Anand versus Carlsen

Six top players slogging it out in Bilbao: The Chess Grand Slam Final is being staged in Bilbao, Spain, from September 1st to 13th 2008. It is a six-player double round robin event, one of the strongest in the history of the game (at least by Elo average, 2775.6, making it a category 22 tournament). Games start at 17:00h local time (CEST).


I only just found out in time to join round 5, where Carlsen held the Black pieces against the temporary World Champion.

They are using some unconventional scoring for this high-class tourney:
Players get three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for losing a game.



The prize money is incredibly high for such a minor tournement. could that be the reason Anand emerges from his preparation to expose his weaknesses in public? Mystifying.

The game soon turned into a RL Schlieman/Janische C63.

The middle game showed a few inaccuracies on both sides. Carlsen had a distinct advantage, but allowed it to slip away.