São Paulo Masters – Ivanchuk and Anand score, Ivanchuk leads

The first leg of the Grand Slam is being staged in São Paulo, Ibirapuera Park, from September 25th to October 1st, the second leg is in Bilbao, Alhóndiga, from 5th to 11th October. Tournament system: double round robin with six players over ten rounds. Time control: 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 10 seconds/move starting with the 1st move. Game start: 15:00h local São Paulo time (2 p.m. New York, 20:00 h Europe).

Round four

By Albert Silver

A top view of the games underway and the avid audience watching through the glass

The fourth round came after a rest day, and the question was how the players would respond. Carlsen was coming off a painful loss to Vallejo, and was anxious to set things right, and take a stab at the top prize before it is out of reach. The Bilbao scoring system actually makes this far more possible than a classical structure, rewarding three points for a win, over one for a draw, and he used this to good effect last year in the London Classic.

Nakamura successfully stopped the rot of his score against Carlsen

Considering his excellent score against Nakamura, and having white, it was reasonable to be optimistic, but Hikaru avoided getting into trouble and preferred to contain Magnus, no doubt anticipating his opponent's mood. They played the position out as expected, but the draw never really seemed in doubt.

Magnus Carlsen wanted to start a winning streak, but was forced to wait a round

The next game to finish was also the most exciting in the tournament by far. Aronian played an extremely aggressive attacking game against Ivanchuk, hoping to change the course of things and take over the top spot in the process, which he would have under the Bilbao system.

Ivanchuk and Aronian had the game of the tournament so far

His game and creativity were worthy of Tal, and it was a thrilling encounter, however, if anything, one of Tal's greatest contributions to chess was not so much his direct attacking skills, but how he forced others to develop defensive technique in order to stop being stampeded by his pieces all the time. Ivanchuk knows his lessons well, and his dynamic defense, containing Aronian, plus his counter-attacking were a true masterpiece to be used in future works on the art of defense.

Ivanchuk is on an incredible streak with 3.5/4 and is already rated 2783 in the provisional list

Anand demonstrated once more why he is world champion

The game to finish last was a combination of the expected and the unexpected. Anand beating Vallejo has to be considered almost the natural outcome of the law of the strongest, however, the opening really didn't seem like it held any chances to do anything. Eventually, Anand got what he wanted, even with the meager tools he was offered, and he managed to exploit a classical ending with bishop pair over knight and bishop in such a way they would have Steinitz beaming with pride.

Gallery of Pictures

The event is held in Ibirapuera Park, and requires some walking to reach once inside

The park is quite lovely

Before arriving, one passes in front of the Afro-Brazil Museum

On the walls are many colorful murals

There are also panels depicting famous Brazilian icons

Finally one arrives at the main entrance where the tents are found

Before the games start, players begin choosing spots to sit

Impatient to see chess, spectators start their own games

While others, such as GM Ian Rogers and Cathy Rogers, get straight to work

Before any of the activities start, a friendly chat. Left to right: GM Krikor Mekhitarian
(Aronian's second), GM Alexandre Fier, FIDE Arbiter Blas Pingas, Chief Arbiter Herman
Claudius van Riemsdijk, and IM Diego Di Berardino.

A billboard with the daily schedule

During friday, a GM rapid tourney was organized. GM Fier faced organizer GM
Milos in the first round.

IM Di Berardino beat GM Mekhitarian and made it to the final, losing to Vescovi

Awaiting the start, spectators started playing blitz games

Ivanchuk is interviewed by Leontxo Garcia after the game

The audience was encourage to ask questions as well

In the meantime, Vallejo already knew he was lost, and could only hope for a final slip

Despite having lost, Aronian was a good sport in the post-game interview

Anand was asked who he thought his successor would be. He diplomatically answered
there were several candidates.

The microphone was then passed directly to Vallejo. "My successor....Hmmm...."

Pictures by Albert Silver and Agnaldo Rocha/SPturis

Bilbao system scores after four rounds

Traditional crosstable after four rounds

Schedule and results

Links Official tournament site (São Paulo) Official tournament site (Bilbao) All ChessBase reports All the games in PGN The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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