Shanghai Masters Finishes: Shirov Wins, Kramnik Beats Aronian in a Tiebreaker
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 1:29PM Alexei Shirov had already clinched clear first after round 5, and maintained his winning margin with a last-round draw against Levon Aronian with White in a Marshall Gambit. If Vladimir Kramnik could have achieved something against Wang Hao with White, he could clinch qualification to the final in Bilbao, but he got nothing and that game was also a fairly quick draw.
Aronian and Kramnik were thus tied for the second spot and needed a blitz playoff. Kramnik won pretty convincingly with White in an Exchange Slav, and was better or equal throughout his second game too. But somehow he lost it, in a dead won game where he could give safe checks pretty much automatically. I assume it was a loss on time - odd given the increment, but errare humanum est. That meant it was time for an Armageddon game (White got 5 minutes, Black 4 minutes + draw odds), and this time Kramnik (again with Black) held the drawn-or-better position throughout without losing on time. The final position was a dead draw, so I guess Aronian lost on time. Maybe it was a draw and the wrong result was relayed, but either way Kramnik advanced.
Final Standings:
1. Shirov 12 out of 18 (based on the tournament's 3-1-0 scoring; Shirov went +3 =3)
2-3. Kramnik, Aronian 7 (+1 =4 -1)
4. Wang Hao 3 (=3 -3)
Tournament site here, round 6 and tiebreak games, with my comments, here.
Reader Comments (4)
I've always been a fan of Shirov and it's great to see him playing so well again.
Hopefully we will see a lot more of him winning this season as his style of chess is a breath of fresh air at the top.
Aronian did lose on time according to the Chess Vibes in the last game.
Kramnik indeed lost the second blitz game on time, as can be seen in the videos provided by chessvibes.
Interesting outlook for Vishy - the man with the Kryptonite - Aronian is out, while Shirov who is becoming a regular 'client' is in. Of course maybe Carlsen will just sweep everything :)