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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
(SPECIAL SCORING IN EFFECT: 3 POINTS PER WIN; 1 POINT PER DRAW)
Grand Slam Chess Final Tournament
Veselin Topalov17(+4 -1 =5)[games]
Levon Aronian13(+3 -3 =4)[games]
Magnus Carlsen13(+3 -3 =4)[games]
Vasyl Ivanchuk12(+2 -2 =6)[games]
Teimour Radjabov10(+1 -2 =7)[games]
Viswanathan Anand8(+0 -2 =8)[games]

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Grand Slam Chess Final (2008)

The 1st Grand Slam Chess Final was held in Bilbao, Spain 2-13 September 2008. Negotiations between the organisers of major tournaments M-Tel Masters, Corus and Linares began in 2006, seeking to create a cycle of tournaments to raise the popularity of chess and attract increased sponsorship for major events. The Grand Slam Chess Association (GSCA) was established on 17 January 2007, and the first edition of the series for 2008 announced in May, with Bilbao confirmed as Masters Final hosts. The tournament used the Sofia Chess Rules, which forbids agreed draws before 30 moves, and the "Bilbao" scoring system of 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss (though for ratings purposes the traditional scoring is used). (1) A soundproofed and air-conditioned glass 'cube' was constructed to house the tournament, allowing spectators to watch closely the players inside. (2) Crosstable:

            01 02 03 04 05 06
1 Topalov   ** 11 ½0 ½1	½½ 1½  6½ 17
2 Carlsen   00 ** 11 ½0	1½ ½½  5  13
3 Aronian   ½1 00 ** 1½	½0 ½1  5  13
4 Ivanchuk  ½0 ½1 0½ **	½1 ½½  5  12
5 Radjabov  ½½ 0½ ½1 ½0	** ½½  4½ 10
6 Anand     0½ ½½ ½0 ½½	½½ **  4   8
Next edition: Grand Slam Chess Final (2009)

(1) Wikipedia article: Bilbao Chess Masters Final, (2) Wikipedia article: Bilbao Chess Masters Final#/media/File:Bilbao 2008 chess2.jpg

 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 30  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Aronian vs Carlsen 0-1512008Grand Slam Chess FinalA32 English, Symmetrical Variation
2. Radjabov vs Topalov ½-½492008Grand Slam Chess FinalC45 Scotch Game
3. Anand vs Ivanchuk ½-½582008Grand Slam Chess FinalC89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall
4. Ivanchuk vs Carlsen ½-½292008Grand Slam Chess FinalB78 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 10.castle long
5. Topalov vs Aronian ½-½372008Grand Slam Chess FinalD12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
6. Anand vs Radjabov ½-½342008Grand Slam Chess FinalB33 Sicilian
7. Aronian vs Anand ½-½422008Grand Slam Chess FinalD16 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
8. Radjabov vs Ivanchuk ½-½352008Grand Slam Chess FinalD20 Queen's Gambit Accepted
9. Carlsen vs Topalov 0-1562008Grand Slam Chess FinalD58 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) Syst
10. Topalov vs Anand 1-0252008Grand Slam Chess FinalE15 Queen's Indian
11. Carlsen vs Radjabov 1-0372008Grand Slam Chess FinalB78 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 10.castle long
12. Aronian vs Ivanchuk 1-0702008Grand Slam Chess FinalD27 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical
13. Ivanchuk vs Topalov ½-½442008Grand Slam Chess FinalE34 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Noa Variation
14. Anand vs Carlsen ½-½362008Grand Slam Chess FinalC63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense
15. Radjabov vs Aronian ½-½342008Grand Slam Chess FinalC45 Scotch Game
16. Topalov vs Radjabov ½-½732008Grand Slam Chess FinalE75 King's Indian, Averbakh, Main line
17. Carlsen vs Aronian 1-0362008Grand Slam Chess FinalD47 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
18. Ivanchuk vs Anand ½-½322008Grand Slam Chess FinalD18 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Dutch
19. Carlsen vs Ivanchuk 0-1322008Grand Slam Chess FinalD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
20. Radjabov vs Anand ½-½292008Grand Slam Chess FinalB46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation
21. Aronian vs Topalov 1-0582008Grand Slam Chess FinalE36 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
22. Topalov vs Carlsen 1-0482008Grand Slam Chess FinalB78 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 10.castle long
23. Anand vs Aronian 0-1752008Grand Slam Chess FinalC45 Scotch Game
24. Ivanchuk vs Radjabov 1-0492008Grand Slam Chess FinalB45 Sicilian, Taimanov
25. Anand vs Topalov ½-½412008Grand Slam Chess FinalB18 Caro-Kann, Classical
 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 30  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 106 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Aug-21-08  Inf: 1st !
Aug-21-08
Premium Chessgames Member		  keypusher: Oh, you wacky guy. When does this event start?
Aug-21-08
Premium Chessgames Member		  WannaBe: <keypusher> http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... and http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/e...
Aug-21-08  Jason Frost: Going to be the best tournament of the year

