Lucky loser Carlsen wins title

Despite falling to defeat in the last round,Norwegian earns right to challenge Anand

Magnus Carlsen earned the right to challenge Viswanathan Anand for the world title after a tense and dramatic final round,but ironically enough,it was a loss that earned him candidature.

Carlsen fell to a surprise defeat to Peter Svidler,but Vladimir Kramnik,who just needed to better the Norwegians result in this case,a draw in round 14 to go through,collapsed himself,losing to second from bottom Vassily Ivanchuk. Carlsen had five wins from 14 games in the tournament,while Kramnik had only four,and that was enough to give the Norwegian a back-door entry to the World Championship final. The World Championship match between the incumbent Anand and challenger Carlsen will take place in October-November this year.

Vladimir Kramnik and Carlsen were tied on points 8.5 each before the start of the 14th round and Mondays losses didnt change the situation,but the Norwegians tie-break credentials more wins meant that he finished on top.

Carlsen would have counted himself as the favourite going into the 14th round,and it was not just because of his better tie-break score. He was playing white,a pleasant option when you might be forced to go for the win,and taking on Svidler,whom he had beaten already in the tournament.

Not the best when it comes to the opening,Carlsen made sure he came out of the Ruy Lopez with a complex middle game struggle,the kind of position he thrives in. Svidler,the Chess World Cup winner and six-time Russian champion,was however,not out of it. White had two pawn chains,and Svidler one continuous structure,but Carlsen had a heavy duty knight posted deep in blacks camp to make up for it.

The game was in a dynamic phase and with Kramnik not doing too well in the other game,Carlsen perhaps relaxed a touch. Moreover,the Norwegian was falling rapidly behind on time and at one point had to make 12 moves in under three minutes to make the first time control of 40 moves. What followed was a blitz and when the players emerged on the other side,with an hour added to each of their clocks,Svidler was infinitely better. Blacks pawns on the king side threatened to roll down un-impeded. The position was clearly lost for Carlsen,but in the other game,Kramnik too had inexplicably slipped up and was doing poorly on the clock. Carlsen resigned on move 48,about four and half hours after the game had started,but he did not have to fret for too long.

Kramnik too was in serious trouble,with Ivanchuks queen side pawn,backed by the heavy artillery of his rooks and queen,threatening promotion. Kramnik pushed out a few ineffectual moves,which all commentators agreed were warranted by what was at stake rather than the position on the board,which was overwhelmingly in Ivanchuks favour. A few minutes after Carlsens resignation,Kramnik too threw in the towel,resigning on move 47.

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What added another layer of irony to the proceedings was that it was Ivanchuk,who finished seventh out of eight competitors,that almost single handedly banished and revived the hopes of Carlsen. He had earlier inflicted on Carlsen his first defeat of the year to allow Kramnik to leapfrog the Norwegian into the lead and in the final round,defeated Kramnik to give him first spot.

Results of the final round: Magnus Carlsen Nor lost to Peter Svidler Rus; Vassily Ivanchuk Ukr bt Vladimir Kramnik Rus; Levon Aronian Arm bt Teimour Radjabov Aze; Boris Gelfand Isr drew with Alexander Grischuk Rus.

Standings: 1-2. Magnus Carlsen,Vladimir Kramnik 8.5 pts; 3-4. Peter Svidler,Levon Aronian 8; 5-6. Alexander Grischuk,Boris Gelfand 6.5; 7. Vassily Ivanchuk 6; 8. Teimour Radjabov 4.