9/16/2008 – Veselin Topalov won his final game in Bilbao against Vassily Ivanchuk in fine style, securing first place by a big margin and advancing to number one in the world in the unofficial live rankings. Teimour Radjabov beat Levon Aronian with the black pieces, putting Magnus Carlsen in second place according to the Bilbao system. Anand was a shocking last. Big pictorial report.
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Grand
Slam Chess Final Masters Bilbao
The Chess Grand Slam Final is being staged in Bilbao, Spain, from September
1st to 13th 2008. It is a six-player double round robin event, one of the strongest
in the history of the game (at least by Elo average, 2775.6, making it a category
22 tournament). Games start at 17:00h local time (CEST). The scoring system
in this tournament is different and experimental. Players get three points for
a win, one point for a draw and zero points for losing a game. For rating purposes
the traditional 1-½-0 system will be used. The prize fund for the event
is 400,000 Euros, with the winner receiving €150,000, the second place
€70,000, etc. with the 6th player getting €30,000. The sums are unprecedented
for an event like this. Only World Championships have exceeded the amount.
Round ten report
We apologise for the delay in bringing you this full report. It was caused
by a fairly protracted return from Bilbao to Hamburg and a computer virus that
struck our otherwise so well-protected system. Some lessons we learnt: don't
keep flying Air France just because it is convenient and cheap; and don't let
strange Spaniards stick USB sticks into your computer.
Anand vs Carlsen and Ivanchuk vs Topalov – round ten is under way
Carlsen,M (2775) - Anand,V (2798) [D13]
Grand Slam Final Bilbao ESP (10), 13.09.2008 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 a6 7.Rc1 Bf5 8.Ne5
Rc8 9.f3. Magnus Carlsen is not willing to go for a draw against his
buddy. This aggressive move signals his intention to try for the theoretical
chance of catching the tournament leader Topalov. 9...g6 10.g4 Be6 11.e3.
After 11.h4 Sargissian-Bacro 2006 ended in a 64-move victory for Black. 11...Bg7
12.h4 h5 13.g5 Nd7 14.Nxc6 Rxc6 15.Bd3 0-0 16.Kf2 Nb6 17.b3 Qd7 18.Qd2 Bf5 19.Bxf5
Qxf5 20.Ne2 Rfc8. Now there is a permanent threat of ...Rc2, which
Carlsen has to counter by exchanging off all the rooks. 21.Rxc6 Rxc6
22.Rc1 Nd7 23.Kg2 e5 24.Rxc6 bxc6 25.dxe5 Nxe5 26.Nd4 Qc8 27.Ne2 Qf5 28.Nd4
Qc8 29.Ne2
and draw agreed in an objectively equal position.
Spotted in the audience: Anand's wife Aruna (not the lady in the
shades!)
The final game: Vassily Ivanchuk facing Veselin Topalov in round ten
High drama: Magnus Carlsen kibitzes while Ivanchuk suffers against Topalov
Until now Topalov has been playing this game with his trademark precision –
every move the best in the position. Now comes a clear inaccuracy: 36.Rc1?
Our chess program, which has agreed with every white move so far, wants to play
36.Rd3+– in the diagram position. It tells us that Topalov has probably
thrown away the win with the text move. 36...Bf8 (to counter
the threat Re8+ and mate). 37.Red1? Bxa3? Black has an interesting
alternative: 37...Rc4!? Waiting in the hotel lobby for a car pickup to the airport
the next day we showed this move to Ivanchuk, who fell into a brooding silence.
"Yes, maybe it draws," he conceded, moaning softly. After this brief
moment of inattention Topalov returns to precision play to take home the full
point. 38.Rc8 Rff8 39.Be8! Be7 40.Re1 Bg5 41.g3! The Bulgarian
GM must have seen this important point when he played his 39th move (or earlier).
