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IX Grand Slam Masters Final in Bilbao |
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Wednesday, 13 July 2016 17:23 |
The chess fans focus their attention on Bilbao and the Grand Slam Masters Final that will take in the Campos Elíseos Theatre until the 23rd July.
In addition to world champion Magnus Carlsen, the line-up is completed by the upcoming challenger for the world title, Russian Sergey Karjakin; the current tournament champion, American Wesley So; American Hikaru Nakamura; the Dutch player Anish Giri; and the emerging star on the world stage, the 16-year-old Chinese player Wei Yi.
The players attended the official reception to present the Masters Final, which took place in Bilbao City Hall. This presentation ceremony was presided by the first deputy mayor, Ricardo Barkala, and the Provincial Councillor for Economic and Territorial Development, Imanol Pradales, representing the Provincial Council of Biscay, who wished all of the players luck and called on them to employ the quality of their game and fighting spirit to help to once again consolidate the Bilbao tournament as one of the major events within the international calendar of this sport.
The official reception of the sporting delegation has also served as a setting for the draw for the first round of the tournament, made with the participation of the Spanish under-16s sub-champion, the young chess player from Biscay, Eihartze Buiza. The pairings for tomorrow, the first day of the competition, are as follows: Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura; Anish Giri – Serguéi Karjakin; Wesley So – Yi Wei. Live games with analysis
The event will also include the Masters Team Final, a shorter version of golf's Ryder Cup, which, in its first edition will see Europe (represented by Carlsen, Karjakin and Giri) take on a team from the rest of the world (represented by Nakamura, So and Wei). The challenge take the form of a rapid chess game on a giant board taking in 64 square metres and employing human pieces.
This Europe vs The Rest of the World chess challenge is set to take place on Monday 18 July during the rest day of the main tournament.
Amongst the list of tournament winners, the top ranking player and reigning world champion, Carlsen, boasts two txapelas, obtained in 2011 and 2012, the same number as those won (in 2009 and 2013) by the Armenian Lévon Aronian. Last year's winner, the American Wesley So numbers amongst those with one txapela, along with the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov (in 2008) the Russian Vladimir Kramnik (in 2010) and the Indian Viswanathan Anand (in 2014), and the last three mentioned are also former world champions.
The Bilbao E-4 Chess Club is the sports organiser of Bilbao Chess 2016, which includes the collaboration of Bilbao City Council and the Provincial Council of Biscay, as the main sponsors.
Official website
http://www.bilbaochess2016.com
For further information:
Gerardo Fdez. Llana and Isabel Amatria
Tel: 615757219 /655740911 e-mail:
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