Carlsen catches Ivanchuk!

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen beats the pre-round leader Vassily Ivanchuk, for the second time, and has now caught the Ukrainian in the standings. In a day with three white wins, Levon Aronian crushed Viswanathan Anand, while Francisco Vallejo Pons is off the bottom after beating Hikaru Nakamura (on time!).

Here is a summary of the eighth round:

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	1-0	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	Queen's Gambit Accepted
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	1-0	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	Nimzoindian Defence
Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	King's Indian Defence

The tournament table takes into account the Sofia rules: 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, but the traditional scoring system can be found in brackets.

There have been so many changes since yesterday, with Carlsen now first and Vallejo off the bottom.

Rank	Name	Country	Rating	1w	1b	2w	2b	3w	3b	4w	4b	5w	5b	6w	6b	Points
1	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	*	*	1	1	½	½	½		1	0	½	½	14 (5½)
1	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	0	0	*	*		1	1	½	1	0	½	1	14 (5)
2-3	Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	½	½	0		*	*	½	0	1	½	1	½	11 (4½)
2-3	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753		½	½	0	1	½	*	*	1	0	½	½	11 (4½)
5	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	1	0	1	0	½	0	1	0	*	*	0		10 (3½)
6	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½		1	*	*	9 (4)

As a reminder, here is what happened in the earlier rounds:

In Sao Paulo:

First round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	1-0	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	Slav Defence
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	½-½	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	Spanish Berlin
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	½-½	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	Keres Defence

Second round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	1-0	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	English Opening
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	½-½	Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	Spanish with d3
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	½-½	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	Semi-Slav, Botvinnik

Third round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	0-1	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	Spanish Schliemann
Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	1-0	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	Modern Opening
Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	½-½	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	Slav/Grünfeld

Fourth round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	0-1	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	Queen's Gambit Ragozin
Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	0-1	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	English Opening
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	½-½	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	Queen's Gambit Declined

Fifth round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	0-1	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	French Classical
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	½-½	Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	Spanish with d3
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	1-0	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	English Opening

The rounds from Bilbao:

Sixth round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	French Classical
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	½-½	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	Spanish with d3
Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	½-½	Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	English Opening

Seventh round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	½-½	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	Spanish Berlin
Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	½-½	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	Queen's Gambit Orthodox
Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	1-0	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	English (with transposition to Grünfeld)

Eighth round

White	Country	Rating	Result	Black	Country	Rating	Opening
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	½-½	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	Queen's Indian Defence
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	1-0	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	Slav 4.e3
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	1-0	Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	Queen's Gambit 3...Be7

The official site for additional information www.bilbaofinalmasters.com and live games.

There will be a rest day on Sunday the 9th, and then the final two rounds will be on the 10th and 11th.

All the rounds will be at the following times:

4pm (Bilbao and Paris)

3pm (London)

6pm (Moscow)

10am (New York)

7am (Los Angeles)

1am next day (Sydney)