Nakamura and Carlsen win

Five from six

Hikaru Nakamura seized second place with a win over back-marker Francisco Vallejo Pons, while Magnus Carlsen outplayed the leader Vassily Ivanchuk. All six players managed to win at least one game in Sao Paulo. In a few days, after changing continents, the Masters Final will continue in Bilbao.

Vassily Ivanchuk made a serious error after the exchange of queens and then came under pressure.

The World Champion Viswanathan Anand was held fairly efficiently by Levon Aronian as the tactical flurry in the middlegame just led to drawish simplification.

Hikaru Nakamura beat a dispirited Francisco Vallejo Pons, who sacrificed a piece somewhat unsoundly, as he over-estimated the weakness of White's king. Nakamura soon obtained a clear advantage after returning the piece for a pawn plus the initiative.

Here are the results from the 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 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	*	*	.	½	.	1	.	1	0	.	1	.	10 (3½)
2	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2753	½	.	*	*	½	.	.	½	.	½	1	.	7 (3)
3-5	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2817	0	.	.	½	*	*	½	.	½	.	.	1	6 (2½)
3-5	Levon Aronian	ARM	2807	0	.	½	.	.	½	*	*	.	½	1	.	6 (2½)
3-5	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2823	.	1	½	.	.	½	½	.	*	*	.	0	6 (2½)
6	Francisco Vallejo Pons	ESP	2716	.	0	.	0	0	.	.	0	1	.	*	*	3 (1)

The tournament has opened up somewhat after Ivanchuk's defeat, with any of the first five still in contention.

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

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

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

Note the changed times if you want to follow the live games in Bilbao, Spain which start on Thursday the 6th of October.

There will be games on the 6th, 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 remaining 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)