Morelia-Linares 2007 (2)

The position after round 8:

1-2. Carlsen/Anand: 5
3. Ivanchuk: 4,5
4-5. Aronian/Svidler: 4
6-7. Topalov/Leko: 3,5
8. Morozevich: 2,5

As can be seen, little more than halfway through the tournament Carlsen is still in the lead, although now together with Anand with a 5/8 score. Mig didn’t see that one coming. Well, neither did I, but I certainly had higher hopes for him than Mig did. Many to-be strong GM’s have been notoriously underestimated during their teen-age years throughout history, and with a present rating of 2690, probably now about to cross the 2700-mark, Carlsen actually already is a very strong player, no matter what his age. Also, as this is a tournament, not a match, age and experience are less important factors than original and aggressive play in order to win.

Everything is still very open, the tournament is after all only just a little more than half way through – both Ivanchuk and Aronian or perhaps Svidler could end up first, however I think it is unlikely that Leko or Topalov will make it to the top. Topalov seems to me like he might have lost some self confidence after the WC-mess, how else does one for example explain his resignation in round 5?

As those who followed the previous link would have noticed: Henrik Carlsen, Magnus’ father, has a blog of his own. I’m not that big a fan of Carlsen, but I imagine those who are could somehow consider this the chess-fan-equivalent of the tabloids…