THE 2012 CHESS MASTERS FINAL BEGINS IN SAO PAULO WITH THE SURPRISING DEFEAT OF NUMBER ONE CARLSEN AND A DRAW FOR VALLEJO AGAINST WORLD CHAMPION ANAND
Olympic Champion, Armenia’s Aronian, and the great surprise, the Italian-American Caruana command the scoreboard after their victories on day one.
Anand (India) (w)-Vallejo (Spain) (b) 1-1 (duration 3hrs. 45 mins.; 59 moves)
Aronian (Armenia) (w)-Karjakin (Rusia) (b) 3-0 (duration: 2hrs. 15 mins; 29 moves)
Caruana (USA) (w)-Carlsen(Norway) (b) 3-0 (duration: 5 hrs. 16 mins. 91 moves)
Sao Paulo. 25.09.2012
Before more than a thousand spectators, early last morning (Spanish time) the first round of the Chess Grand Slam Masters Final, which is being held in the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo with the concluding round to be held in Bilbao from October 8 to 13, was played.
The great surprise of day one was the Italian-born American, Fabiano Caruana, who conquered, after an exhausting match of more than five hours, the number one-ranked player Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.
Less surprising, though commendable for having begun with black pieces was the draw finally achieved by Spain’s Paco Vallejo against world champion, India’s Viswanathan Anand.
And it is fitting to describe as crushing the victory achieved, almost by knockout, in a little under two hours of play, by recent Olympic Champion, Armenian Levon Aronian, against Russian Sergey Karjakin.
With these results, the leaderboard, after the first round of the 5th Chess Grand Slam Masters Final is topped with three points each by Aronian and Caruana, followed with one by Vallejo and Anand. Rounding out the leaderboard are the day’s two losers, Carlsen y Karjakin.
This 5th Masters Final continues to support new rules that try to guarantee a struggle and a show in each match. Therefore, the so-called Sofia rules will once again be applied which establish that only the arbiter will have the authority to determine if a game is drawn, avoiding pacts between players. Additionally, a scoring system similar to the one used in Football will once again be used, with three points for a match won, one for a tie and zero for a loss, a system first used at the elite tournament in the 2008 Bilbao Masters Final and known since then as the “Bilbao Rules“.
Caruana’s surprising victory over Carlsen, the day’s big news, is even more superlative considering the fact that the Norwegian, called the Mozart of Chess, had the advantage for most of the game. However, an evaluation error on his favourable position made him go after the victory instead of settling for a draw, committing an error which gave Caruana a surprising victory.
The draw obtained by Vallejoand Anand, while not as surprising as the previous match, has nevertheless been a newsworthy fact because of the fact that the world champion was incapable of beating the number 25 player in the rankings, Francisco Vallejo, even playing with white. It was an even match, without great advantages on the part of either player. As the Spanish player put it,. “during the match Anand had the advantage and so did I, but I never saw that as sufficient to win, neither for him to beat me”.
Aronian’s brilliant victory over Karjakin puts in doubt the current defensive approach against the Queen’s Indian opening. The precious novelty introduced by the Armenian on move 16 made the Russian’s defensive approach collapse, and the latter, unable to find an effective antidote, was suffocated by time and had to give up in an inferior position 11 moves from control.
The second round, which will be played tomorrow and can be followed live on the tournament’s official website www.bilbaomastersfinal.com, offers a fascinating matchup starring Vallejo and Carlsen. Last year the Spaniard beat the Norwegian and another defeat of Carlsen could leave him cut off from the ultimate triumph, whose resolution will be decided in the second round to be held in Bilbao from October 8 to 13.
With these results, the leaderboard, after the first round of the 5th Chess Grand Slam Masters Final is topped with three points each by Aronian and Caruana, followed with one by Vallejo and Anand. Rounding out the leaderboard are the day’s two losers, Carlsen y Karjakin.
This 5th Masters Final continues to support new rules that try to guarantee a struggle and a show in each match. Therefore, the so-called Sofia rules will once again be applied which establish that only the arbiter will have the authority to determine if a game is drawn, avoiding pacts between players. Additionally, a scoring system similar to the one used in Football will once again be used, with three points for a match won, one for a tie and zero for a loss, a system first used at the elite tournament in the 2008 Bilbao Masters Final and known since then as the “Bilbao Rules“.
Caruana’s surprising victory over Carlsen, the day’s big news, is even more superlative considering the fact that the Norwegian, called the Mozart of Chess, had the advantage for most of the game. However, an evaluation error on his favourable position made him go after the victory instead of settling for a draw, committing an error which gave Caruana a surprising victory.
The draw obtained by Vallejoand Anand, while not as surprising as the previous match, has nevertheless been a newsworthy fact because of the fact that the world champion was incapable of beating the number 25 player in the rankings, Francisco Vallejo, even playing with white. It was an even match, without great advantages on the part of either player. As the Spanish player put it,. “during the match Anand had the advantage and so did I, but I never saw that as sufficient to win, neither for him to beat me”.
Aronian’s brilliant victory over Karjakin puts in doubt the current defensive approach against the Queen’s Indian opening. The precious novelty introduced by the Armenian on move 16 made the Russian’s defensive approach collapse, and the latter, unable to find an effective antidote, was suffocated by time and had to give up in an inferior position 11 moves from control.
The second round, which will be played tomorrow and can be followed live on the tournament’s official website www.bilbaomastersfinal.com, offers a fascinating matchup starring Vallejo and Carlsen. Last year the Spaniard beat the Norwegian and another defeat of Carlsen could leave him cut off from the ultimate triumph, whose resolution will be decided in the second round to be held in Bilbao from October 8 to 13.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Hi Susan Polgar,
Well,this tournament is really going to be a feast,for all chess game lovers.
Chess game’s,top great players are competing with each other.
Anand has many unfold skills – He may exhibit those now. I am not saying this just because I am Anand’s fan – I say this based on his game skills.
By the by, Susan I know/hope, you are a friend of Anand – Can you say,does Anand has account in facebook,if so,can you tell me – in what exact name it is ?
I had requested and added,one to my friends list,assuming that its Anand’s facebook account but later on felt that it is a fake and removed it.
So can you let me know the correct facebook account of Anand,please.
I had sent a facebook friend request to your facebook account but no reply as of now – may be that you may have reservation / you ma take time,in adding friends to your list – anyway I respect others policy and their governing,reservations.
By
Venky [ India – Chennai ]
Ah…you are caustic against Anand.. “incapable of beating 25th ..” , “less surprising” etc are rather mocking usages. Still annoyed about the Gelfand match eh, Susan? 😀
Carlsen will dust off and eventually win some games. But Anand is past his prime and will have nothing better than draws.