10/12/2011 – The signs were there, but nothing is written until it is over. The games were fairly sedate among the crosstable leaders with uneventful draws, though Anand came out swinging and avoided a last place finish by beating Vallejo. Top prize was decided by two blitz games, in which Carlsen concluded with a mating attack in the last game. Final report with pictures, video, and GM commentary.
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The first leg of the Grand Slam was staged in São Paulo, Ibirapuera
Park, from September 25th to October 1st, the second leg takes place in Bilbao,
Alhóndiga, from 5th to 11th October. Tournament system: double round
robin with six players over ten rounds. Time control: 90 minutes/40 moves +
60 minutes + 10 seconds/move starting with the first move. Games begin at 16:00h
local Spanish time (10 a.m. New York, 18:00h Moscow).
The final round concluded what was ultimately a fantastic tournament, with great drama and chess throughout. WIth the top three players in the world, all sporting ratings of 2800 and more, it seemed as if it would be up to them to decide the top spots, and the rest could fight over the leftovers. Would it be Carlsen, the young number one, to add another feather to his peacock-looking cap? Anand, the World Champion for the last years, and only an inch behind the Norwegian? Perhaps Aronian, who had already won the Masters in the past, and having just broken through 2800, might reaffrim his rising star?
Instead, the player who led from the beginning to the end was none other than the brilliant Ukrainian, Vasily Ivanchuk, a notoriously hot-and-cold player, who can be as good as the greatest when he is inspired. To make things even more surprising, both the top seeds Anand and Carlsen managed to share last after the third round, when a mutual loss struck them simultaneously. The first sign the wind's direction was beginning to change was in the fifth round, when Carlsen faced the leader, and beat him in a shake-me-up game that not only brought Ivanchuk within shouting distance, but helped drum up some much needed confidence for Magnus.
The rise to rejoin Ivanchuk was not a straightforward affair either as a bit of luck (always useful) helped clinch an unexpected win in round eight, but the decisive moment was Carlsen's precipitous second win over Ivanchuk in round nine, giving him the shared lead, bringing us to the final round.
Hikaru Nakamura committed to not letting the previous day's stress affect him
Magnus Carlsen ready for the day
The Norwegian consults the arbiters on the tiebreak...
...and they show him the tournament regulations that cover it
Carlsen observes the game at a distance, since if Ivanchuk plays for the win, he will
be obliged to as well.
Unsurprisingly, the leaders preferred to not jeopardize their positions, and their games both ended in uneventful draws. The first to finish was Nakamura-Carlsen, and though Nakamura might have chosen a harder fight in other circumstances, after his shock time-loss the day before, no one can blame him for not pushing it here.
The only game to not end on a peacful note was Anand's game against Vallejo. After his own shock loss, though no clock to blame it on, Anand was actually last, just behind the Spaniard, and the only way to change this, was by beating him in the last game. Though far from perfect, Anand made a valiant effort and prevailed in their game
It was an irregular event for the World Champion, no doubt more focused on his title
defense against Gelfand.
In spite of arriving last, Vallejo will have had the singular privilege of beating all three
of the top-placed players, including world number one, Magnus Carlsen.
Anand and Vallejo discuss the game
[Event "Chess Masters Final 2011"]
[Site "Bilbao/Spain"]
[Date "2011.10.11"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2817"]
[BlackElo "2716"]
[Annotator "Romain Edouard"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
{My apologizes for commenting only this game today, but if there is something
to say out of the other two, it is clearly too deep for me! Beside chess, I
can only say that it is purely understandable for Ivanchuk not to take any
risks since he's leading the tournament, and perfectly understandable for
Nakamura as well, after what happened in round nine.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3
dxc4 4. e4 b5 5. a4 b4 6. Nce2 (6. Nb1 {was Aronian-Vallejo, in round 1 in Sao
Paulo.}) 6... Ba6 {A rare but quite logical move.} (6... Nf6 {or}) (6... e6 {
are the two main options played.}) 7. Nf3 e6 8. Ng3 c5 9. d5 $146 Be7 $6 {Not
only strange, but also not so good.} (9... exd5 10. exd5 Nf6 {should be played.
I suppose Anand had some cool idea prepared here, since he played very fast
and the computer likes Black!}) 10. Bf4 exd5 11. Qxd5 $5 (11. exd5 {should
also be good.}) 11... Qxd5 12. exd5 Nh6 (12... Nf6 13. Nf5 g6 14. Nxe7 Kxe7 15.
d6+ Kd8 16. Ne5 {followed by 0-0-0 is definitely good for White.}) 13. O-O-O
O-O 14. Bxh6 gxh6 15. Nf5 Bf6 (15... Bg5+ 16. Nxg5 hxg5 17. h4 $16) 16. Nxh6+
Kg7 17. Nf5+ Kg6 (17... Kh8 18. d6 $16) 18. g4 c3 19. bxc3 bxc3 {A logical
move. Somehow Black needs the b-file in order to get some tactical
possibilities. That's why, even not taking into account the fact 20.d6 seems
to win easily, I cannot understand Anand's next move.} (19... Bxc3 20. Ne7+ Kg7
21. Bxa6 Nxa6 22. d6 $16) 20. Bxa6 $4 {Developing Black's knight, who will
happily jump to b4, while the b8 squares will be free for the rooks.} (20. d6 {
seems crushing, and I have no idea on what Black can do:} Bxf1 21. Rhxf1 Nd7 {
(the only difference I see with Bxa6, but anyway, the knight is supposed to go
to b4!)} 22. Ne7+ Kg7 23. g5 $18) 20... Nxa6 21. d6 h5 $2 {A weird move!
