2012 World Chess Championship – Candidates Tournament – Semifinals Analysis
For Will Stewart’s full article on the 2012 World Chess Championship – Candidates Tournament, Semi-finals please visit his site with full interactive PGN’s and extra content.
2011 World Championship – Quarterfinals. Kamsky pulled a total upset by defeating Topalov and Boris Gelfand played many interesting games against Mamedyarov. Although Gelfand ultimately defeated Mamedyarov he held his own in the tournament leading to some interesting positions. Grischuk eliminated Aronian using a very patient style that is uncommon to the player (which he also used to eliminate Kramnik in the semi-finals). Kramnik’s performance was a bit erratic and I properly predicted that he would be eliminated in the semifinals.
Grischuk defeats Kramnik in tie-breaker after 4 draws.
Kramnik was defeated by a strategy he often employs himself, playing like a venus flytrap, playing carefully and cautiously until his opponent commits even the smallest of blunders for him to start the attack. This time it was Grischuk who, though usually associated as an aggressive player, decided to use against Kramnik. Ultimately Kramnik did make a few small blunders in the tie-breaker round which ultimately cost him his chance to move on into the finals.
Watch Grischuk defeat Kramnik in the tie-breaker to move onto the finals
Game Summary: Rapid Tiebreaker Game 1: Kramnik (RUS, 2785) Vs Grischuk (RUS, 2747) – After drawing 4 games in regulation time and 4 rapid tiebreaker games, the players moved to the blitz tiebreaker sudden death format. Kramnik chose to open the game with his customary nf3 and c4, while Grischuk answered with c5, nc6, and entered a classical Dragon position as black. No surprise as Kramnik chose a very solid positional line that typically offers very little chance of losing — the Maroczy Bind. Black maintained an active position without weaknesses, white pressed too hard with a superficial attack, and Grischuk was able to achieve a decisive material and positional advantage which he later converted to a win. A fine game by Alexander Grischuk, and it will certainly be interesting to see his coming Finals match with experienced veteran Boris Gelfand.
Gata Kamsky starts out strong but still eliminated by Boris Gelfand
I really had my hopes up for Gata Kamsky this year, especially after he took out Topalov in a stunning upset. The chance of someone from USA taking on the world champion had me quite excited. Ultimately, Kamsky’s hunger for the world title was still not enough to overcome the experienced veteran GM Boris Gelfand. Kamsky won the third game of their rapid tiebreaker, and Boris was in a dire situation as only a win in the fourth game would enable him to hold on and play in the rapid tiebreakers. I thought Kamsky’s choice of opening in this fourth game was second-best, by playing 1. e4 he allowed Boris to immediately stir up dynamic counter-play in the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian. Israel super GM Boris Gelfand dug deep and took advantage of Kamsky’s indecisive opening play and went on to earn a well-deserved point to even the match and take it to double overtime. Kamsky was evidently quite shaken by this turn of events, and proceeded to lose the first blitz tiebreaker through a basic miscalculation of a Bishop vs Knight endgame. Following this mishap, Kamsky faced a must-win situation where he tried to push too hard, too early with an aggressive variation of the Dutch defense. Gelfand skillfully defended and demonstrated his opponent’s attack to be superficial.
Watch the game where Kamsky lost against Gelfand, which forced a tie-breaker round
Game Summary: 2011 Candidates Tournament, Semifinals Game 4: Gata Kamsky (USA, 2732) Vs Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2733) – At this point Gelfand was in a must-win situation to stay alive in this semifinals match, as Kamsky had won game 3 and only required a draw in this game to proceed to the finals. I’m skeptical of Kamsky’s opening choice of e4 in this game, as Gelfand is very experienced in playing the Sicilian which allows black to achieve very sharp, dynamic positions. As Kamsky only needed a draw to move on to the finals, I think opening with d4 would have been a more prudent choice. Gelfand responded with a strange move order including an early qb6, and Kamsky failed to find an active plan as white. As black was able to skillfully exploit the tactical opening of the center, white’s position collapsed. A fantastic game by Gelfand, coming through in the clutch and forcing the 2nd tiebreaker in the form of blitz playoffs.
World Championship Tournament – Finals: Predictions
The finals have already started on May 19th and are consisting of a 6 game classical match, which will be followed by tiebreakers if necessary. Pro-poker player Alexander Grischuk (Russia, 2747) will face off against experienced élite Boris Gelfand (Israel, 2733). It’s unlikely that Grischuk will change his “painstaking patience” match strategy, knowing if he opens with e4 that Gelfand is extremely comfortable playing any type of Sicilian dangerously. My prediction for this match is 11 consecutive draws (so far it seems to be headed this way), and Grischuk finally winning a game in blitz tiebreaker out of a complicated Grunfeld. I think Anand will dismantle either of these guys with his extensive match experience, creative aggression, and powerful intuition of critical moments.
What are your prediction for the finals? Thanks for reading.
Excellent stuff!
Keep up the good work.