SIFU.mycatur: Bilbao Masters Final 2010 (1)

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Bilbao Masters Final 2010 (1)

Kramnik leads as he defeats Carlsen in Round 1

Mark Crowther - Saturday 9th October 2010

Kramnik Defeats Carlsen on the First Day and Leads
Shirov as white draws against Anand
Magnus Carlsen's bad form from the Olympiad continues as he is ground down by Vladimir Kramnik in Round 1. Pictures and report from the Official Round 1 bulletin. Some additional photos by Fred Lucas.

Kramnik took an early lead by defeating Carlsen seen here on screen. Photo © | http://www.fredlucas.eu/

Shirov and Anand just as they finish. Kramnik and Carlsen continue in the background. Photo © Fred Lucas 2010 http://www.fredlucas.eu/.

Results of the first day of the 3rd Grand Slam Ches Masters Final. Bilbao, Saturday October 9:
Shírov (Spain) - Anand (India). Draw. 41 moves, 2 hours 35 minutes of play.
Kramnik (Russia) - Carlsen (Norway). 3-0. 45 moves, 3 hours 10 minutes of play.

Kramnik in Round 1. Photo © Fred Lucas 2010 http://www.fredlucas.eu/.

The Grand Slam Chess Masters Final kicked off today, Saturday, in Bilbao, at the Alhondiga, where the four grandmasters starred in the first round of the tournament, playing in a glass room, in full view of the public.

The Ruy Lopez Berlin Variation was used in the first game between Shirov and Anand. This is characterised by a rapid exchange of queens and allows for a a game of maneuvers based on the the pair of black knights, athough with certain coordination problems. Anand was able to weaken the queen's side and slowly activate his disjointed army. However, after the f6 breakthrough, the game got tricky and Shirov was able to make enough counterplay to force Anand to look for a draw.

The second game was between Kramnik and Carlsen, and featured a queen's indian defense that rapidly brought about an antisymmetric pawn structure. While Kramnik pressed strongly on the semi-open d-file, Carlsen regrouped his pawns in a compact structure. Kramnik paid attention to the weaknesses and initiated active play on both sides of the board. In middle-game, Carlsen tried to break free by using a tactic with a ...d5 breakthrough, but this led to a very intense game, which Kramnik played with elegance and good technique, walking away with victory and the three points, putting him at the head of the standings at the end of the round.

Round 1 Leader board
1st Kramnik (Russia), 3 points
2nd Shírov (Spain), 1 point;
2nd Anand (India) 1 point;
3rd Carlsen (Norway), 0 points;

The points system of the Grand Slam Masters Final is 3 points for each win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss, a system known as the "Bilbao rules".
The pairings for Round 2 on Sunday, are: Carlsen-Anand and Kramnik-Shírov.
The course of all the games through the moves made by the players may be followed on the official website of the Final, http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com, as well as commentary on these games by Bilbao's International Master, Santiago Gonzalez de la Torre.