Charing Cross, the Sidcup, Bexleyheath or Woolwich lines.

[Clive Blackburn]

If I've remembered correctly, the two joint leaders clash tomorrow, Carlsen has White against Aronian. This could have a massive bearing on who wins the tournament. Anyone brave enough to say what they think may happen?

A draw (not very brave prediction)

Yes Carlsen and Aronian did draw today as expected, so they still share the lead.
That was the only draw though. Kramnik won, so he is still just about in contention.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I am visiting next (Easter) weekend

Does anyone know whether it is possible/practical to drive and park to watch the Candidates rather than risk the railway? . . . knowing my luck it is bound to be the wrong type of weather for the trains to run on time if at all

Thanks
Trefor

You might find a space in Waterloo Road (by the Old Vic) or in the back turnings around Waterloo, or around Keyworth Street at the Elephant & Castle, all of which should be free over the holiday, then walk across Waterloo Bridge to the venue. Another option might be to park at Dartford where you have three choices of trains to Charing Cross, the Sidcup, Bexleyheath or Woolwich lines.

If it helps, I noticed today (possibly only Sundays) there were cars parked on the single yellow lines on Waterloo Bridge itself. That might also apply over the Easter weekend, though I'm not 100% about that.

[David Sedgwick]

Ivanchuk seems to be getting a bad press in some quarters, so I'm pleased to say my story is a positive one. At move 37 he had four seconds left for four moves. In executing the move 37 ...axb4, he knocked another pawn over; I think it was the one on c3. Very correctly, he replaced the dislodged pawn in his own time before pressing the clock.

I suspect a good many players would have pressed the clock and only then replaced the pawn, thus giving the arbiters something of a problem. Indeed, I can't in all honesty exclude the possibility that in the heat of the moment I might have transgressed in that way myself.

Full marks to Vassily.

[Eoin Devane]

I enjoyed my visit to the tournament today, and was generally impressed by the show that AGON and FIDE are putting on.

The venue itself is excellent, and the main playing hall feels as if it was designed for just such an event. It's smaller than I thought it would be, which means that the spectators are closer to the action and can get a decent view of what's going on. Also, thankfully it's not as dark as it appears on the video feed! My only disappointment with the staging is the "wall" between the two central boards, which means that from most points in the room there is at least one game that you cannot see anything of.

The best innovation is the use of the tablets, which I think is a great idea. It was really nice to be able to sit in the playing hall and still listen to the commentary (even if the connection was sometimes a little temperamental). I hope that this type of idea is something we might see more of in the future. Christopher's earlier advice about getting there a little early to ensure you get a tablet (and to choose a good seat) is correct - we arrived a little later than planned and had to search around the arena to find a couple of spares.

Finally, the chess was exciting and interesting, so I'm glad we chose today to visit. I was particularly impressed by Kramnik's play to squeeze Svidler and play himself back into contention.

[Eoin Devane]

Ivanchuk seems to be getting a bad press in some quarters, so I'm pleased to say my story is a positive one. At move 37 he had four seconds left for four moves. In executing the move 37 ...axb4, he knocked another pawn over; I think it was the one on c3. Very correctly, he replaced the dislodged pawn in his own time before pressing the clock.

I suspect a good many players would have pressed the clock and only then replaced the pawn, thus giving the arbiters something of a problem. Indeed, I can't in all honesty exclude the possibility that in the heat of the moment I might have transgressed in that way myself.

Full marks to Vassily.

Hear hear. I noticed that when watching the time scramble and felt it was very sporting of him to replace the pawn before pressing the clock, even though it essentially ended any chance he might have had of making the time control.

[Andrew Stone]

Went for the first time today. Here's my observations:
Seemed to be more people than reported on previous days, maybe 120-150 people in the auditorium. Not surprising given it was the weekend and the big match. Recognised very few people and indeed seem to be a lot of foreign visitors. Had a feeling many weren't serious chess players-not sure why I felt this but I did! It is hard to see all the boards from most seats and naturally most of the seats near the Carlsen-Aronian match were taken. Some people did not get a Samsung tablet to watch the games/commentary. I can see that a full auditorium could have created quite a big of background noise as people search for seats etc.
Ivanchuk was the first to arrive maybe 15 mins before the start. Most of the others turned up 5 mins before the start, went to their board then got up again. Aronian looked to have got pre-match support from Gelfand.

Carlsen-Aronian: Both players looked nervous, Aronian the most. Carlsen came well prepared with his orange juice (in what looked like an old evian bottle- can't millionaires afford new bottles?) and a carton of innocent smoothie. Lots of photographers who were capturing the moves made at lightning pace. Think Aronian was the first to shortish think, then Carlsen had a longer one. Lev got his novelty (?) Ra7 in setting up the Reti-esque Qa8. Still moving quickly which is often a sign of nerves and drinking a lot of water and coffee. Was hardly at the board when it was Carlsen's move. Far too soon for me and the other spectators it became clear that it was going to be a draw. Lev tried to agree a draw through eye contact but Carlsen wasn't interested. He then broke with protocol (understandable given the position, offering a draw after Carlsen had moved (around move 32). Carlsen probably annoyed with the game and/or trying to lay down some psychological marker played on. In the meantime behind me an Armenian was threatened with being thrown out for waving an Armenian scarf! Seemed an odd time to do it as Carlsen was sitting with his back to him and Lev was wandering around as usual. Soon enough the envitable draw was agreed.
Risked getting a Samsung tablet back by going out for a while where there was a large crowd seeing Carlsen and his Dad presumably being interviewed. Magnus then left. Lev then arrived and was greeted by maybe 20 Armenian supporters. He spent quite a while being photographed with them, giving autographs etc. I know him a bit from playing bughouse chess and then managed to speak to him for a minute or two. I congratulated him on his solid draw but requested he had an exciting win when I next visit on Wednesday. He then told me with some amazement that Ivanchuk played in bughouse style against him (that game with all that h4 stuff).

