Carlsen, Jakovenko and Topalov win in great 8th round Pearl Spring
6 October 2009, 16.00 CET | Last modified: 21:06 | By Peter Doggers | Filed under: Reports | Tags:
In a fantastic 8th round of the Pearl Spring tournament all three games were decided: Topalov crushed Leko with Black in a Grünfeld, Jakovenko grinded down Radjabov in a Dragon ending and in a tough Slav fight that should have ended in a draw, Carlsen profited from a wrong check by Wang Yue.
The 2nd Pearl Spring tournament takes place September 27 – October 9 in Nanjing, China. It’s a 6-player, double round-robin with Topalov (2813), Carlsen (2772), Leko (2762), Radjabov (2757), Jakovenko (2742) and Wang Yue (2736) playing for a € 250,000 prize fund. The rate of play is 40 moves in 90 minutes plus 1 hour.
Round 8
Today we saw clearly the best round of the tournament so far, with three decisive games. Topalov went away with the full point the quickest, and it’s hard to avoid calling it a win in Kasparov-style.
To start with, the Bulgarian used the same Grünfeld line that was played by Kasparov in Valencia and Carlsen against Leko two days ago. But more importantly, after choosing the more active 12…c4 (instead of Carlsen’s 12…Nc4), he used a prepared double pawn sacrifice (17…f5!, 22…f4!) to immediately grab a strong initiative. Leko didn’t have a good answer and before he knew it the Hungarian was defending a lost position. It was the highly effective opening preparation combined with the complete dominance with the black pieces that reminded Topalov’s win of the times The Boss was still around at top tournaments.
And if we go a bit further back in time: what always impressed me most of Anatoly Karpov as a reigning champion, was the way he used 1.e4 positionally. Sharp lines like the Keres Attack or the Dragon were always treated in such a crystal-clear manner, where simple, healthy moves often proved much more effective than the aggressive interpretation of players who tried to be the new Tal. This is how Jakovenko beat Radjabov today: answering his opponent’s new opening idea with healthy moves, and converting a better endgame into a win using excellent technique.
But the richest game of the round was Carlsen-Wang Yue, which can be analysed for days and days to come. It started with the sharp 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 Slav that was tested in both World Championship matches between Alekhine and Euwe and which was re-introduced at top level by Morozevich.
After the opening Black was fine and perhaps more than that, if Wang Yue had answered Carlsen’s bishop sacrifice with the tricky 23…Ne7. In the game White got the better chances, and even had a clear win at move 32 which both players missed. After move 40 was reached, the ending with an extra pawn for White should have been a draw, and Wang Yue defended well for a long time, but eventually the continuous pressure became too much even for the tough Chinese; one careless check and the position was suddenly lost. Walking through a minefield, the black king managed to avoid the many mates, but then suddenly the knight was lost.
Carlsen, who now beat every player in the tournament once, still has that amazing two point lead in the standings, just two games before the end. It means he can enjoy the second restday on Wednesday with the knowledge that has already won the Pearl Spring Grand Slam at least shared. Not to mention his performance rating, which went over 3000 again (3019 to be exact)! He won’t surpass Topalov on the rating list, but suddenly there’s a new goal on the horizon: trying to reach 2800 himself – just 3.6 points to go…
Games round 8
Game viewer by ChessTempo
2nd Pearl Spring (Nanjing) 2009 | Round 8 Standings
2nd Pearl Spring (Nanjing) 2009 | Schedule & results
Magnus Carlsen, on a bed of roses
Veselin Topalov, going for second place this time
Wang Yue, seven draws and one loss now
Dmitry Jakovenko must be content with his play today
Peter Leko, victim of devastating opening preparation
Teimour Radjabov, sharing last place with Leko
Links
- Pearl Spring website
- Gujuan Tzu’s blog
- Ye Rongguang’s photo blog
- Pearl Spring games in PGN
- Women GP website
- Women GP games in PGN
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It’s great -as always- to read your extra fast article about the round. Analisis included! Thank you very much.
I’m not gonna be original: Carlsen is going up. This is one moment, or i mean: this is the moment when Carlsen shows that he is better than most of the players. Come on, he won one game against everyone in the tournament. Carlsen is just 18, and he is showing his potential. There are only one way in the future: the way of the undisputed first place in the whole word.
Carlsen is close to it. Very close.
Yes, the boy is going far and fast. I suspect he’ll be number one for a very very long time so let’s not rush him!!
i just think this carlsen dude i great, he plays with a calm no one has had since kasparov… he`s already nr 1 in the world in my book
Carlsen just need a draw to win the tournament.
TPR 3019 after 8 rounds???
Geez…
He demonstrated here that he is the best player of the world.
And I think he will achieve the highest rating ever..
Weird to compare achievements of Kasparov..
