Bilbao Masters 2016

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 15th June, 2016, 02:50 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 13 to July 23, 2016

Carlsen and Karjakin clash in Bilbao

The tournament starts in less than one month and the list of participants was released today.

These are the players - Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Sergei Karjakin, Wesley So and Wei Yi.

This is stated at great length in the official press release below!

Press Release, 15th June 2016

In July, the 9th Bilbao Grand Slam Masters Final, the leading competition within the event Bilbao Chess, will host the only duel between the reigning world chess champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, and the official challenger to the title, the Russian Serguéi Karjakin, before they meet again in New York next November in a fight for the universal title.

Thanks to this world exclusive encounter, Bilbao and its Grand Slam Masters Final is one of the top events in this year’s international chess calendar, along with the individual World Championship.

Bilbao’s international status as a chess capital will be further boosted by the strongest competitive line-up in recent years. The reigning and twice world champion Carlsen and his Russian challenger (a status which has been fully merited by Karjakin after his recent win at the Candidates Tournament in Moscow, in which he defeated the rest of the world’s elite, including the champion Anand), will be joined by the winner of last year’s event, the American of Philippine origin Wesley So, Anish Giri, the Dutch grand master who was defeated by the latter in the 2015 tie-break and the American of Japanese origin Hikaru Nakamura, all of whom are ranked among the top ten in the world, who will also fight to win the Masters Final prestigious txapela. And alongside these well-renowned young grand masters, who are all in their twenties, the rising star of world chess: Yi Wei, the 16-year-old Chinese teenager, who is already the Olympic and absolute champion in his country, the sport’s new world power.

Thanks to the renewed support of the Bilbao City Council and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, alongside other public and corporate sponsors, the 9th Chess Masters Final, a tournament which is part of the event Bilbao Chess 2016, returns to its original format of six players. It will take place between 13 and 23 July, and the Campos Elíseos Theatre will once again host the tournament for the second consecutive year, after last year’s success.

Located in the centre of the theatre’s seating area, known as “La Bombonera” of Bilbao, which has been converted and prepared for the event, in an unusual image for international chess tournaments, the Masters Final will be surrounded by approximately 140 competitors, professionals and enthusiasts, who will all fight for victory at one of the most compelling open tournaments taking place this year in the city, the 9th Villa de Bilbao Open.

Today, Bilbao Chess 2016 has been presented in the capital of Bizkaia by two of the event’s main collaborators, the Bilbao City Council and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, represented, respectively, by the Councillor for Economic Development, Trade and Employment, Xabier Ochandiano, and the Director for Foreign Promotion and Tourism, Asier Alea. Alongside them, the six-time Basque Chess champion Santi González de la Torre provided further details about the event as the spokesman, in turn, of the Bilbao E-4 Chess Club, the event’s sports organiser.

Both the municipal representative, Xabier Ochandiano, and the provincial representative, Asier Alea, emphasised that “The organisation of this type of event is strategic for the public institutions of Bilbao and Bizkaia, in which events such as the Masters Final run simultaneously and reciprocally, bringing together the best in world chess, with tournaments that enable a more open and extensive participation. This complementarity, which is both elitist and popular, helps us to attract a higher number of competitors and visitors and, at the same time, to promote our image on a global level in a thematic niche, such as chess, which, to a greater or lesser extent, attracts the attention of 500 million people across the world, some of whom also follow live Internet broadcasts of the Bilbao tournaments”.

In fact, this year the event’s organisers hope to beat the multimillion live following of the Masters Final, both on the official website www.bilbaochess2016.com and on the world’s main chess media platforms. Besides these millions of followers throughout the world, every afternoon between 13 and 23 July thousands of enthusiasts will visit the Campos Theatre to witness this unrivalled chess spectacle at the venue itself, free of charge. The two direct duels between Magnus Carlsen and Serguéi Karjakin, in their only competitive match in their fight for the world title in November, are an added bonus.

Both, who are regulars at Bilbao Chess since they debuted in the world of chess as teenagers, faced each other at the 2012 Masters Final, won by the Norwegian in an exciting tie-break against the Italian-American Fabiano Caruana. Despite his ultimate victory, Carlsen was not able to beat Karjakin in either of their two matches, which ended in stalemate, both the one that was played during the first round, in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, and the return match in Bilbao.

Among the list of tournament winners, number 1 of the ranking and reigning world champion, Carlsen, has two txapelas, obtained in 2011 and 2012, the same number as those won (in 2009 and 2013) by the twice Olympic champion, the Armenian Lévon Aronian. Last year’s winner, the American Wesley So is among those with one txapela, along with the Bulgarian Veselin Topálov (in 2008) the Russian Vladimir Kramnik (in 2010) and the Indian Viswanathan Anand (in 2014), the last two both former world champions.

Alongside So, Karjakin and Carlsen, who starts the tournament as the clear favourite, the American Hikaru Nakamura, the Dutch Anish Giri and the Chinese teenager Yi Wei will also fight to form part of the Bilbao chess Olympus. The latter, though still far from the most select elite, is considered by highly renowned chess specialists as the strongest candidate in the near future to dispute and even seize the world title from Magnus Carlsen, who, in turn, endeavours to become the best chess player in history.

The Masters Final and the “Villa de Bilbao” Open, as part of Bilbao Chess 2016, run simultaneously thanks to two successful experiences in 2014 and 2015, when the Bilbao Grand Slam Masters Final was hosted alongside the European Club Cup, which brought together 400 players from around thirty countries, and the Iberoamerican Individual Chess Championship, which last year featured 120 chess players from 23 Latin American federations.

For further information: Isabel Amatria (655740911) and Gerardo Fernández Llana (615757219)

press@bilbaochess2016.com

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 12th July, 2016, 12:19 AM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 12, 2016

Peter Doggers gives a preview of the tournament, which starts Wednesday.

https://www.chess.com/news/bilbao-pr...eone-else-5820

From that a few nuggets:

- Carlsen spent last weekend in Paris where he attended the Euro 2016 final won by Portugal over France. Two of his favorite players played a major role at the start since Dimitri Payet was the one responsible for Cristiano Ronaldo's injury!
Carlsen is both the top seed and a slight favorite in Bilbao.

Carlsen is coming to Bilbao after having won his last two events: the Leuven Grand Chess Tour and his Grandmaster Blitz Battle with Tigran Petrosian on Chess.com.

- On paper, his closest rival is Hikaru Nakamura. The American — the oldest player in this group — had an up and down month of June which started with that tremendous success in Paris. However, he couldn't manage a good follow-up in Leuven. Which Nakamura will we get to see, and will he finally manage to beat Carlsen in a classical game?

- Only five Elo points below -- and one place in the rankings behind -- Nakamura is Anish Giri. The Dutchman, who lost to So in the Bilbao playoff last year, took this tournament seriously. Last week, he spent some time in the well-known Dutch sports center Papendal, a training location for elite athletes, with his team, which consists of his wife Sopiko Guramishvili, Erwin l'Ami and Santosh Gujrathi Vidit.

- Sergey Karjakin. The Russian GM has stated that he won't be playing his main opening weapons this summer. Perhaps the chess fans can already started guessing which openings he will play from his games!

Karjakin's last tournament was the Eurasian Blitz Cup, where he finished on a respectable fifth place behind Farrukh Amonatov (the surprising winner), Ian Nepomniachtchi, Baadur Jobava, and Vladislav Artemiev.

Wei Yi and Wesley So round out the roster.

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 13th July, 2016, 12:08 AM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 12, 2016

The pairings for the tournament are now available.

There will be two Carlsen games with his challenger Sergey Karjakin, two with his eventual challenger Wei Yi, two each with Nakamura and Giri, who are nipping at his heels.

One hopes that all players are in form for this tournament. It has the potential to be one of the greatest of all time.

