Candidates tournament Berlin 2018

Tournament winner Caruana on matchday 10 in the game against Məmmədyarov

The 2018 Candidates Tournament was held from March 10th to 27th, 2018 in Berlin - Kreuzberg in the "Kühlhaus Berlin" to determine the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen at the 2018 World Chess Championship . The latter took place in London from November 9th to 28th, 2018 .

Eight top players in the world qualified in different ways for the candidates tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE . American Fabiano Caruana was the winner of the double-round tournament and thus the upcoming challenger with 9 points from 14 games.

Attendees

The following eight candidates applied for the right to challenge world champion Carlsen in a duel for the title:

player	Qualification path	Elo rating (as of March 2018)	World ranking position (as of March 2018)
Sergei Karjakin	1) the loser of the 2016 World Chess Championship	2763	13
Levon Aronjan	2) The two best placed winners of the Chess World Cup 2017 who were not already qualified after 1)	2794	05
Ding Liren		2769	11
Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov	3) the two best placed winners of the FIDE Grand Prix 2017 who were not already qualified after 1) or 2)	2809	02
Alexander Grishchuk		2767	12
Wesley So	4) the two players who averaged the best Elo rating in 2017 and were not already qualified according to 1), 2) or 3); they must have participated in the 2017 World Cup or the 2017 Grand Prix	2799	04th
Fabiano Caruana		2784	08th
Vladimir Kramnik	5) Players nominated by the organizer with an Elo rating of at least 2725	2800	03

The debutants Ding Liren (left) and Wesley So in the 10th round on the way to a draw  - for Ding the tenth in a row

In the case of the qualification of either the world champion or an already qualified candidate, the next placed could move up, taking into account special rules in the event of a tie. For Ding und So it was the first participation in a candidate tournament. Kramnik had previously been world champion.

If players who had been fixed for the Candidates Tournament would not have been able to compete, Teymur Rəcəbov , who placed next in the FIDE Grand Prix, would have moved up first , followed by the players with the highest average rating in 2017.

mode

The players played a double round-robin tournament . The first round started on March 10th. The following criteria were decisive for the placement in the final ranking (in the event of a tie, the following criterion):

1. the number of points scored,
2. the direct comparison of the tied players,
3. the number of games won,
4. the fine evaluation according to Sonneborn-Berger,
5. a playoff with quick games.

The time to think about was 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and 15 minutes for the rest of the game as well as an additional 30 seconds for each move played (from the first move on).

The main referee was Klaus Deventer from Germany.

Start and course

Alexander Grishchuk (left) and Sergei Karjakin each missed to catch up with one of the two leaders in their draw in the 10th round.

The opening ceremony was held on March 9, 2018. The last of the 14 tournament rounds was played on March 27th.

The pairing list of all 14 rounds was published on February 9, 2018 by the world chess federation FIDE. In the order of the pairings, care was taken that compatriots meet each other as early as possible. The aim was to counter the suspicion of manipulation through agreements on results. Bobby Fischer had such a suspicion raised against the Soviet players at the Curaçao Candidates Tournament in 1962 . As a result of this regulation, the two Russians Kramnik and Grishchuk (1-0) met in the first round as did the two Americans Caruana and So (1-0).

Description of the tournament

Aronjan - Kramnik
3rd round
Final position after 27.… g2 +

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Aronjan gave up. Otherwise, Kramnik would in an extraordinary way Matt put, namely with two successive transformations , each with double chess and Matt: 29. 28. Kh2 G1d ++ Kxg1 f2 + 30 Kg2 F1D #.

Vladimir Kramnik (left) also won the second leg against Levon Aronjan with an attack on the kingside with the white pieces in the 10th round.

