Chess - The Scotsman 26/03/13

The World Championship Candidates Tournament in London has now passed halfway, with rating and fan favourites Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian still setting the pace as joint leaders. Ominously, though, for the would-be title hopefuls, former world champion, Vladmir Kramnik, of Russia, has entered the fray.

Over the weekend, both the Norwegian and Armenian had to settle for draws (in round 8, against each other) that allowed Kramnik to play catch-up with the leaders, rolling back the years with a vintage performance to overpower fellow countryman Peter Svidler, the six-time Russian champion.

Kramnik made a name for himself over the years with his adroit handling of the Grünfeld defence.

Today the game’s biggest Grünfeld guru is Svidler; but even he couldn’t cope with the demands of the position, and following a series of very accurate moves from Kramnik - culminating with the simply sublime 28 Rh5! - he easily converted the win to move onto a plus score, a point behind Carlsen and Aronian.

The prize fund on offer for the candidates is (£435,000) with the winner going on to play a match for the world championship against title-holder Viswanathan Anand, of India, later this year.

Standings: 1-2. Carlsen, Aronian, 5.5/8; 3. Kramnik, 4.5; 4. Grischuk, 4; 5-6. Svidler, Gelfand, 3.5; 7. Radjabov, 3; 8. Ivanchuk, 2.5.

V Kramnik - P Svidler

FIDE Candidates, (8)

Grünfeld Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Nf3 c5 8 Be3 Qa5 9 Qd2 Nc6 10 Rc1 cxd4 11 cxd4 Qxd2+ 12 Kxd2 0–0 13 d5 Rd8 14 Kc2 Ne5 15 Nxe5 Bxe5 16 Bc4 Bd7 17 f4 Bd6 18 Kb3 f6 19 a4 Rdc8 20 h4 Rab8 21 Bb5 Bxb5 22 axb5 a6 23 b6 Kf7 24 h5 Rxc1 25 hxg6+ Kxg6 26 Bxc1 Rg8 27 g4 h6 28 Rh5! Kf7 29 e5 Bc5 30 e6+ Kf8 31 Rh4 Kg7 32 f5 Rd8 33 Bxh6+ Kg8 34 Kc4 Bxb6 35 g5 Bf2 36 Rg4 Kh7 37 gxf6 exf6 38 e7 Rc8+ 39 Kb3 Bc5 40 Rc4 1–0