Bilbao Masters 2015

**Jack Maguire** · Monday, 26th October, 2015, 08:55 AM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Given the near tantamount live ratings (Anand 2803.0, Liren 2780.6, Giri 2778.4, and So 2767.2), it's no surprise that the betting odds are rather congested. Giri is the 19/10 favourite, Liren the 13/5 2nd favourite, Anand the 29/10 3rd favourite, and So the 'longshot' at 16/5.

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

Given the ages of the 3 youngsters, there's not a great deal of empirical evidence. The largest sample size is Anand vs Giri and they've drawn all 7 of their classical encounters (but never drawn any of their 5 non-classical games, with Giri holding a 3 to 2 edge). Anand has only played Liren once and So twice with a composite 2.5/3 score and thus can't be considered a 'bad' bet at 29/10. Nonetheless, I'll sit on the sidelines and cheer for Ding Liren, by far the most dynamic/entertaining player in the group (:

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 26th October, 2015, 10:14 AM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 26, 2015

Round 1

1. So, Wesley – Ding, Liren

2. Anand, Vishy – Giri, Anish

The match begins at 16:00 local, which is 11:00 Toronto/Montreal.

Time: 90’-40 + 60’ + 10”

and two games per day

http://www.bilbaomastersfinal.com/en/live

and

under 8th Grand Slam Masters Final 2015 on chess bomb:

http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2015-grandslam

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 26th October, 2015, 03:51 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

Round 1, Oct. 26
Anand, Vishy – Giri, Anish
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Qe2 Re8 8. Nc4 Nd7 9. Bd2 Bd6 10. g4 Nf8 11. Ne3 Ne6 12. Nf5 a5 13. h4 a4 14. Ng5 a3 15. b3 Bc5 16. Nxe6 Bxe6 17. Qf3 Bf8 18. Ke2 c5 19. c4 Ra6 20. Bc3 Bd7 21. Ne3 Rae6 22. g5 c6 23. Ng4 R6e7 24. Ne3 b5 25. Rag1 b4 26. Ba1 Bc8 27. h5 Qd6 28. Nc2 f6 29. g6 h6 30. Ne3 Rd8 31. Rd1 Qc7 32. Nf5 Bxf5 33. Qxf5 Ree8 34. Rh3 Bd6 35. Rf3 Qe7 36. Rd2 Bc7 37. Rd1 Bd6 38. Rd2 Bc7 39. Rd1 Bd6 ½-½

Round 1, Oct. 26, 2015
So, Wesley – Ding Liren
E99 King’s Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov, main line

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Rc1 Ng6 14. c5 Nxc5 15. b4 Na6 16. Nd3 h5 17. Nb5 b6 18. Be1 Rf7 19. Bd2 Bf6 20. Nf2 Qe8 21. Qa4 Bd8 22. Qa3 g4 23. fxg4 hxg4 24. Nc3 Nxb4 25. Qxb4 f3 26. Bb5 Qe7 27. g3 Rh7 28. Qc4 Rh8 29. Qc6 Qh7 30. h3 Rb8 31. Ncd1 a6 32. Qe8+ Kg7 33. Qxd8 Rxd8 34. Rxc7+ Bd7 35. Rxd7+ Rxd7 36. Bxd7 gxh3 37. Kh2 Rb7 38. Be6 Nf8 39. Bf5 Qh5 40. Ng4 Nd7 41. Bh6+ Kh8 42. Nde3 Rc7 43. Bxd7 Rxd7 44. Rxf3 Rf7 45. Rf5 Rxf5 46. exf5 Qf7 47. Bg5 b5 48. Nh6 Qf8 49. f6 Kh7 50. Nef5 Kg6 51. Bh4 e4 52. f7 e3 53. Be7 e2 54. Nh4+ Kh7 55. Bxf8 e1=Q 56. Bxd6 Qf2+ 57. Kxh3 Qf1+ 58. Kg4 Qc4+ 59. Bf4 Qe2+ 60. Nf3 1-0

- it’s not everyday you see 3 minor pieces dominate a lone Queen like this one, classic game by Wes here
______

At the same time the Bilbao Masters is running, there is also the Ibero-American Championship with players like Francisco Vallejo Pons, Lazaro Bruzon Batista, Axel Bachmann, Alexandr Fier and Juliio Granda Zuniga (20 players, 9 rounds).

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 26th October, 2015, 10:45 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 26, 2015

Pairings

Round 1 Oct. 26

So, Wesley – Ding Liren
Anand, Vishy – Giri, Anish

Round 2 Oct. 27

Anand, Vishy – Ding Liren
Giri, Anish – So, Wesley

Round 3 Oct. 28

Ding Liren – Giri, Anish
So, Wesley – Anand, Vishy

Round 4 Oct. 30

Ding Liren – So, Wesley
Giri, Anish – Anand, Vishy

Round 5 Oct. 31

Giri, Anish – Ding Liren
Anand, Vishy – So, Wesley

Round 6 Nov. 1

Ding Liren – Anand, Vishy
So, Wesley – Giri, Anish

Tournament Regulations

1. This Chess Tournament is organised by the Bilbao E4 Chess Club with the official recognition of the F.I.D.E. and adherence to its valid regulations adapted accordingly.

2. The tournament will be played according to round robin system for 4 players.

3. The schedule for the event is as follows: all games will be played at the Campos theater at 16:00 CET.

4. The rate of play will be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes to finish the game, with 10 extra seconds per move from move number 41.

5. Double forfeit will lead to the player’s withdrawal from the tournament.

6. “Sofia Rule”: Players are not allowed to agree draw without arbiter’s permission. In case both players request it to him, the arbiter will make his decision after consulting with a technical assistant.

7. In case a player forfeits, he could be asked to give a written proof for it. Should he fail to do so, he will lose his right to get the agreed sum and the corresponding prize.

