Bilbao Masters 01: Anand starts well!

by Alejandro Ramirez
9/15/2014 – The 2014 Bilbao Masters Final has started. The four player double round robin is the main attraction in Bilbao, which is also hosting the European Club Cup. In today's games, it was Vishy Anand that started with a bang as he convincingly outplayed Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov. In the other duel Vallejo Pons tried to crack Levon Aronian from the opening, but it almost backfired.
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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 One

Round 01 – September 14, 2014
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
½-½
 Aronian, Levon 2804
Anand, Vishy 2785
1-0
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717

The matches in progress, in the background is the European Club Cup

Round one started with the World Championship Challanger, Vishy Anand, having a strong showing. His positional domination of the Ukrainian player was smooth and although he missed a couple of chances for a bigger advantage, it seemed as if Black was always under pressure.

Anand was simply the superior player today

Posing before the start of round one

Vallejo Pons launched himself with everything he had against Aronian, sacrificing a piece early on. The Armenian cooly declined the sacrifice and obtained a better position, but he wasn't able to put too much pressure despite at some point having an extra pawn. It seemed as if the Spaniard had an easier time holding than he should have.

Photos by Manu de Alba from Bilbao's Facebook site

Round One Games

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,185,96054%2421---
1.d4960,10155%2434---
1.Nf3286,72856%2440---
1.c4184,98756%2443---
1.g319,89756%2427---
1.b314,60454%2428---
1.f45,95848%2376---
1.Nc33,91750%2383---
1.b41,79148%2379---
1.a31,25054%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.e4 0-0 6.h3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Be3 Na6 9.g4 Nc5 10.Nd2 This set-up against the King's Indian defense becomes more and more popular. White is simply flighting against the liberating f5 pawn break, hoping to stop it in its tracks by either taking twice on f5 or placing a pawn on g5 to take on f6 en passant. Either way the ideas are uncomfortable for Black who now has the find a new route of counterplay. c6 11.Be2 Bd7 12.g5 Ne8 13.h4 Although this position has been reached many times before, it hasn't been in any particularly top level game. f6 14.Nb3 b6 15.Nxc5 bxc5 Black would love to maneuver his knight to d4, after which his position might be perfectly good, but that isn't happening any time soon. Something already clearly went wrong: White has an advantage of space basically everywehre and nothing to really worry about. 16.Qd2 16.h5!? Was more direct and also possible, but there is no reason to hurry with this. 16...fxg5 17.hxg5 cxd5? 18.Nxd5? It's a little strange to try to figure out what they both missed. 18.Qxd5+!+- Rf7 18...Kh8 19.0-0-0 and the obvious sacrifice on h7 is going to be nearly lethal. Also Bxc5 is a threat. 19.Rxh7 Nc7 20.Rxg7+ Kxg7 21.Qxd6+- 18...Rf7 19.0-0-0 Rb8 20.Rh2 Be6 21.Nc3 Qb6 22.Nb5 Bf8 23.a4 Qb7 24.Qc2 Be7 25.Kb1 Qc6 26.Bd2 Black's position is still unpleasant to play. He has a few weaknesses to take care of, but now was the time to get active. That knight on e8 must join the fray. Bd8 26...Bd7! 27.Bxa5 27.Rg1 Ng7! And suddenly black grabs the intiative as that knight heads to d4. 27...Bxg5∞ 27.Qd3 Rbb7 28.Rf1 Rf8 29.f4 White has been given plenty of time, and now he finds the chance to strike with f4 and open some dangerous lines. exf4 30.Rxf4 Rxf4 31.Bxf4 Rf7 32.Bd2 Be7 33.Rg2 Qb6 34.Bg4! Eliminating the light-squared defender. Bxg4 35.Rxg4 Nc7 36.Rf4 Ne6 37.Rxf7 Kxf7 38.Qd5 It's too late, Black doesn't even have control over d4 anymore Qd8 39.Ka2! Black is nearly zugzwanged. Bf8 40.Bf4 Qd7 41.b3 Be7 42.Nxd6+ Kf8 43.e5! Nxg5?! 43...Nxf4 44.Qf7# 43...Bxd6 44.Bg3 is a clever trick, Black loses the bishop on d6 anyways. 44.exd6?? Nxf4 44.Qxc5 Qg4 45.Bc1 The rest is very simple. Black's king is too weak. h5 46.Qxa5 Qg2+ 47.Bb2 h4 48.Qb5 Qa8 49.c5 h3 50.c6 Bd8 50...h2 51.Qb7+- 51.Qd5 Bc7 52.Bc1 Qa5 53.Nb5 Qe1 54.Ba3+ 54.Bxg5+- 54...Kg7 55.Nxc7 h2 56.Ne8+ Kh6 57.Nf6 Qe2+ 58.Bb2 Ne4 59.Qxe4 Qxe4 60.Nxe4 h1Q 61.c7 Black cannot prevent the pawn from queening. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2785Ponomariov,R27171–02014E907th Grand Slam Masters1
Vallejo Pons,F2712Aronian,L2804½–½2014E217th Grand Slam Masters1

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

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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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