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🏆 Linares (2010)

  PARTICIPANTS (sorted by highest achieved rating; click on name to see player's games)
Levon Aronian, Veselin Topalov, Alexander Grischuk, Boris Gelfand, Vugar Gashimov, Francisco Vallejo Pons

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Linares (2010)

The 27th Linares tournament was held in Teatro Cervantes, Linares, Spain, 13-24 February 2010. The number of participants was the lowest since Linares (2001). They were: Veselin Topalov (Elo ranked #2 in the world), Levon Aronian (#5), Boris Gelfand (#6), Vugar Gashimov (#7), Alexander Grischuk (#15), and Francisco Vallejo Pons (#31). Notable absentees were Magnus Carlsen (#1), World Champion Viswanathan Anand (#3) and Vladimir Kramnik (#4). Games started at 4 pm. Time control: 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20 moves, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 second increment per move starting from move 61.

Topalov beat Gelfand in Round 10 and won with 6.5/10. He thereby qualified for the Grand Slam Chess Final (2010), but withdrew.

A video from round 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ1...

Linares, Spain, 13-24 February 2010

           Age Elo   01 02 03 04 06 06
1 Topalov   34 2805  ** 10 ½½ ½1 1½ ½1  6½
2 Grischuk  26 2736  01 ** ½½ 1½ ½1 ½½  6
3 Aronian   27 2781  ½½ ½½ ** ½½ ½1 ½½  5½
4 Gelfand   41 2761  ½0 0½ ½½ ** ½½ ½½  4
5 Gashimov  23 2759  0½ ½0 ½0 ½½ ** 1½  4
6 Vallejo   27 2705  ½0 ½½ ½½ ½½ 0½ **  4
Category: XXI (2758). Arbiters: Juan Vargas and Faik Gasanov.

Sources

ChessBase, 2/13/2010 (https://en.chessbase.com/(X(1)S(llg... )
ChessBase, 2/25/2010 (https://en.chessbase.com/post/topal...)
FIDE rating list January 2010 (http://fidelists.blogspot.com/2010/...)
Spanish ChessBase, 13/02/2010 (https://es.chessbase.com/post/linar...)
Spanish ChessBase, 25/02/2010 (https://es.chessbase.com/post/la-cl...)
Peter Doggers in Chessvibes, 2 April 2012 (http://www.chessvibes.com/?q=commen...)
Peter Doggers in Chessvibes, 10 February 2010 (http://www.chessvibes.com/?q=commen...)
Ian Rogers in Peón de Rey, No. 86 (May-June 2010), pp. 5-15 (https://e-nautia.com/santiago/disk/...)

Round dates: February 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24 (from TWIC and ChessBase)

Previous: Linares (2009). Next: none. The Linares series was discontinued because of financing and scheduling problems.

 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 30  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. F Vallejo Pons vs Topalov ½-½412010LinaresC95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer
2. Gelfand vs V Gashimov ½-½542010LinaresA70 Benoni, Classical with 7.Nf3
3. Aronian vs Grischuk ½-½262010LinaresE25 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch
4. Topalov vs V Gashimov 1-0482010LinaresD11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
5. Grischuk vs Gelfand 1-0352010LinaresE55 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation
6. F Vallejo Pons vs Aronian ½-½412010LinaresC67 Ruy Lopez
7. Aronian vs Topalov ½-½512010LinaresA64 Benoni, Fianchetto, 11...Re8
8. V Gashimov vs Grischuk ½-½402010LinaresB97 Sicilian, Najdorf
9. Gelfand vs F Vallejo Pons ½-½422010LinaresD10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
10. Gelfand vs Topalov ½-½402010LinaresE06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3
11. Grischuk vs F Vallejo Pons ½-½342010LinaresD17 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
12. V Gashimov vs Aronian ½-½482010LinaresC84 Ruy Lopez, Closed
13. Topalov vs Grischuk 1-0692010LinaresB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
14. F Vallejo Pons vs V Gashimov 0-1352010LinaresA70 Benoni, Classical with 7.Nf3
15. Aronian vs Gelfand ½-½462010LinaresD48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran
16. Topalov vs F Vallejo Pons 1-0402010LinaresA29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto
17. Grischuk vs Aronian ½-½1012010LinaresD39 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin, Vienna Variation
18. V Gashimov vs Gelfand ½-½372010LinaresC42 Petrov Defense
19. V Gashimov vs Topalov ½-½422010LinaresC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
20. Aronian vs F Vallejo Pons ½-½482010LinaresD12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
21. Gelfand vs Grischuk ½-½602010LinaresA29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto
22. Topalov vs Aronian ½-½452010LinaresD43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
23. F Vallejo Pons vs Gelfand ½-½352010LinaresC42 Petrov Defense
24. Grischuk vs V Gashimov 1-0402010LinaresA62 Benoni, Fianchetto Variation
25. Grischuk vs Topalov 1-0562010LinaresE15 Queen's Indian
 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 30  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 34 OF 36 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-25-10
Premium Chessgames Member		  lostemperor: Winner of the Linares Final Standings Prediction Contest is <SloVice> !