8. Players commit themselves to participate and not to withdraw, except in case of failure to comply with the economic conditions previously agreed or proved “force majeure” on the part of the Organization. In addition, all participants commit themselves to talk to the press for a few minutes everyday, preferably at the end of each game, whatever the result should be.

9. Arbiters’ decisions could be appealed to the Tournament Director.

10. The appeals must be in writing and at most 1 hour later after the end of the relevant game.

11. The final standings will be determined according to the following criteria:

1. Players will get 3 points for winning a match, 1 point for drawing and 0 points for losing.

2. If two players tie for first, they will play a blitz match immediately after the last round finishes. They will play two games at the rate of all the moves in 4 minutes add-on 3 seconds for each move from the first, alternating colors, which shall be decided for the first game by draw. If this match is tied, they shall play a one game Armageddon (sudden death), White will have 5 minutes and Black 4, in the case of a draw Black wins first place. This game’s colors shall be decided by draw. If more than two players tie for first, only the two first classified players according to the systems listed below shall play the match.

3. In case of tie for third or fourth places, the following tie-breaks will be applied:

a. Traditional scoring. Players get one point for each game won and 0.5 points for each game in draw.

b. Particular result (based on traditional scoring).

c. Koya system (based on traditional scoring).

d. Sonneborn-Berger (based on traditional scoring)

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 27th October, 2015, 02:21 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 27, 2015

Round Two

Bowing to popular demand, chess24 has commentary in English on their site. Today it is Jan Gustafsson and Lawrence Trent.

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-to...nal-2015/2/1/2

Analyzing the opening in Anand-Ding Liren, they talk about castling and Lawrence says that it is over-rated. Korchnoi said 19 years ago that castling is what you do when there is nothing else to do.

Somehow the subject moves to the Ten Commandments both Biblical and Chessic and then to a T-shirt for sale at St. Louis that said, “Keep Calm and 0-0-0”.

With lots of time on their hands, they look at the Ibero-American games that are be played at the same event. Just what justifies your being entitled to play? Jan says you are eligible if you speak Spanish. Then competing it is Latino-Americans and Spanish players like Pons, Bachmann, Bruzon and Alexander Fier, although he is Brasilian.

The kibitzers online pepper them with questions, which they don’t answer. Some of the topics are Lawrence losing games to Carlsen at rook odds, Caruana’s contract, the Caruana-Nakamura Match, the biggest chess club in Germany, Jan’s favorite NBA team and Fahrenheit-Celsius conversion.

Jan is going to Los Angeles next month to see some NBA games. He had been six weeks in Las Vegas playing poker and that was enough for life. Jan says that he has two sisters, one a lawyer and one a doctor.

All this because the Anand game is going so slowly.

Jan says that if Giri loses too many rating points in the next two tournaments he could be out of the Candidates. He would have to lose about 44 points. Giri and Topalov would be in, and if Giri messes up, then Kramnik will be in.

The next chess events coming up are the Caruana-Nakamura Match, London and the European Team Championships (in Reykjavik beginning November 12).

Jan says that he is watching Peaky Blinders, a gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England. It is the best show he has seen in a long time. Both Lawrence and Jan liked the movie The Martian, a good adaptation of a great book.

They dispose of the new James Bond movie and the coming Star Wars one. A kibitzer says, “Lawrence brings out Jan's inner schoolboy”.

The Anand-Ding Liren game goes to a draw.

Round 2, Oct. 27, 2015
Anand, Vishy – Ding, Liren
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 Na5 9. Ba2 c5 10. Nc3 Be6 11. Bg5 c4 12. Nd2 O-O 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. exd5 e4 16. Rb1 exd3 17. cxd3 c3 18. bxc3 Bxc3 19. Ne4 Bd4 20. Qd2 Nb7 21. a4 Nc5 22. axb5 axb5 23. Rxb5 Nxe4 24. dxe4 Qf6 25. Bb1 Rfb8 26. Bd3 Rxb5 27. Bxb5 Bc5 28. g3 g6 29. Kg2 Ra3 30. Bd3 Kg7 31. Rd1 Rb3 32. Rb1 Ra3 33. Rd1 Rb3 34. Rb1 Ra3 ½-½

As Lawrence leaves, Pepé Cuenca comes on. He is a Spanish grandmaster (b. 1987, GM 2015), quite fluent in English and he and Jan joke around about a joint blitz match coming up, with them against the viewers for 72 hours straight.

Pepé is a civil engineer doing teaching and research at the University of Hamburg. His work is on the persistent homology of steel tubes. He has algorithms to see if there is something wrong inside of steel tubes. You can actually see a recent paper by Fernando Cuenca on this:

http://kmsuj.im.uj.edu.pl/warsztaty/...osters2015.pdf

He opines that steel tubes are more interesting than games with the Berlin Defence.

This adds another member to our list of inanimate objects associated with chess – Fischer’s chair, Karjakin’s water bottles, Kramnik’s table lamp and now Pepe’s steel tubes.

- Is Pepé short for Fernando or just a nickname?

- Wow Pepé! You don’t sound like an engineer.

- Pepe is equivalent to José.

- Two very boring dull games today. But, thanks to Jan the Man and Mr. Rook Odds and now Mr. Engineer, we got a wonderful show. Thanks guys.

- I’m from Hamburg. It’s a good city, but miserable weather in the fall and winter.

The draw is agreed and the show is over. Tomorrow more action from Bilbao and commentary from beautiful downtown Hamburg!