41...a4 42.h4 Bf6 43.Re6 1-0. With this game Veselin Topalov
won the tournament by a margin of four Bilbao and 1.5 traditional points, displaying
an overall performance of 2874, and catapulting himself to the top of the Live
Rating list (see below).
Superb precision play by Veselin Topalov
The start of the critical game that determined the outcome of the tournament
Aronian has been playing a good, attacking game and has had clear winning chances.
A lot rests on the outcome of this encounter: if he wins, Radjabov is relegated
to last place, sparing Vishy Anand the humiliation of this slot. If he loses
Magnus Carlsen advances to second place ahead of the Armenian. Levon goes for
the second option: 45.Reb2?? Gasps of disbelief in the circle
of spectators, especially since this move was played after a long, deliberate
ponder. Was there some incredibly deep trick that White had found? No, it was
a simple, lose-immediately blunder. 45...Bxb2 46.Rxb2 Ra1.
Threatening 47...Qf1 and mate to follow. 47.Qh4+ Kc8 48.Rg2 Qd1 49.Ng3
Rf2 0-1. The one-move threat of ...Qg1 mate cannot be meaningfully
parried. Levon emerged from this game and greeted us with a smile and a jest.
It is extraordinary how well he takes it, how gracious he is in defeat.
Anatomy of a blunder
Aronian ponders for ages over his 45th move, while Radjabov paces the playing
area
Levon Aronian: thinking, thinking, thinking...
Radjabov joins him in pondering what is essentially a lost position for Black
At last Aronian makes his move, 45.Reb2?? Radjabov doesn't understand what is
going on
After 45...Bxb2 46.Rxb2 Teimour knows that the 1-0 has been transformed to 0-1
Closeup: Levon stares in disbelief at what he has done...
While Teimour cannot believe that the game has suddenly turned his way
Aronian's second Gabriel Sargissian is dismayed by this unexpected turn
of events
Manuel León Hoyos, second of Vassily Ivanchuk, Ivanchuk and Ruslan
Ponomariov watch the final moves of the game of Aronian-Radjabov in round ten.
The Carlsen clan: Signe, 11, Ingrid, 14, and father Henrik, 44
Special guest and commentator Boris Spassky with his wife Marina
Pilar and Maite (actually María Teresa), who look after the players and visitors
Would you believe it? Former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov gets
an autograph from Magnus Carlsen
Ingrid and Signe Carlsen get Spanish lessons at breakfast from a Bilbao
University student
Boris Spassky is interviewed by a Spanish journalist in the hotel lobby (translator:
Pilar)
Late at night: Lev Aronian and his second Gabriel Sargissian in the Sheraton
elevator
Photos by Frederic Friedel in Bilbao
The prize giving
Veselin Topalov receives a special Basque beret from the Mayor of Bilbao
Topalov in his first prize hat
The cash prize is a cool 150,000 Euros = US $212,000
Magnus Carlsen picks up 70,000 Euros (US $99,000) for his second place
And he is awarded a metal-and-glass trophy
Levon Aronian receives €60,000 (US $85,000) for his third place
Anand with his 30,000 Euro "consolation" prize (that's over US $42,000)
The players line up with their trophies for a final press photo
Prize-giving photos by Nadja Woisin
Bilbao scores
Player
games
wins
draws
losses
points
Veselin Topalov
10
4
5
1
17
Magnus Carlsen
10
3
4
3
13
Levon Aronian
10
3
4
3
13
Vassily Ivanchuk
10
2
6
2
12
Teimur Radjabov
10
1
7
2
10
Vishy Anand
10
0
8
2
8
Traditional scores (for rating purposes)
In the unofficial Live Ratings Veselin
Topalov is now in first place in the world, ahead of Alexander Morozevich, Magnus
Carlsen and Vassily Ivanchuk. Vishy Anand has dropped to fifth place, seven
points behind the leader. Eleven points behind Anand is Vladimir Kramnik, and
fifteen points behind him Levon Aronian.
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
the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access.
You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.
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Grand
Slam Chess Final Masters Bilbao
