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FIDE Candidates Tournament 2018
Posted: 10 March 2018 05:15 PM  
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Round 1 was quite exciting, with three decisive games!

Caruana won his game against his compatriot Wesley So; Kramnik beat Grischuk and Mamedyarov got the full point against Karjakin.

It’s a good start!

Remember that tomorrow morning, at 2 AM, USA changes time to Daylight Saving, so the games start at 10 AM EDT.

Image Attachments  Candidates18_Rd1.jpg
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Posted: 11 March 2018 03:41 PM   [ # 1 ]  
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Round 2

Grischuk bounced back and beat Wesley So, after finding himself in serious time trouble before tome control.
It was the only decisive game today.

This means that Mamedyarov, Kramnik and Caruana lead with 1.5.

Image Attachments  Candidates18_Rd2_standings.jpgCandidates18_Rd2.jpg
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Posted: 12 March 2018 04:00 PM   [ # 2 ]  
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Round 3

Kramnik!
The Russian today won a fantastic game against Aronian, to take the lead SOLO.
The other games ended in a draw.

Tomorrow is a rest day and ICC will have a LIVE recap with GM Alex Yermolinsky, at 3 PM EDT.

Image Attachments  Candidates18_Rd3.jpgCandidates18_Rd3_standings.jpg
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Posted: 13 March 2018 06:40 PM   [ # 3 ]  
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GM Alex Yermolinsky recaps the first three rounds of the Candidates’ 2018.

Don’t miss Yermo’s comments and analysis!

Click HERE to watch the video.

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Posted: 14 March 2018 07:26 PM   [ # 4 ]  
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Caruana stops Kramnik, in a rollercoaster game, and takes the solo lead after 4 Rounds!
Aronian beats Karjakin to climb back up to 50%.
Mamedyarov and Grischuk draw their games with, respectively, So and Ding.

Image Attachments  Candi18_standings_Rd4.jpg
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Posted: 15 March 2018 03:24 PM   [ # 5 ]  
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Four draws in Round 5.
Standings unchanged, with Caruana leading, followed by Kramnik and Mamedyarov, half a point behind the leader.
Tomorrow Round 6 at 10 AM EDT, 15:00 CET.

Image Attachments  Candi18_standings_Rd5.jpg
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Posted: 16 March 2018 06:06 PM   [ # 6 ]  
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Round 6

Kramnik lost again in round 6, against Mamedyarov. After a very good start, the 42-year-old Russian former World Champion looks a bit worn out. But again, it’s only Round 6 out of 14, and anything can happen.
Aronian lost to So, who won his first game in this tournament.
Caruana drew and is still in the lead, joined by Mamedyarov.
Tomorrow is a rest day. Don’t miss ICC’s LIVE recap of the first 6 rounds!

Image Attachments  Candi18_standings_Rd6.jpg
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Posted: 17 March 2018 06:54 PM   [ # 7 ]  
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It’s a rest day in Berlin, Germany.
Are you suffering from withdrawal symptoms?
No worries, folks!
IM John Watson recaps rounds 4, 5 and 6 for YOU!

Click HERE to watch the video.

Enjoy!

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Posted: 18 March 2018 05:16 PM   [ # 8 ]  
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Round 7

Kramnik fought hard with Ding, in an apparently drawn endgame, which nonetheless gave the fans a lot to discuss about.
At last, it ended in a draw, but the game was a rollercoaster.
Caruana defeated Aronian in 37 moves, and since Mamedyarov drew against Grischuk, now Fabiano is solo at the top of the standings.
Karjakin won against Wesley So, who’s not having the tournament of his life.

Standings after Round 7
5.0   GM Fabiano Caruana
4.5   GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov
3.5   GM Vladimir Kramnik  
      GM Alexander Grischuk
      GM Liren Ding    
3.0   GM Sergey Karjakin
2.5   GM Wesley So      
      GM Levon Aronian  

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Posted: 19 March 2018 05:27 PM   [ # 9 ]  
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Another great struggle for Vladimir Kramnik.
In the only decisive game of Round 8, The two Russians - Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk - played an epic game, with Kramnik trying to hold the draw until the very end, alas to no avail.
The other three games were drawn.

Standings after 8 rounds:
5.5 GM Fabiano Caruana    
5.0 GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov
4.5 GM Alexander Grischuk
4.0 GM Liren Ding      
3.5 GM Vladimir Kramnik
    GM Sergey Karjakin  
3.0 GM Wesley So      
    GM Levon Aronian  

Check out the recaps by GM Yermolinsky and IM Watson!