Round 2, Oct. 27, 2015
Giri, Anish – So, Wesley
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Nd5 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 b6 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. d3 Bb7 15. Qb4 Nf5 16. c3 c5 17. Qf4 h6 18. f3 g5 19. Qc7 Qc6 20. Qxc6 Bxc6 21. Kf2 Re8 22. Bd2 f6 23. g3 Kf7 24. Be2 h5 25. Bd1 d5 26. a4 d4 27. a5 dxc3 28. Bxc3 Bd5 29. axb6 axb6 30. Ra6 Re6 31. b4 cxb4 32. Bxb4 Nd4 33. Bd2 Kg6 34. Be3 Nf5 35. Bd2 Nd4 36. Be3 Nf5 37. Bc1 Nd4 38. g4 hxg4 39. fxg4 b5 40. Rxe6 Nxe6 41. Ke3 b4 42. Ba4 f5 43. gxf5+ Kxf5 44. Bd7 Kg4 45. Kf2 b3 46. Bb2 Kh3 47. Be5 g4 48. Bxe6 Bxe6 ½-½

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 28th October, 2015, 05:09 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 28, 2015

Round Three

Lawrence Trent and Jan Gustafsson are the commentators again. With just two games, no early draws and five hours of airtime to fill, conversation between the two will dominate.

They start to talk about Ulf Andersson. He was a Swedish player and was once fourth on the FIDE rating list in the ‘70s. He was famed for winning seemingly “unwinnable” endgames, often in very long games. He went over to the dark side (correspondence chess) in the 2000s.

They say that Giri plays simple chess and dresses very well for which Lawrence gives credit to his wife Sopiko. Chessplayers usually don’t dress well. Lawrence, as Fabiano’s manager, has got him a new jacket, adorned with the logos of his sponsors. He will be showing that off soon. In fact, he has an event in New Jersey with magician David Blaine.

You can see it at:

http://lsc.org/support-us/chessandmagic/

An Evening of Chess and Magic with Fabiano Caruana and David Blaine, November 9, at the W Hotel, Hoboken, New Jersey. Caruana will play 22 games simultaneously and there will be a reception with Liberty Science Center’s Magician-in-Residence, David Blaine performing magic.

Jan asks Lawrence if he is through plugging Caruana events and then says that he has heard of a documentary called The Honest Liar, a biographical documentary about an aging magician. He is escape artist, and skeptical educator James Randi and deals with the investigations through which Randi publicly exposed psychics, faith healers, and con-artists.

The guys discuss Carlsen playing in the Qatar Open and in the European Team Championship in Iceland. Playing in an open is now quite respectable for grandmasters because they are becoming stronger and stronger. It was an urban legend that players in the top echelon were afraid of playing lower rated opponents and thus, losing rating points themselves if they drew or lost. In fact, if you win enough games, you can gain rating points. Anish Giri, in the French League is an example. Jan has Carlsen saying, “It is really hard to improve beyond 2850 playing Vishy and Fabi as well as the other guys. I should try an open.”

Inevitably the games that Lawrence played against Carlsen come up. They were 3-minute offhand games with Carlsen being a rook down. Lawrence did win a couple but Magnus started playing g3 and b3 in the opening and didn’t let him exchange anything and Magnus won. Jan says, “If you are going to lose to anyone, losing to Magnus isn’t bad.” Jan teases him with the statement, “but you were a rook up..?”

An online kibitzer comment: Is there anyone on this planet that doesn't know about the rook odds gate?
_______

Yesterday, Colin McGourty, in chess24, wrote about the Bilbao tourney, where Wesley So said this about his dreams for the future, “President of the United States would be good, but I wasn’t born there… I’d be satisfied with Vice President, but that’s in my old age! In chess, of course, to reach the top.”

Lawrence says that Wesley is too fair and nice to go into the dirty game of politics!

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/9-t...asters-round-2

From the same article:

It turns out Lawrence introduced Caruana to Game of Thrones during the recent World Cup in Baku. Fabiano is now hooked – “90 hours less work on the Berlin!”, as Jan quipped.
_____

Ding Liren noted Alexander Kotov’s How to Become a Grandmaster (in English there’s a trilogy, Think/Play/Train Like a Grandmaster) was his favourite chess book, surprising Vishy Anand, who thought it was more a book for his generation. Vishy loved the book, but noted the logical thinking and step-by-step working through candidate moves had little to do with the chaos of actually playing chess.

Anish Giri said he’d read How to Become a Gentleman, which had a chapter on playing chess. His other recommendations were Garry Kasparov’s Great Predecessors series: “People shouldn’t be scared away by the amount of variations, because I’m also not able to follow them”, and Jan Timman’s autobiography: “One of the most honest biographies I’ve read, and the variations are ones I can follow".

Wesley So revealed his preparation for Bilbao had included reading two best games books by Anish Giri!
________

Next year is a big year for chess. There is Wijk aan Zee, the Candidates, the World Championship, the Olympiad and… Lawrence hesitates and then thinking of Fabiano’s participation in it, “The U.S. Championship” and Jan says, “as every year!”
______

Somehow the subject of showering comes up. Jan says he likes a shower to wake him up but doesn’t believe in soap or shower gel. Hot water is sufficient. Lawrence says ironically that the use of soap in the shower is a hoax like global warming.

Anish Giri likes to take a shower before coming into play his game. Jan says that he likes a lot of room in the shower but you don’t get it in a Hamburgian shower. Giri is slight, so he has a lot of room, only he doesn’t phrase it quite that way.

Two comments by the kibitzers online:

- thank god I learnt something today. "he's small so he can take many showers"

- does Marshall getting showered with gold pieces count?
_______

The guys, still having a great deal of time on their hands talk about sausages, Max Meinhardt, and overrated movies. The Big Lebowski is allright but Jan didn’t laugh once during Raising Arizona.

They then have a guessing game as to how many rubles are worth one euro. Jan says 30 euros and Trent says 45. The answer, 70.46 rubles = 1 euro.

The NBA comes up and Jan says that he roots against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Clippers. He does like Dirk Nowitzki and Steph Curry. I perk up at the last name because he had a whole category on Jeopardy! and I didn’t know who the devil he was. Evidently he plays point guard for the Golden State Warriors.
_______
On the subject of ties (worn with a shirt, not draws), Lawrence says that Maurice Ashley has over 200. Jan and Lawrence say they have but 50 each in their wardrobes. Most people I know are retired and haven’t worn a tie since leaving work.

