World Chess Championship 2007
Encyclopedia
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, from September 12, 2007 to September 30, 2007 to decide the world champion in the board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
. It was an eight-player, double round robin tournament.
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand
V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
of India won the tournament and the title of World Chess Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
. His winning score was 9 points out of 14, with a total of 4 wins and 10 draws, and Anand was the only undefeated player in the tournament. In 2008, he successfully defended
World Chess Championship 2008
The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik...
the title against the previous world champion, Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
.
Background
This championship was unusual in that the World Chess ChampionshipWorld Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
was decided by a tournament rather than a match.
The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
was also a double round robin tournament, but at the time the world title was split, with that tournament being for the FIDE world championship, and with Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
refusing to take part. Soon after the 2005 tournament, FIDE announced that the 2007 World Championship would also be a double round robin tournament.
In 2006, FIDE announced the World Chess Championship 2006, to reunify the world chess championship. Because the organization of the 2007 tournament was largely in place, conditions of that match included:
- If Classical champion (Kramnik) defeated FIDE Champion Veselin TopalovVeselin TopalovVeselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
, Kramnik would take Topalov's place in the 2007 tournament. - The 2007 tournament would be a world championship.
Kramnik won the 2006 match. In June 2007, Kramnik confirmed that he recognized the 2007 tournament as the world championship, while expressing a personal preference for the championship to be decided by a match.
FIDE later announced that future world championships (beginning with the World Chess Championship 2008
World Chess Championship 2008
The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik...
) would be decided by matches between the champion and a challenger. At the same time FIDE announced that, as compensation for being denied entry to the 2007 tournament, Topalov would have special privileges in the World Chess Championship 2009
World Chess Championship 2009
The World Chess Championship 2010 match pitted the defending world champion, Viswanathan Anand, against challenger Veselin Topalov, for the title of World Chess Champion. The match took place in Sofia, Bulgaria from April 24 to May 13, 2010, with a prize fund of million euros...
cycle.
Participants
- – reigning World Champion
- – joint second place in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005FIDE World Chess Championship 2005The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
- – joint second place in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005FIDE World Chess Championship 2005The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
- – fourth place in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005FIDE World Chess Championship 2005The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
- – qualified via the Candidates Tournament
- – qualified via the Candidates Tournament
- – qualified via the Candidates Tournament
- – qualified via the Candidates Tournament
Qualification process
The top four finishers of the 2005 FIDE World ChampionshipFIDE World Chess Championship 2005
The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
event were granted direct entry into the 2007 event. However, Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
, FIDE World Chess Champion 2005
FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
, was replaced by Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
, Classical World Chess Champion, after losing his unification match to him in the 2006 World Championship.
Four further players qualified through the 2005-07 qualification process, which consisted of three stages:
- Continental championships
- 2005 World Cup
- 2007 Candidates Tournament
2005 World Cup
The 2005 World Cup, held in Khanty-MansiyskKhanty-Mansiysk
Khanty-Mansiysk experiences a subarctic climate . The climate is extreme, with temperatures as low as -49 C° and as high as 34.5 C°. On average, however, the region is very cold, with an average tempurature of -1.1 C°...
, Russia, was the qualification for the Candidates tournament. It was a knock-out tournament of mini-matches, in the style of the FIDE World Chess Championships 1998-2004
FIDE World Chess Championships 1998-2004
The FIDE World Chess Championships 1998–2004 all followed a similar format, radically different from previous World Chess Championship events. Previous events had had long qualifying cycles, spread over more than a year, culminating in a long match between the incumbent champion and a challenger...
. However, once 16 players were left, they were no longer immediately eliminated, but played further mini-matches to establish places 1 through 16.
The top finishers were:
2007 Candidates Tournament
One place in the Candidates TournamentCandidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
was reserved for 2004 FIDE World Champion
FIDE World Chess Championship 2004
The FIDE World Chess Championship, 2004 was held at the Almahary Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, from June 18 to July 13.It was won by Rustam Kasimdzhanov, who beat Michael Adams in the final by a score of 4½-3½...
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Rustam Kasimdzhanov is an Uzbekistani chess Grandmaster, best known for winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004. He was born in Tashkent, in the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic...
. Five places were then awarded to the top five players by FIDE rating
Elo rating system
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....
