Caruana Takes A Lead To Bilbao
Fabiano Caruana will take a 4 point lead into the Bilbao leg of the Chess Masters Final after finishing with a draw against world #2 Lev Aronian.
The Armenian had a strong position against Caruana, but he slipped at crucial stages and failed to turn his advantage into a win.
Sergey Karjakin ended a disappointing Sao Paulo leg with a draw against tournament underdog Paco Vallejo, while world champion Vishy Anand played his 5th draw against Magnus Carlsen.
The full results table from Sao Paulo (3-1-0 scoring)
| # | Name | Fed | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts |
| 1 | Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2773 | * | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2816 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2843 | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2780 | 1 | 1 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Vallejo Pons, Francisco | ESP | 2697 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | * | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2778 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | * | 3 |
.
Fabiano Caruana escaped Lev Aronian's clutches
.
.
Paco Vallejo fended off Sergey Karjakin
.
.
Magnus Carlsen was unperturbed by Vishy Anand
.
.
The Chess Masters Final is a 6-player double round-robin event which is held half in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and half in Bilbao, Spain. The Bilbao leg is from 7-13 October.
The tournament uses the "Sofia" anti-draw rules, meaning that players can only draw by mutual agreement with the permission of the arbiter. The "Bilbao" scoring system (3-1-0) is also in operation.
Games via TWIC. Photos from the official website.
The Bilbao schedule
| 07-Oct | Opening |
| 08-Oct | Round 6 |
| 09-Oct | Round 7 |
| 10-Oct | Round 8 |
| 11-Oct | Rest Day |
| 12-Oct | Round 9 |
| 13-Oct | Round 10 |