The television series Peaky Blinders comes up again. It appears to be enormously popular. Jan says that the title almost put him off. He probably thought that it was much like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and, of course, who could blame him?

An on-line kibitzer intending to watch it says:

- dont reveal plot lines in peaky blinders please
______

With the Ding-Giri well into the endgame, Lawrence says that he can win K, B+N vs K from any position in 35 seconds over the board. Jan says that he can do it in 12 seconds. Lawrence asks him if he has World Champion potential and Jan says that he has. His only weaknesses are pawn endgames, rook endgames, calculation, intuition, work ethic, physical fitness, opening preparation and mental resilience.

That is more than enough conversation for the day.

- I wonder if this will be the last 2-game tournament commentated on *ever?

- Yes...with them talking about movies and wardrobe and whatnot today it seemed like old times with Jan and Lawrence
______

To be concluded with next post

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 28th October, 2015, 05:11 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

Round Three

(concluded)

The last game seemingly goes on forever. 44.Rc1? lost for Ding and then 48..Kf8? messed it up for Giri. 48…Bg2 would have won.

A kibitzer writes: Wiki: The longest tournament chess game (in terms of moves) ever to be played was Nikolić-Arsović, Belgrade 1989, which lasted for 269 moves and took 20 hours and 15 minutes to complete a drawn game.

Bilbao Masters
Round 3, Oct. 28, 2015
So, Wesley – Anand, Vishy
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav (6.Qc2)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O e5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nb5 Bb8 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Bd2 a6 14. Nd4 Re8 15. Rac1 Ne4 16. Bc3 Nxc3 17. Qxc3 Qd6 18. g3 Bh3 19. Rfd1 Rac8 20. Qb3 Bxd4 21. exd4 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qe6 23. Bf1 Bxf1 24. Rxf1 Qc6 25. Qb4 g6 26. Re1 Rxe1+ 27. Qxe1 Qa4 28. Qe5 Qxa2 29. Qb8+ Kg7 30. Qe5+ Kg8 31. Qb8+ Kg7 32. Qe5+ ½-½

Round 3, Oct. 28, 2015
Ding Liren – Giri, Anish
D78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Qb3 Qb6 8. Nc3 Rd8 9. Na4 Qxb3 10. axb3 Na6 11. Bf4 Ne8 12. Nc3 Nac7 13. Ra5 Be6 14. Ra4 a6 15. Rfa1 h6 16. h4 Nd6 17. e3 Rac8 18. Nd2 f6 19. Ra5 dxc4 20. Bxd6 exd6 21. bxc4 f5 22. R5a4 c5 23. Ne2 Rb8 24. b4 b5 25. cxb5 Nxb5 26. bxc5 dxc5 27. Rxa6 cxd4 28. Nxd4 Nxd4 29. exd4 Bxd4 30. Rf1 Bb6 31. Re1 Bxf2+ 32. Kxf2 Rxd2+ 33. Kg1 Bf7 34. Ra3 Rbb2 35. Bf3 g5 36. hxg5 hxg5 37. Rae3 g4 38. Be2 Bd5 39. Bf1 Rh2 40. R1e2 Rh1+ 41. Kf2 Rb1 42. Re1 Rb4 43. Re7 f4 44. Rc1 Rb2+ 45. Ke1 Rb8 46. gxf4 Bg2 47. Kf2 Bxf1 48. f5 Kf8 49. Ree1 Rb2+ 50. Kg3 Rh3+ 51. Kxg4 Rb4+ 52. Kg5 Rg3+ 53. Kf6 Bc4 54. Rcd1 Bd3 55. Rc1 Bc4 56. Rcd1 Rb8 57. Rd7 Bb3 58. Ree7 Rc3 59. Rd6 Kg8 60. Rg7+ Kh8 61. Rg5 Rh3 62. Ke5 Bg8 63. Kf6 Rh6+ 64. Rg6 Rh5 65. Ke5 Rb5+ 66. Kf4 Rhxf5+ 67. Kg4 Rf1 68. Rh6+ Kg7 69. Rdg6+ Kf7 70. Rb6 Re5 71. Rhc6 Re7 72. Rc3 Kg7 73. Rbc6 Be6+ 74. Kg3 Bd7 75. Rd6 Be8 76. Rf3 Rfe1 77. Rd2 Bc6 78. Rc3 Rg1+ 79. Kh2 Rh1+ 80. Kg3 Rh6 81. Rd4 Re2 82. Rg4+ Kf7 83. Rcc4 Rg2+ 84. Kf4 Rf6+ 85. Ke5 Re6+ 86. Kf5 Rge2 87. Rgf4 Rg6 88. Rcd4 Re7 89. Rh4 Bd7+ 90. Kf4 Rf6+ 91. Kg3 Re3+ 92. Kh2 Re2+ 93. Kg3 Re3+ 94. Kh2 Bf5 95. Kg2 Kg6 96. Kf2 Rc3 97. Rhf4 Rc2+ 98. Kg3 Re6 99. Rd8 Ree2 100. Rg8+ Kh7 101. Rd8 Be6 102. Rdd4 Kg6 103. Rfe4 Rg2+ 104. Kf4 Rgf2+ 105. Ke5 Bf5 106. Re3 Ra2 107. Rd6+ Kg5 108. Rg3+ Bg4 109. Rd4 Ra5+ 110. Kd6 Ra6+ 111. Kc5 Rf5+ 112. Kb4 Rb6+ 113. Kc4 Rc6+ 114. Kb4 Rf4 115. Rxf4 Kxf4 116. Rc3 Rg6 117. Rc4+ Ke5 118. Rc5+ Kd6 119. Rc4 Be6 120. Rd4+ Bd5 121. Kc3 Ke5 122. Rd3 Rc6+ 123. Kd2 Be4 124. Rc3 Rh6 125. Ke2 Rf6 126. Ke3 Rf8 127. Ke2 Kd4 128. Ra3 Bc2 129. Rh3 Rg8 130. Kf3 Be4+ 131. Kf4 Rf8+ 132. Kg5 Ke5 133. Rg3 Bf3 134. Kh4 Ke4 135. Rg7 Rf5 136. Kg3 Ke3 137. Rg8 Rh5 138. Rg7 Be4 139. Rg8 Rh1 140. Rg5 Rf1 141. Kg4 Bf3+ 142. Kf5 Kd4 143. Ke6 Rh1 144. Rg6 Be4 145. Rf6 Rh8 146. Kd6 Ra8 147. Ke7 Ra5 148. Rd6+ Bd5 149. Kf6 Ra7 150. Kf5 Re7 151. Rf6 Re1 152. Kg5 Be6 153. Kf4 Re3 154. Rf8 Bd5 155. Rf6 Re1 156. Kf5 Re5+ 157. Kf4 Be6 158. Kf3 Re3+ 159. Kf4 Re4+ 160. Kf3 Bg4+ 161. Kg3 Ke3 162. Rg6 Bf3 163. Rg5 Ra4 164. Re5+ Be4 165. Kg4 Ra1 166. Rg5 Rf1 167. Kh4 Bf5 168. Rg3+ Kf4 169. Rg4+ Ke5 170. Rg3 Kf6 171. Ra3 Rg1 172. Ra4 ½-½

