Bilbao Masters 02: Time Pressure Reigns

2014 Bilbao Masters Final This super-GM double round robin tournament is being played September 14th until September 20th, 2014. The players – Levon Aronian (Armenia), Viswanathan Anand (India), Rulsan Ponomariov (Ukraine) and Francisco "Paco" Vallejo Pons (Spain). The tournament is being held alongisde the European Club Cup, which we will have reports for separately. The average rating of this event is 2754, making it a category 21. The event is being scored in the "soccer" format: three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.

Round Two

Two hard fought games finished in a strange way as time trouble got to the players. Anand seemed to outplay Vallejo and had the better position, but White's fortress seemed difficult to crack while his passed pawn on c7 was a real nuisance. In a few moves, however, the Spaniard destroyed his own position and it was all over quicker than anyone could have predicted.

The Spaniard resigns after blundering before move 40

And off to analysis with Spanish commentator Leontxo Garcia

Aronian always held a strong advantage against Ponomariov, and although the game was unclear both players made mistakes in time pressure. First Aronian gave away his advantage to a perpetual, but Ponomariov misse it and it was the Ukrainian's turn to err. Aronian did not forgive and wins his first game of the event.

Aronian tries to keeps pace, and is only 2 points behind Anand

Ponomariov is, unfortunately, 0-2 with the
King's Indian Defense and 0-2 in the tournament

Photos by Manu de Alba from Bilbao's Facebook site

Round Two Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Schedule

Links Official tournament site All Games in PGN 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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.