(average of July 2004 and January 2005 ratings) who had not already qualified: these were Péter Lékó
Péter Lékó
On the way to winning the prestigious Corus chess tournament in 2005, Lékó defeated Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand with the black pieces. The moves were:...
, Michael Adams, Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...
, Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
and Étienne Bacrot
Étienne Bacrot
Étienne Bacrot is a French chess grandmaster and currently ranked number one in France.He started playing at 4; by 10 young Bacrot was already winning junior competitions and in 1996, at 13 years of age, he won against Vasily Smyslov...
. The remaining ten places went to the highest finishers at the 2005 FIDE World Cup who had not otherwise qualified.
The Candidates tournament, held in Elista
Elista
-Twin towns/sister cities:Elista is twinned with the following sister cities. Howell, New Jersey, United States Lhasa, Tibet, China. Ulan-Ude, Buryat Republic, Russia-See also:*Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery*Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume-External links:...
, Kalmykia
Kalmykia
The Republic of Kalmykia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: It is the only Buddhist region in Europe. It has also become well-known as an international chess mecca because its former President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is the head of the International Chess Federation .-Geography:*Area:...
, Russia, from May 26 to June 14, 2007, was originally to consist of a two-round knockout
Single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
with one player qualifying from each quarter of the draw. In September 2006, FIDE proposed that these players play a 16 player, single round-robin tournament instead. However this decision was reversed, and the tournament consisted of two rounds of matches as originally planned.
The 2005 World Cup winner Aronian was the top seed, with the remaining players seeded in rating order according to the January 2006 ratings list. In the second round, the 1v16 winner played the 8v9 winner, 2v15 winner versus 7v10 winner, and so on.
Match conditions
Matches were best of six games, at normal time controls (40/120, then 20/60, then 15 minutes + 30 seconds per move). Where matches were tied after six games, tie breaks were played on the seventh day:- Best of four rapid games were played. Rapid time control was 25 minutes for the game, plus 10 seconds per move.
- Where the score was still tied, best of two blitz games were played. Blitz time control was 5 minutes for the game, plus 10 seconds per move.
- If the score was still tied, the players would have drawn lots for a single sudden death game where White had six minutes but needed to win, Black had five minutes but only needed to drawDraw (chess)In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
. This final stage of tie break, called an Armageddon chess game, was never required.
Round 1
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2759 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 4 | 7 | |
| 16 | 2693 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 2 | 5 | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 8 | 2699 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 2½ | 5½ | |
| 9 | 2734 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 2 | 2738 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3½ | |
| 15 | 2639 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | ½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 7 | 2727 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | - | 2½ | |
| 10 | 2643 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | - | 3½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 3 | 2717 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | - | 2½ | |
| 14 | 2680 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | - | 3½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 6 | 2717 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | - | - | 3½ | |
| 11 | 2679 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | - | - | 1½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 4 | 2733 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 2½ | 5½ | |
| 13 | 2677 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 3½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 5 | 2709 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | ½ | |
| 12 | 2705 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3½ |
Round 2
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2759 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | - | 3½ | |
| 8 | 2699 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | - | 2½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 2 | 2738 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | - | - | 3½ | |
| 10 | 2643 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | - | - | 1½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 4 | 2733 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | - | - | 3½ | |
| 12 | 2705 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | - | - | 1½ | |
| Seed | Name | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Total |
| 6 | 2717 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 2½ | 5½ | |
| 14 | 2680 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 3½ |
Playing conditions
The tournament was a double round robin, with the first round on 13 September 2007 and the final round on 29 September 2007. Rest days were on the 17th, 22nd and 26th, that is after rounds 4, 8 and 11. Games each day began at 2pm local time, which is 19:00 UTCCoordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
. The time control was 40/2h, 20/1h, 15m+30sec/all meaning that each player had 2 hours per game, plus an extra hour added after the 40th move, 15 extra minutes added after the 60th move, and from there on 30 extra seconds added for each move (Fischer delay). The pairings were made on Wednesday, 12 September 2007.
