Final recap from Sao Paulo

Ivanchuk loses the opportunity to seal the tournament, losing to Carlsen in the last round in Sao Paulo

Ukrainian Vasili Ivanchuk ended the first phase in Sao Paolo on top, despite losing in the last round of the Grand Slam Chess Masters Final opposite Nowregian Magnus Carlsen, on the same day in which Spain’s Paco Vallejo, nothwithstanding his display of aggression and creativity, could not avoid defeat at the hands of Japanese-born American Hiraku Nakamura in an arduous final. In the last of the three matches played in the 5th round, Anand and Aronian ended up with a draw.

The second and deciding round of the Final will be played in Bilbao, in the central atrium of the Alhóndiga, from next Thursday, October 6, and will end, with the declaration of the overall winner of what is considered the best chess tournament in the world, on October 11, after another five rounds in which the six grandmasters will all come up against one another. The winner will replace Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik, 2010 champion, on the list of Grand Slam winners.

Moving on to the final, with Spaniard Paco Vallejo at the bottom despite his historic defeat of current world number 1, Carlsen, the leaderboard is very tight, with Ukraine’s Ivancuk in the lead with 10 points. He is followed by Japanese-born American Nakamura with 7; then tied with 6 points, the favourites— India’s Anand, current World Champion, Magnus Carlsen and Armenia’s Levon Aronian. Trailing the leaderboard is Spain’s Vallejo with three points.

“Sao Paulo could not have produced better results to keep the excitement until the final in Bilbao”, said the Director of the 2011 Grand Slam Masters Final, Andoni Madariaga

The tournament will continue in Bilbao on October 6 with five rounds in the second half of the Masters Final which will serve to proclaim one of the six grandmasters absolute winner, replacing 2010 Champion Russian on the list of winners.

Inanchuk gave up the chance to have almost sealed the tournament and win his first match against Carlsen. However, his defeat tightens the leaderboard to the point that in Bilbao, five of the six grandmasters, with Vallejo almost certainly out, still have a chance of winning the Final.

IVANCHUK-CARLSEN

Ivanchuk was beaten by Carlsen who played with the black pieces after setting up a very well known position, the French defence. Carlsen strove to break up the centre controlled by the white pieces, placing his black pawns very central. The Ukrainian came out to win on a day that Carlsen, in a bad mood because of his poor performance at the tournament, showed up in the soundproof, airconditioned and lit booth (outside the temperature was 32 degrees) equally determined to win. Ivanchuk became castled on move 19.

The Norwegian’s pieces were more active than those of Ivanchuk. At the end of the match there was a rook, 2 bishops and 5 pawns of each colour. Ivanchuk made an error on move 37 which sealed his fate, shortly after crossing the 40-match threshold causing him to lose his invincibility. It was a comfortable victory for the Norseman who ended up with 6 points and his hopes intact and the start of the second half of the rand Slam.

VALLEJO-NAKAMURA

Paco Vallejo ended his participation playing against the white pieces, crushed by Hiraku Nakamura who, just like Carlsen, he did not beat in Sao Paulo. After an English opening, the two players reached move 14 with all their hardware intact.

The Spaniard exhibited total creativity. El espanol hizo toda una exhibición de creatividad. He lacked pragmatism and was too aggressive. Perhaps the key to the match was on move 29 when Vallejo decided to play Cc8 instead of a predictable move to Db7. He complicated his chess existence before Nakamura who responded with opportunism and correctness to each of the Minorcan’s moves.

After very hurriedly passing the 40-move mark, Vallejo gave up quality in favvour of holding his position. Nakamura gained a positional advantage by playing Cf5. Spains number 1 and best ranked player on the FIDE list said goodbye to the competition with a defeat at the end of the longest and most interesting encounter of the day, with 57 moves and a frustrating last episode due to time constraints.

ANAND-ARONIAN

Viswanathan Anand, with white, and Levon Aronian, with black, reached a draw shortly after passing the 40-move mark which, undoubtedly, the Armenian reached somewhat pressed for time. The two players will return to this tournament, now in Bilbao, with the same number of points, 6, which means they do not have to say goodbye to the possibility of winning the final in the 2011 Grand Slam.

World Champion Anand, who declined a public interview before hundreds of people and announcements having been made about his next move into the world of politics, hopes to “regain his footing in Bilbao” and also “prepare fully for the fight against the Israeli Gelfand” in Spring 2010 to re-validate his title of World Champion.

Official website: http://www.bilbaomastersfinal.com/en/