Vladimir Kramnik got off to the best start and took the sole lead with two wins and one draw in the first three games before the first day of rest. According to the Tagesspiegel, he succeeded in the 3rd round against Aronjan in an “immortal beautiful game with a bizarre final position” (see illustration). In the fourth round, however, Kramnik lost to Caruana as the attracting player after a changeable course of the game, who in turn came alone to the top. Before the second day of rest in the 6th round, Məmmədyarov caught up with Caruana with a victory over Kramnik - both now one point ahead of the competition, including Ding, who drew all games in the first half, and Karjakin, the title contender from 2016 , in the meantime in the only last place.

In the last of the seven first round games Karjakin landed his first win against So, while Caruana took the lead again with his third game win against Aronjan. In this game, too, it became clear how close the performance of the world's grandmasters' elite is in this candidate tournament: Aronjan, who was already one and a half points behind the top at this point, put Caruana under heavy pressure with material sacrifices before he lost all chances with a mistake and finally gave up.

In the eighth round, Grishchuk was the only winner of the day - after his 91st move in the game against Kramnik - and moved up to third place. In the draw between So and Caruana in the same round, for the first time in the tournament, only the two kings were left on the board, an all the more unusual sight since there had previously been games in which the tie had already been agreed before move 20 ( 6th round: Ding - Karjakin; 7th round: Grishchuk - Məmmədyarov). In the 9th round before the third day of rest, Karjakin was the only one to win, relegating Kramnik to the bottom of the table with 3.5 points, which he now shared with So and Aronjan.

In the top game of the 10th round, Caruana repeated the remism motif with the black pieces against Məmmədyarov with the kings as the last pieces alone on the board, a very rare sight in top chess. The only day winner of the 10th round was Kramnik. In his game against Aronjan a very sharp exchange of blows developed with unclear chances on both sides. “The board was on fire. A wild position, shortly before the end every piece seemed threatened by everyone, everything was in the air. ”On move 36, however, Aronjan made a mistake and enabled a decisive check with his queen move , which would have led to mate or at least a queen loss, which is why Aronjan gave up. Commentator Peter Swidler found it regrettable that a game that was played so well by both sides was lost in this sad way.

Ding - Grishchuk
11th round
position after 91. Rb6 – f6

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Ding had adjusted the diagonal of the bishop with his rook in order to be able to convert his pawn into a queen. But Grishchuk held a draw with 91.… Bxf6 92. Kxf6 Nd5 + 93. Kf7 Ne3! 94. Kf6 Nd5 + 95. Kf7 Ne3 96. g7 Nf5.

In the 11th round Karjakin, who managed the only day's victory with the black stones against Aronjan, moved up to the top ranks with 6 points, only one point behind Caruana and half a point behind Məmmədyarov, but now level with Grishchuk. As a follower, he fended off the loss of the game against Ding with the 96th move in a seven-hour game in which he again made over 90 moves (see diagram). Although he could still have converted his passed pawn into a queen, he would have lost her again immediately with a knight's check and fork . For Ding it was the eleventh draw in a row, so that comparisons have already been made to Anish Giri , who drew 14 times in 14 games at the 2016 Candidates' tournament.

The 12th round brought more drama to the course of the tournament: In the two top games, those who were behind defeated their competitors who had previously been placed at the top. First of all, Ding won his first victory as a trailing player, when he got the upper hand against Məmmədyarov's mating attack after a pawn conversion on a1 with two black queens on the board. Karjakin found an excellent quality sacrifice against Caruana with the white pieces in the Russian game , which brought him long-term strategic advantages and left Black no hope of counterplay. Both players ran out of time , but Karjakin kept a cool head and finally recorded the fourth win and thus crowned his chase. Due to the direct comparison, he even took the lead in the standings with the same number of points ahead of Caruana. Since Grishchuk, like Ding and Məmmədyarov, had 6.5 points after his draw against Aronjan, the top five winners were only half a point apart before the rest day and the two final rounds.