Runner ups <cromat>, <Justawoodpusher>

Third places for :
<acirce>, <Aurora>, <chancho>, <chessmoron>, <Ezzy>, <NakoSonorense>, <percyblakeney>, <Robin01>, <WannaBe>, <wordfunph> <Justawoodpusher> ,<Winter> <ELO> <CHESSBOOKIE>

I was mediocre, but did win in the Games Results Prediction Contest at <YouRang>'s forum :)

Feb-25-10
Premium Chessgames Member		  Troller: One can't blame Topalov for winning Linares. He complicates and is usually the strongest in those wild positions (although he could be called a bit lucky against Vallejo).

But if Anand plays like he did in Bonn, and Topalov plays like he did here in Linares, Anand must be clear favourite. He will not get into those crazy time troubles (and plays better in them anyway); and he will punish the kind of unsound play Topalov has shown here. No doubt that Topalov is aware of the challenge in this regard, though. Really looking forward to the match!

Feb-25-10  Daodejing: Excellent Posting Steinitz-Lebt!

[quote]I'm rated 1800 and make a living (75K+ per year which is double what I made the first year I started, in a large metropolitan area) teaching chess to beginners privately, semi-privately and in many schools. It's got nothing to do with playing strength and everything to do with true genuine talent for teaching, (beginners are everywhere, strong players, nowhere by comparison) sales and marketing, follow-up, customer service, handling rejection, networking, dealing with bureacracy and paperwork, good recordkeeping, resourcefulness, good recruiting and hiring practices (there are so many pretenders who have ratings but only think they can teach, and with zero personality or patience) and finally, being a professional business service provider whose yes means yes, and whose no means no.

This is why so many GMs and IMs can't do it, their over all skill set re the myriad business and service abilities needed is way too narrow. Oh yeah, I still have time to play in about one tournament a month and the costs of the chess books and other fun chess equipment I buy, are all deductable!

Figure out how to teach, major in it in college, get mentored in it, then worry about how good you are at chess unless you are coaching only the top scholastic players (and good luck with that) which are of course few and far between.

Chess is for everyone, all skill levels. Making a living teaching chess for the last two + years (having been a corporate trainer and sales and marketing guy for the preceding 10 years) has been an absolute rush, especially knowing that players far better, can't come close. It's a brutal trick of fate that so many great chess players, have completely inadequate overall people, administrative and business skills, and make such a bad living at it.

They and others need to know that if 1) You behave truly professionally doing something you really love, and 2) You have the ability and showmanship to transfer your enthusiasm (for anything) to 3) a large enough number of people, and 4) it is something they need (and parents need to think their children are becoming intelligent) then 5) you will get paid for it, and yes you will love it! [/quote]

Thanks a lot!

.

Feb-25-10  percyblakeney: <But if Anand plays like he did in Bonn, and Topalov plays like he did here in Linares, Anand must be clear favourite>

That's true, but Anand didn't play in Bonn as he did in Bilbao...

Feb-25-10  Marmot PFL: Well I am bit surprised that there are so many beginners out there willing to pay good money for private lessons (especially in this recession) when they could easily find a class for less money. Isn't the dropout rate rather high once students realize the game is not so easy? I know an experienced chess teacher that makes more than 75K, but he is a senior master and only gives lessons to 1900 or higher.
Feb-25-10  Gryz: Although I like chess a lot, I wouldn't recommend anyone to make a career out of it.

