Bilbao Final: Aronian is the victor

by ChessBase
10/12/2013 – Levon Aronian crowned himself as the winner of the 6th Bilbao Master's Final tournament. The key game came in round five when he was able to beat his closest competitor, Michael Adams. In turn Adams rebounded in round six with a victory against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Adams clinched second while MVL and Mamedyarov tie for third/fourth. Report and closing ceremony.
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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 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 5

Round 5 – October 11, 17:00h
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
Adams, Michael 2753
0-1
 Aronian, Levon 2795

Aronian defeated Adams from an arguably worse position. After White's mistake the Armenian was able to win without problems.

The decisive game of the tournament! After this victory all Levon needed to win the tournament was a draw against Mamedyarov with the white pieces.

Mamedyarov was unable to win against Vachier-Lagrave in round 5

Round 6

Round 6 – October 12, 17:00h
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
0-1
 Adams, Michael 2753
Aronian, Levon 2795
½-½
 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759

We bring you full annotations of the decisive game of round six by grandmater Gilberto Milos from Brazil:

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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.d4 Bb7 4.c4 e6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 Na6 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Qc2 f5 9...Nxc3 is also playable and white does not have any trick like 10.Ng5 Bxg5 11.Bxg5 Qxg5 12.Bxb7 Nxa2! 13.Bxa6 Nb4 14.Qc3 Nxa6 15.Rxa6 with equality 10.Ne5 d6 11.Nd3 d5?! The e5 square will be a problem for black during almost all the game. I prefer 11...Bf6 12.Be3 c5= 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Be3 Nb4 13...c6 14.Qb3! Nxd3 15.exd3 Nf6 15...Nxc3 16.bxc3 a5 17.c4 16.Bf4 Here white is clearly better because he controls more central squares especially e5. Qd7 17.Rac1 Bd8 necessary because after; 17...c6? 18.Nxd5+- Nxd5 19.Bxd5+ cxd5 20.Rc7 18.Re5 c6 19.Rce1 Nh5 20.Bd2 g6 20...Bf6 was more natural and it could be answered by 21.Re6 but also 21.Bf3 Bxe5 22.dxe5 g6 23.Bxh5 gxh5 24.Ne2 gives white good positional compensation. 21...g6 21.Bh6 Bf6 22.Bxf8 Bxe5 23.Rxe5 white is also better after 23.dxe5 23...Kxf8 24.a4! to play a5 and create more weknesses on black squares. Re8 25.a5 Qc7 26.axb6 axb6 27.Qb4+ Kf7 28.Na4! b5 conceding c5. Black could try to avoid this move with, 28...Rb8 28...Ba6 29.Nc5 Nf6 30.Qe1 Bc8 31.h4 Re7 32.Bf3 f4 To improve the play of the bishop. I believe white should take the pawn now or on next move retaining an advantage but Vachier had other ideas. 33.Qe2 h5 33...fxg3 34.fxg3 Qd6 35.b4 Nd7 White is better but I dont see how to improve it. 34.gxf4 Bg4 That is black's idea with ...f4. The bad bishop is gone but the e6 s.quare may become a problem and Vachier try to exploit. 34...Qd6 35.Bxg4 Nxg4 36.Ne6 Qd6 37.f5! Kg8! 38.f3 Nxe5 39.dxe5 Qb4 White has good compensation but the position is about even but we are on the last move of time control and, 40.f4?? just losing. After 40.Qe3 Qxh4 41.Kg2= the position is equal. gxf5 42.Qh6 40...gxf5-+ 40...Ra7 41.Kh2 Ra2 42.Kh3 Rxb2 43.Qe3 41.Qg2+ and after this check white resigned without waiting for ...Kf7. White has nothing after the king escapes and he will lose the f4 pawn or worse. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Adams-0–12013E18

 

With his streak of fantastic results, including his victory in Dortmund, Adams is in the live rating list back in the top 10 players in the world

A draw would've been enough for Adams to enter the top 10, but with the win he puts more distance between himself and number elven... Mamedyarov!

Closing Ceremony

Aronian not only won the tournament, he regains 2800 and his second place in the world

A happy Aronian: this is the second time he wins the Bilbao Masters Final

The four grandmasters with their prizes

Standings

The tournament uses Bilbao, or Soccer, Rules for scoring.

photos and information provided by Gerardo Fernandez Llana

Replay Final Rounds games

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 d6 7.c3 0-0 8.Re1 b5 9.Bc2 d5 10.Nbd2 d4 11.h3 Nd7 12.Nb3 a5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Nbd2 Nc5 15.Nc4 f6 16.Bxa4 Nxa4 17.Rxa4 dxc3 18.bxc3 Ba6 19.Qb3 Kh8 20.Rd1 Qb8 21.Qc2 Bb5 22.Ra2 Bxc4 23.dxc4 Nd8 24.Be3 Ra6 25.Qa4 Ne6 26.Qb5 Qa8 27.c5 Rb8 28.Qc4 Qc6 29.Ne1 Nxc5 30.Rd5 Nb3 31.Qd3 Raa8 32.Nc2 Bf8 33.Na3 Qa4 34.Qc4 Qxc4 35.Nxc4 a4 36.Kf1 a3 37.Rd7 Kg8 38.Ke2 Rb7 39.Kd3 Ra4 40.f3 Bc5 41.Bd2 Kf8 42.g4 Ba7 43.Nd6 cxd6 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Adams,M2753Aronian,L27950–12013C846th Final Masters5
Mamedyarov,S2759Vachier Lagrave,M2742½–½2013D906th Final Masters5
Aronian,L2795Mamedyarov,S2759½–½2013D526th Final Masters6
Vachier Lagrave,M2742Adams,M27530–12013E176th Final Masters6

Schedule

Round 1 – October 07, 17:00h
Aronian, Levon 2795
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
Adams, Michael 2753
½-½
 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Round 2 – October 08, 17:00h
Adams, Michael 2753
1-0
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759 ½-½ Aronian, Levon 2795
Round 3 – October 09, 17:00h
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
1-0
 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Aronian, Levon 2795
½-½
 Adams, Michael 2753
Round 4 – October 10, 17:00h
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
0-1
 Aronian, Levon 2795
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
½-½
 Adams, Michael 2753
Round 5 – October 11, 17:00h
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
Adams, Michael 2753
0-1
 Aronian, Levon 2795
Round 6 – October 12, 17:00h
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2742
0-1
 Adams, Michael 2753
Aronian, Levon 2795
½-½
 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759

Links

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.

 

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