Shirov Wins In Shanghai
Alexei Shirov beat Wang Hao in the penultimate round of the Shanghai Masters to qualify for the Grand Slam Final proper in Bilbao next month.
It was another crazy game from the popular Shirov, who took big risks with black and by rights should have been punished by his Chinese opponent. However, Wang Hao let the advantage slip through his fingers before over-pressing and losing.
Lev Aronian only needed a draw with the white pieces against Vladimir Kramnik to book his place in Bilbao, but the well prepared Russian finally caught a break to earn his first win of the event, and thereby draw level with Aronian with just one round to go.
The standings (using the football scoring scheme) are:
| W | D | L | Pts | |
| Alexei Shirov | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| Levon Aronian | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Wang Hao | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Kramnik will have white against Wang Hao tomorrow, while Aronian probably has a tougher job facing Shirov with the black pieces. It's not entirely clear what happens if Kramnik and Aronian finish level after the final round. My best guess from the official website regulations is that Kramnik would go to Bilbao based on winning in their head-to-head game results.[UPDATE - wrong! They play blitz games!]
