Bilbao Grand Slam Final: Topalov bags crown, Anand finished last

Conqueror of one of the strongest chess tournament in history

Bulgarian GM Vaselin Topalov defeated Vasily Ivanchuk in the final round to claim the title of one of the strongest chess tournament in history, the Bilbao Grand Slam Final. It took Topalov 43 moves of the Queens Gambit Declined, Semi Slav to subdue Ivanchuk's stiff resistance with the black pieces. Ivanchuk sacrificed a pawn on the 16th moves 16...c5!? which Topalov happily accepted. Ivanchuk managed to win his pawn back a couple of moves later and it looks like Ivanchuk's position could held on for a draw against white which is enough for the Bulgarian to bag the title but Topalov saw an aggressive move 23. Bh7 to help pushed farther his passed d pawn. Topalov then managed to burried Ivanchuk's rook on the eight rank for good 39.Be8! and the game ends four moves later. A superb performance for Topalov who impressively beaten three of the most talented figure in chess at the moment, Anand, Ivanchuk and Carlsen. The latter he beat twice. Moreover, the victory also elevated Topalov at the top of the rankings as of September 13, 2008.On other matches, Radjabov scores his first victory of the tournament by defeating Levon Aronian with the black pieces. World Champion Vishwanathan Anand drew his match with Magnus Carlsen after just 29 moves of another QGD exchange variation. Anand finished last with two losses and six draws.

Bilbao Grand Slam Final Round 9 Standings

				1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Topalov,V	2777	+66	**	10	1	33	11	31	14.0/9
2	Aronian,L	2737	+80	13	**	31	00	1	13	13.0/9	22.75
3	Ivanchuk,V	2781	+22	1	01	**	13	13	11	12.0/9	20.75
4	Carlsen,M	2775	-11	00	33	10	**	31	1	12.0/9
5	Radjabov,T	2744	-44	11	1	10	01	**	11	7.0/9	16.25
6	Anand,V	2798	-115	01	10	11	1	11	**	7.0/9	16.00

GM Carlsen (2775) - GM Anand (2798) [D13]
Bilbao Grand Slam Final, 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 g6 10.g4 Be6 11.e3 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 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 Game drawn ½–½

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Links:

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