In the 13th and penultimate lap, Caruana regained the lead by beating Aronjan in the second meeting. Məmmədyarov and Grishchuk were both in the situation that a draw would probably not be enough for them to win the tournament and therefore played against each other to win. Curiously, at the end of the game there were again three queens on the board, but in contrast to the game against Ding, Məmmədyarov prevailed against the two ladies from Grishchuk with a mating attack. Along with Caruana and Karjakin, he thus preserved his chance of overall victory in the last lap.

In this, Ding with Black against Karjakin came to two extra farmers, but the fortress that Karjakin had built held up. Məmmədyarov didn't get past a draw in his last game against Kramnik either. As a result, Caruana was certain of the overall winner in a draw before the end of his game. Nevertheless, he played his clearly better position against Grishchuk until he won the game. So he won the tournament by a whole point and qualified for the world championship fight against Magnus Carlsen.

Single round results

1st round, March 10, 2018 Vladimir Kramnik Alexander Grishchuk 1-0 Sergei Karjakin Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov 0: 1 Levon Aronjan Ding Liren ½: ½ Fabiano Caruana Wesley So 1-0 2nd round, March 11, 2018 Alexander Grishchuk (0) Wesley So (0) 1-0 Ding Liren (½) Fabiano Caruana (1) ½: ½ Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (1) Levon Aronjan (½) ½: ½ Vladimir Kramnik (1) Sergei Karjakin (0) ½: ½ 3rd round, March 12, 2018 Sergei Karjakin (½) Alexander Grishchuk (1) ½: ½ Levon Aronjan (1) Vladimir Kramnik (1½) 0: 1 Fabiano Caruana (1½) Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (1½) ½: ½ Wesley So (0) Ding Liren (1) ½: ½ 4th round, March 14, 2018 Alexander Grishchuk (1½) Ding Liren (1½) ½: ½ Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (2) Wesley So (½) ½: ½ Vladimir Kramnik (2½) Fabiano Caruana (2) 0: 1 Sergei Karjakin (1) Levon Aronjan (1) 0: 1 5th round, March 15, 2018 Levon Aronjan (2) Alexander Grishchuk (2) ½: ½ Fabiano Caruana (3) Sergei Karjakin (1) ½: ½ Wesley So (1) Vladimir Kramnik (2½) ½: ½ Ding Liren (2) Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (2½) ½: ½ 6th round, March 16, 2018 Fabiano Caruana (3½) Alexander Grishchuk (2½) ½: ½ Wesley Sun (1½) Levon Aronjan (2½) 1-0 Ding Liren (2½) Sergei Karjakin (1½) ½: ½ Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (3) Vladimir Kramnik (3) 1-0 7th round, March 18, 2018 Alexander Grishchuk (3) Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (4) ½: ½ Vladimir Kramnik (3) Ding Liren (3) ½: ½ Sergei Karjakin (2) Wesley So (2½) 1-0 Levon Aronjan (2½) Fabiano Caruana (4) 0: 1

8th round, March 19, 2018 Alexander Grishchuk (3½) Vladimir Kramnik (3½) 1-0 Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (4½) Sergei Karjakin (3) ½: ½ Ding Liren (3½) Levon Aronjan (2½) ½: ½ Wesley So (2½) Fabiano Caruana (5) ½: ½ 9th round, March 20, 2018 Wesley So (3) Alexander Grishchuk (4½) ½: ½ Fabiano Caruana (5½) Ding Liren (4) ½: ½ Levon Aronjan (3) Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (5) ½: ½ Sergei Karjakin (3½) Vladimir Kramnik (3½) 1-0 10th round, March 22, 2018 Alexander Grishchuk (5) Sergei Karjakin (4½) ½: ½ Vladimir Kramnik (3½) Levon Aronjan (3½) 1-0 Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (5½) Fabiano Caruana (6) ½: ½ Ding Liren (4½) Wesley So (3½) ½: ½ 11th round, March 23, 2018 Ding Liren (5) Alexander Grishchuk (5½) ½: ½ Wesley So (4) Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (6) ½: ½ Fabiano Caruana (6½) Vladimir Kramnik (4½) ½: ½ Levon Aronjan (3½) Sergei Karjakin (5) 0: 1 12th round, March 24, 2018 Alexander Grishchuk (6) Levon Aronjan (3½) ½: ½ Sergei Karjakin (6) Fabiano Caruana (7) 1-0 Vladimir Kramnik (5) Wesley So (4½) ½: ½ Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (6½) Ding Liren (5½) 0: 1 13th round, March 26, 2018 Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (6½) Alexander Grishchuk (6½) 1-0 Ding Liren (6½) Vladimir Kramnik (5½) ½: ½ Wesley So (5) Sergei Karjakin (7) ½: ½ Fabiano Caruana (7) Levon Aronjan (4) 1-0 14th round, March 27, 2018 Alexander Grishchuk (6½) Fabiano Caruana (8) 0: 1 Levon Aronjan (4) Wesley So (5½) ½: ½ Sergei Karjakin (7½) Ding Liren (7) ½: ½ Vladimir Kramnik (6) Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov (7½) ½: ½

