Bilbao Masters 03: Pono shows class

by Alejandro Ramirez
9/16/2014 – Levon Aronian vs. Vishy Anand was set to be the match of the day, the two highest rated players in the tournament duking it out, and also the two players with the most amount of points. But the show was completely stolen by the Ukrainian grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov who keeps playing aggressive chess. Today it paid off very well as he tore Vallejo Pons' position. A pretty game!
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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 Three

Round 03 –September 16, 2014
Anand, Vishy 2785
½-½
 Aronian, Levon 2804
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717
1-0
 Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712

The two highest rated players played in the third round, just before the rest day. The match followed a recent super game between Caruana-Aronian, which many considered to be the best game of the Sinquefield Cup that recently finished. Anand may not have wanted to show his hand with the World Championship so close, and Aronian took full advantage of this and equalized without problems.

Levon always shows his class, both as a player and as a person

Vishy going over the game with Leontxo

The streak was broken, but with 2.5/3 (in traditional scoring)
the Indian's first half is impressive

The Ponomariov-Vallejo Pons game was very one sided, with the Ukrainian pushing forward a very powerful and impressive attack. Very flashy and a definite must-see!

What to do?! They're strong! "Paco" has only achieved one draw out of three games,
though he does come from a series of impressive results in the last two months

"I wanted to show my friends that I can play chess" - Ruslan Ponomariov. And boy did he show them!

Photos by Manu de Alba from Bilbao's Facebook site

Round Three Games

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
Position not in LiveBook
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.Nc3 d6 9.a3 Na5 10.Ba2 Be6 11.b4 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.b4 Nc6 13.Bd2 d5 14.Re1 Qd6 15.Na2!? Was Caruana's original, and successful, attempt against Aronian in the Sinquefield Cup. Anand must have his own ideas, and Aronian surely had an improvement ready. 11...Bxa2 12.Rxa2 Nc6 13.Bg5 Qd7 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nd5 Bd8 16.a4 Ne7 17.Ne3 Rb8 Black in these kinds of positions is not fighting for any kind of advantage. He is happy having a solid position and simplifying into a draw. Aronian does this masterfully in this game. 18.axb5 axb5 19.c3 Qe6 20.Qb1 d5 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Qxd5 23.Re1 Bf6 24.Rae2 c5 25.Nxe5 25.Rxe5 Bxe5 26.Rxe5 Qa8 27.bxc5 Qa3 is not really that dangerous. White is far from advancing his pawns and Black's counterplay is good. 25...cxb4 26.Qxb4 Bxe5 27.Rxe5 Qxd3 White has a symbolic advantage. The game is basically over. 28.h3 h6 29.R1e3 Qd1+ 30.Re1 Qa4 31.Rb1 Qxb4 32.Rxb4 Rfc8 33.Rbxb5 Rxb5 34.Rxb5 Rxc3 Aronian makes a very solid draw, though one has to wonder if maybe Anand is saving his best prep for his W orld Championship match. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2785Aronian,L2804½–½2014C847th Grand Slam Masters3
Ponomariov,R2717Vallejo Pons,F27121–02014B907th Grand Slam Masters3

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Standings

Schedule

Round 01 – September 14, 2014
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
½-½
 Aronian, Levon 2804
Anand, Vishy 2785
1-0
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717
Round 02 –September 15, 2014
Aronian, Levon 2804
1-0
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
0-1
 Anand, Vishy 2785
Round 03 –September 16, 2014
Anand, Vishy 2785
½-½
 Aronian, Levon 2804
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717
1-0
 Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
Round 04 –September 18, 2014
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717   Aronian, Levon 2804
Anand, Vishy 2785   Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
Round 05 –September 19, 2014
Aronian, Levon 2804   Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717   Anand, Vishy 2785
Round 06 –September 20, 2014
Aronian, Levon 2804   Anand, Vishy 2785
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717

Links

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.

 

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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