Round 1, July 13, 2016

Karjakin-So
Giri-Wei
Carlsen-Nakamura

Round 2, July 14, 2016

So-Nakamura
Wei-Carlsen
Karjakin-Giri

Round 3, July 15, 2016

Giri-So
Carlsen-Karjakin
Nakamura-Wei

Round 4, Jul 16, 2016

Carlsen-So
Nakamura-Giri
Wei-Karjakin

Round 5, July 17, 2016

So-Wei
Karjakin-Nakamura
Giri-Carlsen

Round 6, July 19, 2016

So-Karjakin
Wei-Giri
Nakamura-Carlsen

Round 7, July 20, 2016

Nakamura-So
Carlsen-Wei
Giri-Karjakin

Round 8, July 21, 2016

So-Giri
Karjakin-Carlsen
Wei-Nakamura

Round 9, July 22, 2016

Wei-So
Nakamura-Karjakin
Carlsen-Giri

Round 10, July 23, 2016

So-Carlsen
Giri-Nakamura
Karjakin-Wei

On the rest day (Monday the 18th), the six grandmasters will employ a giant board with human pieces to dispute the spectacular and unprecedented 1st Europe vs Rest of the World Masters Team Final

Source:

http://bilbaochess2016.com/news/#iLightbox[gallery]/null

See also: http://www.bilbaochess2016.com

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 13th July, 2016, 01:45 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 13, 2016

Round One

Hikaru Nakamura has beaten Magnus Carlsen for the first time in classical chess. I think until today it was 12 wins, 0 losses and 18 draws in Magnus’s favor.

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 1, July 13, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Nakamura, Hikaru
B23 Sicilian, Closed (3.Nge2)

1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 d6 3.Nbc3 a6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.O-O O-O 9.b3 Nc6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bb2 Qa5 12.Na4 Bg4 13.Qe1 Qh5 14.f3 Bh3 15.g4 Qh6 16.Rd1 g5 17.Bc1 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qg6 19.h4 gxh4 20.Qxh4 d5 21.g5 dxe4 22.f4 e6 23.c4 Rfd8 24.Rde1 Ne8 25.Nc5 Nd6 26.Qf2 f5 27.Bb2 Nf7 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Qg3 Rd6 30.Rd1 Rad8 31.Rxd6 Rxd6 32.Qc3+ Kg8 33.Rf2 Qh5 34.Qh3 Qd1 35.Qe3 e5 36.Qg3 Rg6 37.Kh2 exf4 38.Qxf4 Qh5+ 39.Kg1 Qd1+ 40.Kh2 Qh5+ 41.Kg1 Nxg5 42.Qb8+ Kg7 43.Qe5+ Kh6 44.Qf4 Qd1+ 45.Kh2 Qd4 46.b4 Kg7 47.Qc7+ Kh8 48.Qc8+ Rg8 49.Qxf5 Nf3+ 50.Kh3 Qd6 0-1

- So NAKA punished Magnus by playing funky move 2.Ne2

- Naka will beat Carlsen & Karjakin and have a tough time watching WCC.

- that would be the first Naka victory over Carlsen in classical?

- yes

- Still don't think he's as close as he was in Zurich.

- Naka is so scared, taking so much time to play the obviously winning Qd1

- I never would have thought Nakamura could win with black against carlsen

And a last comment from a kibitzer, who thinks now that Naka has beat Carlsen, all sorts of amazing things can happen:

- tomorrow Clinton will hand the nomination to Sanders, the Pope will convert to Lutheranism, and Putin and Erdoğan will kiss

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 13th July, 2016, 03:13 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 13, 2016

Round One

Jan Gustafsson and Niclas Huschenbeth are working both this tournament and Dortmund 2016 on chess24.com

I have been trying to think of other famous 6-man tournaments in chess history. New York 1927 is the first to come to mind. Capablanca won ahead of Alekhine, Nimzowitsch, Vidmar, Spielmann and Marshall.

Except for Bilbao, and the Zurich Chess Challenges, I cannot think of another.

Jan and Niclas are a great team but you cannot see the tournament hall live except by going to the official site. I cannot say whether the commentators are speaking Spanish or Basque.

Jan thinks that Nakamura will beat Carlsen from the position after 25 moves. Niclas cautions with “remember Zurich”, when Nakamura missed a win against Carlsen in a game dubbed “Swiss Miss” at Zurich 2014.

Nakamura plays carefully and finally Carlsen resigns.

Mark Crowther in theweekinchess says:

The 9th Bilbao Masters Final started with a huge shock as World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen went down to a loss against Hikaru Nakamura, previously Carlsen had won 12 and drawn 18 classical time control games against his rival.

Carlsen said he had a "very nice positional advantage from the start" before choosing the "wrong plan" indeed his position went downhill very fast after 19.h4. Carlsen said he missed 22...e6 (the only good move in the position for black) and he couldn't find a way to resist, after 26...Qf2 Carlsen tried for complications but Nakamura took his time and after 35...e5 there was no more hope for Carlsen.

Nakamura played down the importance of the win but he obviously must be delighted to get off the mark vs Carlsen.

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 1, July 13, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Nakamura, Hikaru
B23 Sicilian, Closed

1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 d6 3.Nbc3 a6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.O-O O-O 9.b3 Nc6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bb2 Qa5 12.Na4 Bg4 13.Qe1 Qh5 14.f3 Bh3 15.g4 Qh6 16.Rd1 g5 17.Bc1 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qg6 19.h4 gxh4 20.Qxh4 d5 21.g5 dxe4 22.f4 e6 23.c4 Rfd8 24.Rde1 Ne8 25.Nc5 Nd6 26.Qf2 f5 27.Bb2 Nf7 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Qg3 Rd6 30.Rd1 Rad8 31.Rxd6 Rxd6 32.Qc3+ Kg8 33.Rf2 Qh5 34.Qh3 Qd1 35.Qe3 e5 36.Qg3 Rg6 37.Kh2 exf4 38.Qxf4 Qh5+ 39.Kg1 Qd1+ 40.Kh2 Qh5+ 41.Kg1 Nxg5 42.Qb8+ Kg7 43.Qe5+ Kh6 44.Qf4 Qd1+ 45.Kh2 Qd4 46.b4 Kg7 47.Qc7+ Kh8 48.Qc8+ Rg8 49.Qxf5 Nf3+ 50.Kh3 Qd6 0-1

Round 1, July 13, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – So, Wesley
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Bd3 Ng6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nbd2 c6 12.Nf1 d5 13.Bg5 dxe4 14.Rxe4 h6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Re3 Bf5 17.Bxf5 Qxf5 18.Ng3 Qd7 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Rxe5 Rxe5 21.dxe5 Qe7 22.Qh5 g6 23.Qe2 Qg5 24.Kf1 Kf8 25.Re1 Re8 26.Qd3 Rxe5 27.Qd6+ Re7 28.Ne4 Qf5 29.Re2 Bc7 30.Qd4 Qe5 31.Qxa7 Qh2 32.Ng3 Bxg3 33.Rxe7 Qh1+ 34.Ke2 Kxe7 35.Qe3+ Kf6 36.Qxg3 Qb1 37.Qf4+ Kg7 38.Qd4+ Kg8 39.Qb4 Qxa2 40.Qxb7 Qc4+ 41.Ke3 Qc5+ 42.Kf3 Qd5+ 43.Kg3 Qg5+ 44.Kh2 Qf4+ 45.Kg1 Qc1+ 46.Kh2 Qf4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 1, July 13, 2016
Giri, Anish – Wei Yi
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Re1 Ne7 10.Nf1 Ng6 11.Bb3 c6 12.h3 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 15.Kxf2 Nxe5 16.d4 Ng6 17.Kg1 Qh4 18.Bd2 Bd7 19.Qf3 Rae8 20.Ng3 Re6 21.Nh5 Rfe8 22.Rf1 Qe7 23.Qg3 Re2 24.Rae1 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Qh4 26.Rxe8+ Bxe8 27.Qxh4 Nxh4 28.c4 Ne7 29.Kf2 Nhf5 30.d5 Nd4 31.Ba2 cxd5 32.cxd5 Bxa4 33.Bc3 Bb3 34.d6 Nec6 35.Bxd4 Bxa2 36.Bxg7 Kh7 37.Bc3 Be6 38.Nf6+ Kg6 39.d7 a5 40.g4 b5 41.h4 b4 42.Be5 a4 43.h5+ Kg7 44.Ne4+ Kh7 45.Bd6 f5 46.Nc5 a3 47.bxa3 b3 48.Be5 Bxd7 49.Bc3 Bc8 50.Nxb3 fxg4 51.Kg3 Ne7 52.Nc5 Nf5+ 53.Kxg4 Nd4+ 54.Kh4 Nf5+ 55.Kh3 Ng7+ 56.Kh4 Nf5+ 57.Kh3 Ng7+ 1/2-1/2

This last game went on so long that Jan and Niclas were forced to talk about everything including the kitchen sink in order to fill airtime.
Topics included Niclas’s studies, his thoughts on healthful foods, the origin of the hamburger, gun control in the U.S., The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and enjoyable television series.