- if next round is 2 draws, Fischer will rise from dead and end chess

Tomorrow is a rest day. Round Four is on Friday, October 30.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 29th October, 2015, 02:04 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 29, 2015

A commentary on that long, long game from Round 3 from:

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/20374

Wesley So's beautiful win over Ding Liren in the first round of Bilbao Masters is the only decisive result so far. The players strove to play for a win, but they were also conscious about the risks.

Anish Giri had a real chance to stop the chain of draws, but at the critical point he failed to make use of his opponent's blunder, mistaking in turn.

After 43... f4 the Chinese player decided to deviate from the simplest way 44. gxf4 Rxf4+ 45. Kg3 Rfxf1 46. Rxf1 Rxf1 47. Kxg4 where he would have got a rook against a rook and a bishop. Perhaps, he would change his decision if he knew what torment he would have to go through to maintain this endgame anyway.

44. Rc1? Rb2+ 45. Ke1 Rb8 46. gxf4 Bg2 47. Kf2 Bxf1 48. f5

48... Kf8? After the natural 48... Bg2! Black was winning after 49. Rxh1 Bxh1 50. Kg3 Bf3 as well as in the case of 49. Rcc7 Bf3 50. Kg3 Kh8! (the most precise move) with further Rg8.

Soon after this mistake, the players found themselves in an extremely complicated and unusual endgame "two rooks and the bishop against two rooks". In such an endgame, both sides are struggling to play precisely, that's why the win missed by Giri at some point can be considered a permissible error.

After 49 (!) moves, a pair of rooks was finally exchanged. Then Giri tried to repeat Kramnik's heroic win in the World Cup. Alas, not even 57 moves were enough to win for Giri, as Ding Liren defended very confidently.

Solid performance today. :) Restday well timed, if perhaps not entirely well deserved! #BilbaoChess15

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) October 28, 2015

Thus, Wesley So is in the lead with 5 points out of 9 after the first cycle. October 29 is the rest day, the next round is tomorrow.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 30th October, 2015, 12:08 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 30, 2015

Round Four

There is something of a sensation so far early in the game Giri-Anand. Giri played a new move 7.Nf3 and a bit later Anand played 10…Be6 and suddenly found himself in a position, which could be losing.

The game so far:

Bilbao Masters
Round 4, Oct. 30
Giri, Anish – Anand, Vishy
A29 English, Bremen 3…Bb4

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 Bxc3 6. bxc3 c6 7. Nf3 Nxe4 8. O-O d6 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Bxe4 Be6 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Qb1 Qxd2 13. Qxb7 Nd7 14. Bxc6 (in progress)

Giri is half an hour ahead on the clock than Anand but the game has only been going for an hour.

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-to...nal-2015/4/1/2

**Jack Maguire** · Friday, 30th October, 2015, 12:59 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

The game didn't appear to be lost until Anand's 12. ...Qxd2?. Anand will lose his 2800 status today, leaving only Carlsen (2850.0) and Topalov (2803.1) in that stratosphere.

**Jack Maguire** · Friday, 30th October, 2015, 02:08 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

After his win today, Giri has near identical records against Anand and Carlsen. One win, no losses, and eight draws against Anand and one win, no losses, and 9 draws vs Carlsen.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 30th October, 2015, 03:14 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 30, 2015

Round Four

Bilbao Masters
Round 4, Oct. 30, 2015
Giri, Anish – Anand, Vishy
A29 English, Bremen 3…Bb4

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 Bxc3 6. bxc3 c6 7. Nf3 Nxe4 8. O-O d6 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Bxe4 Be6 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Qb1 Qxd2 13. Qxb7 Nd7 14. Bxc6 Reb8 15. Qa6 Rb6 16. Qa4 Rc8 17. Rad1 Qxd1 18. Rxd1 Rbxc6 19. Qxa7 R6c7 20. Qe3 Rxc4 21. Bb4 h6 22. a4 Nf6 23. Qxe5 Re4 24. Qa5 Kh7 25. f3 Re2 26. Qb5 Ra2 27. g4 Re8 28. Bc5 Kg8 29. Re1 Ra8 30. Bd4 R2xa4 31. h4 Ra2 32. Qb1 Bd5 33. Qf5 Be6 34. Qf4 Nd7 35. Rf1 Nf8 36. Rf2 R2a5 37. Qg3 Bc4 1-0

