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Grand Slam Chess Final Masters Bilbao
01.07.2008 – It has been tried before, with success: top-level chess played in a glass "aquarium", where the public can approach the tables without disturbing the players. This time it's in September in Bilbao, Spain, on the Town Square. Anand, Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Topalov, Radjabov and Aronian take part in a unique tournament with no draw offers and the football scoring system of 3-1-0. Press release. |
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Bilbao R1: Carlsen beats Aronian with black
02.09.2008 – The Super-super-GM in Bilbao started with a bang. Radjabov's Scotch against Topalov simplified to a drawn ending which was played out to bare kings. Anand had one of his sweating-blood games against Ivanchuk but survived in the end. Magnus Carlsen, the incredible young man from Norway, simply blew away world-class GM Levon Aronian with the black pieces. Big illustrated report. |
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Bilbao Grand Slam starts today
02.09.2008 – It is one of the strongest chess tournaments ever: six players averaging 2775.6 Elo points, making it a Category XXII event. The games are being played in the middle of the town square, in a sound-proof glass cabin. The scoring system is unusual, with three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The prize fund? A cool 400,000 Euros (US $585,000). First pictorial report from Bilbao. |
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Bilbao R2: all games drawn, Carlsen leads
03.09.2008 – All three games were drawn today, and according to the Bilbao rules that gives
each player one point (a win counts for three). The game of the day was the
Dragon between Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen – it had spectators on the
Playchess server enthralled. An
exchange sacrifice, a piece sacrifice and in the end a perpetual. Carlsen continues
to lead in Bilbao and regular points. Full report. |
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Bilbao R3: Topalov beats Carlsen with black
04.09.2008 – On move 21 a clearly out-of-sorts Magnus Carlsen – our Spanish colleagues tell us he brought a bug with him from the Moscow blitz – dropped a pawn, and then was ruthlessly punished for this inaccuracy by Veselin Topalov, never a player to let such an opportunity pass. Both the other games were drawn. Topalov leads in the tournament. Full illustrated report. |
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Bilbao R4: Topalov topples Anand, Carlsen #1 in the world
05.09.2008 – When was the last time we saw Anand resign a game in just 25 moves? It happened, in round four of the Chess Grand Slam Final in Spain against Veselin Topalov. Levon Aronian defeated Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen, still ailing from his Moscow bug, defeated Teimour Radjabov. Topalov leads in Bilbao, but Carlsen is now number one in the world live rankings. Full pictorial report. |
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Bilbao R5: All games drawn
06.09.2008 – After a furious round four, with all games decided, round five brought three draws – but none of them your unfought, GM agreements. Anand got into trouble against Magnus Carlsen, dropping an exchange, but escaped in the end; Ivanchuk-Topalov was a standard Nimzo-Indian and drawn in 44 moves; Radjabov played another Scotch, drawing with Aronian in 34 moves. Full pictorial report. |
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Bilbao R7: Ivanchuk and Aronian defeat Carlsen and Topalov
09.09.2008 – Both top players in this event suffered shock losses on Tuesday. Magnus Carlsen blamed his downfall in a very sharp game against Vassily Ivanchuk on a single move in the opening. Levon Aronian recovered from his two losses with a miracle cure which he revealed after his convincing victory against Veselin Topalov. Radjabov-Anand ended in an interesting 29-move draw. Round seven report. |
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Bilbao R6: Carlsen defeats Aronian, leads in Masters
09.09.2008 – A convincing victory by the player of the year, Magnus Carlsen, brought the young Norwegian to the top of the scoreboard according to the Bilbao system (a win counts for three points, a draw for one). Veselin Topalov, the leader after the first half, is now in second place, after a tough draw against Teimour Radjabov. In the unofficial "Live Ratings" Magnus now leads by six points. Round six report. |
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Bilbao R8: Topalov beats Carlsen, Aronian beats Anand
11.09.2008 – And the amazing Vassily Ivanchuk won his game against Teimour Radjabov after a terrible time scramble – and advanced to number one in the Live Rankings. Vishy Anand spoilt a perfectly good game with a blunder immediately after the time control and lost after a 75-move struggle to survive. Veselin Topalov defeated Magnus Carlsen's Sicilian Dragon in 48 moves. Full illustrated report. |
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Bilbao R9: all games drawn, Topalov leads
12.09.2008 – Anand vs Topalov was a Caro-Kann, with unambitious play by the World Champion, who seemed satisfied with a draw-and-nothing-more. Radjabov vs Carlsen was a tough fight that ended in a 53-move draw. Ivanchuk vs Aronian saw the Ukrainian achieve a winnable position and then spoil it to a draw in time trouble. Note: the final round begins on Saturday at 4 p.m. local time. Illustrated report. |
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Bilbao R10: Topalov wins Bilbao, leads in live rankings
16.09.2008 – Veselin Topalov won his final game in Bilbao against Vassily Ivanchuk in fine style, securing first place by a big margin and advancing to number one in the world in the unofficial live rankings. Teimour Radjabov beat Levon Aronian with the black pieces, putting Magnus Carlsen in second place according to the Bilbao system. Anand was a shocking last. Big pictorial report. |
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Bilbao Masters: photographic impressions by Fred Lucas
21.09.2008 – We turn, as in the past, from the digicam journalists who swarm around chess events to the professionals who take their work very seriously, composing, framing, cropping, colour-correcting their high-quality pictures, and producing aesthetically pleasing visual feasts. Our friend and teacher Fred Lucas was at the Chess Masters in Bilbao and has provided us with his take on the event.Enjoy. |