One of the latter is Dragon Ball, originally a 42-volume manga, which has developed into nineteen animated feature films and three television series.

Thank heavens that Giri and Wei Yi finally called it a day!

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 14th July, 2016, 03:29 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 14, 2016

Round Two

Today, Jan Gustafsson and Fiona Steil-Antoni are commentating. Fiona is Luxembourgeoise.

Tongue-in-cheek, Jan says, “Wei Yi is 17 years old and not 2700. Washed up in my opinion.”

An online kibitzer replies: Jan was 3000 at age 3!

With lots of airtime to fill, they talk about Pokemon Go. This is all the rage at the moment – a location-based reality mobile game that allows players to capture, battle and train magic animals that appear throughout the real world. Jan isn’t interested until it appears that contrary to public statements by the company, it is available in Germany.

Near the end they run out of material and ask the audience for questions. Always a big mistake to appear needy – six of the questions:

What is the meaning of chess24??? What does 24 indicate???

What is the over/under of where the Bulls will finish in the Eastern Conference, Jan?

How tall are you Fiona?

Have you ever had an existential chess crisis?

Who will win the 3:40 at Doncaster tomorrow?

Which GM would win in a knife fight? I choose Grischuk

Another question is about who is the highest rated player pound for pound. Nakmura himself joins the chat at his computer and says: Best pound for pound player is probably Xiong right now...very small, very light 2650ish.
_________

So-Nakamura is a draw by repetition. You cannot offer a draw in this tournament except through the arbiter.

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 2, July 14, 2016
So, Wesley – Nakamura, Hikaru
E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Nf3 dxc4 8.Qxc4 b6 9.Bg5 Ba6 10.Qa4 Qd7 11.Qc2 c5 12.dxc5 Rc8 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Rd1 Qe7 15.Qe4 Qxc5 16.e3 Bxf1 17.Kxf1 Nc6 18.g3 Ne5 19.Kg2 Qc6 20.Qxc6 Rxc6 21.Nxe5 fxe5 22.Rd2 Rac8 23.Rhd1 Rc2 24.Kf3 Kg7 25.e4 a5 26.Ke3 R2c5 27.Rb1 a4 28.b3 axb3 29.Rxb3 Ra5 30.Rdd3 b5 31.Kd2 Rc4 32.f3 Rca4 33.Rdc3 Rd4+ 34.Ke3 Rxa3 35.Rxa3 b4 36.f4 bxa3 37.Rxa3 Rb4 38.fxe5 Rb5 39.Kf4 Rb2 40.h4 h6 41.g4 Rh2 42.h5 Rh1 43.Rf3 Rg1 44.Rf2 Rh1 45.Rf3 Rg1 46.Rf2 1/2-1/2

The game between Carlsen vs Yi is a highly theoretical mind boggling variation of the Modern Defence, which is deeply analyse by several elite GM's !!! Not recommended to amateur chessplayers !!! Below 2400 chess rating !!!

Round 2, July 14, 2016
Wei Yi – Carlsen, Magnus
B07 Pirc-Robatsch

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.f4 b5 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.e5 Bb7 8.Bd3 c5 9.Be4 Bxe4 10.Nxe4 Nh6 11.dxc5 dxe5 12.c6 Nf6 13.Qxd8+ Rxd8 14.Nxf6+ exf6 15.c7 Rc8 16.Bb6 Kd7 17.Ba5 Nf5 18.O-O-O+ Kc6 19.Rd8 Nd6 20.fxe5 fxe5 21.Rd1 Nc4 22.Bc3 Rxc7 23.b3 Ne3 24.Ng1 Bf8 25.Nf3 Bg7 26.Rh1 Nf5 27.Ba5 Nd6 28.Rd1 Nc4 29.Bc3 Ne3 30.Bxe5 Nxd1 31.Rd6+ Kb7 32.Bxg7 Rg8 33.Bd4 Nc3 34.Rb6+ Kc8 35.Be5 Rd8 36.Kb2 Nd5 37.Bxc7 Kxc7 38.Rxa6 Kb7 39.Ra3 Ne3 40.c4 bxc4 41.Ne5 Rd2+ 42.Kc3 Rc2+ 43.Kd4 Nf5+ 44.Kd5 c3 45.Kc5 Nd6 46.Nc6 Ne4+ 47.Kb5 Kc7 48.Ra7+ Kd6 49.Ra4 f5 50.Kb6 Rxg2 51.Rd4+ Ke6 52.a4 Ra2 53.a5 Rb2 54.Kc7 Nc5 55.Rc4 Na6+ 56.Kb6 Rxb3+ 57.Kxa6 Kd5 58.Rb4 c2 59.Ne7+ Kc5 60.Rxb3 c1=Q 61.Rb6 Qc4+ 62.Kb7 Qe4+ 63.Nc6 Qd5 64.Kc7 Qd6+ 65.Kb7 Qd7+ 66.Kb8 f4 1-0

In classical games, Karjakin has beaten Giri 4 to 1 with 7 draws until today.

Evidently the pgn transmission was mixed up. There was talk of Sergey missing a mate in two but the pgn was reset after a while and now it appears that potential mate never happened. See note just below.

Later: (Tim Harding) - Now it seems they have fixed the Karjakin-Giri PGN. Black's 25th was Bd6 not Bxe4?? No mate was missed but there may have been mistakes on both sides. They are now in an ending with R,N+4 v 2Rs+3 with engines saying roughly equal.

Round 2, July 14, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Giri, Anish
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.a4 a6 9.a5 b5 10.axb6 Nxb6 11.Bb3 Bg4 12.Qe2 Kh8 13.Be3 Bd6 14.h3 Bh5 15.g4 Bg6 16.Nbd2 Be7 17.Ne4 f5 18.gxf5 Bxf5 19.Kh2 Qe8 20.Nfd2 Qd7 21.Rg1 Bxh3 22.Qh5 Bf5 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.Rg1+ Kh8 25.Qh6 Bd6 26.Bxb6 Bxe4 27.Nxe4 cxb6 28.Rg6 Na5 29.Rxd6 Qg7 30.Qxg7+ Kxg7 31.Rd7+ Kh8 32.Be6 h6 33.b4 Nc6 34.Bd5 Rac8 35.Rb7 b5 36.Kh3 Rf4 37.Kg2 Rg4+ 38.Kf1 Rg7 39.Rb6 Ne7 40.Rxh6+ Rh7 41.Rd6 Nxd5 42.Rxd5 Re7 43.Rd6 Ra8 44.Kg2 Rf7 45.Kf1 Re7 46.Ke2 a5 47.bxa5 Rxa5 48.Rb6 Rc7 49.Ke3 Kg8 50.Re6 b4 51.cxb4 Rb5 52.Nc5 Ra7 53.Rxe5 Rxb4 54.Ne4 Kf7 55.f4 Ra1 56.f5 Re1+ 57.Kd2 Rf1 58.Nd6+ Kf8 59.Re8+ Kg7 60.Re6 Rbf4 61.f6+ Kg6 62.f7+ Kg7 63.Re8 Rf6 64.Rg8+ Kh7 65.Rd8 Kg7 66.Ke2 R6f2+ 67.Ke3 Rxf7 68.Nxf7 Kxf7 69.Rd4 Ke6 70.Rf4 Rxf4 71.Kxf4 Kd5 72.Ke3 Ke5 73.d4+ Kd5 74.Kd3 Kd6 75.Kc4 Kc6 76.d5+ Kd6 77.Kd4 Kd7 78.Ke5 Ke7 79.d6+ Kd7 80.Kd5 Kd8 81.Ke6 Ke8 82.d7+ Kd8 1/2-1/2

Standings After Round Two

1. Nakamura 4.0
2. Carlsen 3.0
3. So 2.0
4. Karjakin 2.0
5. Giri 2.0
6. Wei Yi 1.0

**Hans Jung** · Friday, 15th July, 2016, 11:56 AM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Congratulations to Hikaru (of course for finally beating Magnus and nicely done) and for his wit (mainly the Xiong comment re pound for pound the best chess player)! Love it!

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 15th July, 2016, 04:54 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 15, 2016

Round Three

(Andre Schulz in Chessbase) - If the encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin in the third round of the "Masters" in Bilbao is anything to go by Karjakin will not have an easy time in the World Championship match against Carlsen in November. But maybe this was only a final rehearsal that went wrong. At any rate, their game was a rather one-sided affair in which Carlsen smashed Karjakin in a smooth attack. With this victory Carlsen took the sole lead in the tournament.