3-1-0 point system and

According to Live Rankings
World #1 Anand
#3 Carlsen
#4 Ivanchuk
#5 Topalov
#8 Radjabov
#9 Aronian

participating

Aug-21-08  you vs yourself: Cool! Line up looks pretty sick.
Aug-21-08  suenteus po 147: The line up is amazing! However, the scoring system is disappointing to say the least. I still don't understand why chess isn't good enough the way it is. Is everyone really so miserable with the traditional scoring system?
Aug-21-08  you vs yourself: Nothing wrong with an experiment. Let's see how this works. It's not like this will be a fixture in super tournaments, unless of course it becomes a huge success.
Aug-21-08  suenteus po 147: <you vs yourself> I agree, experimentation in of itself can actually be quite beneficial. However, this is what I would call a "high risk" evironment for such an experiement. This is the final tournament in the Grand Slam series! True, it's inaugural, but it's built upon traditional elite tournaments, such as Corus and Linares. Such an experiment might be better conducted in a place like Sofia (where they have already enjoyed some success with the "draw rules").
Aug-22-08  arsen387: This is the best line up I've ever seen. Today's the most attack-minded players in one tour. GREAT! Does the winner get any privilleges, like challenging WC or smth like that?
Aug-22-08  swordfish: Clearly, all six contestants are extremely strong, and all know how to attack and play exciting chess. The other thing is, they're all closely matched. If anything,I think the 3-1-0 format will be likely to detract from the quality of chess, as the players may feel pressured to pursue unsound plans they would normaly reject. Great lineup, poor format.
Aug-22-08  Voltaic: awesome tournament, it's very difficult to guess who's gonna prevail, one could say the experienced players have an edge in this sort of close competitions, but then again, Aronian, Magnus and Radja are incredible strong already.
Aug-22-08  dramas79: While I personally do not like the 3-1-0 system, with this list of participants, the tournaments should be explosive. The most "sedate" of the lot is Anand! I expecrt games like Carlsen-Anand at Corus this year.
Aug-22-08  Voltaic: in fact the line up is so strong that one could even call the winner the "Unofficial World Chess Champion" . it seems that after all the idea of a Grand Slam is good enough to gather at the end the very best players.
Aug-22-08  notyetagm: <suenteus po 147: The line up is amazing! However, the scoring system is disappointing to say the least. I still don't understand why chess isn't good enough the way it is. Is everyone really so miserable with the traditional scoring system?>

Yes, that 3-1-0 scoring system is insulting when you have fighters like Carlsen and Topalov in the lineup.

On the other hand you would need a 10-1-0 scoring system if Kramnik, Leko, and Svidler were playing. :-)

Aug-22-08  notyetagm: <swordfish: Clearly, all six contestants are extremely strong, and all know how to attack and play exciting chess. The other thing is, they're all closely matched. If anything,I think the 3-1-0 format will be likely to detract from the quality of chess, as the players may feel pressured to pursue unsound plans they would normaly reject. Great lineup, poor format.>

Agreed.

Aug-22-08  notyetagm: <arsen387: This is the best line up I've ever seen. Today's the most attack-minded players in one tour. GREAT! Does the winner get any privilleges, like challenging WC or smth like that?>

The winner is the Tournament World Champion.