Correction. I think that Carlsen already won this tournament. Even if Topalov wins his 2 remaining games and if Carlsen loses both of his two, Carlsen wins by tiebreak.
I have some scores (all forms of chess put together) of Carlsen against other top players. Points I listed includes draws. According to my database they are following. And then I also list the scores only in year 2009 and in 2009 he is only worse with Aronian and Kramnik.
Carlsen (11) – Topalov (7) +
Carlsen (13) – Anand (19) -
Carlsen (5) – Kramnik (11) -
Carlsen (15) – Aronian (20) -
Carlsen (14.5) – Leko (15.5) -
Carlsen (3.5) – Grischuk (6.5) -
Carlsen (18.5) – Ivanchuk (18.5) =
In 2009
Carlsen (4.5) – Topalov (1.5) +
Carlsen (3) – Anand (1) +
Carlsen (1) – Kramnik (3) -
Carlsen (1.5) – Aronian (3.5) -
Carlsen (3.5) – Leko (2.5) +
Carlsen (1.5) – Grischuk (0.5) +
Carlsen (7.5) – Ivanchuk (6.5) +
Harish Srinivasan: You must have included both rapid and blitz games in these scores, because in classical chess, his score against Aronian should be much more even by now.
He is indeed.. but its kinda hard for him to get over the Kramm and Aroni barrier.
Yes, you are right. Kramnik and Aronian are the real guys, as Anand grows older. Kramnik’s rating is always understated as he is making a relatively high percentage of draws due to his style. But he is, I think, still stronger than Carlsen.
Has anyone noticed that Wonderboy has not been able to beet any of the Patzers twice? Dropping half points all over the place. No way he’s gonna get to 3000 if he plays like this.
I assume that’s meant ironically?
Hahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s funny
Coco Loco….. Yes, that must be your name!!!! He`s been playing at over 3000 in this tournement already….. Your comment must be ment as a joke. To me it`s is clear that he will be number 1 for years to come and probably be over 3000 for many, if not all of those years.
Remember: This is the first year he is a 100% devoted to chess. You can already see the result of that. I am afraid you have to eat your words. Bon Apetite!!!
Carlsen performance is 3000+, anyone know of other 3000+ tournament victories, there cannot be that many.
It’s too early to look for ‘other’ 3000+ tournament victories, since we haven’t seen this one yet: unless Carlsen wins both remaining games, he’ll drop below 3000 TPR.
That said, having a 3000+ performance after 8 rounds must be pretty rare.
It’s also worth noting that the talk of ratings, or of aiming to get higher than Topalov, isn’t quite so silly as some have been suggesting. As far as I’m aware, Carlsen hasn’t qualified for the candidates’ tournament yet, and there’s an automatic spot available for the highest rated player who hasn’t already qualified by some other means (right??). He already has the tournament won, but is far from assured from qualification for the candidates’ tournament (unless I’m missing something).
Being the highest rated player is of more than cosmetic value in this context.
I seem to be wrong above: a win and a draw should be enough for 3000+ overall. That’s much more probable of course – though still far from a certainty.
I think Topalov was about TPR of 3000 when he won convincingly San Luis WC.
“a win in Kasparov-style”
What’s that???
)
It surely was in Topalov-style instead! (maybe in Topalov x Kasparov
If it is because of Kasparov being older, maybe we should go back to what? Morphy? From then on we have many other potencial inspirers.
Ok, I’m a Fisher fan myself, every good chess is in his style!
Aronian is still the best performer in 2009 and in my opinion , the biggest obstacle for Carlsen in the years to come with Topalov . I don’t think Levon is weaker than Carlsen at the moment
Anand and Kramnik are far from finished also . But i do think that Magnus will dominate the chess world at some point , when he’ll be more experienced probably cause he’s only 19 .
Yeah man, if you can’t win twice of those noobs, you can better find another job.
@JC: As I said before:
1) There are two rating qualifiers for the candidates tournament
2) Aronian (via the Grand Prix) as well as Anand or Topalov (whoever loses in their match) are already qualified. And the winner of their match will be world champion and won’t play the candidates tournament.
So we can safely count Carlsen as another qualifier by now. Currently Kramnik seems to have the best chances for the other spot, but he probably cannot permit himself a bad result at Tal Memorial and/or the London supertournament. Both events will (should) be rated for the January 2010 list which (together with the July 2009 list) determines the rating qualifiers.
As far as “Carlsen will be over 3000 for many years to come” is concerned: too early to tell by now. The last player having a comparable performance rating was Ivanchuk at MTel 2008 (8/10, TPR 2977), we all now that – to say the least – he couldn’t confirm this “superduper” level. Of course Carlsen tends to be more stable than Chucky, still I would not, or at least not necessarily expect him to play at such a high level in all or most of his future tournamennts
Question: I notice that everyone is talking about Carlsen and potential. Noting that the “Mozart of chess” is only 18; can anyone tell me at what age a player is usually fully developed? At what age they are usually at their best?? Being a GM at the age of 13 he is obviously a remarkable casestudy…..