Results
| Round 1–13 September | |||
| Anand | Gelfand | ½-½ | C42 Petrov Petrov's Defence Petrov's Defence is a chess opening characterised by the following moves:Though this symmetrical response has a long history, it was first popularised by Alexander Petrov, a Russian chess player of the mid-19th century... |
| Kramnik | Svidler | ½-½ | D43 Slav Slav Defense The Slav Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Slav is one of the primary defenses to the Queen's Gambit. Although it was analyzed as early as 1590, it was not until the 1920s that it started to be explored extensively... |
| Morozevich | Aronian | ½-½ | E12 Queen's Indian Queen's Indian Defense The Queen's Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the movesBy playing 3.Nf3, White sidesteps the Nimzo-Indian Defense that arises after 3.Nc3 Bb4. The Queen's Indian is regarded as the sister opening of the Nimzo-Indian, since both openings aim to impede White's efforts to gain full control... |
| Grischuk | Lékó | ½-½ | C88 Ruy Lopez Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del... |
| Round 2–14 September | |||
| Kramnik (½) | Morozevich (½) | 1-0 | E04 Catalan Catalan Opening The Catalan is a chess opening which can be considered to be White adopting a mixture of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening: White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2, though the opening can arise from a large number... |
| Gelfand (½) | Grischuk (½) | ½-½ | E15 Queen's Indian |
| Svidler (½) | Lékó (½) | ½-½ | C89 Ruy Lopez |
| Aronian (½) | Anand (½) | 0-1 | D43 QGD Queen's Gambit Declined The Queen's Gambit Declined is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit:This is known as the Orthodox Line of the Queen's Gambit Declined... |
| Round 3–15 September | |||
| Anand (1½) | Kramnik (1½) | ½-½ | C42 Petrov |
| Grischuk (1) | Aronian (½) | ½-½ | C88 Ruy Lopez |
| Lékó (1) | Gelfand (1) | ½-½ | C42 Petrov |
| Morozevich (½) | Svidler (1) | 1-0 | C45 Scotch Scotch Game The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the movesWhite aims to dominate the centre by exchanging his d-pawn for Black's e-pawn. Black usually plays 3...exd4, as he has no good way to maintain his pawn on e5... |
| Round 4–16 September | |||
| Aronian (1) | Lékó (1½) | 1-0 | A33 Benoni Benoni Defense The Benoni Defense is a group of chess openings generally characterized by the opening moves 1. d4 c5 2. d5, although Black's ...c5 and White's answer d5 are often delayed. The most usual opening sequence for the Benoni is 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5... |
| Kramnik (2) | Grischuk (1½) | ½-½ | E06 Catalan |
| Morozevich (1½) | Anand (2) | ½-½ | D47 QGD |
| Svidler (1) | Gelfand (1½) | ½-½ | C42 Petrov |
| Round 5–18 September | |||
| Anand (2½) | Svidler (1½) | 1-0 | C89 Ruy Lopez |
| Gelfand (2) | Aronian (2) | 1-0 | A60 Benoni |
| Grischuk (2) | Morozevich (2) | 1-0 | D38 QGD |
| Lékó (1½) | Kramnik (2½) | ½-½ | C54 Bishop's Bishop's Opening The Bishop's Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:White attacks Black's f7-square and prevents Black from advancing his d-pawn to d5.... |
| Round 6–19 September | |||
| Aronian (2) | Kramnik (3) | ½-½ | E06 Catalan |
| Gelfand (3) | Morozevich (2) | 1-0 | E17 Queen's Indian |
| Grischuk (3) | Svidler (1½) | ½-½ | D43 Semi-Slav Semi-Slav Defense The Semi-Slav Defense is a variation of the Queen's Gambit chess opening, defined by the position reached after the moves:For the Semi-Slav the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings designates codes D43 through D49.-Main variations:... |
| Lékó (2) | Anand (3½) | ½-½ | C78 Ruy Lopez |
| Round 7–20 September | |||
| Anand (4) | Grischuk (3½) | 1-0 | C88 Ruy Lopez |
| Kramnik (3½) | Gelfand (4) | ½-½ | D43 Slav |
| Morozevich (2) | Lékó (2½) | ½-½ | C45 Scotch |
| Svidler (2) | Aronian (2½) | ½-½ | C69 Ruy Lopez |
| Round 8–21 September | |||
| Aronian (3) | Morozevich (2½) | ½-½ | E17 Queen's Indian |
| Gelfand (4½) | Anand (5) | ½-½ | E06 Catalan |
| Lékó (3) | Grischuk (3½) | 1-0 | C88 Ruy Lopez |
| Svidler (2½) | Kramnik (4) | ½-½ | C42 Petrov |