Radjabov-Gelfand: Went back into the auditorium and was well positioned to see this. Gelfand was doing his knight twirling manoeuvres a lot, often just before he moved. On at least one occasion he did this without looking at the board for maybe 20 seconds and then turned back to the board and then moved instantly. Radjabov resigned and must be given credit for acting with great dignity for what must have been a painful loss. They analysed quietly for a minute or two before heading off for interviews. Boris seemed a slightly awkward figure but seemed likeable and very polite- a toned down Ivanchuk perhaps.

Kramnik-Svidler: Both my seat positions gave me a distant view of this game. Both players were walking around a lot. When the Carlsen-Aronian game was clearly drawn, Svidler spent nearly a minute watching it from his seat despite it being his move. Svidler was still walking around a lot when he was down to a minute a move. Near the end he seemed to be walking around grimacing as he knew his position was hopeless.

Grischuk-Ivanchuk: Like most players they were getting up a lot. Grischuk was watching the Carslen game a lot, Ivanchuk was wandering around but you got the impression he was analysing his position. In the time scramble Ivanchuk didn't seem capable of moving in under say 2 seconds even if he didn't need to think. With seconds left on his clock he looked up at his position on the demo board. He took his time loss with an air of resignation but with good manners. Afterwards he started pacing around trying to take in what had happened. I stayed like many others for a bit watching him, but then felt a bit guilty that one shouldn't be watching someone trying to deal with their loss and went outside. The commentary room then played the interviews where some tactful person asked Chucky what he thought of the time controls! Great credit to him for not flying off the handle!

So that was my visit to the candidates. 24 quid with the ECF discount (20 quid on weekdays). Was it worth it? Probably- I certainly enjoyed it a lot, despite the damp squib in the big match. Given how few seats they are justified in charging what look quite high prices. It was certainly a lot more intimate a venue than the London Classic and despite a tempremental samsung tablet (probably worked 75% of the time), the ability to watch the commentary in the auditorium was a big plus. Very much looking to going again on Wednesday and may visit one more time if work allows and the tournament situation hasn't clarified.

[Paolo Casaschi]

The best innovation is the use of the tablets, which I think is a great idea. It was really nice to be able to sit in the playing hall and still listen to the commentary (even if the connection was sometimes a little temperamental). I hope that this type of idea is something we might see more of in the future. Christopher's earlier advice about getting there a little early to ensure you get a tablet (and to choose a good seat) is correct - we arrived a little later than planned and had to search around the arena to find a couple of spares.

Could people use their own iPad or android tablet instead? It looks expensive for the organizer having to provide those to the audience when many people own their own device.

[David Sedgwick]

Could people use their own iPad or android tablet instead?

Speaking as one of the arbiters, I would need a lot of convincing that that would not give rise to major security issues.

[Angus French]

Today's pairings:

Vladimir Kramnik - Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler - Alexander Grischuk
Vassily Ivanchuk - Teimour Radjabov
Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian

I make it that in non-rapid/blitz games, Kramnik (as White) v. Carlsen has resulted in 5 wins for Kramnik, 3 wins for Carlsen and 5 draws. These date from Jan 2007 when Carlsen was not quite so highly rated but still a useful 2690.

[John McKenna]

Mick Norris>Greg Breed "Svidler v Grischuk"... Svidler reacting to his loss yesterday too (!?)<
And Grischuk reacting to his win, so they'll probably settle for a draw today. If it is a Spanish the odds on a draw increase unless Grischuk tries that half-backed defence he lost to Carlsen with, and if he plays a Sicilian then he going for the win. Should Svidler start with any move other than 1.e4 the outcome is less clear to me.

[Paolo Casaschi]

Could people use their own iPad or android tablet instead?

Speaking as one of the arbiters, I would need a lot of convincing that that would not give rise to major security issues.

"Major security risks" such as?

Also, as one of the arbiters, what kind of guarantee have you been given that the tablet being distributed do not pose any security risk?

Just trying to understand what worries you and what kind of reassurance makes you stop worrying.

[Mick Norris]

And Grischuk reacting to his win, so they'll probably settle for a draw today. If it is a Spanish the odds on a draw increase unless Grischuk tries that half-backed defence he lost to Carlsen with, and if he plays a Sicilian then he going for the win. Should Svidler start with any move other than 1.e4 the outcome is less clear to me.

Svidler has played d4 to confuse you

[LawrenceCooper]

Grischuk has managed to unbalance the position with 12...Nxc4