Ivanchuk resumes winning ways in Bilbao

Five from six

Despite having a traumatic experience at the end of his stay in Brazil, Vassily Ivanchuk was able to focus his thoughts on his first game in Bilbao. His victory over Hikaru Nakamura has left him well in control of the Grand Slam Final. Ivanchuk has thirteen points, and the chasing group of four players only seven.

A serious incident occurred between the two halves of the Grand Slam Final. Vassily Ivanchuk and his wife were held up just outside their hotel and various affairs were stolen including his wife's passport.

Not an ideal preparation just before facing some of the best players in the world! As a result, he had difficulties getting to Spain, which explains why he is not on the photo.

However, fortunately for us, the leader was willing and finally able to get to Bilbao for the resumption of play.

In his game, Ivanchuk generated a strong attack against Nakamura's Sicilian Kan and the American was unable to stem the tide.

Aronian handled the Queen's Gambit Accepted in an unusual manner, but despite a wierd set-up was able to gradually equalize.

Magnus Carlsen was able to make a slight dent in Viswanathan Anand's pawn structure, but this wasn't enough to give him any advantage.

Here are the results from the 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

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.

Rank	Name	Country	Rating	1w	1b	2w	2b	3w	3b	4w	4b	5w	5b	6w	6b	Points
1	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2765	*	*	1	½	.	1	.	1	0	.	1	.	13 (4½)
2-5	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	½	0	*	*	½	.	.	½	.	½	1	.	7 (3)
2-5	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	0	.	.	½	*	*	½	.	½	½	.	1	7 (3)
2-5	Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	0	.	½	.	.	½	*	*	.	½	1	½	7 (3)
2-5	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	.	1	½	.	½	½	½	.	*	*	.	0	7 (3)
6	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	.	0	.	0	0	.	½	0	1	.	*	*	4 (1½)

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

The remaining games will be on the 7th and 8th, followed by 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)