Candidates Tournament 2013

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The organisation of the event was excellent, no complaints there.

Chris. I'm glad that you enjoyed the event but I would like to apologise to anyone who was offended by the 20% discount on offer to ECF members.

The latest E-mail from the ECF says a number of things
1. It passes on a deal from a seemingly fairly dubious business without first checking it out

Sean, I didn't get that 20% discount, as I jumped in feet first very early on for a season ticket! Still, it was enjoyable.

[Matthew Turner]

Sean,
Perhaps it would have been more useful for you to have posted what facilities were available for spectators before, or even during the candidates. Formally enforcing the removal of the ECF Office's advice to spectators didn't really seem that helpful.

[Sean Hewitt]

Sean,
Perhaps it would have been more useful for you to have posted what facilities were available for spectators before, or even during the candidates. Formally enforcing the removal of the ECF Office's advice to spectators didn't really seem that helpful.

Matthew, Your whole approach to the matter was unhelpful. You wanted to find fault with the ECF's actions when none was there. I don't know why you have this deep seated resentment, and frankly I don't care. I shall continue to try and do my best for all ECF members. When I want advice from non-members, I'll ask for it.

[Clive Blackburn]

Do you ever get that feeling of déjà vu?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Do you ever get that feeling of déjà vu?

Yeah! Matthew and Sean, tell us what you thought of the games and the tournament! Go on, you know you both want to...

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Kramnik was extremely gracious in defeat. I was very lucky to be there for most of the tournament in the role of 4th Arbiter and it was a real insight into events at this level. We need more of the same, in addition to the London Classic!

I am currently trying to raise money to hold a Grandmaster Tournament in the UK in order to give our young IMs a chance to step up a notch and get a GM norm (in some cases a final GM norm). If you'd like to contribute, please visit

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/123 ... hess-tourn

I wonder how much money we would have to raise to have the World Championships in London?

A lot? More than is possible to raise via kickstarter? Maybe we will find out!

It was good to see you and David officiating at the Candidates Tournament. I was also pleasantly surprised that you both posted here about it. How much can you both say about the event and these "insights" you mention? I know David said he was waiting until after the event before mentioning some things. One question I did have was whether the arbiters are co-ordinated purely by FIDE, or are they part of the organisation done by AGON?

[Eoin Devane]

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the tournament again today - well worth the admission price! The chess was utterly gripping, so much so that I did not dare to leave the playing hall at all until after the time control had been reached. The attendance was definitely bigger than the previous occasion I visited, and most people seemed enthralled by the games like I was. The finish was certainly dramatic and fitting for what has been a fantastic tournament. Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen - I look forward to his contest with Anand later in the year.

[Matthew Turner]

I think it was an extremely interesting event and I think the best two players came out on top. Aronian played very well and for me was certainly the best of the rest, but when it came to the later rounds I don't think he was as psychologically strong as the top two. I don't really see why Carlsen deserved to win over Kramnik and I think the tiebreak had a big influence on the final round. Whilst the last round was exciting for the spectator I don't think it is that great finish for the event that both Kramnik and Carlsen lost and Carlsen wins the event by virtue of having lost more games. I am sure that Kramnik will look back and say that playing the Pirc was a big mistake and I find that tough to understand. I wondered if Ivanchuk and Carlsen are friends and Kramnik needed to play an opening that prevented White forcing a draw (but that seems unlikely?)
A number of observations/recollections from the event (in no particular order)
1. Carlsen just seemed to intimidate players, an amazingly forceful presence at the board
2. Chukky was Chukky
3. Radjabov wasn't able to cut it at this level
4. History will probably see Kramnik as just a decent world champion between the greats of Kasparov and Carlsen, but he really is pretty special too.
5. What fantastic entertainment Peter Svidler is - I hope we see more of him in England
6. I enjoyed the coverage with Nigel Short and Lawrence Trent. I thought they worked very well together, better than other combinations

Finally, I really don't fancy Anand's chances of holding on to the World Championship.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Arguably, Carlsen "deserved" to (just) win over Kramnik because he is - let's be honest - the best player in the world??

Now he has to prove that one final time........

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Radjabov wasn't able to cut it at this level

I felt a bit sorry for Radjabov. I think a lot of people thought his lack of playing in tournaments in the months leading up to the event was because he was engaged in deep preparation, but it seems from some comments he made after one of the games that in fact he wasn't able to take part in tournaments leading up to the event as much as he would have liked, so I think some slack should be given here.

It was in his comments after round nine:

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211 ... 60313.aspx

"Instead of his preparation, as suggested by Kramnik in an interview, Radjabov blamed his inactivity for his disappointing play thus far: “I should have played in one of the recent tournaments, but my family situation did not allow this. You can see that the players who played in Zurich didn't start very well, but now they are all in good form.”"

I enjoyed the coverage with Nigel Short and Lawrence Trent. I thought they worked very well together, better than other combinations

I liked John Nunn's contributions as well, and I really wish I could have been in the commentary room to see Genna Sosonko's session with Lawrence Trent. I've got a number of Sosonko's books, and seeing him talk live would have been good, but I couldn't tear myself away from the games in that final round!

Looking again at the results as a whole, who could have predicted after round nine that the leading two (Aronian and Carlsen) would finish with 2.5/5 with two losses, two wins and a draw?

[Geoff Chandler]

That was close.

Thank heavens Carlsen won it.
I can see the media running with this one. (shades of '72)

I fear Kramnik would have bored the title out of Anand and put him into retirement
like he did against Kasparov.

Already looking forward to the final with some blistering chess (shades of '93)

And the first time for a long time the final will not have a Russian born rep. (shades of 1921)

[JustinHorton]

And the first time for a long time the final will not have a Russian born rep.

Indeed, two whole years.

[Geoff Chandler]

Just testing to see if you are awake. (fancy forgetting Topalov.)

3 Years. (shades of 2010).

What are you doing up patrolling the forum at this time in the morning.
I've got an excuse I've just finished work.

[JustinHorton]

Just testing to see if you are awake. (fancy forgetting Topalov.)

3 Years. (shades of 2010).

What are you doing up patrolling the forum at this time in the morning.
I've got an excuse I've just finished work.

Insomnia. Hence my inability to take 2010 from 2013 and get 3. (Or rather, to remember what year this actually is.)

I also forgot the Topalov-Anand match when this question came up on Twitter earlier. Odd, because I really enjoyed that match.

[IM Jack Rudd]

A pedant writes: Anand v Gelfand didn't have a Russian-born player in it either.