12.03.2007 Tournament results

Viswanathan Anand

My congratulations to the winner, and "by the referee stopped contest decision" at that. In the first part of the tournament Vishy had been a little lucky, but in Linares he demonstrated highest class indeed, having beaten his principal opponent in a fine style during their key game and putting the reliability at the top of his list in the rest. In case of need Vishy could have "revved up" and then he would have every chance to show still better results in the end of the tournament.

Alexander Morozevich

A phenomenal result in the second part in Linares! "The levee had broken" at last and Alexander showed fine result in a super tournament. In order to win such competitions he should increase his stability. I do hope that Sasha does not bear me a grudge for not commenting on his games in my reviews – I just cannot always understand sufficiently his creative original play. So, I hope, it is not an offense but a flattery. My congratulations!

Magnus Carlsen

My congratulations upon his splendid results! But still this is a bit of a "money advance", and in order to reaffirm his reputation in the future Magnus should not only work hard, which he does excellently and with pleasure even now, but also try to play less pragmatically and more creatively and aggressively, which is infrequently seen in his key games. And still, in spite of this fly in Magnus's ointment – well done!

Peter Svidler

I would like to congratulate my fellow-citizen so much, but, alas, I'll have to wait with congratulations till the next tournament. Having played very well in the most games, Peter failed to succeed in his pressure a couple of times and met with a real accident in the last round.

Levon Aronian

Levon's play was less brilliant than his admirers came to expect from him, but he should be especially thanked for his game against Anand in Morelia, which is a masterpiece.

Vassily Ivanchuk was playing as creatively as Alexander Morozevich, but in a more classical manner; no wonder they both have so many admirers of their talents. Regretfully, he has been unrecognizable in his games against Magnus Carlsen with their incomprehensible scenarios. Having lost them both Vassily failed to show a good result in the tournament.

Peter Leko

During the whole event Peter was looking kind of irresolute, playing very slowly and constantly having time troubles. His "service" didn't help either: Peter had not had any opening problems in any game. Only in the end he managed to pull himself together and score a "consolation goal", moving off the very foot of the table.

Veselin Topalov

The "-1" result in Morelia was not a surprise for anyone anymore; everybody was waiting for a habitual Veselin's finishing spurt which never happened. In Linares Veselin played even worse than Morelia. Apparently, all the recent brouhaha and scandals around him have left their imprint
Such are the results of the tournament the way I see them. Linares is over, but presently new interesting competitions will come. Goodbye and see you soon!