León Masters: Gelfand vs Aronian in the finals
6/6/2010 – The XXIII Ciudad de León Masters – billed as "Advanced Chess" or "Chess of the Future", sees two four-game rapid chess knock-out games, and then a four-game final. In the semifinals Boris Gelfand beat Francisco Vallejo in a blitz tie-breaker. Levon Aronian defeated Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez in a 161-move marathon. Watch the final on Playchess on Sunday.
Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2020 with 8 million games and more than 80,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!
XXIII Ciudad de León Masters
The XXIII Ciudad De Leon is taking place from June 3rd to 7th 2010 in the Spanish city of León. There are four players in this three-day event:
The players: Francisco Vallejo, Boris Gelfand, Levon Aronian and Leinier
Dominguez
In the first semifinal on Friday Boris Gelfand of Israel beat Spanish GM
Francisco Vallejo 3.5-2.5,
after four rapid chess and two blitz playoff games (all but the first of the
two blitz games were drawn).
The winner of the first semifinal: Israeli GM Boris Gelfand
Nat. |
Rtng. |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
B1 |
B2 |
Tot. |
Perf |
|
| Boris Gelfand | ISR |
2741 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
3.5 |
2760 |
| Francisco Vallejo | ESP |
2703 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
2.5 |
2684 |
In the second semifinal Levon Aronian of Armenia beat Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez
2.5-1.5...
... after drawing the first three rapid games and then winning the fourth
Aronian,L (2783) - Dominguez Perez,L (2713) [D27]
XXIII Rapid KO Leon ESP (1.4), 05.06.2010
The decisive fourth rapid chess game had (would you believe it?) 161 moves. After maneuvering around in a queen + opposite colored bishop ending for 120 moves Levon Aronian has managed to pick up two pawns. How to proceed?
157.Kg4! Excellent – 157.Be3 would have made the task more difficult. 157.Kxb6 158.Kf4 Kc5 159.Ke5 Kb4 160.Kf6 Be4 161.g6 1-0.
Winner of the second semifinal: Armenian GM Levon Aronian
Nat. |
Rtng. |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
Tot. |
Perf |
|
| Levon Aronian | ARM |
2783 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
2.5 |
2808 |
| Leinier Dominguez | CUB |
2713 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1.5 |
2696 |
The final between Gelfand and Aronian takes place on Sunday. All games are being broadcast live on Playchess.
Photos by Nadja Woisin
LinksThe games were 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. |
|
