Candidates Tournament 2013

[Paolo Casaschi]

It's easier on the eye to use Google Chrome and use Paolo's pgn4web flexible extension - http://pgn4web.casaschi.net/home.html

Unfortunately the pgn4web extension for google chrome is being discontinued... it might soon stop working on your google chrome, the developers of google chrome made some questionable choices that forced me to stop updating that extension.

[Matthew Turner]

Behind Lawrence Trent and Malcolm Pein are the sponsors' names and Samsung indeed features alongside Socar. I wonder if the spectators have each got a tablet?

[Jonathan Bryant]

In other news, Ivanchuk and Grischuk are taking a surprisingly long time to recreate known - if old - theory. A canny choice by Chukky?

[Dave Ewart]

I don't like the red colour scheme at all, but I am enjoying watching on the link paolo provided. I sense the audience might get four fighting games today.

The red/white colour is a bit grotty, but what's worse is the 'font' used for the pieces: it's really hard to distinguish at a glance. Queen and rook too similar etc. I really hope they switch to a proper style!

[Roger de Coverly]

I wonder if the spectators have each got a tablet?

The video stream of the commentary does show occasional views of the playing area. The boards themselves are spotlit, so the background is dark, but when you see it, it appears mostly empty seats.

[Barry Sandercock]

Roger, to go back and forward through the games, ChessBomb website seems a good one.

[Clive Blackburn]

Ivanchuk can start well before crashing. He has White in one of the more winnable games today and is at least the most likely White winner, in my view.

Aronian v Carlsen will be a real game at any rate - Aronian cannot afford to give him a soft draw with White.

Well, they have drawn already (and in a perfectly symetrical, mirror-image position)

[Jonathan Rogers]

Yes. I don't know why I do this to myself. But it is clearly an unfavourable start for Aronian all the same.

[Paolo Casaschi]

Yes. I don't know why I do this to myself. But it is clearly an unfavourable start for Aronian all the same.

In a way it's good for the tournament's spectators if Carlsen is hold back with a few initial draws. This would keep the fight on for longer...

[JustinHorton]

I don't find red and white so much of a problem as I find giving the name of the second player above the name of the first one.

[Colin S Crouch]

A slight infestation of Turnites before the match, but never mind.

Clearly both Aronian and Carlsen wanted to keep things very steady in the first round.

The only player who has been trying to mix things up seems to be Radjubov. Gelfand spent over an hour in his first dozen moves. Maybe Gelfand's pawn structure as White looks in danger of over-pressing, or maybe Radjabov's pieces are slightly too constricted. Who know? This could end up as teh most interesting game.

(On one of the latest comment, it is probably not the case that Carlsen is holding back for a few initial draws. Carlsen is well aware that Aronian is fully capable of beating him. Probably things will heat up a little later.)

[Paolo Casaschi]

(On one of the latest comment, it is probably not the case that Carlsen is holding back for a few initial draws. Carlsen is well aware that Aronian is fully capable of beating him. Probably things will heat up a little later.)

I did not mean that Carlsen would/should hold back... actually the opposite, but his opponents might want to play very safe against him and try their chances against the others.

[Colin S Crouch]

Second draw, Svidelr - Kramnik, queenless opening, repetition. In the opening, Kramnik clearly did not want to play Black in a minority attack, Queen's Gambit, and who could blame him for that?

Other games looking level. It so often happens in teh first couple of rounds.

Paolo, thanks for clarification. It so often happens that very slight differences in wording can lead to much larger differences in interpretation. I gather from TWIC that Carlsen was happier as Black with a draw, than Aronian was with White.

It is unlikely that any player will lose a game this time around. Speculations as to when the next decisive result will be?

[Mick Norris]

Apart from the obvious not wanting to lose in the first game of a long tournament, there may be an adjustment period to the opening choices made

Were any of the games the opening you would have expected?

I was particularly surprised by Radjabov, from the clock times Gelfand may have been too

[Colin S Crouch]

Four draws then, by really strong players.

None of the players gave away anything, at least according to the narrow swings, as given by Houdini (+0.29 through to -0.12).