Round 4, Oct. 30, 2015
Ding, Liren – So, Wesley
E60 King’s Indian, 3.Nf3

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 c5 6. d5 e6 7. Nc3 d6 8. Nd2 Re8 9. O-O Na6 10. e4 Nc7 11. a4 Na6 12. f3 Nb4 13. Rf2 Nh5 14. dxe6 Bxe6 15. Nb3 f5 16. Bf1 Qe7 17. Be3 f4 18. Bd2 Be5 19. Be1 Nc6 20. Nd5 Qg7 21. Bc3 Rad8 22. Nc1 g5 23. Nd3 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Bxd5 25. cxd5 Ne5 26. Rb1 Re7 27. Nxe5 Qxe5 28. Rb3 Rdd7 29. Qc1 Nf6 30. h3 h5 31. c4 Rg7 32. a5 Rdf7 33. Qb2 g4 34. Qxe5 dxe5 35. Kh1 gxf3 36. gxf3 h4 37. Rb5 Rc7 38. Rd2 Nh5 39. Kh2 Ng3 40. Bg2 Rgd7 41. d6 Rc6 42. Rd5 b6 43. Rxe5 Rcxd6 44. Rg5+ Rg7 45. axb6 axb6 46. Rg4 Rd2 47. Rxb6 Nf1+ 48. Kg1 Rxg4 49. hxg4 Ne3 50. Bh3 Rd1+ 51. Kh2 Rd2+ 52. Kg1 Rd1+ 53. Kh2 Rd2+ ½-½

Jan misses the end, because he was out wrestling with the coffee machine during his break.
_____

Jan Gustafsson is alone commentating at the beginning of the broadcast. He says that Lawrence Trent, a man of many interests, is in Amsterdam at a dance competition.

Peter Svidler is going to join via Skype from Leningrad a little later.

As mentioned, in a previous post in this thread, Giri catches Anand in the opening, which is very unusual since Anand is one of the two best players in the world for solidity as Black and opening prep. The other is Vladimir Kramnik.

After, Anand fought tooth and nail but it appears that he lost on time.
______

When Svidler came on, the guys discussed the fact that, if Anish loses too much Elo in his next tournaments, he might not make the Candidates. But since that means a 44 point loss, it is not likely.

Just where the Candidates is going to take place is still up in the air.

In the Anand game, Vishy has given up his queen for some minor pieces. This prompts Jan to ask Peter about a similar situation in a Taimanov game.

Here is what Peter related:

Andrey Lukin was my first teacher/trainer.

Lukin played a game against Taimanov, Leningrad 1984, where there was an endgame of R+B for Taimanov and Q for Lukin, which Lukin won. In the post mortem, Taimanov argued that he was always slightly better. Against this forceful onslaught, Lukin tried to prove that he had the better game with concrete lines, none of which convinced Taimanov.

It was big championship and Tigran Petrosian was there and walked by the board and looked at the position the two grandmasters were discussing. After a moment, he fixed a stare at Taimanov, pointed at Lukin’s piece and said, “Mark, this is a queen!” This ended the post mortem, there and then.
______

In a previous Q&A session Peter was asked about his early training:

Question: You are one of my favorite players, by the way, and you are known to have a very fine understanding of strategy over the board. - Did you make a conscious effort in years of training to reach that ability, or was that mostly developed through experience? - If it was via training, what helped you the most – an instructor, or studying master games?

Svidler - I read an awful lot in my childhood – my parents put together an enormous chess library for me which I practically assimilated in its entirety. The real breakthrough, however, coincided very closely with the moment I started to work with Andrey Mikhailovich Lukin – without him I really might have come to nothing. So the role of a trainer strikes me as very important – but there, of course, you have to get lucky. It’s also absolutely essential to play a lot, at least when you’re just starting out – until the age of about 20-22 you absorb new information with extraordinary speed, and simply playing gives you a great deal.

(Note: Andrey Lukin (born August 28, 1948) is a chess International Master and a chess coach.

He was one of the strongest junior chess players in the Soviet Union in the late 60s, qualified for the World Juniors in 1967 ahead of Karpov, Balashov and other very strong players, and was subsequently denied his shot at the title by the fact that the event was held in Israel, which at the time was a no-fly zone for Soviet sportsmen.

Since then his career failed to live up to the earlier promise, but he still became an International Master and won five Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) championships, which at the time were equal in strength to a national championship of an average European country, with many titled players taking part. He combined his chess playing with a nine to five job as an engineer.

Andrey went into coaching in the late 1980s and since then helped many young chess players in Saint Petersburg, leading Konstantin Sakaev to a World Junior title. In 1993 he started to work with Peter Svidler, who credits him as the biggest influence in his career.)

_______

Peter is speaking from his study and has shelves of books behind him. One viewer asks what they are. Peter says that the most prominent book is The War for Late Night.

(Note: The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy is a 2010 non-fiction book written by The New York Times media reporter Bill Carter. It chronicles the 2010 conflict surrounding the American late-night talk show The Tonight Show involving Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno.)

Peter explains that there are two shelves of Terry Pratchett behind him. Terry Pratchett, OBE (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels.

He says that there are also several volumes of Wisden. Jan does not know what Wisden is and mishears it as the rather pretentious-sounding Wisdom Almanac. Peter tells him later that it is a annual book containing all the year’s cricket statistics.
_______

I hadn’t known about Taimanov’s argumentative analytical temperament before. But I can see it now. After losing 6-0 to Fischer in their 1971 Match, Taimanov was roundly criticized for not putting up much of a fight, for being too optimistic in his assessment of his openings and positions.

He said, “Ten years later, I found at last how I should have won that fatal third game, but unfortunately, it didn't matter anymore! I have written a book about this match, entitled How I Became Fischer's Victim, it represents an essay on the American player and describes how I perceived his style and personality, once the match was over."

