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Journalism of Courage
At the end of six of 14 rounds of the Candidates tournament in London,it was the expected duo of Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian that were the front runners in their bid to challenge Viswanathan Anand for the world title.
Aronian has led the tournament since the early stages and it was not until the fourth round that the Norwegian caught up with the World No. 3. With both players registering three wins from six rounds and drawing the rest,they sit a good 1.5 points clear of the field. The indications are that the second half of the tournament will mainly play out as an individual contest between Carlsen and Aronian,unless the likes of Vladimir Kramnik or Peter Svidler,both currently in third place,spring big surprises.
Former world champion Kramnik was expected to provide Carlsen and Aronian a close run,and despite a strong outing in which he has drawn all games so far,is slipping fast out of contentions. Of especial disappointment to the Russian will be his inability to convert two clear chances for wins in his last two games. Against Aronian,Kramnik was all set for a win,but a combination of his own inaccuracy in the middle game and some inspired defending by Aronian saw the Russian unable to eke out a win despite being two pawns to the good.
The previous round had ended the same way for the Russian,as he admitted he had missed the winning continuation against Boris Gelfand in round four. With eight rounds remaining,Kramnik will have to take a lot more risks and convert his chances better if he is to mount a charge. Another sign of the domination of the Carlsen-Aronian duo is the fact that in 12 games not involving the two so far,only two have produced wins. Teimour Radjabov and Peter Svidler,the duo that claimed those rare wins,started brightly but have faded away since. Radjabov lost a marathon contest to the persistent Aronian in the sixth round,his second defeat of the tournament while Svidler too went down in the last round,to Carlsen. Ivanchuk and Gelfand,the oldest players in the fray,brought up the rear.
Standings after round six: 1-2. Magnus Carlsen Nor 4.5pts,Levon Aronian Arm 4.5pts; 3-4. Vladimir Kramnik Rus,Peter Svidler Rus,3pts; 5-6. Alexander Grischuk Rus,Teimour Radjabov Aze,2.5pts; 7-8. Vassily Ivanchuk Ukr,Boris Gelfand Isr 2pts.
Pairings for round seven: Magnus Carlsen vs Teimour Radjabov; Levon Aronian vs Alexander Grischuk; Boris Gelfand vs Vladimir Kramnik; Vassily Ivanchuk vs Peter Svidler.