Before the encounter between Carlsen and Karjakin in Round Three, tension ran high - after all the tournament in Bilbao is the last time Carlsen and Karjakin meet before their World Championship match in November. But the game itself was pretty one-sided. After a quiet opening in the middlegame the World Champion went straight for Karjakin's kingside which he destroyed with systematic and strong play that led to a devastating attack and a smooth victory for Carlsen.

The games:

Bilbao Masters
Round 3, July 15, 2016
Giri, Anish – So, Wesley
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Re1 a6 7.a4 Ng4 8.Rf1 h6 9.c3 d6 10.Nbd2 Ba7 11.h3 Nf6 12.Re1 Nh5 13.Nf1 Qf6 14.Ne3 Nf4 15.Ng4 Qg6 16.Bxf4 exf4 17.d4 Bxg4 18.hxg4 Qxg4 19.Qd3 Ne7 20.Re2 Rad8 21.b4 Bb8 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 c6 24.Rb1 d5 25.Ba2 dxe4 26.Rxe4 Bd6 27.bxc6 bxc6 28.Rxe7 Bxe7 29.Ne5 Qg5 30.Qc4 Qf6 31.Rb7 c5 32.Nd7 Rxd7 33.Rxd7 cxd4 34.Rxd4 Rd8 35.Rxd8+ Bxd8 36.Qe4 Be7 37.Qd4 Qxd4 38.cxd4 Bf6 39.d5 Be7 40.f3 Bc5+ 41.Kf1 Kf8 42.Bc4 Ke7 43.Bb5 Kd6 44.Be8 f6 45.Bf7 Ke5 46.Be6 f5 47.Bd7 Kf6 48.Ke2 g6 49.Be8 g5 50.Bd7 Bb6 51.Kf1 Ba7 52.Ke2 Bc5 53.Kf1 h5 54.Be8 h4 55.Bd7 Ke5 56.Ke2 1/2-1/2

Round 3, July 15, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Wei, Yi
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.O-O b6 13.Rfe1 Bb7 14.a4 Rc8 15.Bd3 a5 16.Bb5 h6 17.Qb2 Bc6 18.Rad1 Bxb5 19.Qxb5 Qc7 20.d5 exd5 21.exd5 Qd6 22.Nd4 Rc5 23.Qf1 Rxd5 24.Nf5 Rxd1 25.Nxd6 Rxd6 26.Rd1 Rxd1 27.Qxd1 Nc5 28.h4 Re8 29.h5 Re6 30.f4 Kh7 31.Qd5 Rf6 32.Qe5 Re6 33.Qd5 Rf6 34.Qe5 Re6 35.Qd5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, July 15, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Karjakin, Sergey
B50 Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 g6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Bb5+ Nc6 7.d4 Qb6 8.Ba4 cxd4 9.cxd4 O-O 10.d5 Nb8 11.Nc3 Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nbd7 14.Rb1 Rfc8 15.Bc2 Ne5 16.Qe2 Nfd7 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bh4 g5 19.Bg3 Qa6 20.Qd1 Rc4 21.Kh1 Rac8 22.f4 gxf4 23.Bxf4 Qb6 24.Qh5 Nf6 25.Qf5 Qd8 26.Bb3 Rd4 27.Bxe5 dxe5 28.Rbd1 Qd7 29.Qf3 Rb4 30.Rd2 Rf8 31.g4 a5 32.Rg2 Nh7 33.h4 Rb6 34.g5 Kh8 35.Rfg1 f5 36.Qh3 Rb4 37.gxh6 Bxh6 38.Qg3 Nf6 39.Qg6 Ng4 40.Rxg4 1-0

(Tarjei Stevenson) - Carlsen now undefeated with +3 =7 -0 in the last 10 games vs Karjakin. Last loss in January 2012

Ranking After Round Three

1. Carlsen 6.0
2. Nakamura 5.0
3. So 3.0
4. Giri 3.0
5. Wei Yi 2.0
6. Karjakin 2.0
_______

- With the normal scoring system Carlsen would have tied for first place Nakamura, but with three points for a win he is now one point ahead. The fourth round on Saturday will see the games Carlsen-So, Nakamura-Giri, and Wei-Karjakin.

- after 4 months of inactivity - karjakin's got 4 months to "play the rust off"
• wei looks right comfortable in the company of nobility
• nice game from Carlsen

- Giri is the most boring player ever. Just retire already.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 17th July, 2016, 01:19 AM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 16, 2016

Round Four

Carlsen lost to Nakamura and then in succession beat Wei Yi, Karjakin and So.

(Peter Doggers at chess.com) - “I still missed many things but they mostly remained on the surface, ” Magnus Carlsen commented about yesterday's game. He won, but it wasn't perfect. The win against Wei Yi wasn't flawless either, but how he defeated Wesley So bears the utmost scrutiny by the self-critical world champion.

Carlsen's play is getting better by the day, as he said himself in an interview with Norwegian reported Tarjei Svensen, and combined with his clear lead in the standings, the Basque future is looking bright for the Norwegian. A cynic might say the game was so short that Carlsen didn't have time to make mistakes, but there's a bit of truth in it as well: So hardly got out of the opening before he was already in big trouble.

Wesley So had to resign after 26 moves. In a 4. d3 Berlin, the U. S. number three chose the wrong square for his queen on move 13. He then had to correct the mistake, but the loss of tempo was fatal. His king had to remain in the center, and as soon as the game was opened up, Black was dead lost. This was the smoothest of victories for Carlsen so far.

The games:

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 4, July 16, 2016
Wei Yi – Karjakin, Sergey
E00 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Nd2 c5 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 cxd4 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.O-O Bxf3 10.exf3 Nc6 11.f4 O-O 12.b4 Rc8 13.Bb2 d6 14.Bxc6 Rxc6 15.Qxd4 Qc7 16.Rfc1 Rc8 17.b5 Rc5 18.a4 Ne8 19.Qe3 Qb7 20.Qd3 Qc7 21.Qe3 Qb7 22.Qd3 Qc7 23.Qe3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, July 16, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – So, Wesley
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Qe2 Qe7 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.a3 Nd7 10.b4 Bd6 11.Nc4 f6 12.Ne3 a5 13.Nf5 Qf8 14.bxa5 Rxa5 15.O-O Qf7 16.a4 Nc5 17.Qe1 b6 18.Nd2 Rxa4 19.Nc4 Bf8 20.Be3 Kd7 21.Qc3 Nxe4 22.Nxb6+ cxb6 23.dxe4 Qc4 24.Qd2+ Kc7 25.g4 Bg6 26.Rfd1 1-0

Round 4, July 16, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Giri, Anish
D46 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.a3 a5 12.e4 e5 13.Rd1 Qc7 14.g3 Rfe8 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Bg5 Nxf3+ 17.Bxf3 Be5 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Bg4 Rad8 20.Bf5 Bc8 21.Bxc8 Qxc8 22.Ne2 a4 23.f4 Bb8 24.Kg2 Ba7 25.h3 h5 26.f5 Qc7 27.h4 Qe5 28.Kf3 Rd5 29.Nf4 Rc5 30.Qe2 Rc4 31.Re1 Rd4 32.Nxh5 Red8 33.Rad1 Rxd1 34.Rxd1 Rxd1 35.Qxd1 Bd4 36.Qc1 Kh7 37.Qxc6 Bxb2 38.Qb7 Qc3+ 39.Kg2 Qc4 40.Nf4 Be5 41.Ne6 Kh6 42.Qa8 Qe2+ 43.Kh3 Qf1+ 44.Kg4 Qd1+ 45.Kh3 Qh1+ 46.Kg4 Qd1+ 47.Kh3 Qh1+ 1/2-1/2

(Peter Doggers) - The game between Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri was last to finish, but it still only took 2 hours and 51 minutes. “It was a very difficult game,” said Nakamura. “Many games have a few critical moments, but in this one everything was critical after move 18 or so.”
It started as a Semi-Slav which looked a bit like a game Aronian-Shirov from 2010, played in the same tournament (though in Shanghai). In today's encounter Black allowed a doubled f-pawn in front of his king, in return for a strong bishop and nicely centralized pieces. Black's activity even allowed Giri to give up his h-pawn, and after the rooks were traded, a perpetual was almost inevitable.
________

Standings after Round Four

1. Carlsen 9
2. Nakamura 6
3. Giri 4
4. Wei Yi 3
5. So 3
6. Karjakin 3

Round Five Pairings

So-Wei Yi
Karjakin-Nakamura
Giri-Carlsen
_________

- Carlsen's three wins here in Bilbao have been magnificent - showing the grand scale of his talent. Supremacy in tactical execution, positional understanding and immaculate endgame performance, adding a strong will to fight for victory - what more can you expect from a true world champion?

