Final Chess Masters Bilbao 2008: Carlsen beats Aronian

the early leader of the tournament

The strongest tournament in history finally begins. A quick review. The first round saw Magnus Carlsen defeated Levon Aronian with black pieces of the English/Anti-Benoni Variation. It was a tactical battle from the start after Carlsen's defiant ninth move 9...Rb8!?. Aronian then sacrifice a pawn on the 15th move to gain a space advantage on the queenside but Carlsen make use of his extra pawn to halt white's advances and Aronian was forced to resigned after 51st moves. Other matches ended in draws. Ivanchuck almost beat Anand but because of severe time trouble, Anand easily equalized. The Topalov-Radjabov also ended in a draw after the 49th moves of the surprise opening Scotch of Mieses Variation. You can watch the LIVE games and broadcast HERE.



Radjabov, T (2744) - Topalov, V (2777) [C45]
Grand Slam Final, Bilbao (1), 02.09.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.Nd2 a5 9.c4 Nb6 10.Qe4 d5 11.exd6 cxd6 12.Be2 Qxe4 13.Nxe4 Be6 14.c5 dxc5 15.Be3 Nd5 16.Bxc5 Nf4 17.Bxf8 Kxf8 18.g3 Nxe2 19.Kxe2 Re8 20.f3 Bd5 21.Kf2 Bxe4 22.fxe4 Rxe4 23.Rac1 Ke7 24.Rxc6 Rd8 25.Rc2 Rd5 26.Rhc1 Rf5+ 27.Kg2 h5 28.Rc7+ Kf6 29.R1c6+ Re6 30.b3 g5 31.Rxe6+ fxe6 32.Rc2 Ke7 33.Rd2 g4 34.h3 gxh3+ 35.Kxh3 Kf6 36.g4 hxg4+ 37.Kxg4 Rb5 38.Kf4 a4 39.bxa4 Ra5 40.Ke3 Rxa4 41.Rb2 Kf5 42.Rf2+ Ke5 43.Kd3 Kd5 44.Rb2 Ra3+ 45.Rb3 Rxb3+ 46.axb3 Kc5 47.Ke4 Kb4 48.Ke5 Kxb3 49.Kxe6 ½–½


GM Anand (2798) - GM Ivanchuk (2781) [C89]
02.09.2008 - Bilbao Grand Slam - Round 1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Be3 Bg4 16.Qd3 Rae8 17.Nd2 Re6 18.Qf1 Qh5 19.f3 Rf6 20.Qe2 Bxf3 21.Nxf3 Rxf3 22.Bxd5 Qxd5 23.Bf2 Rf6 24.b3 Qf5 25.Rad1 h5 26.Rd3 h4 27.Re3 Rg6 28.c4 hxg3 29.hxg3 bxc4 30.bxc4 c5 31.Qf3 Qh3 32.Qg2 Qd7 33.dxc5 Bxc5 34.Re4 Qc7 35.Kh2 Rh6+ 36.Kg1 Rf6 37.Be3 Rd8 38.Kh2 Bxe3 39.R4xe3 Rh6+ 40.Kg1 Qc5 41.Qf2 Qh5 42.Qg2 Rd2 43.Re8+ Kh7 44.R8e2 Qc5+ 45.Qf2 Rxe2 46.Rxe2 Qxc4 47.Qf5+ g6 48.Qe4 Qc5+ 49.Kg2 Rh5 50.Rc2 Qb6 51.Rd2 Rb5 52.a4 Rb4 53.Qe7 Qc6+ 54.Kh2 Rb7 55. Qh4+ Kg7 56. Qd4+ f6 57. a5 g5 58. Qd5 Qb5 1/2


Standings after the first round:

Players will get 3 points for winning a match, 1 point for drawing and 0 points for losing.

Players Games Win Draw Loss POINTS

Magnus Carlsen 1 1 0 0 - 3 points

Viswanathan Anand 1 0 1 0 - 1
Vasili Ivanchuk 1 0 1 0 - 1
Véselin Topálov 1 0 1 0 - 1
Teimur Radyábov 1 0 1 0 - 1

Levón Aronián 1 0 0 1 - 0

- Photo courtesy of Susan Polgar's blog
- Tournament official website
- Live broadcast