The Grand Slam of Chess
Chess has always had its share of major tournaments, but only recently have several of those tournaments banded together to create a Grand Slam - a chess equivalent to the Grand Slam events in tennis (Wimbledon, the French Open, the Australian Open and the US Open), or the four major events in professional golf (the US Open, the Masters, the British Open and the PGA Championship).
In chess, the grand slam is coordinated by the Grand Slam Chess Association.
Each year, a handful of the most prestigious chess tournaments qualify their winners to the Bilbao Chess Masters Final, which serves as a kind of Grand Slam championship event. Ever since 2008, the Bilbao Masters has served this function, which in turn has made it one of the highest-level invitational tournaments in the world.
Tournaments in the Grand Slam Series
Early in the Grand Slam Series, there were four events. The Corus Tournament in Wijk ann Zee and the Linares Chess Tournament had already long been among the top chess tournaments each year. They were joined by the relatively new MTel Masters, held each year in Sofia, and the brand new Pearl Spring tournament, which took place in Nanjing, China.
However, the tournament series has changed in the last two years, as two of the tournaments previously used as part of the Grand Slam have not been held. The first tournament dropped was the MTel Masters, which was last held in 2009. Then, the Linares Tournament was cancelled in 2011, meaning it could not send a winner into the Bilbao Masters.
As a replacement, the Bazna Kings tournament in Romania has been used as a part of the Grand Slam Chess Association series. It is expected that the Linares Tournament will once against be held in 2012; it is likely that this would mean that Linares would once again become a part of the Grand Slam, although no official announcement has been made.
History of the Bilbao Masters Final
The first Grand Slam Masters Final was held in 2008, and featured six of the world's top players in a double round-robin format. As has become traditional in Bilbao, the tournament used a 3-1-0 scoring system that put a premium on scoring wins. Veselin Topalov emerged as the clear winner, finishing four points ahead of both Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian.
In 2009, Bilbao featured just four players, each having won one of the four Grand Slam events. The exception was Levon Aronian, who had finished second in Pearl Spring, but took the place of Veselin Topalov, who declined to play. The opportunity did not escape Aronian, who went on to top the tournament by five points, well ahead of Alexander Grischuk.
The 2010 edition of the Grand Slam Final featured one of the strongest fields in chess history. Both Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen were invited directly into the tournament; Anand was the reigning World Chess Champion, while Carlsen had won both the Bazna Kings and Pearl Spring tournaments. Four other players were allowed to play in a qualification tournament for the last two spots, with Vladimir Kramnik and Alexei Shirov ultimately qualifying. Kramnik took his qualifying spot and ended up making the most of it, winning the Bilbao Masters by two points over Anand.
The fourth edition of the Bilbao Masters is taking place in October 2011. The tournament will once again use a double round-robin format, this time with six players. Participants include Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Hikaru Nakamura, and Francisco Vallejo Pons.
Historic Winners of the Grand Slam Masters Final
In chess, the grand slam is coordinated by the Grand Slam Chess Association.
Each year, a handful of the most prestigious chess tournaments qualify their winners to the Bilbao Chess Masters Final, which serves as a kind of Grand Slam championship event. Ever since 2008, the Bilbao Masters has served this function, which in turn has made it one of the highest-level invitational tournaments in the world.
Tournaments in the Grand Slam Series
Early in the Grand Slam Series, there were four events. The Corus Tournament in Wijk ann Zee and the Linares Chess Tournament had already long been among the top chess tournaments each year. They were joined by the relatively new MTel Masters, held each year in Sofia, and the brand new Pearl Spring tournament, which took place in Nanjing, China.
However, the tournament series has changed in the last two years, as two of the tournaments previously used as part of the Grand Slam have not been held. The first tournament dropped was the MTel Masters, which was last held in 2009. Then, the Linares Tournament was cancelled in 2011, meaning it could not send a winner into the Bilbao Masters.
As a replacement, the Bazna Kings tournament in Romania has been used as a part of the Grand Slam Chess Association series. It is expected that the Linares Tournament will once against be held in 2012; it is likely that this would mean that Linares would once again become a part of the Grand Slam, although no official announcement has been made.
History of the Bilbao Masters Final
The first Grand Slam Masters Final was held in 2008, and featured six of the world's top players in a double round-robin format. As has become traditional in Bilbao, the tournament used a 3-1-0 scoring system that put a premium on scoring wins. Veselin Topalov emerged as the clear winner, finishing four points ahead of both Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian.
In 2009, Bilbao featured just four players, each having won one of the four Grand Slam events. The exception was Levon Aronian, who had finished second in Pearl Spring, but took the place of Veselin Topalov, who declined to play. The opportunity did not escape Aronian, who went on to top the tournament by five points, well ahead of Alexander Grischuk.
The 2010 edition of the Grand Slam Final featured one of the strongest fields in chess history. Both Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen were invited directly into the tournament; Anand was the reigning World Chess Champion, while Carlsen had won both the Bazna Kings and Pearl Spring tournaments. Four other players were allowed to play in a qualification tournament for the last two spots, with Vladimir Kramnik and Alexei Shirov ultimately qualifying. Kramnik took his qualifying spot and ended up making the most of it, winning the Bilbao Masters by two points over Anand.
The fourth edition of the Bilbao Masters is taking place in October 2011. The tournament will once again use a double round-robin format, this time with six players. Participants include Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Hikaru Nakamura, and Francisco Vallejo Pons.
Historic Winners of the Grand Slam Masters Final
- 2008: Veselin Topalov
- 2009: Levon Aronian
- 2010: Vladimir Kramnik