In other careers, people move through different jobs over the years. Programmer -> Technical Team Lead -> Management, or Sales, or Consultancy. You can change your field of expertise (Operating Systems, then Networking, then Voicecom, then maybe something else). When you make chess your living, you'll be limited to playing tournaments and teaching, maybe writing books. It may be great fun for 5-10 years, but once you are 30 years old, it will probably become pretty boring. Then what ?

I used to be in the same class at University as Friso Nijboer. He started late, becoming a GM right after he graduated. Since then (15-18 years) he's been in the top10 of chessplayers in the Netherlands. Rating 2500-2650. Been nr2 of nr3 of the country a few times (behind Timman, Van Wely, Piket, etc). Never had a huge success, because of his aggresive playstyle, which brings ups and downs.

He makes a living off of chess. But it doesn't seem to be a lot. While many others of our class have nice jobs, nice careers and made a lot of money. I did comptuer networking for 15 years, and it bores me now. (But at least the nineties brought us a lot of success). I can't imagine I had to play chess for 20 years. That would have bored me to death by now.

So play chess. Have fun. See how far you can get. But do some studies. Not so you have a financial thing to fall back when you can't reach the top. But so you can do something else when chess starts to bore you.

Feb-25-10  turbo231: <SteinitzLives>
I think it's great you can do so much with your elo rating. If what you're telling us is possible you are a "Grand Master", a Grand Master of communication. From reading your post it's obvious that you're a very intelligent person, if anyone can do it you can.

<Marmot PFL>
I understand your concerns.

Feb-25-10  Whitehat1963: I just think it's amazing that Topalov was able to do so well while also hiding his preparation. Shows he handles middlegame complications well and that his endgame isn't as weak as some would have us believe. That said, this wasn't quite a stellar field either. Nonetheless, great performance by a great player who was mainly trying to stay active while hiding his prep.
Feb-25-10  Anatoly21: I have a different perspective concerning making chess your career.

I am in law school. I have no intention of making chess any part of my career, even though chess taught me a lot of skills and perspectives that help me in my case strategy. The marginal return on the work you put in just is not enough to justify the pay you get in my opinion unless you are very good. That being said, if you really enjoy the work, you may want to go for it.

I may have had the wits and the talent to eventually become a GM. I only started to play competitive chess (e.g. actually learning an opening) when I was 19. 2.5 years later, I was a solid expert. That's a fairly late start, and I had a long ways to go.

However, I was smart enough to do many, many things with my life, as I suspect many people on this board are as well. I chose the law because it required many of the talents I already had: capacity for hard work, will to win, flexibility of thought, great memory, concrete thinking, etc.

The point is that you should chose a profession that best matches your talents and interests. No to be a jerk, but you aren't going to know that at age 18. Go to college and keep your options open. You are clearly intelligent enough to: 1) get a master rating in chess; and 2) know when to ask for help. You'll do fine in college and probably in grad school as well. Don't cut yourself off this early.

Feb-25-10  madlydeeply: Congrats Topalov! Still a hard charging finishing killer!
Feb-25-10  suplexer: One thing i must say though is that people should stop blaming topalov for elista 'toilet gate'. At least he was willing to speak his mind, and was original. He brought attention to chess and this is what we need, instead of gms just making moves and not speaking their mind. This is the reason chess isnt as popular as poker in mainstream. Although it was unfortunate he put unfair blame on kramnik, it was an interesting debating event. It also brings up a very current topic in todays digital age where cheating in chess is possible. A player in india got banned for 10 years for recieving chess moves through a wire in his cap. He gained 400 elo points in like a year and a half.
Feb-25-10
Premium Chessgames Member		  chancho: <He brought attention to chess and this is what we need...>

Yeah, the toilet and chess. What a great combination to put together in order to bring attention to the royal game. Many thanks to Topa, and of course let's give it up for Silvio...

Feb-25-10  Mr. Bojangles: < instead of gms just making moves and not speaking their mind. >

Yeah like Anand.

Feb-25-10  hedgeh0g: It's unbelievable to me that Topalov managed to win this tournament. All his wins came from exploiting his opponents' time pressure or straight-out blunders. Of course, this is part of chess, but I honestly feel Grischuk was the better player in this tournament and Topalov was essentially gifted the win.
Feb-25-10  badest: <hedgeh0g> I liked Gris too ... but Topa exploited time and errors in such a systematic way that it definitely seemed like a "plan". Bear in mind that he didn't exactly play his favo openings or disclosed any "novelties"...
Feb-25-10  Ladolcevita: Congrats to Topalov!~~Best Luck for his upcoming world champion match~~Anand is no doubt rather strong.....
Feb-25-10  Ladolcevita: <chancho>
I dont think that's all his fault...
Clearly,it is Kramnik who started that confusing game...
Feb-25-10  hedgeh0g: <<chancho> I dont think that's all his fault...
Clearly,it is Kramnik who started that confusing game...>

Really? Would you care to elaborate on how Kramnik "clearly" instigated accusing himself of cheating via a toilet?

