Sao Paulo Grand Slam begins today

THE FIRST ROUND OF THE CHESS GRAND SLAM MASTERS FINAL WILL START TODAY IN SAO PAULO 

24.09.12 Bilbao. Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo (Brazil), hosts, from today and until next Saturday, September 29, the first round of the Chess Grand Slam Masters Final, one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments. Five of the world’s eight best Chess players are at this year’s edition, the fifth, which for the second consecutive year is being played in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo and in Bilbao, the championship’s fixed venue.

Participating in the tournament are current world Chess champion, India’s Viswanathan Anand, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, number one in the world rankings; Armenian Levon Aronián, Olympic Champion; Ukrainian-born Russian Sergey Karjakin and US-born Italian Fabiano Caruana, five of the worlds eight current best Chess players. Joining them just as in 2011 will be Spain’s Paco Vallejo.

Just like in previous years, this 5th edition will be played using a double round-robin league among the six master participants, the first half being played from today in Sao paulo. The second round will be played in the giant glass booth installed at the Alhóndiga Bilbao, the tournament’s venue in the Biscayan capital from October 8 to 13.

This 5th Masters Final continues to support new rules that try to guarantee a struggle and a show in each match. Therefore, the so-called Sofia rules will once again be applied which establish that only the arbiter will have the authority to determine if a game is drawn, avoiding pacts between players. Additionally, a scoring system similar to the one used in Football will once again be used, with three points for a match won, one for a tie and zero for a loss, a system first used at the elite tournament in the 2008 Bilbao Masters Final and known since then as the “Bilbao Rules”.

The tournament will be streamed live online at www.bilbaomastersfinal.com. 

NOTE: Since the daily matches end early in the morning (Spanish time) the press releases with the results, photos, audio clips for radio stations and video clips for television will be distributed early the following morning.