That book came out in 1993 and is basically a 110-page justification for losing. Who writes a 110-page book on six of his own lost games?

It has never been translated into English. A nice thing to have, I own three copies, one of them autographed by Taimanov.
_______

Getting back to Peter Svidler, he has said that his favorite authors are Dostoevsky, Martin Amis, Paul Auster, Salinger, Philip K Dick, Vonnegut, Neal Stephenson. Of Pratchett he likes: Small Gods, Interesting Times, Soul Music (that was my first, so it’s particular dear to me). Any book about Sam Vimes.

With Jan’s prodding, Peter replies that there is a big concern in Russia over the fact that they have not won anything big in chess in the past ten years. He is spending another week with his family in St. Petersburg and then going to the Russian training camp for a bit and then the team goes on to the European Team Championship in Reykjavik. Jan asks how the board order is chosen. Peter replies that in the Golden Days of Russian Chess, especially before an Olympiad, the tradition was that, at the training camp, everyone would go into the sauna and the board order was decided there. The team so far is himself, Grischuk, Tomashevsky and Nepomniachtchi.

Since it is evening now in St. Petersburg, Peter cries off to go for a long walk with his family.

And that is the analysis of today’s two games!
_____

On beating Anand for the first time in classical chess, Giri said: “I don't know how I did it. Generally it's impossible.”

Anand, who lost on time (in a bad position) vs Giri: “Perhaps the worst game of my life. Some ridiculous moves. Horrible.”

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 31st October, 2015, 06:05 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 31, 2015

The moves to the game Giri-Anand of Round Four that were initially transmitted yesterday

24. Qa5 Kh7 25. Qb5 Re2 26. g4 Ra2 27. f3 Re8

were later corrected to 24. Qa5 Kh7 25. f3 Re2 26. Qb5 Ra2 27. g4 Re8.

On the EC Forum it was guessed that the electronic link to the board had been broken, the moves added manually to the PGN file and incorrectly transcribed.

Later, David Sedgwick gave this comment:

If contact is lost temporarily between the DGT board and the controlling computer, the system guesses how to reach the position on the board when contact is restored. Sometimes it gets it wrong.

Something similar to the Bilbao incident occurred one year at the London Chess Classic, when McShane appeared to have missed a trivial win of a pawn against Carlsen.

Resources permitting, it's good arbiting practice to check the live feed against the players' scoresheets immediately the game finishes.

It looks as though the Bilbao arbiters did that.
________

Anand said at the press conference later, that it was the worst game he had ever played. Someone online has questioned this and cited Zapata-Anand.

If you look the game up you get this:

Biel, 1988
Zapata, Alonso – Anand, Vishy
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Qe2 1-0

and at

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess...ge=3#kibitzing

you can read the following explanation by a kibitzer:

Yes, Anand was under the spell of the journal "Informator" and the Miles-Christiansen 1987 game contained within. I learned of this in Steve Giddins's “101 Chess Opening Traps”, where he explains why all the aforementioned (except Zapata) "missed" 6. Qe2.

Informator failed to explain that the Miles-Christiansen game had been agreed to be drawn before either had made a move.

What follows is priceless: "At the board, Tony saw that 6. Qe2 was winning, but remained the gentleman and avoided playing it. Mind you, I understand that he did spend some seconds 'polishing' the e2-square with his forefinger, until he was satisfied that Larry Christiansen's face had assumed a suitable shade of red..." LOL

Anand said, “A few seconds later [after playing 5...Bf5], 6.Qe2 dawned on me, and Alonso as well was really shocked. I think he thought that a strong grandmaster could not play such a move, so he sat there calculating himself. And now I had the choice, which was to just make my move, play a piece down for another twenty moves so that none of these magazines could publish it as a miniature, and you don't need to be reminded for the rest of your life that you lost a game in six moves.

But that would mean that my fellow players in the tournament hall might come by and notice that I'm a piece down and start laughing ... So I decided to go for Plan B, which was to resign and then get out of the hall as quickly as possible, so that nobody would notice.

This worked successfully - for many days people thought I had agreed to a short draw with Alonso - a very short draw.”

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 31st October, 2015, 06:56 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

October 31, 2015

Round Five

The two commentators today are Jan Gustafsson and Sopiko Guramishvili.

One kibitzer asks: is Sopiko changing her last name to Giri soon? And another answers: no, Giri is too hard to pronounce. A third: In Spain, women do not change their names when married. This seems rather beside the point since a Netherlander married a Georgian.

Jan speaks non-stop for an hour and then takes a break, saying that he will remove his tie, which is much too tight.

Sopiko comes in via Skype. She is in Balbao with her husband. It is 23°C there, whereas Jan says that it is 5°C and rainy in Hamburg. She quite likes Bilbao and says that the tournament is being played in a great theatre – both the Masters and the Ibero-Americano tournaments.

They analyze the two games together with Jan tieless and open-collared.

Jan asks her if she gets nervous when she watches Anish play. She says, not usually, but she cannot stand time troubles. When there are no increments and they are blitzing, it is very hard to watch. It has happened a lot in the last year at high level. They cite Vishy losing on time yesterday, Caruana-Carlsen in St. Louis, when Caruana blundered a rook just before the control and Carlsen getting flagged against Topalov in Norway Chess.

Jan has been discussing the best-dressed grandmaster over the last few days and says that Anish is widely considered the best-dressed. Sopiko agrees. Jan says not to consider this racist but because of Anish’s dark complexion, he can wear darker shirts, which someone like himself cannot. Sopiko says that for wearing with Anish’s suits, she shops for original stuff like purple, pink or very blue shirts. She doesn’t like bright yellow.

Jan has discussed these colours that shriek with Levon Aronian, who quite likes yellow.

