Candidates Tournament 2013

[Roger de Coverly]

The drug testing is mentioned:

With chess legally not a sport in the UK, you have to ask the status of any such test if challenged.

[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.

"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.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to duck that one until after the event is over.

[Roger de Coverly]

Greek worry beads (kompoloi) might be the appropriate arbiters' accessory except they are probably in short supply right now due to the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Gelfand substitutes by using a spare piece. It's probably not been tested in top class play, but the clack clack of a set of worry beads could easily be considered distracting by the arbiters.

[John McKenna]

Rubber worry beads!?

[Andrew Stone]

Eh. You can still play through them.

Not the same as watching the moves come in when you don't know what the result's going to be. But better than nothing, I grant you.

You could watch the games as live without knowing the result. You have to avoid reading the front page and click on live video, watch on livestream and then scroll down to the first video. Actually you are reasonably safe once on the video page, except you may find out what order the games finished in. Think this process is much safer if all the games have finished. I avoided the results yesterday and watched simultaneously the cricket and chess "as live" this morning. I did however guess at the cricket result when Nigel Short said that Peter Svidler had had some good news today. Fortunately the cricket commentators did not give away the chess result! I actually watch a lot of things "as live". I watched the Anand-Gelfand match "as live" even though it had finished about two weeks previously.

[JustinHorton]

Greek worry beads (kompoloi) might be the appropriate arbiters' accessory except they are probably in short supply right now due to the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Gelfand substitutes by using a spare piece. It's probably not been tested in top class play, but the clack clack of a set of worry beads could easily be considered distracting by the arbiters.

Isn't that also distracting? I've seen an arbiter ask a player to stop fidding with a space piece.

[Alex McFarlane]

Isn't that also distracting?

At the last Candidates matches Boris's preferred piece was the bishop. His piece spinning was normally done beneath the desk level and out of sight of his opponent. If his opponent was absent from the board, which was also common then as now, then he might do it a bit higher.

Certainly no opponent expressed any concerns about his action.

[Greg Breed]

Isn't that also distracting?

At the last Candidates matches Boris's preferred piece was the bishop. His piece spinning was normally done beneath the desk level and out of sight of his opponent. If his opponent was absent from the board, which was also common then as now, then he might do it a bit higher.

Certainly no opponent expressed any concerns about his action.

Sounds to me like he was "bashing the bishop" under the table!

[Mick Norris]

Greek worry beads (kompoloi) might be the appropriate arbiters' accessory except they are probably in short supply right now due to the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Gelfand substitutes by using a spare piece. It's probably not been tested in top class play, but the clack clack of a set of worry beads could easily be considered distracting by the arbiters.

Isn't that also distracting? I've seen an arbiter ask a player to stop fidding with a space piece.

I think Boris has the most interesting body language of any top player, and his piece twirling is amusing to watch

An interesting study would be to correlate the twirling with the evaluation of the position on the board, and see if Boris is subconsciously giving away his thoughts on the position

I know Grischuk plays poker, but I assume Boris does not!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Sounds to me like he was "bashing the bishop" under the table!

This is annoying. I will never now be able to watch Gelfand twirling those pieces without the wrong sort of mental images popping into my mind.

An interesting study would be to correlate the twirling with the evaluation of the position on the board, and see if Boris is subconsciously giving away his thoughts on the position

Forgot to do this, but maybe someone can do this from the video feed?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

For the record, Carlsen (7/10), Aronian (6.5/10), and Kramnik (6/10) all won today (against Gelfand, Grischuk and Ivanchuk), opening up a 1.5 point gap between them and the rest of the field (Svidler and Radjabov drew).

[Jonathan Bryant]

For the record, Carlsen (7/10), Aronian (6.5/10), and Kramnik (6/10) all won today (against Gelfand, Grischuk and Ivanchuk), opening up a 1.5 point gap between them and the rest of the field (Svidler and Radjabov drew).

Yes, and Jonathan Rogers of this parish can claim some of the credit for Vlad's win. If I was him I think I'd have been tempted to have pointed that out by now!

If opening moves (9 ... Bd7 in the Berlin in this case) could be patented and you got an elo point commision for every time they're used, I wonder what JR's rating would be now.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

In terms of the individual clashes (the mini-matches of 2 games), some more results for those (there are 28 mini-matches in total):

Carlsen 2-0 Gelfand
Aronian 2-0 Ivanchuk
Kramnik 1.5-0.5 Svidler (win with White)
Grischuk 1.5-0.5 Ivanchuk (win with White)
Svidler 1.5-0.5 Radjabov (win with White)
Gelfand 1.5-0.5 Radjabov (win with Black)
Kramnik 1.5-0.5 Grischuk (win with Black)
Radjabov 1-1 Ivanchuk (2 wins for White)
Aronian 1-1 Gelfand (2 wins for White)
Carlsen 1-1 Aronian (2 draws)
Carlsen 1-1 Kramnik (2 draws)
Grischuk 1-1 Svidler (2 draws)

For those 24 games, nine wins for White, four for Black, eleven draws.

Overall so far, 40 games: ten wins for White, six for Black, twenty-four draws.

[John McKenna]

Grischuk handed the point to Kramnik on a plate in R10. Even the miserable 17.e6!?! - opening some lines - would have been more promising than what happened in the game. Will Grischuk lose to Carlsen and Aronian, too, in the coming rounds? Or will he do someone an even bigger favour by beating one or both of them? Of course, if he goes into the Spanish again he will be lucky to draw on current form.

[PeterTurland]

Daniel King thinks this was Carlsen's finest game of the tournament, I think it was a masterpiece, that will be referred to again and again, have a look