Final score

space	player	Pt	TB1 1)	TB2 2)		FC	ŞM	SK	DL	WK	AG	WS	LA
1	Fabiano Caruana	9				-	½½	½0	½½	½1	½1	1½	11
2	Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov	8th	1½			½½	-	½1	0½	1½	1½	½½	½½
3	Sergei Karjakin	8th	½			1½	0½	-	½½	1½	½½	1½	01
4th	Ding Liren	7½				½½	½1	½½	-	½½	½½	½½	½½
5	Vladimir Kramnik	6½	1	3		0½	½0	½0	½½	-	10	½½	11
6th	Alexander Grishchuk	6½	1	2		0½	½0	½½	½½	10	-	1½	½½
7th	Wesley So	6th				½0	½½	½0	½½	½½	½0	-	1½
8th	Levon Aronjan	4½				00	½½	01	½½	00	½½	½0	-

¹⁾ Tie-break 1: direct comparison of tie-points

²⁾ Tie break 2: Number of games won

Of the total of 56 games, 36 ended in a draw, with White winning twelve times and Black eight times.

Comments on the outcome and participant performance

Both games between Caruana (right) and his most persistent pursuer Məmmədyarov ended in a draw.

Caruana, who was already leading after the first half of the season, was on the 6th matchday in the first draw with Grishchuk.

"After two and a half weeks of world-class chess in Berlin, nobody doubted that Fabiano Caruana deserved victory," said Tagesspiegel , and with a view to the final round: "In a clever, patient game, the 25-year-old defeated after more than six hours the Russian Alexander Grishchuk. Once again Caruana showed strong nerves and convinced with a deep understanding of the different positions. "This was the end of a dramatic and in some cases high-class tournament that will be talked about for a long time in the chess world:" Aggressiveness, ability to combine and strong nerves were what made it stand out. "

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung judged Caruana's success in a similar way: with Schwarz he defended himself confidently against Grishchuk and created opportunities to play for profit if necessary. "When the time came and a draw would have been enough, he suddenly wanted more, like Magnus Carlsen once did: He continued the fight with merciless efficiency and after 69 moves crowned the well-deserved tournament success with the fifth victory." According to the unanimous judgment, he was the Observer of the eight candidates who the Norwegian world champion has to fear most, writes the Tagesspiegel and reminds that Caruana won the Sinquefield Cup 2014 in St. Louis with three points ahead of Carlsen and with the Elo number 3103 the highest tournament performance ever measured.

For Karjakin, the Carlsen challenger from 2016, who lost the first round to Məmmədyarov and the fourth to Aronjan with the white pieces, the late comeback only began in the 7th round with the first win against Wesley So. A “ psychological big Point ”he landed in round nine, according to Spiegel Online , when he fended off a strong attack by Kramnik and won the game. On this basis, he was later able to relieve Caruana of the lead again for a short time by outmaneuvering him.

