Bilbao 01: both games drawn

Four of the best chess players in the world: the Armenian olympic champion Levon Aronian, the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the Azeri Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and the Englishman Michael Adams will be the contenders at the sixth Grand Slam Chess Masters final, one of the most prestigious tournaments of the world which will be held from the 7th to the 12th of October, 2013.

The tournament venue will be the "Mercado del Ensanche" of Bilbao. The six rounds of the tournament will be played at the main hall of the building.

The Armenian chess player, and rating favorite, stated "I´m delighted about winning one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments". If he wins it will be his second title after winning the event in 2009.

The tournament will be played under a double round-robin and ruled by the revolutionary regulations that distinguishes Bilbao form the other international tournaments. With the aim of guaranteeing an entertaining game every time, the Sophia Rules and Bilbao Rules will apply. According to these rules, the players can only agree on a draw under the supervision of the arbiter and a commitee of masters; with the points of each game being scored the same as soccer - that is three points for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss.

Round 1

Aronian, Levon ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
A long variation in the Gruenfeld defense saw Aronian deviate from a previous game he played against MVL. Although 16.d6 is a known idea it is unclear what Aroniana had prepared, as Vachier was able to win an exchange and although this didn't promise any advantage, he was certainly not worse either.

Adams, Michael ½-½ Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
In a very strange transposition of ideas the game started as a Sicilian, which then resembled a Queen's Indian Structure to finally settle on a Benoni-like structure. Adams held an advantage from the opening with better pieces and a strong passed pawn on d6, but his 25.Rae1 was inaccurate and after that the Azeri equalized and held a draw in a rook endgame.

Replay game of round 1

Schedule

Links Official tournament site 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.