I really fail to see why the Match World Championsip is more prestigious. You can win a match with a +1 score, whereas here you certainly will not win with a +1.

Aug-22-08  suenteus po 147: <notyetagm: I really fail to see why the Match World Championsip is more prestigious.> Maybe I'm just an old fogey when it comes to competition, but there is something inspiring and epic in the struggle between two individuals for victory. It's one of the reasons I like tennis so much, the clash of wills and styles, and then that final match is just two men (or women) on the turf and only one will walk away the champion. True, not every match is as swash-buckling as Zukertort-Steinitz, Botvinnik-Tal, and Fischer-Spassky. But almost every one is fascinating in its own right due to the clash of ideaologies, styles, and personalities over the board. And some really terrific chess can result. See the Smyslov-Botvinnik matches, or the Karpov-Kasparov matches for perfect examples of this. Tournaments provide a great deal more variety, to be sure (it can be taxing to watch an entire match where one game is a French Exchange and all the rest are QGDs), but even if the very best are participating it can dilute the feeling of anticipation and the context of the clash to know that each player faces numerous opponents instead of the one challenger (or champ) that stands between the GM and absolute victory. Just my opinion, and I grant it must be pretty old-fashioned.
Aug-22-08  jaybugg13: I highly doubt anyone will venture into lines which do not at least secure the draw. If anything I do think there is a good chance that all those positions which have play in them but are agreed draws will be pressed. Truly though this is exactly as Carlsen plays now, pressing in positions which other might just walk away from. At very least should we with hold judgement until we can see how this works out?
Aug-22-08  Voltaic: very probable both Topalov and Carlsen will go for complications of any kind, if it's going to result a sound strategy, is something very interesting to see. as for Anand, who knows if he's going to put all of his effort in this tournament, he has Bonn at the gates after all.
Aug-22-08  capybara: I don't like the sound of this 3-1-0 scoring system, I remember this being suggested some years ago by Michael Basman, but that system should not be used in a tournament involving the top players in the world. But this should be a good tournament. Anand,Carlsen,Ivanchuk and Aronian have all won tournaments this year.
Aug-22-08  visayanbraindoctor: My thoughts on this tournament are:

1. What a nice line-up of players!! (two exclamation points)

2. What kind of a scoring system is this? (one question mark)

3. If the main mover of this tournament is Danailov, is it an attempt by Danailov to strengthen his political power in the Chessworld?? (two question marks)

Aug-22-08  Voltaic: i think there's a big chance the 3d point be true, but nevertheless, objectively speaking, this Grand Slam idea isn't bad at all, it seems to give good opportunities to the best players, those who win tournaments and deserve to prove they're the best. maybe after all Mr. Danailov will leave a good valuable legacy to the chess world. now that's creepy... :)
Aug-22-08  vanytchouck: <The winner is the Tournament World Champion.

I really fail to see why the Match World Championsip is more prestigious. You can win a match with a +1 score, whereas here you certainly will not win with a +1.>

Yes but you can also win a tournament without beating any of the top 5 players of the tournament whereas you just can't win a match without actually defeating your opponent in a least one game.

Another thing is that a + 1 against the current world champion is a far stronger achievement than a + 1 in any tournament (even a category 21).

It's true from any point of view and it's well illustrated by the Elo performance.

A +1 in a 12 gamed match against Anand (2798) gives a 2811 performance whereas a +1 against the 12 best players (2762,5) "only" gives a 2775 elo performance.

Other very good reasons are well given by suenteus po 147.

Aug-22-08  Strongest Force: With lots of money on the line, i am assuming that the most professional player will win. Anand is the one to watch, however, in this dog-eat-dog environment, i expect many surprises.
Aug-22-08  acirce: While the scoring system sucks at an astronomical level, the time control is pretty sucky too for a 'classical' tournament (<90 minutes for the first 40 moves and another 60 minutes to finish the game>, with no increment at all, same as in Sofia this year, as a further sign of Danailov's influence). But the field is amazing.
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