9/5/2008 – 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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Grand
Slam Chess Final Masters Bilbao
The Chess Grand Slam Final is being staged in Bilbao, Spain, from September
1st to 13th 2008. It is a six-player double round robin event, one of the strongest
in the history of the game (at least by Elo average, 2775.6, making it a category
22 tournament). Games start at 17:00h local time (CEST). The scoring system
in this tournament is different and experimental. Players get three points for
a win, one point for a draw and zero points for losing a game. For rating purposes
the traditional 1-½-0 system will be used. The prize fund for the event
is 400,000 Euros, with the winner receiving €150,000, the second place
€70,000, etc. with the 6th player getting €30,000. The sums are unprecedented
for an event like this. Only World Championships have exceeded the amount.
Vishy Anand and Veselin Topalov at the start of their round four game
In the "aquarium" Vassily Ivanchuk takes a keen interest in the key
game
Magnus Carlsen stops by to check things out
Anand looks pensive one move after Topalov's novelty
Topalov,V (2777) - Anand,V (2798) [E15]
Grand Slam Final Bilbao ESP (4), 05.09.2008 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5
Nxd5 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rd1 Qc8 11.a3 Nf6
12.Bg5N. The new move. 12.Nc3 d5 13.Bg5 d4 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Ne4
was played in Rodshtein,M (2517) - Pashikian,A (2527), Yerevan 2006, where White
on in 34 moves, and 12.Nc3 d5 13.Bg5 Nbd7 14.e4 d4 15.e5 in the receint Kramnik-Leko,
Tal Memorial, 2008, which ended in a 28-move draw. We are told that Topalov's
novelty was found by Spanish GM Paco Vallejo Pons, who used to work with Anand.
And now if 25...Qc6 26.Ng5 h5 27.Nxf7 Rxf7 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Qxd8+–. 1-0.
The entire game was played by Topalov with the utmost precision. He probably
had most of it on his Fritz or Rybka computer screen in his home preparation
(both programs reproduce every white move after the novelty). Excellent preparation
once again by former FIDE world champion Topalov, a painful defeat for the current
champion Vishy Anand.
Victorious: Veselin Topalov, the battling Bulgar
The most exciting game of the day, next to the Topalov-Anand shocker, was the
battle royale between the two youngest players: Magnus Carlsen, 17, and Teimour
Radjabov, 21. The latter played the "Chinese Dragon" against Carlsen
and looked okay after the opening – even to the extent of having winning
chances.
Alone against a bottle of orange juice: Teimour Radjabov in his explosive
game...
...against Magnus Carlsen, who does not let a virus from Moscow daunt his fighting
spirit
19.g4. Magnus said this was a serious oversight and that he
had missed the strength of the black defence: 19...hxg4 20.Qe3 Rfb8 21.h5 g5
(our materialistic chess engines prefer 21...Nxh5 22.fxg4 Bxg4 23.Rh4 Bd7 etc.).
22.fxg4 Nxg4 23.Qd2 f6 24.Nf3 Ra6 25.Rhg1 Rb4 26.a3 Be6
27.e5! Black can still defend, but it requires an inordinate
amout of calculation and the players are drifting into time trouble. 27...dxe5?
The computer says Black must find 27...Kh8 in order to survive. 28.Nxg5!
Bf5 (28...fxg5 29.Qxg5+ Kf8 30.h6 wins for White). 22.fxg4
Nxg4 23.Qd2 f6 24.Nf3 Ra6 25.Rhg1 Rb4 26.a3 Be6 27.e5 dxe5 28.Nxg5 Bf5 29.Nge4
Kh7 30.Qe2 Nh6 31.Rg3 Be6
Here White had 32.Qg2, winning instantly. 32.Rg6 Nf5? 32...Bf5
would have allowed Black to last longer. Now Carlsen finishes him oft with ruthless
tactical shots. 33.Qg4 Nh4 34.Ng5+ fxg5 35.Qxg5 Nxg6 36.Qxg6+ Kh8 37.Rg1
and it is mate in ten. 1-0. Beautiful fighting spirit displayed
by both players.
Spotted: Henrik Carlsen, worrying at the back of the crowd
Boris Radjabov (and two young Spanish fans) follow the game
Levon Aronian, set to win his round four game against Vassily Ivanchuk
Aronian did well in the opening, Ivanchuk fought back and gained an approximately
equal position at the time control. Then inaccuracies started to creep in and
now Black is on the defensive. 53...Nd3? We said on the defensive
– how about 53...Rc8 instead? 54.Ncb5 Nb4 55.f5 Nc6 56.fxg6 fxg6
57.Rf6 Bxb5 58.Nxb5 Ne5 59.Nd4 Kd7. Now White picks off two pawns.
60.Rxb6 Rc8 61.Rb5 Kd6 62.Rxa5 Rf8 63.Ra6+ Kd7 64.Rf6 Rxf6 65.gxf6.
With passers on both wings the rest is simple. 65...Ke8 66.a5 Kf7 67.a6
Nd7 68.a7 Nb6 69.Kc3 Kxf6 70.Kb4 1-0.
17:45:25h: Vassily Ivanchuk during his round four game against Aronian
All pictures by Nadja Woisin in Bilbao
Bilbao scores
Player
games
wins
draws
losses
points
Veselin Topalov
4
2
2
0
8
Magnus Carlsen
4
2
1
1
7
Levon Aronian
4
1
2
1
5
Vishy Anand
4
0
3
1
3
Teimur Radjabov
4
0
3
1
3
Vassily Ivanchuk
4
0
3
1
3
Traditional scores (for rating purposes)
Magnus Carlsen number one on Live Ratings
With his round four victory in Bilbao, and assisted by Anand's loss to Topalov,
Magnus Carlsen climbs to the number one position in the world – on the
Live Rating List that ranks all players
over 2700 on a daily basis. Here are the standings on September 5, 2008, at
21:37 CET
Note that Magnus is just 0.4 points ahead of Vishy Anand, and that the top
four players are a maximum of five points apart. Things are getting close at
these rarefied altitudes, and will certainly look different at the end of the
tournament. But we take time to congratulate the 17-year-old Norwegian on this
unique achievement. Magnus, you rock, boy!
The world's number one at the age of 17: Magnus Carlsen, the Mozart of Chess
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download
the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access.
You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.
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Grand
Slam Chess Final Masters Bilbao
