9/9/2009 – What an unusual tournament: at halftime we note that there has been just one undecisive game (drawing average 16%!). Today Sergey Karjakin defeated the tournament leader Alexander Grischuk, while Levon Aronian beat Alexei Shirov with the black pieces to join Grischuk in the lead, both now having six Bilbao points. Illustrated round three report.
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The II Grand Slam Final Chess Masters 2009
The
II Grand Slam Final Chess Masters 2009 is being held in Bilbao from September
6th to September 12th, in a sound-proof glass cube in the Bilbao Plaza Nueva
(central square). The four players competing: Sergey Karjakin, the winner of
Wijk ann Zee, Alexander Grischuk, winner of Ciudad de Linares, Alexei Shirov,
winner in Sofia, and Levon Aronian, second-place winner of Nanking. The games
start at 17:00h CEST (= 19:00h Moscow, 16:00h London, 11 a.m. New York), with
a rate of play of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes to finish the
game, with 10 extra seconds per move from move number 41. The “Sofia Rule”
is enforced, which means that players are not allowed to agree a draw without
arbiter's permission. The prize fund is 110,000 Euros. The full schedule and
results of the tournament are given below.
Karjakin-Grischuk was a closed Ruy Lopez (Smyslov Variation)
in which Sergey Karjakin appeared to be more at home than Alexander Grischuk,
who spent a lot of time searching for the right plan. At move 15 he had just
over 15 minutes for the next 25 moves, at move 25 just over five minutes for
the 15 moves until the first time control. And on move 29, having warded off
the main threats posed by his opponent, Grischuk stepped straight off the cliff.
Black has been under quite a bit of pressure in this game, but now he has reached
a stable position and should be able to draw after 29...Bxd5 30.Rxd5 Re6. But
in high tension and terrible time trouble Grischuk plays 29...Bg7?
This allows 30.Ne7 Qc7 31.Ng4! Rf4. Did you see it? 31...hxg4??
32.Qh4+ Bh6 33.Qxh6 mate! 32.Nh6 Rf8 33.Nxf7+ R4xf7 34.Nxg6+ Kh7 35.Qxh5+
Bh6 36.Bxf7 Rxf7
This is really cute: 37.Rxd7! Rxd7 [37...Qxd7 38.Nxe5] 38.Nf8+
Kg7 39.Ne6+ 1-0. Nicely executed by Serge Karjakin, who scored his
first win in this tournament. Alexander Grischuk suffered his first defeat –
in fact it was the first game he did not win. [Click
to replay]
Shirov-Aronian was a Closed Ruy Lopez Marshall which looked
fine for White until around move 25. Then errors crept in, from which Black,
who was concentrating all his pieces on a kingside assault, was able to profit.
White is in a precarious situation and should probably defend with 29.Qb1,
but instead he plays the fatal 29.Qf3? which simply loses after
29...Qg6! Black is now threatening 30...Bg4, trapping the queen,
so 30.Qd1, and now Black has 30...hxg3 (or 30...Bxf1 31.Kxf1 hxg3 etc.) 31.hxg3
Bxf1 32.Kxf1 Bxg3 33.Bxd5 cxd5 34.Qf3 Rf6 35.Qg2 Qd3+ and White loses on all
lines (e.g. 36.Kg1 (36.Re2 Bxf2 37.Bxf2 Rxe2 is hopeless) 36...Rg6 37.fxg3 (37.Kh1
Bb8 38.Qh3 Rh6 and the white queen is lost.) 37...Rxe3 38.Rxe3 Qxe3+ 39.Kh1
Rxg3 and here too the queen is lost. We do not know if and how Alexei Shirov,
who was in time trouble, worked this all out, but in any case he resigned after
29...Qg6. 0-1. [Click
to replay]
Standings after three rounds
Player
wins
draws
losses
points
Alexander Grischuk
2
0
0
6
Levon Aronian
2
0
1
6
Sergey Karjakin
1
1
1
4
Alexei Shirov
0
1
2
1
Scoring System:
3 - Points per win
1 - Point per draw
0 - Point per loss
Traditional cross table (for rating purposes)
Impressions from Bilbao
The Euskalduna and the Avenue Abandoibarra in Bilbao
Maria Diaz Haroko Street, viewed from the Sheraton, where all the players
stay
The arrival, here of Alexander Grischuk, with Levon Aronian lurking in the
background
Sergey Karjakin with his wife Katya
Alexei Shirov arrives at the venue, the Bilbao Plaza Nueva...
...and prepares to do battle in the sound-proof glass cube
The ceremonial first move (in the game Grischuk vs Karjakin) is made by the
extreme
climbers Iker
and Eneko
Pou. If you have good nerves you can watch them on YouTube:
Iker & Eneko Pou on Orbayu, the most difficult big wall in the world
The game under way – Karjakin clinched it in 39 moves
Shock and awe: for the first time in this event Grischuk does not win his game
The venue, in the middle of the Bilbao Plaza Nueva
After the game Levon Aronian and Alexei Shirov talk to Basque journalist
Leontxo Garcia
The games will be 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.
New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!
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The
II Grand Slam Final Chess Masters 2009 is being held in Bilbao from September
6th to September 12th, in a sound-proof glass cube in the Bilbao Plaza Nueva
(central square). The four players competing: Sergey Karjakin, the winner of
Wijk ann Zee, Alexander Grischuk, winner of Ciudad de Linares, Alexei Shirov,
winner in Sofia, and Levon Aronian, second-place winner of Nanking. The games
start at 17:00h CEST (= 19:00h Moscow, 16:00h London, 11 a.m. New York), with
a rate of play of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes to finish the
game, with 10 extra seconds per move from move number 41. The “Sofia Rule”
is enforced, which means that players are not allowed to agree a draw without
arbiter's permission. The prize fund is 110,000 Euros. The full schedule and
results of the tournament are given below.
