English Chess Forum

A new thread, just so we don't get this mixed up with the Club Cup event. This event features four players Anand, Aronian, Ponomariov and Francisco Vallejo Pons in a 6 round all play all.

Live coverage from 2pm (UK time) each day (17th September is a rest day) http://bilbaomastersfinal.com/en/live

Round 1

Francisco Vallejo Pons - Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand -Ruslan Ponomariov

Round 2

Levon Aronian - Ruslan Ponomariov
Francisco Vallejo Pons - Viswanathan Anand

Round 3

Viswanathan Anand - Levon Aronian
Ruslan Ponomariov - Francisco Vallejo Pons

Round 4

Ruslan Ponomariov - Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand - Francisco Vallejo Pons

Round 5

Levon Aronian - Francisco Vallejo Pons
Ruslan Ponomariov - Viswanathan Anand

Round 6

Levon Aronian - Viswanathan Anand
Francisco Vallejo Pons - Ruslan Ponomariov

I'm struggling with the live link, so games can be followed at TWIC too

http://www.theweekinchess.com/live

Round 1

Vallejo Pons, Francisco ½-½ Aronian, Levon

Anand, Vishy 1-0 Ponomariov, Ruslan

Anand looking great, Carlsen may be in for a much harder test in Sochi. Game annotated on ChessBase

http://en.chessbase.com/post/bilbao-mas ... tarts-well

Chris Rice wrote:Round 1

Vallejo Pons, Francisco ½-½ Aronian, Levon

Anand, Vishy 1-0 Ponomariov, Ruslan

Anand looking great, Carlsen may be in for a much harder test in Sochi.

Round 2 Vishy beats Vallejo with black - appears to be in good form, considering he may be hiding his preparation for Carlsen

Seems in Round 2 Aronian did win after Ponomariov missed a perpetual.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/bilbao-mas ... ure-reigns

Round 3 - Anand - Aronian draw, Pono looks like beating Vallejo

Pono did convert very nicely. Anand's draw puts him in the lead on 7/9 (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw)and a performance rating of 3023 so far, followed by Aronian 5, Ponomariov 3 and Vallejo 1. http://en.chessbase.com/post/bilbao-mas ... hows-class

Do we think Anand has a chance again Carlsen then?

If he keeps his present form up then he does have a chance. Especially as Carlsen doesn't look to be playing at his peak at the moment averaging 2822 at St Louis so the ratings are indicative that he has a chance although clearly ratings are not a convincing case of anything (before someone jumps down my throat).
Match play seems to depend mostly on whose opening preparation is better and I suspect Anand has done a lot of good work since the last match. A key opening will be the Berlin. Will it be played by Carlsen after Caruana has shown that its not indestructible? Will Carlsen bring something new to the table? I was reading an article in New in Chess (5/2014) where it appeared that Carlsen's opening preparation for the last match included an Alapin idea of 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Bb4!!!!?????
For me Anand has to attack Carlsen right from the opening if he's to stand any chance at all. That's where his strength is and what he does best. He can't just play equal positions where Carlsen has the opportunity of grinding away for hours which has to be soul destroying for his opponents.

Carl Hibbard wrote:Do we think Anand has a chance again Carlsen then?

Yes, a much better chance than last time as he is in better form and will have learnt from his mistakes - he's also under less pressure, not defending the title or playing at home

Carlsen may not be playing as well, as Chris has indicated, but you would still expect him to find a way to win

Vishy has won again to reach 10/12 on the 3-1-0 scoring system

Aronian (now 6 points) drew with Pono (now 4), Vallejo has 1

Anand up to number three in the live ratings. Do he and Carlsen have any more events lined up before their match?

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Do he and Carlsen have any more events lined up before their match?

None in public.

They got the pairings wrong, and Pono prepared for the wrong opponent
http://www.chess.com/news/bilbao-anand- ... urdle-9765

He gets a third white in a row today against Anand, and Aronian finishes with 2 whites Vallejo today and Anand tomorrow

2 draws today and Vishy wins with a round to spare - he finishes with black against Aronian tomorrow