- Carlsen's whole opening was computer preparation. The idea of giving up the bishop, at least without being provoked, was unheard of before computers.

- Today's win by Carlsen proves again what I have been saying for several years: "Carlsen is the only top elite chess player who do not play with computers and understands that human players feel the pressure of time and of complex unknown positions and sooner or later they choose the wrong plan or blunder when they are in zeitnot".

Also, Carlsen is the only top elite chess player whose chess strength comes from actually understand the chess principles and actually knows how to play chess, he has the best chess skills. All of the other top elite chess players play chess by memory, that is why their results vary so much from tournament to tournament, their strength depends deeply on their learning by memory many opening lines resulting in middlegames they understand how to play and how to reach better endings. And this is why Carlsen do not worry about perfect opening play, he looks for complex middlegames where his better understanding of chess and better calculation skills helps him to turn around positions that look equal into better endings for him to try to win.

Many times I have seen comments by Giri, Karjakin, Caruana, etc.. where they say they could not remember how to play certain position and they lost the game or can not find the correct plan to win the game.

Karjakin, who followed a recent game by his compatriot Evgeny Tomashevsky, said: “In the opening I tried to play a very principled line. I didn't remember it exactly, but I did remember that Black was fine.”

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 17th July, 2016, 02:51 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 17, 2016

Round Five

Niclas Huschenbeth and Fiona Steil-Antoni are commentating this weekend on both Dortmund and Bilbao.

Karjakin-Nakamura is a fairly quick draw. The interest in the other games is mainly in Giri-Carlsen. They have played 14 classical games together with 13 drawn and Giri winning the other. But Carlsen is red-hot in this tournament – could this be the day when Magnus finally beats Anish?

On-line comments

- Carlsen will beat Giri some day. "Some day" will never come. Trust me.

- If anyone can squeeze something out of this position, it's definitely Carlsen. But Giri is not going to make it easy at all.

- he wants to beat the author of "After Magnus"

And there is a discussion in the chat box as to whether it is harder to become a Ph.D. or a grandmaster.

- 100 days, 10 hours a day practice, and you are GM

- what demands more time, PhD or GM title?

- Depends on PhD subject

- PhD is a lot more work than GM trust me

- there are more PhDs than GMs. GM title is harder

- Has any GM got a PhD as well?

- GM Rowson has at least 2 PhD's (I think 3)

- Nunn (Ph.D math)

- 5 years 400 hours per year I got a black belt...

- I was calculating...10,000 hours to be a GM means 2 hours each day, 6 days per week, every week, for 17 years!!!

- E. Lasker also had a math PhD

- See: https://www.chess.com/blog/billwall/...laying-doctors

Here Bill Wall says, “There have been about 30 people with a PhD or medical degree (M.D.) and were also a chess grandmaster.”

Some notable names on the list: Alexander Alekhine, Gedeon Barcza, Friedrich Baumbach, Jana Miles Bellin, Hans Berliner, Ossip Bernstein, Feodor Bogatirchuk, Mikhail Botvinnik, Donald Byrne, Reuben Fine and Jon Speelman.

- I'm close to finishing my PhD. I have no doubt that a chess GM could get a PhD without any difficulty if they are motivated to do it
_______

There are lots of chat comments on Giri-Carlsen. I like this one about the quality of the chatters:

- Who needs the broadcast when the finest chess minds are right here in the chat?

Mostly the comments are about Giri holding the draw against Carlsen. I am told that “hold the door” is from The Game of Thrones, which I have never seen.

- Giri is probably the best defender in the world but it will be hard to draw this one.

- if giri didn’t find draw, draw will find giri

- When Giri played 20. g3, he could not have imagined such torture by Carlsen.

- Giri plays all the engine's move! It's very impressive!

- Bravo Anish!!! Bravo. Hold that damn door!

- Giri’s name should be in the hall of fame in history of art. He's drawing skill is so brilliant

- The Art of Holding the Door - Anish Giri!
_______

Finally, a draw in the Giri-Carlsen game. They discuss the game with six officials ranged behind them. I understand that tomorrow is the first anniversary of Giri’s marriage and also a free day. All the best to him and Sopiko.

You probably remember the wedding announcement in chess24:

On Saturday July 18th, Mtskheta, Georgia was the setting for a fairytale wedding between the world no. 6, Anish Giri, and our chess24 star Sopiko "Miss Tactics" Guramishvili.

During the banquet there were all kinds of speeches, with best wishes for the newlyweds, jokes and numerous simultaneous translations. There were also several enjoyable dances - of a very high level!

One surprise was a nice video with congratulations from all over the world from some chess players of the very highest calibre! Highlights included greetings from World Champion Magnus Carlsen, the Muzychuk sisters, the Polgar sisters and, of course, the chess24 crew and Sopiko's "chess sister" Anna "Miss Strategy" Rudolf.

A fun party followed with good electronic music, so all that's left to add is... long live the newlyweds!

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

The games:

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 5, July 17, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings Variation, Main Line

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 10.Rd1 Re8 11.Nd2 e5 12.Bg5 Nd4 13.Qa4 Qxa4 14.Nxa4 Nc2+ 15.Ke2 Nd4+ 16.Ke1 Nc2+ 17.Ke2 Nd4+ 18.Ke1 Nc2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 5, July 17, 2016
So, Wesley – Wei Yi
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Nc6 7.Bf4 Be7 8.Qd2 Be6 9.O-O-O Qd7 10.h3 Bf6 11.g4 h6 12.Bg2 O-O-O 13.b3 Rde8 14.Rhe1 Kb8 15.Be3 a6 16.Ng1 g5 17.Ne2 h5 18.f3 Qe7 19.Ng3 d5 20.Kb2 Rd8 21.Ne2 Rhe8 22.Nd4 Nxd4 23.cxd4 Rg8 24.Bf1 Qd6 25.f4 hxg4 26.fxg5 Be7 27.hxg4 Bxg4 28.Be2 Bxe2 29.Rxe2 f6 30.gxf6 Bxf6 31.Bf4 Qd7 32.Rde1 Qg7 33.Kb1 Bg5 34.Bxg5 Qxg5 35.Qb4 Rg6 36.Re5 Qh4 37.Re8 Rd6 38.R1e7 Rxe8 39.Rxe8+ Rd8 40.Re6 b6 41.a4 a5 42.Qc3 Rg8 43.Ka2 Qh7 44.Qc6 Rd8 45.b4 axb4 46.a5 Qd7 47.axb6 Qxc6 48.Rxc6 cxb6 49.Rxb6+ Kc7 50.Rxb4 Rh8 51.Rb5 Kc6 52.Rc5+ Kd6 53.Kb3 Rh4 54.c3 Rh8 55.Kb4 Rb8+ 56.Rb5 Rc8 57.Rb6+ Kd7 58.Kb3 Ke7 59.Rh6 Kd7 60.Kb4 Rc4+ 61.Kb3 Rc8 62.Kc2 Rg8 63.Rh3 Kd6 64.Kd3 Rc8 65.Ke2 Kd7 66.Re3 Kd6 67.Kf3 Rf8+ 68.Kg4 Rg8+ 69.Kf5 Rf8+ 70.Kg4 Rg8+ 71.Kf4 Rf8+ 72.Kg4 Rg8+ 73.Kf4 Rb8 1/2-1/2

Round 5, July 17, 2016
Giri, Anish – Carlsen, Magnus
D22 QGA, Alekhine Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 a6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Bxc4 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.O-O Nf6 9.b3 Bd6 10.Bb2 O-O 11.Be2 Qe7 12.Rc1 Rad8 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.Bxh5 Ng6 15.Bxg6 hxg6 16.Qf3 c6 17.Rfd1 e5 18.dxe5 Bxe5 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.Rd1 b5 21.g3 Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1 c5 23.Qd3 Kh7 24.Nd1 Bxb2 25.Nxb2 Qe6 26.g4 Qc6 27.Qe2 Ne4 28.Qc2 Ng5 29.f4 Ne6 30.Qg2 Qd6 31.Qe2 Qd5 32.Qg2 Qd6 33.h4 Nc7 34.h5 gxh5 35.gxh5 Qe7 36.Qf3 Qd7 37.Nd1 Qd5 38.Qe2 Qf5 39.Nf2 Nd5 40.Kg2 c4 41.bxc4 bxc4 42.Kg3 c3 43.Qxa6 c2 44.Qd3 Ne7 45.Qc4 Qxh5 46.Qxc2+ Nf5+ 47.Kg2 Qg6+ 48.Kh2 Qg3+ 49.Kh1 g6 50.Qe2 Nxe3 51.Ne4 Qxf4 52.Qh2+ Qxh2+ 53.Kxh2 Nc4 54.Kg3 Kg7 55.a4 f5 56.Ng5 Kf6 57.Kh4 Na5 58.Nh7+ Kg7 59.Ng5 Nc6 60.Ne6+ Kf6 61.Ng5 Ke5 62.Nh3 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Five
1. Carlsen 10.0/15
2. Nakamura 7.0/15
3. Giri 5.0/15
4. Karjakin 4.0/15
5. So 4.0/15
6. Wei Yi 4.0/15

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 19th July, 2016, 01:55 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 19, 2016

Round Six

A long delay before the transmission starts today but finally we see Niclas and Jan presenting the games.