Opening the lines in favour of White. Most probably Black were afraid of
something after 21...Rab8. I guess Anand also saw something, since he took on
a6. But I cannot see it myself!} (21... Rab8 $1 {just draws, for example:} 22.
d7 Rb2 23. N3h4+ Kg5 24. f4+ Kxg4 25. Rhg1+ Kxf4 26. Rgf1+ Kg5 27. Rg1+ Kf4 $11
) 22. Ne7+ Kh7 23. Rd5 Nb4 (23... Rfb8 {seems like the good choice again, but
it seems White still wins, even though it is complicated:} 24. Rf5 (24. Rxh5+
Kg7 25. Nf5+ Kf8 26. g5 (26. Ng5 Bxg5+ 27. Rxg5 Rb2 {and Black will get a draw.
}) 26... Bg7 27. Nxg7 (27. Rh7 $2 Rb2 $19) 27... Kxg7 28. Kc2 Rb2+ 29. Kxc3
Rab8 30. Nd2 Ra2 {with enough counterplay for a draw.}) (24. Nc6 hxg4 25. Nxb8
Rxb8 26. Ne1 Rb2 27. Nd3 Nb4 28. Nxb4 cxb4 29. Rg1 b3 30. Rxg4 Bg7 $11) 24...
Bxe7 (24... Rb2 25. Nd5 {seems winning for White since no tactic is working.})
25. dxe7 Nb4 26. gxh5 $1 Na2+ 27. Kc2 Rb2+ 28. Kd3 c2 29. Ng5+ $1 Kh6 (29...
Kg8 30. h6 c1=R 31. Rxc1 Nxc1+ 32. Kc3 Rb6 33. h7+ Kh8 34. Rxf7 Na2+ 35. Kc4
Rb4+ 36. Kxc5 Rc8+ 37. Kd6 Rbb8 38. Ne6 Nc3 39. Nf4 $18) 30. Nxf7+ Kh7 31. Ng5+
Kh6 32. Rf8 $1 c1=Q 33. Rxc1 Nxc1+ 34. Kc4 Rbb8 35. Nf7+ Kg7 36. Nd8 $18) 24.
Rxh5+ Kg7 25. Nf5+ Kg8 26. g5 Bd4 27. Rg1 (27. Rd1 $1 {seems stronger to me:}
Na2+ $8 (27... Rfb8 28. Ne7+ Kf8 29. Nxd4 cxd4 30. Rxd4 $18) 28. Kb1 Rab8+ 29.
Kxa2 Rb2+ 30. Ka3 Rfb8 31. N5xd4 cxd4 32. Nxd4 Rd2 33. Rc1 Rxd4 34. Rxc3 Rxd6
35. Rch3 $18) 27... Rab8 28. g6 Nd3+ $2 ({After} 28... fxg6 29. N5xd4 Nd3+ $1
30. Kc2 cxd4 $1 {White should be better, but it's not entirely clear. It looks
like the game should carry on with} 31. Rxg6+ Kf7 32. Rhh6 Nb4+ 33. Kd1 d3 34.
Ne5+ Ke8 35. f4 Rb7 36. Rg3 $16) 29. Kc2 Nf4 30. N3xd4 cxd4 31. Rh8+ Kxh8 32.
g7+ Kg8 33. gxf8=Q+ (33. Ne7+ Kh7 34. gxf8=N+ $8 (34. gxf8=Q $2 Rb2+ 35. Kd1 $8
Rb1+ $11) 34... Rxf8 35. Rg4 Ne6 36. Nc6 $18 {Total domination! I don't know
whether Anand failed to realize that Ne7+ matters, or whether he simply missed
the knight promotion! I suppose the first option is much more probable.}) 33...
Kxf8 34. Nxd4 Nd5 $6 (34... Rb2+ $8 35. Kxc3 Rb6 {and Black will recover a
pawn, which is not entirely lost, though it should be.}) (34... Rb6 35. Rb1 $1
$18) 35. Nb5 $5 (35. Rb1 $18) 35... Rc8 36. Rg4 a5 37. Nc7 $1 Nxc7 38. Rc4 Ke8
39. dxc7 1-0
Tiebreak games
Time control: four minutes plus three seconds increment as of first move
The tiebreak to decide the top prize between Magnus Carlsen and Vasily Ivanchuk was set at a mini-match of two blitz games played at four minutes plus a three-second increment per move. In the event of a draw, a final armageddon game would decide it.
The first blitz went down to the last seconds
The first game was a complicated affair, and both players felt the tension, though neither was ever clearly won at any moment. It ended in a draw when they were down to the lst seconds, playing off their increments.
Magnus displays his deep concerns prior to the start of the second and last blitz
Leontxo and his colleague note it
Even participants such as Aronian were reduced to mere spectators for the final showdown
In the second game, Carlsen managed to create threats to Ivanchuk's king, and after a bit of back and forth play, due to the very little time left at this stage (each had less than a minute), Magnus's attack gained momentum, and the Ukrainian finally resigned with the engines declaring it a mate in eight.
In the end, Carlsen built a mating attack to take the title
A fantastic comeback for Magnus Carlsen, confirming once again that he is never to be counted out, and his two decisive victories over tournament leader Ivanchuk, showcased his incredible fighting spirit once again.
The tournament volunteers and staff
The president of the Spanish Chess Federation and the Chief Arbiter
Ivanchuk receives a little green man as his trophy
A proud Magnus Carlsen with his Basque beret and trophy
A video report of the final round courtesy of liveteleshows & Vijay Kumar
The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server Playchess.com.
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