Candidates Tournament 2013

[Clive Blackburn]

Wow, has Carlsen finally blundered?

It does not look very good for him!

[Clive Blackburn]

Wow, has Carlsen finally blundered?

It does not look very good for him!

No he drew again, I should have more faith

Radjabov did have a very dangerous-looking attack though

[Carl Hibbard]

No he drew again, I should have more faith

Saved by the bell I assume nothing else

[JustinHorton]

Saved by ...f2+ being wrong, to eveybody's surprise.

[Clive Blackburn]

Saved by ...f2+ being wrong, to eveybody's surprise.

Yes, it looked such a natural move and Radjabov played it almost instantly

[JustinHorton]

Radjabov disappointed but not half so much as those of us who were expecting Ray in the commentary box.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Wow, has Carlsen finally blundered?

Yes, but Radjabov did too!

Another draw for Kramnik (and he was struggling a bit in this one, too) Maybe he really should be aiming to halve out the lot now??

[Jonathan Bryant]

Half-time assessment:


Chess: living up to (high) expectations (save for the almost complete absence of rook endings).

Players: not too surprising how it's turning out. Would have expected Kramnik to be a little bit off the pace not three points behind.

Commentary: nothing really wrong with it, but somehow feels a bit lacklustre compared to London Chess Classic. They did rather seem to be scratching around for co-commentators today.

Prospects for second half: extremely promising

[Tristan Clayton]

They did rather seem to be scratching around for co-commentators today.

They should have said. I'd have done half an hour behind the mike for the price of my ticket.

Seriously, though, I enjoyed my day at the Candidates. Chesscasting is a really interesting way to get the live and online audience involved. I still don't like the piece style, either the graphic symbols or the bits of wood themselves. (Fortunately, I'm never likely to need to use them!)

[James Coleman]

Players: not too surprising how it's turning out. Would have expected Kramnik to be a little bit off the pace not three points behind.

He's only 1.5 points behind - so still in with a shout but he'd need a great second half with at least one win over Aronian or Carlsen if not both, to have realistic chances to qualify.

[Eoin Devane]

Weather permitting I'll be there for tomorrow's round. Anyone else going along?

[Jonathan Bryant]

Players: not too surprising how it's turning out. Would have expected Kramnik to be a little bit off the pace not three points behind.

He's only 1.5 points behind.

I correct myself to three wins behind. It's plausible that with a great second half he could catch up with one or other of Aronian/Carlsen, but hard to imagine them both collapsing. We'll see.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

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?

[John McKenna]

As far as I am concerned GM Fontaine was almost the perfect positional foil to IM Trent's zany tactics on Sat. Just like James Mason and Stewart Granger in The Prisoner of Zenda in which the character played by the latter uses even the furniture in their duel.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plpp&v=RV_x6YPoetU

R8 Grischuk & Kramnik to win the other two games draws on Sun.

[Mick Norris]

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)