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Magnus Carlsen triumphed at Zurich. He stormed through the classical part, with 4 points from five. However, he was lucky in that Hikaru Nakamura blundered in a winning position. Despite that hiccup, Carlsen's performance rated out at above 3000 Elo and his rating will climb to 2881.
Levon Aronian did a good job until the last round when he lost to Fabiano Caruana. The world number 2 scored 3. Caruana scored fifty per cent. Viswanathan Anand, who lost to Aronian and Nakamura, while beating Boris Gelfand, scored 2 and Nakamura and Gelfand brought up the rear.
The young Italian GM did well in the Rapids where he scored 4, with wins against Nakamura, Carlsen and Anand. Nakamura and Aronian scored 3.5 and 3 respectively, while Carlsen hit a minus score with 2 including a loss to Aronian. Anand was in dreadful form, with losses against Caruana, Nakamura and Aronian.
The rapids only counted for half as much weight in the overall standings so, Carlsen wins Zurich with Caruana second and Aronian third. This tournament confirms that Aronian is now the likeliest and most dangerous challenger for the world title. More sadly, it suggests that time has caught up with Anand and Gelfand. Neither could produce the razor sharp calculation required at this level and their performances were embarrassing in the rapids.
Meanwhile, Vassily Ivanchuk is leading the Gibraltar Open and a draw in the last round would seal a share of first at least for him. The Ukrainian has 7 points from 8 games, with Gata Kamsky and Richárd Rapport sharing second place with 6.5 and 18 players sitting on 6.
THE DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY (Nakamura Vs Carlsen Zurich 2014) is showtime. White is winning with his kingside attack. One way to go could be 37.Qf1! b5 38.Rxh7!! Qxh7 39.Nh6+ Qxh6 40.gxh6 Nd6 41.Qf6 Nxe4 42.h7+ Kxh7 43.Qxf7 Rg8 44.Qf5+ Kxg7 45.Qxe4. Less difficult to see is 37.Ka2 b5 - white's attack will crash through and he's avoided a key counter-threat of Rd1+.
Nakamura was down to his last two minutes and played 37.d6?? Nxd6! 38.Nxd6 Rd8 39.Nc4 ?! Qxe4 Unfortunately 39. Nf5? Rd1+ 40. Ka2 Qe6+ wins for black. This is why 37.Ka2 is strong. White could however, have played the better 39.Nc8 Kxg7 40.Ne7 Rd1+ 41.Ka2 Qe6+ 42.Qxe6 fxe6 43.Rh6 when he has a small edge.
Now, the balance has shifted. 40.Qh5? Maybe 40.Ne3 can hold - this loses 40...Rd3! 41.Rh4 Qf5 42.Qe2 b5 43.Nd2 Qxg5 44.Qxd3 Qxh4 45.Ne4 Kxg7 46.Qf3 Qf4 47.Qg2+ Kf8 48.Kb2 h5 The pawns are worth much more than the Knight.
The world champ finished ruthlessly with 49.Nd2 h4 50.Kc2 b4 51.axb4 cxb4 52.Qa8+ Kg7 53.Qxa4 h3 54.Qb3 h2 55.Qd5 e4! 56.Qh5 e3 57.Nf3 e2 58.Kb3 f6 59.Ne1 Qg3+ 60.Ka4 Qg1 61.Qxe2 Qa7+ (0-1). A great escape.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player
