Carlsen and Short Weekend Winners
Nigel Short made it look easy from the start and Magnus Carlsen needed every single second to do the job. In the five-round Sigeman sprint, Short started with three wins, took a rest day draw, and finished in style by beating second seed Sokolov with black in the final round for a sweet 4.5/5 score. In the León Magistral Rapid final match, Ivanchuk and Carlsen exhausted the four rapid games and the two blitz tiebreakers. Carlsen had white in the 6″-5″ armaggedon blitz game and won to take away the title Ivanchuk won beating Anand last year.
Carlsen would have finished things a little earlier had he found the cute 38..Ra5! winner in the second blitz tiebreak game. It was notable he switched away from his Dragon to a Sveshnikov after getting tagged for a loss the second time around in the match. Ivanchuk, who plays anything and everything, got his rapid loss in a badly played Dutch in game four when he only needed a draw to clinch the match. 11..e5 is one of those moves that you’re taught you should play as soon as you can manage it, but Carlsen correctly surmised his kingside action was faster than Black’s queenside play. Ivanchuk did get his share of the play, however, at least briefly. I’m not sure why Carlsen didn’t go for the typical clamp with Na4 on move 13 or 14, must be some reason. Nice clutch win regardless, and good sharp chess all round.
Youth was served in León, but in Malmö a finer vintage was uncorked. Short really plays some good chess when he’s relaxed these days. As long ago as 2000 he told me he much preferred playing in nice conditions and having fun on and off the board instead of bashing and being bashed in elite events. It does sort of make you wonder how well the former world championship challenger might do were he to get back to the grind. Gelfand is just a few years younger than Short’s recently turned 44 years and the Israeli looks headed back to the top ten on the next list. On the other hand, the grind isn’t really a grind for some people and I don’t think Gelfand is ever happier than when he’s working on chess.