Məmmədyarov (left) defeats Kramnik in the 6th round.

The most spectacular game was shown by the Tagesspiegel Kramnik, who lately aims to win almost every game after having always acted rationally and solidly in the past. After a splendid start he finally got cocky in the fourth round against Caruana in a "wild game" that had proven to be groundbreaking for both sides and lost roughly after losing time after a draw offer. Ultimately, his results were too changeable to be placed any further ahead. For Aronjan, who was one of the favorites in the run-up, initiative and willingness to take risks on the board paid off even less in this tournament: he ended up at the bottom of the table. The three-time blitz chess world champion Grishchuk, who competed for the overall victory up to the penultimate round , demonstrated fighting spirit and tenacity in a series of lengthy games .

The venue was Emanuel Lasker in Berlin

Kühlhaus Berlin (2018)

Circumferential viewer perspective above the stage: left Məmmədyarov (sitting) and Kramnik, right Caruana during the game against Grishchuk in the 6th round

The award of the 2018 Candidates Tournament to Berlin can also be seen as a tribute to the record world champion Emanuel Lasker , whose 150th birthday will be celebrated this year. In 1910 Lasker fought two title fights ( against Schlechter and against Janowski ) in Berlin, which with the Berlin Chess Society is also home to the oldest German chess club still in existence . In 2018, the event audience was able to attend the action on several floors of the cold store according to tiered ticket prices. In the first week of the tournament, according to Tagesspiegel, around 200 tickets per day were sold to a predominantly male audience.

Criticism of the FIDE-commissioned organizer World Chess by Agon Limited came from the tournament participants, who joked about the sanitary facilities available to them during the competition in the daily press conference. According to Tagesspiegel, the organizers spoke of the “charm of improvisation”: The cold store was cool, hip, futuristic, and the players could feel like rock stars. The four venues of the eight candidates, which were open to the outside and at the top, were perceived by them as prone to noise.

According to the Süddeutscher Zeitung , the performances shown were nevertheless remarkable: “The hours of mental work without daylight seem to inspire the grandmasters. Previous candidates' tournaments seldom got as spectacular and combative as before in the cold store. ”Before the last four rounds of the tournament, the Tagesspiegel read:“ The experts literally roll over themselves with praise. Adventurous, wildly exciting, dramatic, innovative, a great battle: It is exciting heartbeat games that shape the tournament. "

Prize money

The prize money for this tournament amounted to 420,000  € and was distributed as follows:

First and second place with main referee Klaus Deventer (right) and Felix Magath (left), who made the first move for Məmmədyarov at the opening of the 10th round

	Prize money	receiver
1st place	€ 95,000	Fabiano Caruana
2nd place	€ 88,000	Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov
3rd place	€ 75,000	Sergei Karjakin
4th Place	€ 55,000	Ding Liren
5th place	€ 40,000	Vladimir Kramnik
6th place	€ 28,000	Alexander Grishchuk
7th place	€ 22,000	Wesley So
8th place	€ 17,000	Levon Aronjan
All in all	€ 420,000

