
São Paulo / Bilbao Grand Slam Final
Round 2: Tuesday, September 25, 15:00h |
Francisco Vallejo |
0-1 |
Magnus Carlsen |
Sergey Karjakin |
0-1 |
Fabiano Caruana |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
Round two
Report and pictures by Albert Silver

Just adorable
The second round of the Grand Slam Masters in São Paulo was no less exciting than the first, and the organizers included numerous activities such as tournaments for children, to maximize the efforts to use the event as a promotional tool for chess.

"Hmmm.... does she think I am intimidated?"

Giant tournaments were organized with hundreds of children
The day also marked the arrival of Susan Polgar who joined Gilberto Milos at the commentary table.

Susan Polgar arrived to start the second round and give her expert commentary

When not in active competition, the audience was filled with rapt youth. They were
not merely being polite as I was asked by a
very young spectator to not block one
of the board monitors.
The first game to end was a fairly uneventful draw between Vishy Anand and Levon Aronian with neither allowing the other a chance to create any trouble, but soon the spectators would soon find that this was merely the eye of the hurricane.

Vishy Anand is still getting in gear after his three month layoff

It was a fairly uneventful game and they soon agreed to a draw
The game between Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana soon looked like a page from the Apocalypse, as the Italian took advantage of a mistake by the Russian to sneak in his bishop, and then blow his opponent’s position sky high with two successive exchange sacrifices to take it to the king.

Sergey Karjakin shows his most penetrating gaze
Whereas yesterday the young Italian was certainly quite lucky to walk home with the full point, this time the merit was all his as he attacked with great gusto for an attractive win. This also means that he is now the early leader with six points.

A deeply disappointed Sergey quickly explained that he made a mistake in the move
order before leaving the stage

Fabiano Caruana listens to Gilberto Milos's question

[Event "5th Final Masters"]
[Site "Bilbao ESP"]
[Date "2012.09.25"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2778"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2012.09.24"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4
Bb6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Bb7 11. Re1 exd4 12. cxd4 Nb4 13. Qe2 c5 14. a3 Nc6 15.
d5 Ne7 16. h3 Re8 17. Bc2 Ng6 18. b3 Ba5 $1 {The Italian's bishop finds a way
into White's position.} 19. Rab1 Bc3 {Black is better now, and what is worse,
Sergey finds it hard to coordinate his pieces to improve his position. Sure,
White's pieces seemd to be on good natural squares, but Dvoretsky once wrote
that it was a player's duty to constantly seek a way to *improve* his position.
} 20. Rec1 b4 21. a4 $2 a5 22. Bd3 h6 23. Qd1 Ba6 24. Bc2 Ra7 25. Kh2 Rae7 26.
g4 {Although it looks bad, White is trying to find a lifesaver for his sinking
ship.} Nxe4 {# With most of White's pieces tripping over themselves on the
queenside, and the king's position increasingly precarious, Caruana plays
forcefully and gives up the exchange.} 27. Nxe4 Rxe4 28. Bxe4 Rxe4 29. Qc2 Qe7
30. Rg1 Rxe3 {#There she blows!} 31. fxe3 Qxe3 32. Rbf1 Be2 33. Qf5 Bd3 34. Qd7
Be5+ 35. Kh1 Be4 36. Qe8+ Nf8 0-1

Fabiano Caruana
The game between Francisco Vallejo-Pons and Magnus Carlsen was another affair entirely. The game started quite slowly giving Carlsen exactly the kind of endgame he likes. While promising, that still meant an early endgame, which is not usually the most exciting way to pursue the full point. That said, to squeeze out a win from what is objectively an equal endgame against a player in the world’s top 50 still smacks of black magic. The final winning maneuver with Bd3-Bf1-Bxg2-Bh3-Bf5 was worth an inclusion in endgame test books and future instruction manuals.

After his win, Carlsen ponders a move with Paco before joining the press conference

[Event "5th Final Masters"]
[Site "Bilbao ESP"]
[Date "2012.09.25"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, F."]
[Black "Carlsen, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2843"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2012.09.24"]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. dxe5 dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Bg5 Be6
8. O-O-O Nbd7 9. Nb5 Ke7 10. Nxd6 cxd6 11. Bb5 Rhd8 12. Nd2 h6 13. Bh4 g5 14.
Bg3 a6 15. Bxd7 Rxd7 16. f3 Rc8 17. Kb1 Nh5 18. Nf1 f5 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Ne3
Bg6 21. Rd2 Ke6 22. b3 b5 23. Kb2 d5 24. Re1 Nxg3 25. hxg3 h5 26. c3 d4 27.
cxd4 Rxd4 28. Rxd4 exd4 29. Nc2+ Kd5 30. Nb4+ Kd6 31. Rc1 $2 {White is anxious
to simplify the position, and save the draw, but Magnus has seen deeper, and
the exchange merely worsens it.} Rxc1 32. Kxc1 h4 $1 33. gxh4 gxh4 {White
doesn't have much choice, and he is objectively lost already.} 34. Nxa6 {
#Magnus converts this position with a study-like maneuver.} (34. Nc2 $2 {is
unplayable as the pawn endgame is dead lost for White.} Bxc2 35. Kxc2 Ke5 36.
Kd3 Kf4 $1 37. Kxd4 Kg3 {and Black queens.} 38. Ke5 (38. f4 Kxf4) 38... Kxg2
39. f4 h3 40. f5 h2 41. f6 h1=Q 42. f7 Qh6 $19) (34. Kd2 $2 {The only reason
this gets a question mark in a lost position, is that it loses faster.} a5 35.
Na6 (35. Nd3 Bxd3 36. Kxd3 Ke5 {etc.})) 34... Bd3 $1 35. Nb4 Bf1 $1 36. Kd2
Bxg2 37. Ke2 Bh3 $3 38. a4 Bf5 39. axb5 d3+ $1 {The pawn cannot be taken.} 40.
Ke3 (40. Nxd3 Bxd3+ 41. Kxd3 h3) 40... h3 41. Nxd3 Bxd3 0-1
Photos by Albert Silver and official site
Traditional crosstable after two rounds

Bilbao crosstable after two rounds

Playchess commentary schedule
Date |
Round |
Commentator |
26.09.2012
|
round 03
|
King
|
27.09.2012
|
rest day
|
|
28.09.2012
|
round 04
|
Collins
|
29.09.2012
|
round 05
|
Trent
|
08.10.2012
|
round 06
|
D‘Costa
|
09.10.2012
|
round 07
|
King
|
10.10.2012
|
round 08
|
King
|
11.10.2012
|
rest day
|
|
12.10.2012
|
round 09
|
King
|
13.10.2012
|
round 10
|
D'Costa
|
Schedule and results
Round 1: Monday, September 24, 15:00h |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Francisco Vallejo |
Levon Aronian |
1-0 |
Sergey Karjakin |
Fabiano Caruana |
1-0 |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
Round 2: Tuesday, September 25, 15:00h |
Francisco Vallejo |
0-1 |
Magnus Carlsen |
Sergey Karjakin |
0-1 |
Fabiano Caruana |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
|
Round 3: Wednesday, September 26, 15:00h |
Levon Aronian |
|
Francisco Vallejo |
Fabiano Caruana |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Round 4: Friday, September 28, 15:00h |
Fabiano Caruana |
|
Francisco Vallejo |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
Levon Aronian |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Round 5: Saturday, September 29, 15:00h |
Francisco Vallejo |
|
Sergey Karjakin |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Levon Aronian |
|
Fabiano Caruana |
|
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