# Candidates Tournament 2013

The 2013 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess double round-robin tournament that took place in the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, from 15 March to 1 April 2013.
This was the first time in 51 years that the round-robin format had been used for a Candidates, though it had been used for the 2005 (FIDE) and 2007 world championships.
The tournament was won by Magnus Carlsen, on tiebreak ahead of Vladimir Kramnik, after a dramatic final round in which they both lost.

## Participants

The participants were:
| Qualification path | Player | Age | Rating (March 2013) | World Ranking |
| The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2011 | Peter Svidler | 36 | 2747 | 14 |
| The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2011 | Alexander Grischuk | 29 | 2764 | 10 |
| The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2011 | Vasyl Ivanchuk | 43/44 | 2757 | 13 |
| The three highest rated players in the world, excluding any of the above or below (average from July 2011 and January 2012 FIDE rating lists) | Magnus Carlsen | 22 | 2872 | 1 |
| The three highest rated players in the world, excluding any of the above or below (average from July 2011 and January 2012 FIDE rating lists) | Levon Aronian | 30 | 2809 | 3 |
| The three highest rated players in the world, excluding any of the above or below (average from July 2011 and January 2012 FIDE rating lists) | Vladimir Kramnik | 37 | 2810 | 2 |
| Candidates Tournament Organizing committee's wild card (FIDE rating in January 2012 at least 2700) | Teimour Radjabov | 26 | 2793 | 4 |
| Runner up of the World Chess Championship 2012 | Boris Gelfand | 44 | 2740 | 18 |

## Prize fund

The tournament had a prize fund of €510,000 ($691,101). Prize money was shared between players tied on points; tiebreaks were not used to allocate it. The prizes for each place were as follows:
* 1st place – €115,000
* 2nd place – €107,000
* 3rd place – €91,000
* 4th place – €67,000
* 5th place – €48,000
* 6th place – €34,000
* 7th place – €27,000
* 8th place – €21,000

## Summary

Before the tournament Carlsen was considered the favourite, with Kramnik and Aronian being deemed his biggest rivals. Ivanchuk was considered an uncertain variable, due to his instability, and the other players were considered less likely to win the event.
During the first half of the tournament, Aronian and Carlsen were considered the main contestants for first place. At the halfway point they were tied for first, one-and-a-half points ahead of Kramnik and Svidler. In the second half Kramnik, who had drawn his first seven games, became a serious contender after scoring four wins, while Aronian lost three games, and was thus left behind in the race. Carlsen started the second half by staying ahead of the field, but a loss to Ivanchuk allowed Kramnik to take the lead in round 12 by defeating Aronian. In the penultimate round Carlsen pulled level with Kramnik by defeating Radjabov, while Kramnik drew against Gelfand.
Before the last round only Carlsen and Kramnik could win the tournament; they were equal on 8½ points, 1½ points ahead of Svidler and Aronian. Carlsen had the better tiebreak (on the first tiebreak the score from their individual games was 1–1, but Carlsen was ahead on the second tiebreak due to having more wins), and this would not change if they both scored the same in the final round. Therefore, Kramnik, who had black against Ivanchuk, needed to outperform Carlsen, who had white against Svidler. Carlsen played to win, since that would guarantee him the tournament victory regardless of Kramnik's result; similarly, Kramnik knew that the odds of Carlsen losing with white were minute, and he went all-in against Ivanchuk with the Pirc Defense. This backfired and Ivanchuk obtained an early advantage, while Carlsen got a level position against Svidler. Carlsen later got into serious time trouble and did not defend adequately against Svidler's attack, which gave Svidler a winning endgame. Meanwhile, Ivanchuk had outplayed Kramnik, who resigned a few minutes after Carlsen lost. Thus the tournament was won by Carlsen on the second tiebreak. Carlsen's win earned him the right to challenge the reigning world champion, Viswanathan Anand, for the world title in the World Chess Championship 2013.

## Standings

    Final standings of the 2013 Candidates Tournament RankPlayerRating March 2013 CAR KRA SVI ARO GEL GRI IVA RAD PointsTiebreaks H2HWins 1 Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2872 ½½ 01 ½½ 11 1½ 0½ ½1 8½15 2 Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) 2810 ½½ 1½ ½1 ½½ ½1 ½0 1½ 8½14 3 Peter Svidler (RUS) 2747 01 ½0 1½ ½½ ½½ 1½ 1½ 81½4 4 Levon Aronian (ARM) 2809 ½½ 0½ ½0 10 ½½ 11 11 8½5 5 Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2740 00 ½½ ½½ 10 ½½ ½½ ½1 6½12 6 Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2764 ½0 0½ ½½ ½½ ½½ 1½ ½½ 6½11 7 Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) 2757 ½1 1½ ½0 00 ½½ ½0 10 6—3 8 Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2793 0½ ½0 ½0 00 0½ ½½ 10 4—1

## Results by round

Pairings and results. First named player is white. 1–0 indicates a white win, 0–1 indicates a black win, and ½–½ indicates a draw. Numbers in parentheses indicate players' scores prior to the round.

### Points by round

For each player, the difference between wins and losses after each round is shown. The players with the highest difference for each round are marked with green background.
| Final place | Player \ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen (NOR) | = | = | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +3 | +4 | +3 |
| 2 | Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) | = | = | = | = | = | = | = | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +3 |
| 3 | Peter Svidler (RUS) | = | = | +1 | +1 | +1 | = | = | −1 | −1 | −1 | = | = | +1 | +2 |
| 4 | Levon Aronian (ARM) | = | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +2 |
| 5 | Boris Gelfand (ISR) | = | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 | = | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 |
| 6 | Alexander Grischuk (RUS) | = | = | = | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | = | = | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 |
| 7 | Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR) | = | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −3 | −2 |
| 8 | Teimour Radjabov (AZE) | = | +1 | = | = | = | −1 | −1 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −6 |