Carlsen wins Pearl Spring title with a round to spare

Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen (7.0) secured his biggest title yet winning the Peral Spring Grandmaster tournament at Nanjing, China with a round to spare. The title victory here gives the young Norwegian a spot in the Grand Slam Masters event at Bilbao, Spain in 2010.

In the ninth and penultimate round, Carlsen playing behind black pieces drew without any discomfort against Azerbaijan GM Radjabov. The game arising from Grunfeld defence lasted 34 moves. Closer to the first time control Carlsen refrained from taking a risky pawn, chosing a quiet draw that fetched him the Nanjing crown, with a record Elo 2984 performance.

Topalov who drew his game against Chinese GM Wang Yue stood two points behind at 5.0 points. In the other game of the day, Dmitry Jakovenko drew with Peter Leko.

The Pearl Spring Grand Slam tournament is a six player, double round-robin with Topalov (2813), Carlsen (2772), Leko (2762), Radjabov (2757), Jakovenko (2742) and Wang Yue (2736) playing for a € 250,000 prize fund. The rate of play is 40 moves in 90 minutes plus an hour each for rest of the game.

Official Site :

http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/www/chess_pk/2009/en/

Radjabov – Carlsen

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Qc7 11. Rc1 Rd8 12. h3 a6 13. Bf4 Qa5 14. Qb3 e6 15. a4 cxd4 16. cxd4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Rxd4 18. Be3 Rd6 19. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 b5 21. axb5 axb5 22. Qxb5 Qxb5 23. Rd8+ Bf8 24. Bxb5 Bb7 25. Rxa8 Bxa8 26. f3 f5 27. Bd3 fxe4 28. Bxe4 Bxe4 29. fxe4 Kf7 30. Kf1 h5 31. Kg1 Bd6 32. Kf1 Bf8 33. Kg1 Bd6 34. Kf1 Bf8 1/2-1/2

Wang Yue – Topalov

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. Be3 c6 8.dxe5 dxe5 9. Qxd8 Rxd8 10. h3 Nh5 11. g3 Na6 12. Nd2 Bf8 13. O-O-O Ng7 14.a3 Ne6 15. Nf3 f6 16. Rxd8 Nxd8 17. b4 b6 18. Kb2 Ne6 19. Rd1 Kf7 20. h4 c5 21. b5 Nac7 22. Nd5 Ne8 23. Bd3 Nd6 24. Bd2 Bb7 25. g4 Bg7 26. Bc3 Bxd5 27.exd5 Nf4 28. Bf1 e4 29. Bd2 g5 30. Ne1 f5+ 31. Kb3 fxg4 32. hxg5 Be5 33.Ng2 Nh3 34. Be3 Nf5 35. Be2 Nd4+ 36. Bxd4 cxd4 37. Rf1 Nxg5 38. Bxg4 Rf8 39. Nh4 Kg8 40. Rg1 Kh8 41. Bf5 Bf6 42. Rh1 Kg7 43. Bg4 Nf7 44. Nf5+ Kg6 45. Ng3 Nd6 46. Re1 e3 47. fxe3 Bh4 48. Rg1 dxe3 49. Be2 Kh6 50. Rh1 Rf4 51. Bd3 Kg5 52. Ne2 Rg4 53. Rh3 h5 54. Rxe3 Bf2 55. Re5+ Kh4 56. Nc3 Bc5 57. a4 Rg5 58. Rxg5 Kxg5 59. Ne4+ Nxe4 60. Bxe4 Kf4 61. Bh1 h4 62. a5 bxa5 63. Ka4 Bb6 64. c5 Bxc5 65. Kxa5 Ke5 66. Ka6 h3 67. Bf3 Kd6 68. Be4 Ke5 69. Bf3 Kd6 70. Be4 Ke5 1/2-1/2

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