Aronian and Gelfand tie for first in Alekhine Memorial

Lev Aronian and Boris Gelfand have tied for first in the 2013 Alekhine Memorial. A score of 5.5 (+2) was enough for first place, with Aronian winning the title on count-back (Most wins). In outright third was Vishwanathan Anand on 5.
While the field was a mix of top 10 players and 2700's, it is interesting that both Gelfand and Anand finished where they did. During last years World Championship match between the two, there were plenty of comments about the quality of play, and more importantly, the quality of the players. While I certainly agree that a number of games in the match were disappointing, both players have clearly shown that they still belong in the chess elite. This also bodes well for the Anand - Carlsen match, as it also shows that Anand will be no pushover.


Aronian,Levon (2809) - Vachier Lagrave,Maxime (2722) [D85]
Alekhine Mem Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS (9), 01.05.2013

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. d5 Ne5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Qd2 e6 13. f4 Bc7 14. O-O exd5 15. exd5 Ba5 16. f5 Bxf5 17. Rxb7 Qf6 18. Rf3 Qe5 19. Bc4 Bc8 20. Rb3 Bc7 21. Qh6 Qe1+ 22. Rf1 Qe4 23. Bg5 Be5 24. Qh4 Qxh4 25. Bxh4 Bd6 26. Rf6 Be5 27. Rc6 Bd7 28. Ra6 Rfb8 29. Rxb8+ Rxb8 30. Rxa7 Bxc3 31. Rxd7 Rb4 32. d6 Rxc4 33. Be7 Kg7 34. Ra7 Rd4 35. d7 Rd1+ 36. Kf2 c4 37. g3 Rd2+ 38. Kf3 Rd3+ 39. Kg2 Rd2+ 40. Kh3 Bf6 41. d8Q Rxd8 42. Bxd8 Bxd8 1-0