Today is the only day off for the players at the Bilbao Grand Slam Final. After 3 rounds, there is only 1 draw, which is quite unusual in top level chess.
Official website: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/2009/en_index.asp
Here are the standings after 3 rounds:
| Players | Games | Win | Draw | Loss | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Grischuk | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
| Levon Aronian | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
| Sergei Karjakin | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Alexei Shirov | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Scoring System
3 – Points per win
1 – Point per draw
0 – Point per loss
| 1st round on 2009/09/06 at 18-00 | |||||||
| M. | No. | 0 | Name | Result | 0 | Name | No. |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Kariakin Sergey | 1/2 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 4 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 1-0 | GM | Aronian Levon | 3 |
| 2nd round on 2009/09/07 at 17-00 | |||||||
| M. | No. | 0 | Name | Result | 0 | Name | No. |
| 1 | 3 | GM | Aronian Levon | 1-0 | GM | Kariakin Sergey | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 1-0 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 4 |
| 3rd round on 2009/09/08 at 17-00 | |||||||
| M. | No. | 0 | Name | Result | 0 | Name | No. |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Kariakin Sergey | 1-0 | GM | Grischuk Alexander | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 0-1 | GM | Aronian Levon | 3 |
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Aronian will win his last 3 games and win Bilbao.
There are no draws because of the scoring system! I wish everyone would adopt this system… You would really promote fighting chess.
3 – Points per win
1 – Point per draw
0 – Point per loss
I think the number of decisive games has more to do with shorter time controls than with the scoring system. Sofia rule helps also.
I can think of at least two more reasons for the low number of draws:
1) The tournament is a short sprint, hence players don’t need extra rest days [even with Sofia rules, top players sometimes do find an early move repetition or liquidation into an opposite-colored bishops ending.
2) Shirov seems to be out of form. His loss against Aronian appears unnecessary, and maybe his endgame against Grischuk was also drawn with best play.