A thrilling match with the comeback kid

Chess: Thriller loss for Magnus Carlsen

Armenia’s Levon Aronian, ranked as number five in the world, finally won against Norway’s Magnus Carlsen (16) in a thrilling tiebreaker in the candidate matches.

There were 16 chess players who went to Elista in Russia to vie for onlyfour candidate spots in the World Cup Chess Final. Each player must win 2rounds of six-game matches in order to win a seat at the World Cup Final,which will be held in Mexico City later this year. Unfortunately Magnus Carlsen lost his chance in the second tiebreaker after having played some extraordinary chess in his first 6-round qualifying match.

Match game 1

In game one Magnus played with the white pieces, which is considered to be an advantage. However, Aronian played a beautiful rock sacrifice in which Magnus could not accept. After having played a wrong move, Magnus had to soon resign this game. It was the worst thinkable start for Magnus. 1-0 to Aronian. The next day and next game, both players accepted an early draw after 21 moves. Score 1.5-0.5 to Aronian.

Comeback number 1

Magnus started with the white pieces, and got a slight advantage in the opening. He used all the potential in this advantage and turned it into a winning endgame. It was nice win for Magnus. This win equalized the score for the first time. Score 1.5-1.5

Comeback number 2

In the fourth game, it was Aronian’s turn to use the white pieces. Aronian got an early lead, and Magnus was lagging behind. Magnus could not find any resistance against Aronian’s attack and lost. Score 2.5-1.5 to Aronian. In game five Magnus showed that he had nerves of steel and stroke back withanother nice win with white. This win was almost identical with his first win. The score was again equalised. Score 2.5-2.5. In the last and the sixth game, Aronian with his white pieces tried to pressure Magnus to defeat. But Magnus found an escape from the pressure and managed to draw. The match become a draw with the score 3-3. A tiebreak had to be played to find the candidate for semi-final.

Here is the full story.