The 21st Linares tournament will take place February 19th - March 5th 2004. The event is again a 7 player double round robin category 20 event (ave 2731).
Kasparov Linares 2002. Photo © John Henderson.
Pre-event favourite is Garry Kasparov (see odds Betsson.com). He has already won the event 7 times and shared first once. Kasparov had a disappointing Linares last year dropping 17 rating points in the following ELO list even though he was just half a point off first place. However he won just two games and lost one (against wonderkind Teimour Radjabov) a pretty toothless display for him. Kasparov has only played 6 rated games since then, in the European Club Cup in September. He performed impressively until he blundered horribly against Huzman in his fifth game after four explosive wins. His form in Linares will be interesting.
Leko Wijk aan Zee 2004. Photo © John Henderson.
Last years winner Peter Leko is back to defend his title. He won 4 and lost 2 edging out Kramnik on the same score by virtue of the number of wins. Leko didn't play as well for the rest of the year but he was undefeated at Wijk aan Zee in January finishing on 8/13 just half a point behind the winner Anand.
Kramnik Wijk aan Zee 2004. Photo © John Henderson.
Vladimir Kramnik finished level with Leko last year but he only managed two wins and drew the rest. His 50% score at Wijk aan Zee was a terrible result and included three losses. He needs a good result at Linares to avoid Anand overtaking him as number 2 in the rating list. Kramnik was joint first in 2000 with Kasparov (the title was unusually shared) and 2nd on tie-break last year.
Shirov Wijk aan Zee 2004. Photo © John Henderson.
Alexei Shirov is solidly back in the top 10 at 5 but his result at Wijk aan Zee was a relatively poor 6/13. Another concern for him will be his record against Kasparov. He has never beaten Kasparov and has lost over half the games they have played, certainly in recent years. Still this might be the year he breaks his duck. Shirov didn't play Linares last year but finished last in 2002. Shirov's best result was when he finished 2nd in 1998 behind Viswanathan Anand ahead of Kasparov and Kramnik.
Topalov Wijk aan Zee 2004. Photo © John Henderson.
Vesselin Topalov seems in reasonable form. He finished in joint 4th in Wijk aan Zee with a score of 7.5/13 beating the winner Anand. Topalov has played the event five times but this is his first visit since 1999. He hasn't had any really outstanding results, his best being 3rd= in 1995 and 1997, he finished last in 1998.
Vallejo Pons Linares 2002. Photo © John Henderson.
21 year old Paco Vallejo is the young hope for Spanish chess. He has been invited for the last two years, on both occasions finishing 6th of 7, but gaining over 50 rating points. He will be well prepared and will hope to add to the single wins he managed in his previous appearances.
Radjabov Wijk aan Zee 2003. Photo © Pascal Villalba Notzai
Teimour Radjabov is invited for the second year running to Linares. The 16 year old finished dead last with only one win, but what a win, against Garry Kasparov. That said, Kasparov did blunder quite badly during the game, even if Radjabov did put up stiff resistance before the mistake came. Radjabov hasn't played much since October last year when he performed solidly at the European Team Championships. He is 30 rating points stronger than last year and players of his age can improve fast. I would expect him to perform above his rating. However, Kasparov may be looking for revenge for his defeat last year and he tends to get his way.
Players, rankings and ratings: Garry Kasparov (No. 1 2830) Vladimir Kramnik (No. 2 2777) Alexei Shirov (No. 5 2736) Veselin Topalov (No.6 2735). Peter Leko (No. 10 2722), Paco Vallejo (No. 33 2663) and Teimour Radjabov (No. 35 2656).
Dates are as follows: February 18th (draw of lots) Rd1 Feb. 19th Round 14 (Final) March 5th - Rest days Feb. 24th and March 1st.
20 Previous Linares Tournament Winners No Year Winner Score AvRat Cat 1 1978 Jaan Eslon (Debarnot) 6/9 2363 5 2 1979 Christiansen 8/11 2459 9 3 1981 Karpov (Christiansen) 8/11 2567 13 4 1983 Spassky 6.5/10 2598 14 5 1985 Ljubojevic (Huebner) 7/11 2595 14 1987 Karpov-Sokolov Candidates Match 6 1988 Timman 8.5/11 2602 15 7 1989 Ivanchuk 7.5/10 2629 16 8 1990 Kasparov 8/11 2627 16 9 1991 Ivanchuk 9.5/13 2658 17 10 1992 Kasparov 10/13 2659 17 11 1993 Kasparov 10/13 2676 18 12 1994 Karpov 11/13 2684 18 13 1995 Ivanchuk 10/13 2654 17 1996 No event 14 1997 Kasparov 8.5/11 2701 19 15 1998 Anand 7.5/12 2752 21 16 1999 Kasparov 10.5/14 2733 20 17 2000 Kramnik/Kasparov 6/10 2751 21 18 2001 Kasparov 7.5/10 2721 19 19 2002 Kasparov 8/12 2732 20 20 2003 Leko (Kramnik) 7/12 2732 20
(Bracketed players finished on the same score as the official winner. 2000 was the only shared title, although I'm open to correction on this point about the early events).