Leon Magistral Underway

With several big tournaments already ongoing, yet another tournament is underway - this one being the annual rapid event in Leon, Spain. 

It's a great line-up too, with Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Morozevich and Wang Yue.  The format is for the players to pair off to play semi-finals over 4 rapid games (20 minutes plus a 10 second increment), and then the winners play a final - also over 4 games.  Blitz tiebreaks will be used, if needed.  Matches start at 4:30 pm local time.

The first pair, Ivanchuk and Morozevich played yesterday (Friday) and Ivanchuk emerged the winner by the score of 2.5-1.5.  Ivanhuk won the first game and the rest were drawn.

Interestingly, the last game on each day is being broadcast live by a local TV station, with recorded programs about the competition also available.  Let's hope this coverage is popular and will be copied by other TV stations in other countries for chess events!

Carlsen and Yue play today (Saturday) and the final is held on Sunday. The official website is here, with live coverage of the games at this page.

Carlsen and Yue shake hands at the opening ceremony (pic from official site).