This article is a summary, for the full article on the Bilbao Chess Masters Final 2011, please visit William’s site.
Surely the players will be taking a side-trip to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
The 2011 Bilbao Chess Masters Final begins today, Monday, September 26th. We will surely see some of the best chess matches of the years. Rounds 1 -5 will be played in the beautiful Ibirapuera park in São Paulo, Brazil, followed by rounds 6-10 in Alhóndiga, Bilbao (Spain). The organizers have done an incredible job with some of the world’s best chess players participating in the event. This has to be one of the most high rated tournaments in the history of chess with an average FIDE rating of over 2780! Virtually all of my favorite players including Carlsen, Nakamura, Anand, and Ivanchuk will all be playing!
Go Big or Go Home: High-Stakes Chess
The current World Chess Champion is going to have his hands full for the next few weeks, as he will face incredibly high expectations and pressure to defend the honor of his title. Levon Aronian is rated 2800 for a reason, and his creative intuition and excellent technique will serve him well in this event. Vassily Ivanchuk is a legitimate freak of nature, having held his grandmaster title longer than many of the other participants have been alive. Ivanchuk is coming off an awesome finish at the 2011 World Chess Cup, placing 3rd and qualifying for the 2012 World Championship Candidates Tournament. Hikaru Nakamura started 2011 with a very impressive win at the Tata Steel super-tournament but has also taken some time off in the last month or two. Francisco Vallejo brings up the rear of the group at 2716, however the Spanish player should not be counted out as he is capable of playing very dangerous and inspired chess.
My Predictions:
It’s going to come down to Carlsen and Anand battling it out to the very end, however they will be chased by a very determined pair in Aronian and Nakamura. Ivanchuk is going to have a tough time keeping up, as he no doubt expended an enormous amount of energy over the last months playing in the exhaustive schedule of the 2011 World Cup of Chess. Vallejo is a great player and a fighter, however he is simply out-classed in this event. My pick to win the tournament is Anand by a small margin. Keep an eye out for a determined and prepared Nakamura to make a run and score some excellent upsets.
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I think Nakamura will win by 2 pts. He’s coached by Kasparov for the past 6 months.