Today the premier game is Nakamura-Carlsen. Waiting for something to happen, they talk about a country with a fishing channel on television. Jan says that for some it could be relaxing just watching it. For his part, late at night when there is nothing else on, he likes to watch Die schönsten Bahnstrecken Deutschlands (The most beautiful railway lines in Germany). A camera is mounted on the front of the engine and the show consists entirely of the view of the tracks and scenery ahead. A viewer in the chat box says that that program went off the air in 2013.

That reminds me that Rogers Cable in Canada has three such channels – one showing an aquarium with tropical fish swimming around, a cottage channel showing sunsets on northern lakes and a fireplace channel with the fire crackling about the logs.

Another viewer says that marathon TV is quite popular there in Norway. He says nothing else about it, so I must assume that one follows a marathon throughout the whole 42 km. Maybe his marathon is television binge-watching. Who knows?
_________

In the transition to the endgame, the chess engine says that Giri is lost after 32.Ke6 and 33.c4. So, Giri has blundered. At the same time Nakamura and Carlsen agree to a draw in their game.

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 6, July 19, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Carlsen, Magnus
E06 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Qc2 c6 7.O-O b6 8.Rd1 Bb7 9.b3 Nbd7 10.Nc3 Rc8 11.e4 c5 12.dxc5 dxc4 13.b4 a5 14.a3 axb4 15.axb4 bxc5 16.b5 Qc7 17.Bf4 e5 18.Bg5 Nb6 19.Nd2 Rfd8 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.exd5 e4 23.Rab1 Rxd5 24.Nxc4 Rd4 25.Nxb6 Qxb6 26.Bxe4 Rxd1+ 27.Rxd1 Qxb5 28.Bxh7+ Kf8 29.Bf5 Rd8 30.Rxd8+ Bxd8 31.Qd3 Qxd3 32.Bxd3 Bf6 1/2-1/2

Round 6, July 19, 2016
Wei Yi – Giri, Anish
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 h5 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Bf4 Be6 12.Rad1+ Kc8 13.Ng5 Bxg5 14.Bxg5 b6 15.g4 hxg4 16.hxg4 Nh4 17.Bxh4 Rxh4 18.f3 Kb7 19.Kg2 Rah8 20.Rh1 Rxh1 21.Rxh1 Rxh1 22.Kxh1 c5 23.Kg2 Kc6 24.a4 a6 25.Kg3 b5 26.axb5+ axb5 27.f4 b4 28.Ne4 Ba2 29.Nd2 Kd5 30.c3 bxc3 31.bxc3 g5 32.Kf3 Ke6 33.c4 gxf4 34.Kxf4 f6 35.exf6 Kxf6 36.g5+ Kg6 37.Kg4 Kh7 38.g6+ Kg7 39.Kg5 c6 40.Kh5 Kg8 41.Kh6 1-0

[Note added later: The score above was reported on most sites but appears to be in error. This correction: There is a mistake in the Yi-Giri game. It should be 38.Kh5 Kg7 39.g6 c6 40.Kg5 Kg8 and the position has transposed.]

- Ke6 was the blunder

- Wei Yi killed the draw streak!

- Excellent endgame by Wei Yi, what a beast!

- Well played by Yi but incredible blunder by Giri allowing his bishop to be cut off like that

- “I hallucinated,” was how Anish Giri explained his big error (32...Ke6) today

Round 6, July 19, 2016
So, Wesley – Karjakin, Sergey
E46 Nimzo-Indian, Reshevsky Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nf4 Re8 9.Bd3 Bd6 10.O-O Bxf4 11.exf4 Nc6 12.Be3 Ne7 13.Qc2 g6 14.f3 h5 15.Qd2 Bf5 16.Be2 Qd7 17.Rfe1 Be6 18.Bf2 Nf5 19.Bd3 Nd6 20.Re5 c6 21.Rae1 Bf5 22.Bh4 Nh7 23.Be7 Bxd3 24.Bxd6 Bf5 25.Bb4 b6 26.a4 a5 27.Ba3 Re6 28.h3 Rae8 29.g4 Rxe5 30.fxe5 hxg4 31.hxg4 Bxg4 32.fxg4 Qxg4+ 33.Kf1 Ng5 34.Qg2 Qf5+ 35.Qf2 Nf3 36.Ke2 Nxe1 37.Qxf5 gxf5 38.Kxe1 f6 39.Bd6 Kf7 40.Ne2 fxe5 41.dxe5 Ke6 42.Kf2 Kd7 43.Nf4 Rg8 44.Ba3 Re8 45.Bd6 Rg8 46.Ba3 Re8 47.Bc5 1/2-1/2

It looks like Karjakin proposed the draw, not wishing to test So’s e6.

Winding down, the guys talk about the Pokemon Go phenomenon sweeping the world. Jan say that he was in Baden Baden on the weekend for a team simul and you would be amazed at the number of highly-rated grandmasters who were swapping stories about finding Pokemon in their respective cities. Jan says that is one bandwagon he is not getting on.

Canada had the app downloadable on Sunday and because you have to go to the actual site to play it, people were converging on the base of the CN Tower and the Royal Ontario Museum.
_______

Standings after Round Six

1. Carlsen 11/18
2. Nakamura 8/18
3. Wei Yi 7/18
4. Giri 5/18
5. Karjakin 5/18
6. So 5/18

Round Seven Pairings

Nakamura-So
Carlsen-Wei Yi
Giri-Karjakin

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 20th July, 2016, 02:46 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 20, 2016

Round Seven

The two games not involving Magnus, end in draws. Niclas and Jan have lots of time to talk about things during Carlsen-Wei Yi.

Describing Magnus, always probing his opponent, Jan makes up the poem:

You can never relax, against a T-Rex.

Actually, he says their arms are too small and they could not reach the sixth rank when they are playing you – they could only get to the first three ranks, which is a disadvantage.
Magnus has a large arm span, so he is not really a T-Rex. Those guys went around, angry all the time because of their short arms and finally died out.
Jan talks about raptors and Jurassic Park. His favorite dinosaur is the Iguanodon.

If you think talk about dinosaurs and chess is out of place here, you might be surprised to learn that there is an app called dinosaur chess, which teaches children to play the game.

Also, isn’t there a Pterodactyl Defense to the Queen’s Gambit (A42: 1. d4 d6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 c5 5. Nf3 Qa5)?

There is lots of praise for Wei Yi and his play in this tournament. At the time control, the position is balanced and it looks like Carlsen can make no progress.

Wei Yi, having passed the time control, spends a long time over his moves but plays accurately and finally the game is drawn.