Web links

Commons : Candidates Tournament Berlin 2018  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the organizer
• Video of the press conference on March 9, 2018
• Games on chessgames.com
• Games on theweekinchess.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kramnik receives Wild Card for the 2018 Candidates Tournament. In: Chessbase.com. October 30, 2017, accessed December 5, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Rules & regulations for the Candidates Tournament of the FIDE World Championship cycle 2016–2018. (PDF, 321 kB) In: FIDE.com. Retrieved December 5, 2017 . 
3. ↑ 2018 FIDE Candidates' Tournament Pairings. In: FIDE.com. February 9, 2018, accessed March 8, 2018.
4. ↑ "At the press conference Kramnik said that he had been waiting for years to finally bring this variant with the black pieces that he had devised . The irony of history: This variant only works if White opens with the pawn e4 . Aronian is usually d4 player that knows Kramnik. "( The small bug of the great masters An immortal game and many Matt tricks. The first week of the World Chess Championship-Kandidaturniers in Berlin it had in itself. In: The Tagesspiegel . March 18, 2018, p 20).
5. ↑ “Against the table leader Fabiano Caruana (USA), the 35-year-old with the white pieces put everything on one card, sacrificed material , stood threateningly close to the opposing back row with two pawns, ready for mate or the victorious women's conversion - at To give up the end after a wrong intermediate move with a ruinous position. ”(Der Tagesspiegel, March 20, 2018, p. 17).
6. ↑ Kramnik's chessboard on fire. No preliminary decision at the candidate tournament. In: Der Tagesspiegel. March 24, 2018, p. 21.
7. ↑ Live commentary on the game Kramnik - Aronjan (round 10) on chess24.com by GM  Jan Gustafsson and GM  Peter Swidler , online from 3 h 59 min , accessed on March 22, 2018.
8. ↑ "Your game was perhaps the most exciting so far," writes Ulrich Stock. “The Chinese sacrificed two pawns in order to expose the opposing king in the center and checkmate. The Russian is completely at loss. But he continues to play, perhaps because his thinking time has expired within a few seconds and he doesn't even have the time to think about giving up. “ Action cinema on the board. In: Zeit Online . March 25, 2018.
9. ↑ “Sergej Karjakin, who has been underestimated forever and now again,” says Zeit Online , “who started the tournament terribly with two defeats and two draws, defeated Caruana, who had been leading since the fourth round. A terrible blow to the American, who might already feel half victorious. Nothing is lost yet. In terms of points, they are tied at the top, but in terms of scores, Karjakin is ahead because he won the direct comparison. ” Action cinema on the board. In: Zeit Online. March 25, 2018.
10. ↑ Der Tagesspiegel, April 8, 2018, p. 2.
11. ↑ Der Tagesspiegel, March 28, 2018, p. 19.
12. ↑ Caruana challenges the world chess champion Carlsen. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, March 29, 2018; accessed on April 9, 2018.
13. ↑ A worthy challenger. In: Der Tagesspiegel, March 29, 2018, p. 23.
14. ^ Checkmate in the Kühlhaus In: Spiegel Online, March 28, 2018; accessed on April 9, 2018.
15. ↑ Der Tagesspiegel, April 8, 2018, p. 2.
16. ↑ Chess Candidates Tournament. Kreuzberg opening. In: spiegel.de. March 9, 2018, accessed March 14, 2018.
17. ↑ 2018 Candidates Tournament in the Kühlhaus Berlin. In: chess-international.de. Chess Ticker, October 7, 2017, accessed January 10, 2018 . 
18. ↑ The small mistakes of the great masters. An immortal game and lots of Matt tricks: The first week of the World Chess Championship candidate tournament in Berlin was tough. In: Der Tagesspiegel. March 18, 2018, p. 20.
19. ↑ Woe to you, they have to. Big games with chocolate bars and hot drinks - first impressions of the Berlin Candidates Tournament, the winner of which can challenge the world champion. In: Zeit.de. March 15, 2018, p. 41.
20. ↑ The generals. Security staff warn with signs to calm down. Cell phones are prohibited. Eight chess grandmasters are currently dueling in Berlin. The winner can challenge the world champion. In: Der Tagesspiegel. March 23, 2018, p. 3.
21. ↑ "That is unforgivable". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. March 18, 2018, accessed March 20, 2018.
22. ↑ The generals. Security staff warn with signs to calm down. Cell phones are prohibited. Eight chess grandmasters are currently dueling in Berlin. The winner can challenge the world champion. In: Der Tagesspiegel. March 23, 2018, pp. 1 and 3.
23. ↑ Giri and Carlsen duel on Twitter before the candidates' tournament in Berlin. March 9, 2018.