It's Carlsen and Aronian

Levon Aronian

Magnus Carlsen has a habit of finishing strongly in major tournaments. Here a last round win against Hikaru Nakamura enabled him to catch the previous leader Levon Aronian, who drew his game. Aronian had to defend carefully in a long game in order to avoid defeat, and now provisionally becomes the World No.2 for the first time. The other winner was Peter Svidler who beat an out-of-sorts Vladimir Kramnik.

In the key match for the title, Ian Nepomniachtchi sacrificed the exchange for an attack. The pre-round leader, Levon Aronian, was able to exchange queens, but with one pawn plus a good bishop pair in an open position the young Russian had enough compensation. Nepomniachtchi pressed, and won a second pawn, but by this time Black's rooks were well able to meet any threats. Aronian ultimately gave back the exchange for a dead drawn rook endgame.

The winner of Sergey Karjakin and Vassily Ivanchuk had a chance to join the lead, so both players played aggressively. Ivanchuk grabbed his opponent's b-pawn, whereupon Karjakin engineered tactical chances against Black's weakened kingside. Once the queens came off, Black's extra pawn gave him a pull, but his pawns were split and Karjakin was able to blockade.

Viswanathan Anand was able to draw with Black against Boris Gelfand, making it nine out of nine! He had the slightly inferior pawn structure, but was sufficiently active to obtain full equality.

In the all-Russian battle, Vladimir Kramnik played an ambitious combination where he gave up two pieces for a rook, the idea being to leave his opponent discoordinated. Nevertheless, Svidler found the time to snatch the a-pawn and gradually organize his forces. Later the passed a-pawn proved to be a decisive advantage.

Magnus Carlsen undertook to snatch the American's e-pawn, at the risk of exposing his king. However there was no real attack and Hikaru Nakamura found himself obliged to exchange queens. He sought solace in an opposite-bishop endgame a pawn down, but had to give a second pawn to release his king. This proved to be too much, and Carlsen was able to win.

Here is a summary of the final round games:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening descri ption
Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	0.5-0.5	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	29	Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	0-1	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	58	Queen's Indian Defence 4...Ba6
Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	0.5-0.5	Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	85	Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	44	English Opening
Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	0.5-0.5	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	42	Sicilian Kan

The final table:

Rank	Name	Country	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Points	Expected score	Elo +/-
1-2	Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	½	5½	4.9	+6
1-2	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	5½	5.2	+3
3-5	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	5	4.3	+7
3-5	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	½	5	3.9	+11
3-5	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	0	½	½	½	*	½	1	½	½	1	5	4.5	+5
6-7	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	4½	4.9	-4
6-7	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	0	½	½	½	0	½	*	1	½	1	4½	4.2	+3
8-9	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	*	½	½	3½	4.9	-14
8-9	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	3½	4.0	-5
10	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	½	0	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	*	3	4.2	-12

At the top, Carlsen's small rating gain is significant, as he is (provisionally) at a higher rating than ever before.

Aronian's six point gain, allied with Anand's four point loss, should see the Armenian overtake the Indian and thus become World number 2.

However, these observations may only be of temporary value, as they could well change in the London Classic which takes place next month.

An excellent coming of age result for Ian Nepomniachtchi who, despite being the lowest ranked, didn't lose a game.

Lower down, after a poor start to the event, Boris Gelfand finally escaped from last place due to Hikaru Nakamura losing two of his last three games.

The biggest loser in the Elo points stakes however was Vladimir Kramnik who shed 14 points and so loses his 2800 status.

Details of the earlier games:

The first round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening description
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	0.5-0.5	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	34	Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	0.5-0.5	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	42	Nimzoindian 4.Qc2
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	1-0	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	61	Grünfeld 4.e3
Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	0-1	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	53	English Symmetrical
Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	0.5-0.5	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	57	Queen's Indian 4.g3 Ba6

The second round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening description
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	1-0	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	38	Slav Defence 4.e3
Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	0.5-0.5	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	43	Sicilian Najdorf 6.Be2
Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	0.5-0.5	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	23	Caro-Kann Advance
Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	0.5-0.5	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	76	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	0.5-0.5	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	49	Queen's Gambit Tarrasch

The third round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening description
Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	0-1	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	59	Open Catalan
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	0-1	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	48	Grünfeld Exchange 7.Bc4
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	0.5-0.5	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	27	Grünfeld (Russian Variation)
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	0-1	Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	57	Spanish Berlin
Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	0.5-0.5	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	41	English (Botvinnik)

The fourth round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening description
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	0.5-0.5	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	67	Nimzoindian 4.Qc2
Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	0.5-0.5	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	40	Reti Opening
Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	0.5-0.5	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	85	Sicilian Dragon
Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	0.5-0.5	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	60	Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	0.5-0.5	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	57	Chebanenko Slav

The fifth round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening description
Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	0.5-0.5	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	26	Sicilian Kan
Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	0.5-0.5	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	62	Grünfeld Defence 4.Bg5
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	0.5-0.5	Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	53	Queen's Gambit Declined 3...Be7
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	0.5-0.5	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	36	Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	0.5-0.5	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	76	Grünfeld 4.Bf4

The sixth round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening description
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	0.5-0.5	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	53	Grünfeld Defence (Exchange 7 .Bc4)
Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	0.5-0.5	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	40	Nimzoindian Defence (4.Qc2)
Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	0.5-0.5	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	40	Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	0.5-0.5	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	42	English (Anti-Grünfeld, Qb3)
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	0.5-0.5	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	36	Queen's Gambit Declined (Lasker)

The seventh round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening description
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	0.5-0.5	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	29	Grünfeld Defence (Exchange 7 .Be3)
Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	0.5-0.5	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	58	English Opening
Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	0.5-0.5	Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	38	Spanish with d3
Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	0.5-0.5	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	48	Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	0-1	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	40	Grünfeld Defence 4.Bf4

The eighth round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Moves	Opening descri ption
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	0.5-0.5	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	33	King's Indian Defence (Sämisch)
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	0.5-0.5	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	40	Sicilian (Moscow)
Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	1-0	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	54	Grünfeld Defence 4.Bf4
Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	0.5-0.5	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	44	Catalan Opening
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	0.5-0.5	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	41	Semi-Slav 6.Qc2

More information from the official site:

http://www.russiachess.org/

Live games from 2pm local time

12 noon Paris, Madrid

11 am London

6am New York

3am Los Angeles

10pm Sydney