| Round 9–23 September | |||
| Anand (5½) | Aronian (3½) | ½-½ | C89 Ruy Lopez |
| Grischuk (3½) | Gelfand (5) | 1-0 | E20 Nimzo-Indian Nimzo-Indian Defence The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:This hypermodern opening was developed by Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch who introduced it to master-level chess in the early 20th century. Unlike most Indian openings the Nimzo-Indian does not involve an immediate fianchetto,... |
| Lékó (4) | Svidler (3) | ½-½ | B90 Najdorf Sicilian Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of the most respected and deeply studied of all chess openings. Modern Chess Openings calls it the Cadillac or Rolls Royce of chess openings. The opening is named after the Polish-Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf... |
| Morozevich (3) | Kramnik (4½) | 1-0 | E61 King's Indian King's Indian Defence The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6.The Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening... |
| Round 10–24 September | |||
| Aronian (4) | Grischuk (4½) | 1-0 | D30 QGD |
| Gelfand (5) | Lékó (4½) | ½-½ | E05 Catalan |
| Kramnik (4½) | Anand (6) | ½-½ | D43 Semi-Slav |
| Svidler (3½) | Morozevich (4) | ½-½ | B17 Caro-Kann Caro-Kann Defence The Caro-Kann Defence is a chess opening —a common defense against the King's Pawn Opening characterised by the moves:The usual continuation isfollowed by 3.Nc3 , 3.Nd2 , 3.exd5 , or 3.e5 . The classical variation has gained much popularity... |
| Round 11–25 September | |||
| Anand (6½) | Morozevich (4½) | 1-0 | B90 Najdorf Sicilian |
| Gelfand (5½) | Svidler (4) | ½-½ | A15 English English Opening In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the... |
| Grischuk (4½) | Kramnik (5) | ½-½ | C43 Petrov |
| Lékó (5) | Aronian (5) | ½-½ | E15 Queen's Indian |
| Round 12–27 September | |||
| Aronian (5½) | Gelfand (6) | 0-1 | D43 Semi-Slav |
| Kramnik (5½) | Lékó (5½) | 1-0 | E05 Catalan |
| Morozevich (4½) | Grischuk (5) | 1-0 | A28 English |
| Svidler (4½) | Anand (7½) | ½-½ | C88 Ruy Lopez |
| Round 13–28 September | |||
| Aronian (5½) | Svidler (5) | ½-½ | A29 English |
| Gelfand (7) | Kramnik (6½) | ½-½ | D47 Semi-Slav |
| Grischuk (5) | Anand (8) | ½-½ | D43 Semi-Slav |
| Lékó (5½) | Morozevich (5½) | 1-0 | B66 Sicilian Sicilian Defence The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4... |
| Round 14–29 September | |||
| Anand (8½) | Lékó (6½) | ½-½ | C89 Ruy Lopez |
| Kramnik (7) | Aronian (6) | 1-0 | E15 Queen's Indian |
| Morozevich (5½) | Gelfand (7½) | ½-½ | C42 Petrov |
| Svidler (5½) | Grischuk (5½) | 1-0 | B90 Najdorf Sicilian |
Numbers in parentheses indicate players' scores prior to the round.
Standings
| Rank | Player | Rating | ANA | KRA | GEL | LÉK | SVI | MOR | ARO | GRI | Points | v. tied | Wins | NS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2792 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 9 | ||||||
| 2 | 2769 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 8 | 1 | 3 | 54½ | |||
| 3 | 2733 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 54¼ | |||
| 4 | 2751 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 7 | ||||||
| 5 | 2735 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6½ | ||||||
| 6 | 2758 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| 7 | 2750 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 8 | 2726 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 5½ | ||||||
Key: v. tied = points against tied player; NS = Neustadtl score
Neustadtl score
The Neustadtl score is a scoring system often used to break ties in chess tournaments. It is named after Hermann Neustadtl, who proposed it in a letter published in Chess Monthly in 1882....
For players who finished level on points, the following tie-breakers were applied (in order of precedence): results of games between tied players, total number of wins, Neustadtl score
Neustadtl score
The Neustadtl score is a scoring system often used to break ties in chess tournaments. It is named after Hermann Neustadtl, who proposed it in a letter published in Chess Monthly in 1882....
.