2012 Grandmaster Tournament Biel International Chess Festival Grandmaster Tournament Grandmaster Tournament ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Short Biografies ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Magnus Carlsen ............................................................................................................................................... 2 Hikaru Nakamura ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Wang Hao ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Victor Bologan ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Etienne Bacrot ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Anish Giri ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Alexander Morozevich (retired) ...................................................................................................................... 3 English ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Magnus Carlsen - History in the making for "The Special One" ...................................................................... 4 Hikaru Nakamura - The American Record Breaker ......................................................................................... 5 Wang Hao - The New Emperor from the Middle Kingdom ............................................................................. 6 Victor Bologan – The Biography ...................................................................................................................... 7 Etienne Bacrot - Welcome Back to the Top! ................................................................................................... 8 Anish Giri - The Future Is His ........................................................................................................................... 9 Alexander Morozevich - At the Height of His Powers ................................................................................... 10 Deutsch ............................................................................................................................................................. 12 Magnus Carlsen - Der Lauf der Geschichte für «The Special One» ............................................................... 12 Hikaru Nakamura - Ein Amerikanischer Rekordjäger .................................................................................... 13 Wang Hao - Der neue Leader im Reich der Mitte ......................................................................................... 15 Etienne Bacrot - Die langersehnte Rückkehr an die Spitze ........................................................................... 16 Anish Giri - Die Zukunft gehört ihm ............................................................................................................... 17 Alexander Morozevich - Ein Artist erneut an der Spitze seiner Kunst .......................................................... 18 Français ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Magnus Carlsen - L’histoire en marche pour «The Special One» .................................................................. 20 Hikaru Nakamura - Un Américain briseur de records ................................................................................... 21 Wang Hao - Le nouveau leader de l’Empire du Milieu .................................................................................. 23 Etienne Bacrot - Un retour au sommet bienvenu ......................................................................................... 24 Anish Giri - L’avenir lui appartient ................................................................................................................. 25 Alexander Morozevich - Un artiste à nouveau au sommet de son art.......................................................... 26 03.02.2013 1/26 2012 Grandmaster Tournament Biel International Chess Festival Short Biografies Magnus Carlsen Norway, 21 yo Elo: 2837 World ranking: 1 National ranking: 1 Best ever world ranking: 1 (first time in January 2010) Date and place of birth: 30.11.1990 in Toensberg Lives in: Haslum Winner of the Biel Grandmaster Tournament 2007 and 2011 Other times in Biel: 2005 (6th), 2006 (2nd), 2008 (3rd) Hikaru Nakamura United States, 24 yo Elo: 2778 World ranking: 7 National ranking: 1 Best ever world ranking: 6 (July 2011) Date and place of birth: 9.12.1987 in Osaka (Japan) Lives in: St. Louis (Missouri, USA) Biel-Bienne GMT: 2005 (4th) Wang Hao China, 22 yo Elo: 2739 World ranking: 15 National ranking: 1 Best ever world ranking: 15 (currently) Date and place of birth: 4.8.1989 in Harbin Lives in: Beijing Biel-Bienne GMT: - Victor Bologan Moldova, 40 yo Elo: 2732 World ranking: 20 National ranking: 1 Best ever world ranking: 18 (April 2005) Date and place of birth: 14.12.1971 in Chisinau Lives in: Chisinau Biel-Bienne GMT: 1999 (5th) 03.02.2013 2/26 2012 Grandmaster Tournament Biel International Chess Festival Etienne Bacrot France, 29 yo Elo: 2713 World ranking: 31 National ranking: 2 Best ever world ranking: 9 (January 2005 for the 1st time) Date and place of birth: 22.1.1983 in Lille Lives in: Carqueiranne Biel-Bienne GMT: 2003 (2nd), 2004 (5th), 2008 (4th) Anish Giri Netherlands, 18 yo Elo: 2696 World ranking: 49 Juniors world ranking: 2 National ranking: 1 Best ever world ranking: 23 (September 2011) Date and place of birth: 28.6.1994 in Petersburg (Russia) Lives in: Rijswijk (Netherlands) Biel-Bienne GMT: 2010 (8th out of 10 players) Alexander Morozevich (retired) Russia, 34 yo Elo: 2770 World ranking: 9 National ranking:3 Best ever world ranking: 2 (July and October 2008) Date and place of birth: 18.07.1977 in Moscow Lives in: Moscow Winner of the Biel Grandmaster Tournament 2003, 2004 and 2006 Other times in Biel: 2009(2nd), 2011 (2nd) 03.02.2013 3/26 2012 Grandmaster Tournament Biel International Chess Festival English Magnus Carlsen - History in the making for "The Special One" Unchallenged at the top of the hierarchy since taking over in January 2010, Biel title holder Magnus Carlsen is unanimously recognized as "The Special One." He is so talented that comparisons only make sense with World Champions of the twentieth century like Capablanca, Fischer or Kasparov. World No. 1, winner in 2011, the Norwegian is coming back to the Palais des Congrès as the clear favourite and a powerful candidate for a new title, which would already be his third one. In twelve months, his supremacy, far from dying out, has been confirmed and even increased. According to the July FIDE rankings, Magnus Carlsen (2837) has reinforced his lead over Armenian runner-up Levon Aronian (Elo 2816) and even more so over former – and new – World Champion Viswanathan Anand (5th with 2780). His 2837 points are his best result ever. Will he manage to beat Garry Kasparov’s historical 2851 record, which he reached in July 1999 and January 2000? Possibly, and Carlsen is living up to his genius: "Not to win a tournament is not an option for me, unless it is mathematically no longer possible", he said last autumn in a famous chess review. The actions are matching the words; he has been winning almost everything recently, which just shows how hungry he his. Since Biel 2011, a string of triumphs include the Bilbao Masters, the Tal Memorial in Moscow and a second place at the London Chess Classic. In 2012 he finished second again in Wijk aan Zee and took gold in the last round at the Tal Memorial last June, beating all his pursuers: Aronian (No. 2), Kramnik (No. 3) and Radjabov (No. 4). Of all his nicknames, "The Mozart of Chess" is often used. What does he think about it? He was invited last February to the famous american programme "60 Minutes" on CBS; he replied "Why not?" and added: "Nobody ever asked Mozart why he was so gifted. I would have been curious to hear his answer. Perhaps he would have said that it just happens naturally. It’s my case." A grandmaster at the age of 13, he has not experienced any plateau in his ascent to World Number One, which he reached at 19 (an absolute record of precocity in history). Having already won almost all tournaments that make the elite, Magnus Carlsen’s goal can only be the World Championship now. Tired of FIDE’s back and forths, he decided to boycott the cycle that ended in May 2012 with Anand’s victory. However, he will be in the next cycle. A king has privileges and the Haslum citizen (also an ambassador and a model for the G-Star Raw clothing brand) chooses his tournaments as he pleases. Thus, Biel is proud to be part of his favourite lands. The 2005 Chess Festival was first to give Carlsen, then 14 years old, a chance to play in a major event. And in 2007, when 03.02.2013 4/26 2012 Grandmaster Tournament