DAY 3 – BILBAO CHESS 2014
ANAND KEEPS ARONIAN AT A DISTANCE AFTER DRAW ON THE FIRST ROUND’S LAST DAY
At the European Club Cup, Socar from Azerbaijan keeps intimidating their adversaries and walks firmly towards the title thanks to their remarkable lineup.
Surprising new draw by Sestao
Bilbao, 16 September 2014
DAY 3:
Bilbao Masters Final results
LEVON ARONIAN (Armenia) – VISWANATAN ANAND (India) 1-1 (1 h. 46’ – 34 moves)
RUSLAN PONOMARIOV (Ukraine) – FRANCISCO VALLEJO (Spain) 3-0 (2h. 50’ – 34 moves)
Bilbao Masters Final standings after Day 3:
1. Anand (India) 7 points
2. Aronian (Armenia) 5 points
3. Ponomariov (Ukraine) 3 points
4. Vallejo (Spain) 1 point
Five-times World Champion Viswanathan Anand, and double Olympic champion and world number three Levon Aronian drew the game on the third day of Bilbao Chess Masters Final 2014. This result made Indian Anand, who was playing with white, the provisional leader of the standings on the first round’s last day, keeping Armenian Aroninan at a distance. For his part, Ruslan Ponomariov got his first victory at Bilbao Chess today by defeating Spanish champion Paco Vallejo, who closes the standings after losing two consecutive games.
At the European Club Cup, big favourite Socar (Azerbaijan) is relentlessly winning his way to the continental title, while their pairing rivals do no stand a chance. Their victim today was Oslo. Socar has a talented team, including, amongst others, world top ten players Veselin Topalov (Bulgary), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) and Michael Adams (United Kingdom). Despite leading the standings, the other big candidate, Obiettivo Risarcimento (Italy), failed today by drawing the game against equally powerful SPB.
Sestao got the same result. With two draws and one defeat during the first three days, the club has lost most of their chances to reach their goal of ending up in the top ten. Although Sestao started out ahead of their rivals (3-1), Bronshooj (Norway) managed to draw the game. Gros, on their part, kept their composure against Ladya (Russia) and … El Solvay (Cantabria), the third Spanish team, also won their match.
The encounter for leadership between the two players leading the standings, Anand and Aronian, was a quick game. Despite being exemplary in terms of strategy, there was too little risk-taking and thrill involved according to some experts. Seemingly, both players have studied each other well, and could be waiting for their final encounter on Saturday to actually compete for the 7th Grand Slam Masters Final crown. If this were true, after overcoming the difficult tests that Vallejo and Ponomariov will pose on Thursday and Friday, Aronian would have a head start by playing with white. It is still uncertain, though, what the difference in the standings would be, which is two points in favour of five-times World Champion Anand at the moment.
Perhaps not fully recovered from yesterday’s “stupid mistake”, in his own words, which made him lose against Anand, Spanish champion Vallejo lost today once more, this time against Ukranian Ponomariov. With this result, Vallejo replaces ex world champion Ponomariov on the last position in the standings. Tomorrow’s free day will probably help him recapture the great vibes with which he started the tournament, after getting prestigious victories and being proclaimed overall winner at both the Tromso Olympiad and, more recently, the Spanish Linares tournament.
With both the 30th European Club Cup and the 7th Grand Slam Masters Final being held simultaneously, Bilbao is turning into the world chess capital during this week. Until Saturday 20 September, many high-level players are meeting in Bilbao for both tournaments; amongst others, nine of the current top ten players in the world. At the European Cup, specifically, there are 60 teams competing, 52 in the overall tournament.
To download today’s videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/bilbaochess/videos
For further information:
www.bilbaomastersfinal.com
www.europeanchessclubcup2014.com
Anand is the best.