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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Grand Slam Chess Masters Final R9: Carlsen beats Ivanchuk to lead jointly; Aronian beats Anand and Nakamura loses to Vallejo

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

The ninth and the penultimate round at the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao would be remembered for just three things - a porcupine, a clock and a sleeping titan. That's so much drama in a single round in such a high-level tournament.



First, the sleeping titan. This time world champion Vishy Anand was on the losing side with Levon Aronian playing a naturally-flowing symphony. Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura lost on time in a strange way. According to a detailed explanation on www.chessvibes.com, he thought he had made the 40th move and went away from the table. In effect, he had not and lost!

The game between Carlsen and tournament leader Vassily Ivanchuk should be watched rather than described. What to do when a porcupine attacks you?

Here are the nice games of the round. The last round would be played on Tuesday with Carlsen and Ivanchuk in joint lead. An exciting finish to the event is awaited.

Grand Slam Masters Final 2011 | Round 9 Standings (football)1-2 Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk 14
3-4 Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian 11
5 Francisco Vallejo 10
6 Vishy Anand 9 








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14 comments:

  1. Alexis Cochran, New ZealandOctober 11, 2011 at 5:10 AM

    Carlsen, Alexandra, Kasparov, Korchnoi - my favs and all harmless enough - just don't stir their jungle instincts - maneater, porcupine, tiger... gee

    ReplyDelete
  2. Saira Fernandes, MadridOctober 11, 2011 at 8:47 AM

    Come on Carlsen

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  3. Sainath, ColomboOctober 11, 2011 at 8:53 AM

    Its one of the most exciting events of the year - though there was a lull in the middle rounds. Trust Carlsen to create a stir. I like this kid.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sebastian Wolff, NYOctober 11, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    What are the final round pairings someone?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chess Blog AdminOctober 11, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    Final round pairings

    1. Vasili Ivanchuk 17 pts-Levon Aronian 14 pts
    2. Viswanathan Anand 9 pts-Francisco Vallejo 10 pts
    3. Hikaru Nakamura 14 pts-Magnus Carlsen 17 pts

    ReplyDelete
  6. Alexis Cochran, New ZealandOctober 11, 2011 at 9:21 AM

    Last round predictions - Carlsen will beat Nakamura I think. He got turbocharged yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amrit Puri Knights Chess Club New DelhiOctober 11, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    All my sympathies for vassily Ivanchuk but I am so confused now whom to support Anand cause he is from india Ivanchuk cause he was playing so well till carlsen upset his rhythm a bit or carlsen cause I kinda admire him.... surely an exciting tournament

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  8. Aaron, WurzburgOctober 11, 2011 at 9:57 AM

    I think Vallejo and Anand will draw quickly then go to a Spanish dinner and enjoy the beach while the rest sweat it out. It's their gameplan since yesterday.

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  9. Terrence, LondonOctober 11, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    Another tournament is ending. Damn what will I do this weekend sob sob sob

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  10. Alexis Cochran, New ZealandOctober 11, 2011 at 12:37 PM

    If all games are drawn today then they go into tiebreaks I think. So Ivanchuk and Carlsen might play a tie-break in a lighting chess match immediately after the last round. There will be two games, with 4 minutes per player and 3-second increments for each move made, alternating colours with the first to be decided by a draw. If there is still a tie a “sudden death” match will be played, with white having 5 minutes and black 4, black winning in the case of a draw. The colours of this match will be decided by draw.

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  11. Saira Fernandes, MadridOctober 11, 2011 at 12:38 PM

    It's going to be Carlsen for sure. I said it first. i said it first.

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  12. Sebastian Wolff, NYOctober 11, 2011 at 12:39 PM

    Since Ivanchuk lost to Carlsen in both the games in Sao Paulo and Bilbao then Carlsen goes into tiebreaks with a huge psychological advantage in my opinion.

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  13. AnonymousOctober 11, 2011 at 12:41 PM

    There might be a tiebreak for second place also!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Amrit Puri Knights Chess Club New DelhiOctober 11, 2011 at 1:01 PM

    Anand is going to lose rating points :(

    ReplyDelete

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