Statement from the Chat Box for Debate: In a world without Carlsen, Nakamura would be Number One.
_________

The games:

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 7, July 20, 2016
Giri, Anish – Karjakin, Sergey
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.Bf4 b6 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Rc1 Bb7 12.Qb3 Rc8 13.Rxc8 Qxc8 14.Nc3 Nh5 15.Bg5 Bxg5 16.Nxg5 Qb8 17.e3 Nhf6 18.Bf1 Rc8 19.a4 h6 20.Nf3 Ne4 21.a5 Bc6 22.Ba6 bxa5 23.Qc2 Bb7 24.Rxa5 Bxa6 25.Rxa6 Rc7 26.Kg2 Qb4 27.Ra4 Qb7 28.Ra3 Nb6 29.Ne5 Nc4 30.Nxc4 Rxc4 31.Qe2 Nxc3 32.bxc3 Qe7 33.Qa2 Rc7 34.Ra5 g6 35.h4 h5 36.Qa3 Qxa3 37.Rxa3 a5 38.Rxa5 Rxc3 39.Ra8+ Kg7 40.Ra5 Kg8 41.Ra8+ Kg7 42.Ra5 Kg8 43.Ra8+ 1/2-1/2

Round 7, July 20, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – So, Wesley
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 b6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.b3 Ba6 11.a4 c5 12.Na3 Bb7 13.Qb2 Qc8 14.Rac1 Bc6 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.cxd5 exd5 17.Nh4 Re8 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.Bf4 Qb7 20.Nb5 Bxb5 21.axb5 Qxb5 22.Ne3 Rac8 23.Nxd5 Nxd5 24.Bxd5 Nb6 25.Bc4 Nxc4 26.Rxc4 Rcd8 27.Ra1 Re6 28.Be3 Rb8 29.Qc2 Qxb3 30.Qxb3 Rxb3 31.Rxa7 Re8 32.Rc7 Rb2 33.Bxc5 Bxc5 34.R7xc5 Rbxe2 35.Rc8 Re1+ 36.Kg2 g6 37.h4 Rxc8 38.Rxc8+ Kg7 39.Rc7 Rd1 40.Rc8 Re1 41.Rc7 Rd1 42.Rc8 1/2-1/2

Round 7, July 20, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Wei Yi
D76 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O Nf6 5.c4 O-O 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.d4 Nb6 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.d5 Na5 10.e4 c6 11.Bf4 Nac4 12.Qe2 cxd5 13.exd5 Bg4 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Nd6 16.Rfe1 Re8 17.Rac1 a6 18.b3 Rc8 19.Qd2 Nd7 20.Na4 Rxc1 21.Qxc1 Bd4 22.Qd2 Bg7 23.h4 h5 24.Nb2 Nb5 25.Re3 Nd4 26.Bg2 e5 27.dxe6 Nxe6 28.Nc4 Nxf4 29.Rxe8+ Qxe8 30.Qxf4 b5 31.Ne3 Qe5 32.Qxe5 Bxe5 33.b4 Bd6 34.Bb7 Nb8 35.Nd5 Kf8 36.Kg2 Ke8 37.f3 f5 38.Kf2 Kd7 39.Nf4 Kc7 40.Bd5 Bxf4 41.gxf4 Kd6 42.Bf7 Nc6 43.a3 Ne7 44.Ke1 Kd7 45.Kd1 Kd6 46.Kd2 Kd7 47.Kd3 Kd6 48.Kc2 Kd7 49.Kb3 Kd6 50.a4 Nc6 51.axb5 axb5 52.Kc3 Ne7 53.Kd2 Nd5 54.Bxg6 Nxb4 55.Bxh5 Nd5 56.Be8 Nxf4 57.Bxb5 Ke5 58.Bf1 Ng6 59.h5 Nh4 60.Ke2 Nxf3 1/2-1/2

- The current endgame position looks very similar to the legendary ending of Fischer vs Taimanov

- The only big difference is that Fischer is not on the board to convert this to a win

Standings after Round Seven

1. Carlsen 12/21
2. Nakamura 9/21
3. Wei Yi 8/21
4. Giri 6/21
5. Karjakin 6/21
6. So 6/21

Pairings for Round Eight

So-Giri
Karjakin-Carlsen
Wei Yi - Nakamura

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 21st July, 2016, 02:38 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 21, 2016

Round Eight

Gustafsson and Huschenbeth are commentating.

The tournament is becoming a bit of a draw-fest. There have been only five decisive games so far - Nakamura beating Carlsen in Round One, Carlsen beating Wei Yi, Karjakin and So in Rounds 2 to 4, respectively and Wei Yi winning against Giri in Round 6.

Tongue firmly in cheek, Jan bashes the whole field for a while. Then he and Niclas try to come up with a tournament roster with players who will fight all the way. They decided on Richard Rapport, Baadur Jobava, Alexander Grischuk, Ding Liren, the old Veselin Topalov (not the new), the new risk-taking Kramnik and, as an afterthought, Alexey Shirov. Jan pretends he is a sports announcer by calling himself Skip Bayless - longtime ESPN analyst.

- Jan do you watch first take, your bayless impression is spot on

- highlight of this round was skip bayless stopping by

Then the premier game, between Karjakin and Carlsen hots up when Sergey takes the pawn on b7 with his queen and Jan thinks the queen can be trapped. Carlsen doesn't see it, if in fact it's there, plays 14...Nb5 and 15.Nb5 axb5 and the game ends shortly after in a draw by repetition.

Wei Yi's game with Nakamura goes nowhere, and it too is a draw. Everyone goes out of their way to say that Wei Yi is not outclassed in this company.

Then the conversation switches to basketball and Kevin Durant and Lebron James. Jan is an expert on basketball and his favorite team is the Golden State Warriors. They switch back to the last game and one kibitzer writes:

- Basketball talk is worse than watching curling

Giri looks like he has a losing game against So.

- Giri looks ready to crash and burn here

While Anish is getting beaten, the guys talk about everything including the aggressiveness of the honey badger. It will take on animals twice its size and also will eat the honey from a hive with the bees stinging all about in mad fury.

One kibitzer writes:

- Jan's sense of humor keeps me laughing like a Marklar in my room lol

Having already written in this thread about dinosaurs, skip bayless, the fireplace channel, the NBA and honey badgers, perhaps I should not go on about Marklars. We must get back to our sheep.

Finally, Wesley takes the point off Anish.

Jan says there is a lot of negative comment online from Giri haters (usually about draws) but there is no one who works harder at the game than he does. He gets a bit worked up about it. The viewers appreciate his judgement:

- thanx guys great show and rant

- Epic rant from Jan, please highlight it and put on youtube

- jan going roid rage

- please no giri jokes tomorrow

- a day without giri jokes is a lost day

- Jan has made this show worth watching! Thank you Jan!
________

The games:

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 8, July 21, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey - Carlsen, Magnus
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 O-O 7.Qc2 Re8 8.Bd2 a6 9.a3 Bd6 10.h3 Bd7 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bd3 Na7 13.Qb3 c6 14.Qxb7 Nb5 15.Nxb5 axb5 16.Ne5 Rb8 17.Qa6 Ra8 18.Qb7 Rb8 19.Qa6 Ra8 1/2-1/2

Note added later: Peter Doggers in chess.com examined 15...cxb5 and this is his analysis:

15. Nxb5axb5?!

(Engines suggest the counter-intuitive 15... cxb5! and now the white queen is actually in danger.

The main point is that 16. Ne5? now fails to 16... Re7! (threatening 18...Be8 trapping the queen) 17. Nc6 Bxc6 18. Qxc6 Rc7 and with the pawn on a6, b5 is protected.)

(Another option is 15... cxb5 16. O-O when Black goes 16... Bc7! threatening 17...Bb6 and 18... Ra7. Now White will have to find the best way to give up its queen, e.g.
(not 16... Re7 17. Ba5 and here Black cannot take on a5 with check )
17. Ne5 Rb8 18. Qxa6 Re6 19. Qa7 Bb6 20. Qa6 Ra8 21. Qxa8 Qxa8 22. Nxd7 Nxd7 23. Bf5 Nf6 24. Bxe6 fxe6)

Round 8, July 21, 2016
Wei Yi - Nakamura, Hikaru
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Nc3 dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Qa4 c5 12.dxc5 Qxc5 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Rd1 Bd7 15.Qa3 Nd5 16.Bd4 a5 17.Rd2 Nb4 18.O-O Qb7 19.Na4 Bxa4 20.Qxa4 Rfc8 21.Rc1 f6 22.f3 Qa6 23.Bf2 Nd5 24.Rdc2 Nb4 25.Rd2 Nd5 26.Rdc2 Nb4 27.Rc3 h6 28.Kg2 Rab8 29.b3 cxb3 30.Rxc8+ Rxc8 31.Rxc8+ Qxc8 32.Qxb3 Kf7 33.Qa4 Qa6 34.Qd7+ Kg8 35.Qd2 Qc4 36.Qd8+ Kh7 37.Qxa5 Nxa2 38.Qd2 Nb4 39.Qb2 Nc6 40.Qb1+ Kg8 41.Qb7 Ne5 42.Qb8+ Kh7 43.Qb1+ Kg8 44.Qb8+ Kh7 45.Qb1+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

