Topalov wins first Grand Slam Final

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Veselin Topalov has won the first Grand Slam Final, held September 2-13 in Bilbao, Spain. He defeated Vassily Ivanchuk with White. Carlsen-Anand was a quick draw and Radjabov defeated Aronian with Black.

Here's the situation before going into the last round:


[TABLE=393]

The possible scenarios were as follows:

1) If Topalov wins, he'll be the winner. 2) If Topalov draws with Ivanchuk: 2a) If Aronian beats Radjabov, Aronian is the winner. 2b) If Aronian and Radjabov draw and Carlsen doesn't beat Anand, Topalov will be the winner. 2c) If Aronian and Radjabov draw and Carlsen beats Anand, Topalov and Carlsen will be shared first. 3) If Ivanchuk beats Topalov: 3a) If Aronian beats Radjabov, Aronian is the winner. 3b) If Aronian and Radjabov draw and Carlsen doesn't beat Anand, Ivanchuk will be the winner. 3c) If Aronian and Radjabov draw and Carlsen beats Anand, Ivanchuk and Carlsen will be shared first.

Results last round: Topalov - Ivanchuk 3-0 Carlsen - Anand 1-1 Aronian - Radjabov 0-3



Here are the games of the last round with comments from the live coverage we had:



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In the final standings there's a difference between the "football system" and the "classical system": Ivanchuk and Carlsen would have been shared third, with Ivanchuk finishing on a better tiebreak.

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carlsen_anand Carlsen and Anand: finishing quickly



topalov_ivanchuk2 Topalov-Ivanchuk: the tournament leader finishes with another win



aronian_radjabov The very last game to finish, and a great fight Aronian-Radjabov



topalov The winner being interviewed for New in Chess Magazine



prize_topalov_03 And the winner is... Veselin Topalov



players All players posing for the traditional group photo



Round-by-round videos including players' comments after the game:





Links:

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Peter Doggers

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Peter Doggers is Chess.com’s Senior Global Correspondent. Between 2007 and 2013, his website ChessVibes was a major source for chess news and videos, acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

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