It was, however, Alexander Grischuk who topped this supertournament and was awarded the first prize —100,000 euros or $128,000.
Described by our annotator GM Lubosh Kavalek as the “flamboyant Moscovite with an attractive, gambling style,” Grischuk actually shared first place with Ukraine’s Vassily Ivanchuk, but the Russian had the better tie-break score. Carlsen, who beat Grishchuk and Anand, finished third while the world champ had another so-so performance, good enough for fourth place. Half-a-point behind were Levon Aronian of Armenia, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Wang Yue of China with 6 1/2 points. Leinier Dominguez Perez of Cuba was last with 6.
As Kavalek has noted, 18-year-old Carlsen “was very close to victory this year, but lost twice with the white pieces and blundered into a draw from a winning position against Radjabov…. But the way the Norwegian youngster took down Grischuk in the Scheveningen Sicilian was remarkable. It was an impressive, almost flawless performance that reminded us what Carlsen thought about Bobby Fischer, the late world champion who would have been 66 [last March 9]. ‘Fischer was very good at making his wins look simple,’ he said.”
Game of the week.
White: M. Carlsen (2776)
Black: A. Grischuk (2733)
Sicilian Scheveningen
Linares 2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.a4 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bf3 Bf8?! (The waiting rook move 12…Rb8, which I introduced at the 1976 Manila Interzonal, has been by far the most popular move. It also helped Garry Kasparov to win the world title in 1985.) 13.Qd2 Rb8 14.Qf2 e5 15.fxe5! (Carlsen’s novelty.) 15…dxe5 (After 15…Nxe5 16.Bg5! takes advantage of black’s 12th move.) 16.Nb3 Nb4 (Instead of 16…Be6, Grischuk covers the square d5 with the knight.) 17.Ba7 Ra8 18.Bb6 Qe7 19.Rad1 Be6 (19…Bg4 was more challenging.) 20.Nd5! (Creating a dangerous passed pawn on d5.) 20…Bxd5 21.exd5 e4 22.d6! (The passer takes over the game.) 22…Qe6 (After 22…Qe5 23.d7! Nxd7 24.Rxd7 exf3 25.Qxf3 f6 26.Nd4 white has a strong pressure; and after 22…Qd7 23.Nc5 Qc6 24.Nxe4! Rxe4 25.Bxe4 Qxe4 26.d7 white wins.) 23.Nc5 Qf5 24.Be2 Qxf2 25.Rxf2 Nbd5 26.a5?! (Giving black some fighting chances. The exchange sacrifice 26.Rxf6! Nxf6 [on 26…Nxb6 comes 27.Rff1!] 27.b4 pins down the black pieces.) 26…Nxb6 (26…Bxd6?! 27.Rxf6 Bxc5 28.Rxd5 is in white’s favor.) 27.axb6 Rab8? (Placing the rook into a target zone. Instead, 27…Rec8! was more tenacious, e.g. 28.b4 Rc6 29.Nxb7 Rxb6 30.d7 Rxb7 31.d8Q Rxd8 32.Rxd8 Rxb4, although after 33.g4! h6 34.Rf5 Rb2 35.Rc5 a5 36.Rc7!, threatening 37.Bc4, white has good winning chances.) 28.Rxf6! (Eliminating a vital defender.) 28…gxf6 29.Nd7 (Threatening to win the exchange back with either 30.Nxb8 or 30.Nxf6+.) 29…f5 30.c4 a5 31.c5 Bg7 (After 31…Kg7 32.Nxb8 Rxb8 33.Ba6! bxa6 34.Kg1! e3 35.Kf1! the white pawns are unstoppable.) 32.Nxb8 Rxb8 33.Ba6! (Carlsen finds a wonderful way of unleashing the pawn avalanche.) 33…Bf6 34.Bxb7! Rxb7 35.c6 (A touchdown is on the horizon, but preparing the advance with 35.Rc1 was more precise.) 35…Rxb6 36.Rc1! Bxb2 37.d7 (After 37… Bf6 38.c7 wins.) Black resigned.
Puzzler.
White — Qc2, Nd3, pawn on d5, Bd6, Re7, Kh3
Black — Bb2, Qc3, Re4, Nf3, Kh8, pawns on d7, f4
White to play and mate in two.
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