Round 8, July 21, 2016
So, Wesley - Giri, Anish
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Re1 Ng4 7.Re2 Kh8 8.h3 f5 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 fxe4 12.dxe4 d6 13.a3 Qe8 14.Qd3 Nd8 15.Rf2 Be6 16.Raf1 a6 17.Nd2 b5 18.Bxe6 Nxe6 19.Nd5 Nd7 20.Rxf8+ Ndxf8 21.c4 c6 22.Nc3 Qe7 23.b4 Nd7 24.Nb3 Nf6 25.Na5 Qc7 26.Rc1 Qd7 27.cxb5 axb5 28.a4 bxa4 29.Nxa4 Rf8 30.Nb6 Qf7 31.Nxc6 Ng5 32.Rf1 Qc7 33.Qb5 Ngxe4 34.Nd5 Qd7 35.Nxf6 gxf6 36.Qd5 Nc3 37.Qc4 Na4 38.b5 Nb6 39.Qd3 Rg8 40.e4 Qe6 41.Rd1 Nd7 42.Kh2 Nc5 43.Qxd6 Qxd6 44.Rxd6 Nxe4 45.Re6 Nc5 46.Rxf6 e4 47.Rf5 Nb7 48.Re5 Nd6 49.Nd4 Rb8 50.g4 Kg8 51.Kg3 Kf7 52.Nf5 Kf6 53.Kf4 Nxb5 54.g5+ Kg6 55.Re7 Rh8 56.Kg4 h5+ 57.Kf4 1-0

Standings after Round Eight

1. Carlsen 13/24
2. Nakamura 10/24
3. Wei Yi 9/24
4. So 9/24
5. Karjakin 7/24
6. Giri 6/24

Round Nine Pairings

Wei Yi-So
Nakamura-Karjakin
Carlsen-Giri

Girl can redeem himself against Carlsen tomorrow. What do you think?

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 22nd July, 2016, 02:18 PM

Re: Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

July 22, 2016

Round Nine

It looks after the first hour and a half like the three games will be drawn. To spice things up a bit, Jan comes back in as a brash, judgmental sports commentator, who is introduced as Radio Jan. He has on mirrored aviator sunglasses, a black leather jacket and a white T-shirt. He says that watching the games today, he hasn’t been as bored since he saw the movie Angela’s Ashes.

He takes Anish Giri to task for having once beaten Magnus and then resting on his laurels thereafter, never winning a super-tournament. Radio Jan says that Joel Lautier has a plus score against Garry Kasparov and do you hear from him lately? No.

This is the sort of thing that the late comedian Andy Kaufman used to do, to stir up his audiences.

Radio Jan disappears and commentator Jan is in his place. He discusses with Niclas his planned move to Berlin from Hamburg. He is preparing the move to Berlin to do graduate work.

Jan says, “What preparation? You are a student. Just pack two suitcases and go.”

Niclas says that he is getting rid of some of his chess books. He has just sold Kasparov’s series on Great Predecessors through his account with amazon.de.

A kibitzer in the chat room writes that he understands that Kasparov is planning a series called My Great Successors. Whether a joke or not, this is a first-class idea to extend his history of world champions. Of course, the first book would have Kramnik, Anand and Carlsen and it will be a long wait for the second volume!

Evidently the cost of living is less in Berlin than in Hamburg and there are more cultural attractions but Jan is an unapologetic Hamburger. He says that people in Hamburg don’t like people from Berlin. Berliners will compliment you to your face, then stab you in the back, whereas Hamburgers are more forthright and will simply just stab you in the back first!

Another kibitzer says that stirs up memories of the Kurfürstendamm. I remember the various Berlin landmarks when I was studying German long ago although I have never visited that city. The Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz, Unter den Linden and the Tiergarten Station on the S-Bahn.
________

Someone has said that Carlsen alone understands the scoring system at Bilbao, in that if you win a game and lose a game, you get three points. If you draw the two games, you get two points – so it is sometimes better to risk and lose than to draw.

The game Carlsen-Giri, which had looked like a draw starts to drift in Carlsen’s favour. With three moves to go Giri plays 37…Ra8. This allows Magnus to take the pawn on f5 because if Anish takes the knight he loses a rook.

- Hmm, Magnus winning. That means he has won the tournament, in effect

- well, finally Naka wins against Magnus and Magnus wins against Giri, Is this end of world??

- Giri drops to world no.11 if he loses this

- For those who say Giri is a nice guy please watch his press conferences sometime

- Giri is super entertaining in press conferences, and he often plays for wins imo

- Come on Giri resign, so we can do something else

Well, the game is in the books; Carlsen over Giri in 45 moves.
Jan sums up the day by saying that all throughout the tournament, Carlsen has been the one who supplied the excitement and now he has evened his score against Giri and won the tournament with a round to spare. Jan also says that the relentless Giri bashing on twitter is unseemly and congratulations to the trolls – Giri has lost.

The games start one hour earlier tomorrow.
________

The games:

Bilbao Masters 2016
Round 9, July 22, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Karjakin, Sergey
E10 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bf4 dxc4 6.e3 b5 7.Nxb5 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.a3 Nxc3 10.Qd2 Nd5 11.axb4 Nxf4 12.exf4 Bb7 13.Be2 O-O 14.O-O Nb6 15.Ne5 Qd6 16.Rfd1 Rfb8 17.Rac1 a6 18.h4 Bd5 19.h5 h6 20.Re1 Rb7 21.Nxc4 Nxc4 22.Bxc4 Bxc4 23.Rxc4 Rab8 24.Ra1 Rxb4 25.Rxb4 Qxb4 26.Qxb4 Rxb4 27.Rxa6 Rxd4 28.Ra8+ Kh7 29.g3 Rb4 30.Ra7 Rxb2 31.Rxc7 Kg8 32.Rc8+ Kh7 33.Rc7 Kg8 34.Rc8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

Round 9, July 22, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Giri, Anish
D00 Queen’s Pawn, Mason Variation

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Bf5 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 c6 6.Nd2 Nf6 7.Ngf3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.h3 Nbd7 10.a4 c5 11.a5 c4 12.Qe2 b5 13.axb6 axb6 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Nd7 16.Qg4 Re8 17.h4 f5 18.Qh3 Rxa1 19.Rxa1 c3 20.bxc3 Qc7 21.c4 Nxe5 22.Qg3 Bd6 23.cxd5 exd5 24.Nb3 Qxc2 25.Nd4 Qc8 26.h5 Qd7 27.Rb1 Bc7 28.f3 Qf7 29.Ra1 Bd6 30.Ra6 Qxh5 31.Rxb6 Nc4 32.Rxd6 Nxd6 33.Bxd6 Rxe3 34.Be5 Qg6 35.Qf4 Re1+ 36.Kf2 Ra1 37.Qd2 Ra8 38.Nxf5 Qe6 39.Qg5 g6 40.Nh6+ Kf8 41.Ng4 Ke8 42.Nf6+ Kf7 43.Nxh7 Ra4 44.Qd8 Ra2+ 45.Kg1 1-0

Note added later: Carlsen played 23.cxd5 instead of 23.c5! which is very strong, with the idea
23...bxc5 (forced) 24.Ra6!, and there's no good defense against 25.Rxd6. (Peter Doggers at chess.com)

Round 9, July 22, 2016
Wei Yi – So, Wesley
E06 Catalan, Open, Classical Line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Na3 Rd8 12.Qc2 Ba6 13.Nxc4 c5 14.dxc5 Qxc5 15.b3 Bxc4 16.Bb2 Rac8 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Rfc1 Qe5 19.bxc4 Rd4 20.Rab1 Rdxc4 21.Qxc4 Rxc4 22.Rxc4 Qxe2 23.Ra4 a6 24.Kg2 Qe5 25.Rd1 h5 26.Rd3 Qb5 27.Raa3 Qc6+ 28.Kg1 Qc1+ 29.Kg2 Qc6+ 30.Kg1 Qc1+ 31.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Nine

1. Carlsen 16/27
2. Nakamura 11/27
3. So 10/27
4. Wei Yi 10/27
5. Karjakin 8/27
6. Giri 6/27

Final Round Pairings

So-Carlsen
Giri-Nakamura
Karjakin-Wei Yi

Bilbao Masters 2016

Bilbao Masters 2016

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