Bilbao Masters – Nakamura steamrolls Aronian; Carlsen wins too

The first leg of the Grand Slam was staged in São Paulo, Ibirapuera Park, from September 25th to October 1st, the second leg takes place in Bilbao, Alhóndiga, from 5th to 11th October. Tournament system: double round robin with six players over ten rounds. Time control: 90 minutes/40 moves + 60 minutes + 10 seconds/move starting with the first move. Games begin at 16:00h local Spanish time (10 a.m. New York, 18:00h Moscow).

Round eight

With two-thirds of the players tied for second, and this the last chance to make a move on Ivanchuk to arm wrestle for first, the eighth round promised to be a tense affair as all the players set out to make their final bids. The game between Ivanchuk and Anand was quite revelatory in that sense. The game was equal throughout, and despite a dead equal endgame in which neither player could claim to have greater practical chances than the other, Anand pushed it to the rail, possibly because he too had judged this the do-or-die round.

Anand provides some insight on the game...

...while Ivanchuk considers it himself.

It wasn't his most brilliant victory, but a win is a win, and Carlsen is in the mix

Carlsen-Vallejo was a strange game. Though one could look at the result and conclude that Carlsen had used his superior ability to make his move over the Spaniard, the truth his he had gotten nothing at all out of the opening or middlegame, and it was only the gift of a piece on move 32 that gave him his chance.

In the round up show, GM Maurice Ashley also weighed in on the game, which we are sharing here with you.

 
GM Maurice Ashley analyzes Carlsen-Vallejo on Playchess

The rest of the show and game analysis is available on Playchess for those who missed it.

After obtaining bad positions in the opening and then clawing his way back to a draw, Aronian had to have been pleased in his game against Nakamura to finally achieve a good opening, however, that is where the smile ended.

Aronian showed his usual composure in the post-game interview

Soon enough Nakamura equalized, and then did what one would not have expected against a player of Aronian's renowned technique: he proceeded to completely outplay him in the endgame, inching forward with confidence and ability making it seem as if it had been an obvious win. A fantastic achievement by the American, showing new weapons in his growing arsenal.

On the steady rise, Nakamura displayed refined tools in pursuit of the magic 2800

With both Carlsen and Nakmura winning their games, they have jockeyed themselves into position as the only candidates for a potential steal of first place, though Ivanchuk is still in control of his destiny and might secure it in spite of any heroics on their part. In round nine, Carlsen will face Ivanchuk, and his chances will depend entirely on how things go, while Nakamura plays Vallejo, only to face Carlsen in round ten. The games promise to be exciting.

 
A video report of round eight courtesy of liveteleshows & Vijay Kumar

Pictures by Pascal Simon

Bilbao scoring crosstable after eight rounds

Traditional crosstable after eight rounds

Schedule and results

Links Official tournament site (Bilbao) All ChessBase reports – All games in PGN 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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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