The 2013 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess double round-robin tournament that took place in the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London, from 15 March to 1 April 2013. The purpose of the tournament was to determine the player who would challenge reigning world chess champion Viswanathan Anand in the 2013 World Chess Championship match.
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 RankingThe top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2011 Peter Svidler36274714 Alexander Grischuk29276410 Vasyl Ivanchuk43/44275713 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 Carlsen2228721 Levon Aronian3028093 Vladimir Kramnik3728102Candidates Tournament Organizing committee'swild card (FIDE rating in January 2012 at least 2700) Teimour Radjabov2627934Runner up of the World Chess Championship 2012 Boris Gelfand44274018
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:
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 {| class="wikitable" |+ Final standings of the 2013 Candidates Tournament |- !rowspan="2"|Rank!!rowspan="2"|Player !!rowspan="2"|RatingMarch 2013 !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|CAR !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|KRA !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|SVI !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|ARO !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|GEL !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|GRI !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|IVA !colspan="2" rowspan="2"|RAD !rowspan="2"|Points !! colspan=2|Tiebreaks |- ! !! Wins |- |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |style="background:#ccffcc;"|1||align="left" style="background:#ccffcc;"| |style="background:#ccffcc;"|2872 |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |0||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |1||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |0||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |style="background:#ccffcc;"|8½|| style="background:#ccffcc;"|1 || style="background:#ccffcc;"|5 |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |2||align="left"| |2810 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |8½||1||4 |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |3||align="left"| |2747 |0||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |8||1½||4 |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |4||align="left"| |2809 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |0||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |1||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |1||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |1||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |8||½||5 |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |5||align="left"| |2740 |0||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |1||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |6½||1||2 |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |6||align="left"| |2764 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |0||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |6½||1||1 |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |7||align="left"| |2757 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|1 |1||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |0||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |1||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |6||— ||3 |- align="center" style="background:white; color:black" |8||align="left"| |2793 |0||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |½||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |0||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |0||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |½||style="background:black; color:white"|½ |1||style="background:black; color:white"|0 |style="background:lightgray" colspan="2"| |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.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%" |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 1 – 15 March 2013 |- |Levon Aronian || Magnus Carlsen ||align=center | || E11 Bogo-Indian |- |Boris Gelfand || Teimour Radjabov ||align=center | ½–½ || E11 Bogo-Indian |- |Vasyl Ivanchuk || Alexander Grischuk ||align=center | ½–½ || E06 Catalan, Closed |- |Peter Svidler || Vladimir Kramnik ||align=center | ½–½ || D35 Queen's Gambit Declined |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;"| Round 2 – 16 March 2013 |- |Magnus Carlsen (½) || Vladimir Kramnik (½) ||align=center | ½–½ || A33 English, Symmetrical |- |Alexander Grischuk (½) || Peter Svidler (½) ||align=center | ½–½ || C84 Ruy Lopez |- |Teimour Radjabov (½) || Vasyl Ivanchuk (½) ||align=center | || A88 Dutch, Leningrad |- |Levon Aronian (½) || Boris Gelfand (½) ||align=center | 1–0 || A04 Réti Opening |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;"| Round 3 – 17 March 2013 |- |Boris Gelfand (½) || Magnus Carlsen (1) ||align=center | || D52 Queen's Gambit Declined |- |Vasyl Ivanchuk (½) || Levon Aronian (1½) ||align=center | 0–1 || A45 Trompowsky Attack |- |Peter Svidler (1) || Teimour Radjabov (1½) ||align=center | 1–0 || E81 King's Indian, Sämisch |- |Vladimir Kramnik (1) || Alexander Grischuk (1) ||align=center | ½–½ || D71 Neo-Grünfeld |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;"| Round 4 – 19 March 2013 |- |Magnus Carlsen (2) || Alexander Grischuk (1½) ||align=center | 1–0 || C65 Ruy Lopez |- |Teimour Radjabov (1½) || Vladimir Kramnik (1½) ||align=center | ½–½ || E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4. e3 |- |Levon Aronian (2½) || Peter Svidler (2) ||align=center | ½–½ || D22 Queen's Gambit Accepted |- |Boris Gelfand (½) || Vasyl Ivanchuk (½) ||align=center | ½–½ || D07 Chigorin Defense |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;"| Round 5 – 20 March 2013 |- |Vasyl Ivanchuk (1) || Magnus Carlsen (3) ||align=center | ½–½ || D93 Grünfeld, Bf4 & e3 |- |Peter Svidler (2½) || Boris Gelfand (1) ||align=center | ½–½ || D85 Grünfeld, Exchange |- |Vladimir Kramnik (2) || Levon Aronian (3) ||align=center | ½–½ || A07 King's Indian Attack |- |Alexander Grischuk (1½) || Teimour Radjabov (2) ||align=center | ½–½ || D35 Queen's Gambit Declined |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;"| Round 6 – 21 March 2013 |- |Peter Svidler (3) || Magnus Carlsen (3½) ||align=center | 0–1 || C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed |- |Vladimir Kramnik (2½) || Vasyl Ivanchuk (1½) ||align=center | ½–½ || E00 Queen's Pawn Game |- |Alexander Grischuk (2) || Boris Gelfand (1½) ||align=center | ½–½ || B30 Sicilian, Rossolimo |- |Teimour Radjabov (2½) || Levon Aronian (3½) ||align=center | 0–1 || C65 Ruy Lopez |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;"| Round 7 – 23 March 2013 |- |Magnus Carlsen (4½) || Teimour Radjabov (2½) ||align=center | ½–½ || B30 Sicilian, Rossolimo |- |Levon Aronian (4½) || Alexander Grischuk (2½) ||align=center | ½–½ || E18 Queen's Indian |- |Boris Gelfand (2) || Vladimir Kramnik (3) ||align=center | ½–½ || E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4. e3 |- |Vasyl Ivanchuk (2) || Peter Svidler (3) ||align=center | ½–½ || C45 Scotch Game
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%" |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 8 – 24 March 2013 |- |Magnus Carlsen (5) || Levon Aronian (5) ||align=center | || E06 Catalan, Closed |- |Teimour Radjabov (3) || Boris Gelfand (2½) ||align=center | || A33 English, Symmetrical |- |Alexander Grischuk (3) || Vasyl Ivanchuk (2½) ||align=center | || B35 Sicilian, Accelerated Dragon |- |Vladimir Kramnik (3½) || Peter Svidler (3½) ||align=center | 1–0 || D85 Grünfeld, Exchange |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;"| Round 9 – 25 March 2013 |- |Vladimir Kramnik (4½) || Magnus Carlsen (5½) ||align=center | ½–½ || E05 Catalan, Open |- |Peter Svidler (3½) || Alexander Grischuk (4) ||align=center | ½–½ || E81 King's Indian, Sämisch |-