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Posted: 20 March 2018 07:50 PM   [ # 10 ]  
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Round 9

It’s again Kramnik the protagonist of the round, being his the only decisive game of the day.
Unfortunately for the former World Champion, it was another loss for him, which now relegates Kramnik to last place, along with Aronian and Wesley So.
Vladimir had a great start in this edition of the Candidates’ tournament, to then fade out rather abruptly. After the first round, nobody would have expected to see Kramnik and Aronian sit in last place.

There are other five rounds to play, which means these two super.strong players can come back somehow, though it’s almost impossible that either of them wins the chair to challenge Magnus Carlsen.

The other three games were drawn, therefore the standings at the top remain unchanged:

6.0 GM Fabiano Caruana    
5.5 GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov
5.0 GM Alexander Grischuk  
4.5 GM Liren Ding      
      GM Sergey Karjakin
3.5 GM Vladimir Kramnik
      GM Wesley So      
      GM Levon Aronian  

Tomorrow is a rest day. GM Yermolinsky will recap the last three rounds on ICCTV. Don’t miss the show!

 

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Posted: 21 March 2018 05:54 PM   [ # 11 ]  
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It’s a rest day in Berlin. Germany.
As usual, ICC offers you a video recap of the last three rounds!

GM Yermolinsky, with his unmistakable and unique style, recaps rounds 7, 8 and 9.

Click HERE to watch the video!

Enjoy!
ICC Staff

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Posted: 22 March 2018 03:20 PM   [ # 12 ]  
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Round 10

The main match today was Mamedyarov vs. Caruana.
The two talents played the game to the bitter end, finishing with the bare kings on the board, leaving the tournament outcome to be decided yet.
Kramnik interrupted his bad streak, unfortunately at the expenses of Levon Aronian, who is - at this point - having one of his worst tournaments ever.
Aronian is now relegated to the last position in the standings, and it is quite odd to see how Levon down there, after starting as one of the favorites.
Grischuk vs. Karjakin and Ding vs. So drew their games.

Standing after 10 rounds:
6.5 GM Fabiano Caruana  
6.0 GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov
5.5 GM Alexander Grischuk
5.0 GM Liren Ding      
    GM Sergey Karjakin
4.5 GM Vladimir Kramnik
4.0 GM Wesley So      
3.5 GM Levon Aronian  

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Posted: 23 March 2018 06:02 PM   [ # 13 ]  
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Round 11

Fourth round in a row with only one decisive game.
Aronian lost again, getting deeper and deeper into what looks like a crisis.
Nobody would have imagined Levon at the bottom of the standings after 11 rounds, with 3.5 points, at minus four.
His game against Karjakin - Levon played White - looked drawish until move 42. After the time control, Aronian started to play minor imprecisions, which Sergey was able to spot and use in his favor. Then, with Karjakin holding a slight advantage, Aronian collapsed almost inexplicably, allowing the Russian’s Queen to sweep all over the board, wreaking havoc and building up a mating net.
Karjakin gets up at plus one, joining Grischuk, one full point behind Caruana, which leads half a point ahead of Memedyarov.

Standings after 11 rounds:

7.0 GM Fabiano Caruana
6.5 GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov
6.0 GM Alexander Grischuk
      GM Sergey Karjakin  
5.5 GM Liren Ding      
5.0 GM Vladimir Kramnik
4.5 GM Wesley So
3.5 GM Levon Aronian

 

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Posted: 24 March 2018 07:00 PM   [ # 14 ]  
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Round 12

And then what nobody expects to happen… happens!
Both Caruana and Mamedyarov lost today.
Caruana against Karjakin, which joined the American in the lead, with 7 points.
Mamedyarov lost to Ding Liren, and now is part of a pack of three with Grischuk and Ding, chasing the co-leaders by half a point behind.
It would seem that the battle is among these 5 players, with Caruana and Karjakin - obviously - favorite for the final success.
Will we see Carlsen-Karjakin 2.0 in November?
Who knows, but seeing how determined the Russian was in the last rounds, it wouldn’t be surprising at this point.

Standings after Round 12:

7.0 GM Fabiano Caruana
    GM Sergey Karjakin
6.5 GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov
      GM Liren Ding
      GM Alexander Grischuk
5.5 GM Vladimir Kramnik
5.0 GM Wesley So
4.0 GM Levon Aronian

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Posted: 25 March 2018 05:28 PM   [ # 15 ]  
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It’s a rest day, and as usual, ICC provides you with an amazing recap of the latest 3 rounds.

GM Joel Benjamin recaps rounds 10, 11 and 12.

Click HERE to watch the video.

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