Anish likes her shopping for him. They have a harmonious relationship. After being married in Georgia

Wedding pictures are at:

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/ani...i-tie-the-knot

she moved to Rijswijk, Netherlands. The first month was difficult without furniture. Evidently, getting furniture in Holland is difficult – it takes quite a long time – three months to get a sofa. Jan says that Holland is a Third World Country as far as furniture is concerned. The best thing to do would be to get a car, buy your sofa in Germany and bring it back.

Otherwise, life is good. She has applied for Dutch citizenship and passed the exam in Dutch. To get a Residence Permit to live in Holland, you have to learn the language, get the proper documents and then apply for residency. When you make the application, you cannot enter or be in Holland, which she considers really strange. She learnt her Dutch from a self-teaching program.
_______

About the games, Sam Shankland wrote this in worldchess.com:

http://worldchess.com/2015/10/31/gir...masters-final/

“Two draws in the penultimate round of the Bilbao Masters Final preserved the standings in the tournament and sets the stage for what could be a very exciting finale on Sunday between the leaders — Wesley So and Anish Giri.

Saturday, the first game to finish was between Giri, who had White, and Ding Liren. I was a little surprised at the way Giri handled the opening as he mixed two plans in the mainline Zaitsev Variation of the Ruy Lopez.

I preferred Black’s position at move 23, but Giri never made another mistake for the rest of the game and Black’s slight edge was not nearly enough for him to achieve any serious winning chances. A draw was agreed in a dead equal rook ending just past the first time control.

In the other game, So, who had Black, faced Viswanathan Anand. For a while, it looked as if the game could be a disaster for Anand. For the second consecutive game, he was outprepared, something that I have not seen happen to Anand since Garry Kasparov retired in 2005. In a Four Knights Symmetrical English, the position after 15 moves already looked very suspicious for Anand.

Anand had been spending lots of time already and things clearly had not gone his way — Nf2 was hanging in the air and already Black was threatening to win with Nc2+. Ever the resilient warrior, though, Anand found the best move: 16. Nd1! I’m sure he was not happy to play so passively, but his maturity shone through and it was clear he understood that this was necessary. While White was a bit passive now, he was also very solid, and he was ready to expel the knight with 17. h3.

So was still a bit better after 16. … e5!? (16. … 0-0 was also a very decent alternative), and kept up some pressure deep into the endgame. The final critical moment came at move 47.

So played 47. … Qf5? But, if he had continued 47. … h4, the pawn race would likely have led to an exchange of queens and left Black with a lone f pawn. There would have been plenty of complications along the way, but probably Black would have had very good winning chances.

Instead, after 48. Qxf5+ Kxf5 49. b5 h4 50. b6 h3 51. b7 h2 52. b8/Q h1/Q, White had the first check, and Black’s queen was horribly placed on h1 and unable to help shield the king. Black could not escape the perpetual check without losing the f7 pawn, and the game was promptly drawn.

All in all, it was not the most exciting of days, but I still enjoyed the games very much and in particular I was very impressed by Ding’s feel for dynamics and playing an endgame with a seriously fractured kingside pawn structure. Sunday, Giri or So will walk away the champion, making their game the one to follow.”

Round 5, Oct. 31, 2015
Anand, Vishy – So, Wesley
A33 English, Symmetric Variation

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. g3 Qb6 7. Nb3 Ne5 8. e4 Bb4 9. Qe2 d6 10. Bd2 a5 11. f4 Nc6 12. Na4 Bxd2+ 13. Nxd2 Qa7 14. Nc3 Nd4 15. Qd3 Ng4 16. Nd1 e5 17. Nf3 Nxf3+ 18. Qxf3 exf4 19. gxf4 O-O 20. h3 Nf6 21. Nc3 Qc5 22. O-O-O Be6 23. Rh2 Bxc4 24. Bxc4 Qxc4 25. Rxd6 Rad8 26. Rhd2 Rxd6 27. Rxd6 Rc8 28. Kb1 b5 29. Qd3 Qxd3+ 30. Rxd3 b4 31. Nd5 Rc4 32. Nxf6+ gxf6 33. Rd5 Rxe4 34. Rxa5 Rxf4 35. Kc2 Kg7 36. Kb3 Kg6 37. Rb5 f5 38. Rxb4 Rxb4+ 39. Kxb4 Kh5 40. a4 f4 41. a5 f3 42. a6 f2 43. a7 f1=Q 44. a8=Q Qxh3 45. Qd5+ Kg6 46. Ka5 h5 47. b4 Qf5 48. Qxf5+ Kxf5 49. b5 h4 50. b6 h3 51. b7 h2 52. b8=Q h1=Q 53. Qc8+ Ke5 54. Qe8+ Kf6 55. Qd8+ Kg6 56. Qg8+ Kf6 57. Qd8+ Ke6 58. Qe8+ Kd6 ½-½

Round 5, Oct. 31, 2015
Giri, Anish – Ding, Liren
C92 Ruy Lopez, Closed (9.h3)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. d4 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. a3 h6 13. d5 Nb8 14. Nh2 Nbd7 15. Qf3 c6 16. dxc6 Bxc6 17. Ng4 Nc5 18. Nxf6+ Qxf6 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. Bc2 Red8 21. Nf1 d5 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. Ng3 Bb3 24. Bxb3 Nxb3 25. Rb1 Kh7 26. Be3 Kg6 27. f4 exf4 28. Bxf4 Nd2 29. Rbc1 Nc4 30. Rc2 Rd3 31. Ne2 Re8 32. Bc1 Bd6 33. Rf1 Rd2 34. Rxd2 Nxd2 35. Rd1 Rxe2 36. Rxd2 Re1+ 37. Kf2 Rxc1 38. Rxd6 Rc2+ 39. Kg1 Rxb2 40. Rxa6 Rb3 41. a4 bxa4 42. Rxa4 Rxc3 ½-½

Additional notes to Round Four, given in previous posting

Bilbao Masters 2015

Bilbao Masters 2015

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