9/6/2008 – After a furious round four, with all games decided, round five brought three draws – but none of them your unfought, GM agreements. Anand got into trouble against Magnus Carlsen, dropping an exchange, but escaped in the end; Ivanchuk-Topalov was a standard Nimzo-Indian and drawn in 44 moves; Radjabov played another Scotch, drawing with Aronian in 34 moves. Full pictorial report.
new: ChessBase Magazine 225
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
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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.
19.Re2? (instead of for instance simply 19.Qxc6) 19...Bg4
20.Rd2? Be3. Chess blindness. We hear that Anand missed this move that
costs him an exchange. After this Anand was on the defensive but managed to
hold against Carlsen. 21.h3 Bxd2 22.Qxd2 Bc8 23.f4 h5 24.f5 h4 25.Ne2
Re8 26.Nf2 d5 27.Ng4 Rxe4 28.Nxf6+ Qxf6 29.Nc1 Bxf5 30.Qf2 Bg6 31.Qxa7 Rf4 32.Rxf4
Qxf4 33.Nd3 Bxd3 34.cxd3 Qc1+ 35.Kh2 Qf4+ 36.Kg1 ½-½.
The view from outside the cabin for the spectators
Ivanchuk is interested in the Anand-Carlsen game, Magnus is curious about
the other ones
The Norwegian GM wanders over to see what's going on in Veselin vs Ivanchuk
Meanwhile Anand is pondering his 16th move
Anand has played 16.Qd2, things are coming to a head, Magnus returns to
the board
The setup in Bilbao: the players are in a sound-proof glass cabin in the
middle of the city square, the spectators are able to watch them from the outside
and listen to commentary by experts
Commentators: Spanish journalist Leonxto Garcia, chess legend Boris
Spassky
All pictures by Nadja Woisin in Bilbao
Bilbao scores
Player
games
wins
draws
losses
points
Veselin Topalov
5
2
3
0
9
Magnus Carlsen
5
2
2
1
8
Levon Aronian
5
1
3
1
6
Vishy Anand
5
0
4
1
4
Teimur Radjabov
5
0
4
1
4
Vassily Ivanchuk
5
0
4
1
4
Traditional scores (for rating purposes)
Remember: Sunday September 7th is a free day in the Bilbao Masters.
Video reports and interviews by Europe Echecs
These reports are being produced by Vijay Kumar for the French chess
magazine Europe Echecs
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.
London System PowerBase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
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Grand
Slam Chess Final Masters Bilbao
