4th Bilbao Grand Slam Masters Final announced
In a short press release the 4th edition of the Bilbao Grand Slam Masters Final was announced yesterday. A 'preliminary dates forecast' says the tournament will be held from September 20th to October 12th, 2011. Magnus Carlsen is the first qualifier thanks to his win in Nanjing, in October 2010.
The Pearl Spring tournament, held October 2010 in Nanjing, China was the first Grand Slam tournament in the Chess Grand Slam 2010-2011 series. Therefore Magnus Carlsen became the first player to win a ticket to the 4th edition of the Bilbao Grand Slam Chess Masters Final. After his triumph in Nanjing, Carlsen has received an invitation from the organizers of the 2011 Bilbao Masters Final. In 2010 the Final was held in two different cities: Shanghai and Bilbao. It looks like the Basque organizers are intending to continue this set-up. In their press release they state: "Bilbao, venue and organizer of the previous three editions of this final, is working with cities from all over the world that are interested in joining the project as a first stage venue in 2011." The success of the formula developed in 2010, when Shanghai held the tournament's first stage coinciding with the World Expo, "has aroused the interest of these cities". According to a preliminary date forecast, the final will be held from September 20th to October 12th, 2011. At the moment of writing it's not clear whether the organizers will also continue the set-up of four players in a preliminary tournament and four in a final.