One has to raise the question wether we can concider him in the same sence as other GM`s when it comes to age. Am i wrong??
I remember a comment from either Anand or Aronian after a game against Carlsen in 2008: “We can beat him now, but in a few years it will most likely be somewhat impossible.” This most certainly has to do with age and development….
If he reaches 2800 after this tournament he will be the youngest player ever to achieve that level on the ratings. Could Aronian/Anand be right with the above statement????
Where did you get information that the average of July 2009 and January 2010 will be used as rating qualifiers for Candidates matches?
No 3000+ TPR but almost:
Karpov at Linares 1994
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1003311
Karpov won his first 6 games! Wins against Topalov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Gelfand,..only 4 draws after 13 rounds
Carlssen performance is amazing, but I value Karpov’s performance higher at this tournament even if MC wins his last two games
The middle term objective for Carlsen is to break the Kasparov’s record of the youngest ever chess champion.
Kasparov became champion at the age of 22 years and 7 months.
Carlsen is turning 19 at the end of November.
The world championship match between Anand and Topalov will be in 2010 and FIDE announced that there will be a world championship match every 2 years. The next match could be either in 2011 (as previously announced) or in 2012.
Even if the match will be in 2012, Carlsen will be 22 years and 1 month the most.
The conclusion:
The only chance for Carlsen of breaking Kasparov’s record of the youngest chess champion is to win the next world championship match.
I think that’s why he’s pressing so hard now.
Carlsen’s calm during games reminds me of Roger Federer!
I wonder then who will be Nadal or Del Potro.
@”me”: The official document is http://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/regscandidates.pdf
See also the report here:
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/candidates-matches-regulations-published-who-will-qualify/
But initially (prior to the official FIDE announcement) it was mentioned by frogbert (Hans-Arild Runde) on Dailydirt based on “a reliable and trustworthy source”. The issue at the time was also whether MTel (Shirov finishing first) and/or Poikovsky (Shirov finishing last) would be rated for the July 2009 list. Both events were late in submitting their reports which could have biased the official ELO of Shirov (as well as other potential qualifiers for the candidates tournament). In the end, both tournaments were rated.
Heh, how could I missed that in regulations {slap on the forehead}
Thanks Thomas.
Unless Carlsen drops a lot of rating points until January he will surely qualify by rating. Second spot will be hard fought between Kramnik, Leko, Radjabov, Jakovenko, Morozevich and Gelfand. With a good run any one of those can qualify.
Your list of “candidates for the candidates tournament” may be based on the July 2009 list, when those six names were within ten points of each other. Since then, Kramnik created a gap by winning Dortmund, and Jakovenko fell behind (poor result at the Jermuk Grand Prix).
What’s left, what’s next?
- Radjabov, Leko and Jakovenko play Nanjing
- Gelfand currently plays at the European Club Cup
- Kramnik, Leko, Morozevich and Gelfand will play the Tal Memorial (when their games against each other “count double”: whatever you win your competitor loses)
- Kramnik plays in London
- most other players on the list (but not Leko) will play the World Cup
- maybe (but I doubt it) there will be another Grand Prix tournament with Radjabov, Jakovenko, Leko and Gelfand
Anything else I missed? [maybe various team competitions, unless they are only rated at the end of the season]
If things get close … : “From a selfish point of view” Kramnik probably likes the fact that his colleague, friend and competitor Leko seems to lose a few rating points in Nanjing!?
what this guys are wearing would like to see them playing in Afrika Carlsen sucks Topalov is the best sorry:)))
“maybe (but I doubt it) there will be another Grand Prix tournament ”
Things will get messy if FIDE skip the last GP event, that would just disqualify the whole three-year series (after moving the last tournament to 2010).
I think they will push it through somehow. If you take away all the changes, it was an interesting series with many interesting games with some names you don’t see very often in top tournaments. It weren’t always the same faces who were playing against each other. Grand Prix oppened the doors for Wang Yue and Gashimov at least. Few heard of them before Grand Prix. And this is what chess needs.
I like the Grand Prix and would like to see it in the next cycle too (but without changes and all the back and forths)
@gg: Now I have to ask: Where did you find that the last GP tournament was moved to 2010? Did you even find its location?
But generally I am with you that it will take place some time, somewhere, somehow. I also agree with “me” that the GP was/still is an interesting series of events – and worthy of repetition if we only look at the players participating and the quality (as well as quantity?) of top-level chess. My comment just referred to which top-level events will still take place in 2009 and will be rated for the January 2010 list – I thought this was clear from the context.
BTW, Peter Svidler ( http://www.psvidler.net/ ) still has the GP in his agenda December 7-23, location “to be determined”. But it seems that he hasn’t updated this part of his webpage in a while … .