Vishy Anand (8) 1/2 Veselin Topalov (7)
Magnus Carlsen (7.5) 1/2 Teimour Radjabov (6.5)
Peter Leko (5) 1/2 Levon Aronian (7)
Alexei Shirov (5) 1/2 Vassily Ivanchuk (6)
Final Standings
1. Anand 8.5
2. Carlsen 8.0
3-4. Aronian, Topalov 7.5
5.Radjabov 7.0
6. Ivanchuk 6.5
7-8. Shirov, Leko 5.5
Congratulations to Anand for winning the tournament and Carlsen for a fine showing in another elite tournament.
What is your final impression of this tournament? What are some of the biggest surprises?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Anand did what he had to do. Carlsen played fighting chess and surely is the welcome surprise of the tourney.
Our impression in Spain today is that we are all in mourning.
We have our elections held on Sunday and they don’t want us to vote. They’ve killed a person.
Please, join the spanish websites against terrorist group ETA.
http://myhaka.blogspot.com/2008/03/eta-are-terrorists.html
ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Anand is so boooooring. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz
The surprise to me was the number of mistakes GM’s commited. Carlsen should never have had 8 points. It’s amazing to see Topalov have 9 results. Though i’m a Vishy fan, my hats off to Topalov n carlsen for playing openings to win. The final result just goes on to show people who take risks go on to win. No wonder kramnik hates such events. Another surprise was radjabovs opening. Though i don’t know much abt chess, i know GM’s don’t prefer f5. And whats with Anand winnin 3 in a row with black pieces. Thats surprising too…cheers
Magnus Carlsen surely should impress even his enemies. He performed excellently among the best.
Congratulations!
the whole tournament was exciting ! many great fights, many novelties, i take off my hat !!!
Surprise, Carlson did not collapse
The biggest surprise is Carlsen. Some one year + he debuted in this league in Tal memorial 2006 and shortly therafter Corus 2007. Only a year after he is actually rather close to wining both Corus and M/L solely. He’s just growing faster that an mind can grasp. And he’s not playing the safe, boring, thought-out way, but creative, dangerous and risky. He makes chess (again). I am just so impressed.
Carlsen was the big surprise, but if one looks at his games, there were several where he was quite fortunate to have gained a point. He obviously is not too impressed by his opponents nor discouraged by setbacks – when his opponents blunder he has jumped on them. As a younger player, he may still have some ups and downs but he is clearly on the rise and if he keeps up to form, he’ll be a fixture in the super-duper GM group for the next 10-15 years.
2009 will be the year of King Magnus!
The Glutenous Mass has spoken!
Nice success for Anand at the end of his career (Sorry for saying that, but IMO Kramnik will win the Championship later this year in Bonn)
Carlsen is the coming man. In about 1-2 years he will be nearly unbeatable and will win all the big tourneys for some years to come…
Well this tournament involved traveling back and forth across 2 continents, playing in different time zones and under different climatic conditions. Anand has adapted well by not dropping a single game in the second half. At his age and ranking, he has more to lose than younger players who can afford to risk more, as they can make up at a later age, so it’s not surprising to see Anand play a little conservatively.
Besides, he’s probably saving all the novelties and opening preparation for his upcoming match with Kramnik.
Is he going to play in M-Tel?
Anand demonstrated stability, which is a synonym of CLASS.
Chess world should be proud of having a such champion.
I think it’s easily time we stopped being surprised by Carlsen’s results.
He obviously is the real deal but the thing that is a little surprising is
he is completely fearless and goes after everyone. He reminds me of Fischer in this way. The simplest positions he is trying to win. I think everyone who sits across the board from him will begin to feel the pressure from this. Congrats to Anand. The goal is to win the tournament and thats what Anand did. He’s 39 now and of course has to pace himself. Those who criticize his draws don’t understand competitive chess. He reached his goal.