Masters Final R2: Ivanchuk beats Vallejo
Vassily Ivanchuk beat Francisco Vallejo in the second round of the Grand Slam Masters Final on Tuesday. The Ukrainian joined Levon Aronian in the lead: both players have 4 points out of 2 games.
| Event | 4th Grand Slam Masters Final | PGN via TWIC |
| Dates | September 25th - October 11th, 2011 |
| Location | Sao Paulo, Brazil & Bilbao, Spain |
| System | 6-player double round robin |
| Players | Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, Ivanchuk, Nakamura, Vallejo |
| Time control | 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 60 minutes to finish the game, with 10 seconds increment per move from move number 41 |
| Prizes | Undisclosed |
| Notes | Players are not allowed to agree to a draw without the arbiter’s permission. In case both players request it to him, the arbiter will make his decision after consulting with the technical assistant. The football scoring system is used: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a loss. |
Round 2
The second round of the Grand Slam Masters Final was a great one, with three very entertaining games and in the end only one decisive result. Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Paco Vallejo from an English opening, the way Mikhail Marin advocates playing with White in his masterpiece series about this opening published by Quality Chess. Vallejo probably just picked the wrong plan right after the opening and got his dark-squared bishop trapped and completely out of play. On top of that he was left with an isolated pawn on e5 which was nicely blocked by a white knight on e4, and attacked by a bishop on b2. Just horrible.
Ivanchuk-Vallejo
Sao Paulo, 2011
With lot number one, Hikaru Nakamura could enjoy another game with the white pieces. He faced Vishy Anand and in the morning he had tweeted:
Any day is a good day when you have the chance to play against a World Champion!
However, the day ended in a bitter disappointment for the American, who felt that he had missed a win. It's really wonderful to have a top class player tweeting about his experience during events, even if things don't go as he wants to. With his usual feel for drama, he first sent into the world:
So disgusted in my inability to play good chess. Perhaps I'll actually remember how to play chess someday soon!
and eight hours later he replied to a fan:
@MarkSCB Thanks, but missing 25.Bc6 which is completely winning is horrible and I'll have nightmares about it for a while.
Nakamura-Anand
Sao Paulo, 2011
Another top player who regularly sends updates on Twitter is Magnus Carlsen, or rather '@MagnusCarlsen'. This is what he wrote after his draw against Levon Aronian:
Not really satisfied with my play today, but Aronian nevertheless had to work a bit for a draw, which he secured convincingly enough
Carlsen-Aronian
Sao Paulo, 2011
Grand Slam Masters Final 2011 | Schedule & results
| Round 1 | 26.09.11 | 20:00 CET | Round 6 | 06.10.11 | 16:00 CET | |
| Nakamura | ½-½ | Ivanchuk | Ivanchuk | - | Nakamura | |
| Anand | ½-½ | Carlsen | Carlsen | - | Anand | |
| Aronian | 1-0 | Vallejo | Vallejo | - | Aronian | |
| Round 2 | 27.09.11 | 20:00 CET | Round 7 | 07.10.11 | 16:00 CET | |
| Ivanchuk | 1-0 | Vallejo | Vallejo | - | Ivanchuk | |
| Carlsen | ½-½ | Aronian | Aronian | - | Carlsen | |
| Nakamura | ½-½ | Anand | Anand | - | Nakamura | |
| Round 3 | 28.09.11 | 20:00 CET | Round 8 | 08.10.11 | 16:00 CET | |
| Anand | - | Ivanchuk | Ivanchuk | - | Anand | |
| Aronian | - | Nakamura | Nakamura | - | Aronian | |
| Vallejo | - | Carlsen | Carlsen | - | Vallejo | |
| Round 4 | 30.09.11 | 20:00 CET | Round 9 | 10.10.11 | 16:00 CET | |
| Aronian | - | Ivanchuk | Carlsen | - | Ivanchuk | |
| Vallejo | - | Anand | Vallejo | - | Nakamura | |
| Carlsen | - | Nakamura | Aronian | - | Anand | |
| Round 5 | 01.10.11 | 20:00 CET | Round 10 | 11.10.11 | 16:00 CET | |
| Ivanchuk | - | Carlsen | Ivanchuk | - | Aronian | |
| Nakamura | - | Vallejo | Anand | - | Vallejo | |
| Anand | - | Aronian | Nakamura | - | Carlsen |
1-2 Levon Aronian
Vassily Ivanchuk 4
3-5 Anand, Carlsen, Nakamura 2
6 Vallejo 0