Feb-25-10
Premium Chessgames Member		  blazerdoodle: Congrats for Topalov's win !

So I was rooting for the other guy, the one who came in 4th place? Out of spite. You kicked his ass and made me eat my words. Good for you that you can not disclose your novelty's and still flatten this field. You won, but like Joe Montana said, "Winning ugly is still winning." (winning ugly - winning by a point when the other guy was kicking your ass throughout the whole game!). I'm not going to harp on it, but I'm still rooting for Anand. It's just that I like classy players. Pick some up, will you? You may be doing that, but Toilettgate still follows you.

Feb-25-10
Premium Chessgames Member		  blazerdoodle: <Clearly,it is Kramnik who started that confusing game...>

Lol...

By going to take a piss he's then accused of cheating? They never proved it. In fact, they proved nothing. He reasons were respectable, and embarrassing he had to go through that crap.

Feb-25-10  whatthefat: <hedgeh0g: Really? Would you care to elaborate on how Kramnik "clearly" instigated accusing himself of cheating via a toilet?>

LOL!

Feb-25-10
Premium Chessgames Member		  SteinitzLives: Chess is not so hard to learn for a child age 5 or older, if it's taught in small chunks, and made to be fun (more than competitive) throughout.

There are so many creative ways to teach, e.g. playing offshoot games of chess with much fewer pieces e.g. 6 pawns vs. two knights (no kings). K+Q vs. K and 8 pawns, telling stories that illustrate basic mates on the chess board about "the King of the jungle" vs. "King of all lion hunters".

I have also gotten kids interested in the history of chess by telling colorful (and age appropriate) stories, e.g. like when Nimzovich was challenged to a duel, or how Morphy offered the world pawn and move odds, and had no takers, how Steinitz was champion for 28 years and discovered only 16 elements to chess, of which no one has ever really added new ones to (unlike the periodic table of elements) etc. They love that stuff.

The intellectual, technical stuff e.g. Lucena position, Philidor position, all happens after they have been students for a couple of years, but no matter how fast they break ELO of 1000, it has to be kept fun throughout. Once they hit adolescence, they can take it upon themselves to take the game seriously if they want to.

My job is to press in on students a strong solid base of principles, tactics, techniques and fun first. Then they can run with it as adolescents, and when they hit 1500, I let a much higher rated player teach them at that point, but there are a ton more children under 1500 than over it, hence no shortage of clients.

Sure, I lose students, but not because of the teaching, that it's hard, that they lose when first in tourneys, the price of the lessons, or the fact that it's just a game. I often lose them because chess kids are frequently way over-scheduled; then summer comes, or conversely, they get back from long vacations, and then I get lots of them back.

Feb-25-10  Chlipchlop: <Griz> After 30 yo, if you get bored of chess you can play poker. It may not be more funny but you can expect to earn more... And you can also learn Go. :))
Feb-25-10  Marmot PFL: <SteinitzLives> Your way sounds like the rational approach. I imagine there are some who are obsessed with finding the next Carlsen or Nakamura.
Feb-25-10  Eyal: <badest: Bear in mind that he [Topalov] didn't exactly play his favo openings or disclosed any "novelties"...>

Yes, Topalov definitely seemed handicapped with regard to the openings in this tournament, especially with White (with Black it remains to be seen – in case Anand plays 1.e4 – whether he sticks to the Ruy Lopez, which became his main weapon since the match with Kamsky, or drops it). This makes his win the more impressive, especially since deep preparation in sharp and critical lines is many times an important part of his success, and here he didn't achieve so much objectively out of the opening in 3 of his 4 wins (except the one against Gelfand).

There's a short interview with Topalov on chessvibes - http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/v.... Among other things, he says about his tendency of playing quickly: "I enjoyed playing, and the reason I played so quickly was simply that I was in a good mood and sometimes just played immediately the moves I liked"…

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