Alexei Shirov, Vladimir Kramnik qualify for Bilbao Masters

Shanghai Masters played on 3rd-8th September

Alexei Shirov convincingly won the Shanghai stage of the Final Chess Masters and qualified for the second leg which will be played between 9th and 15th October in Bilbao, Spain. Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik booked the second ticket for Bilbao after the dramatic Armageddon tiebreak with Levon Aronian.

Shirov's three consecutive wins in the middle of the tournament were sufficient to secure the first place. He finished with a total of 12 points, since the scores were summed according to "Bilbao rule" (3 points for win, 1 for draw, 0 for loss).

Fifth round victory against the direct opponent Levon Aronian was key game for Vladimir Kramnik. As both last round games ended in draw, Kramnik and Aronian finished equal second with 7 points each, and a blitz tiebreak was set to determine the second qualifier. Kramnik won the first game, but lost second on the clock (time control 4 minutes plus 3 seconds increment). Fortunately for him, he took advantage of Black pieces' odds in Armageddon game and finally earned the desired second place.

Alexei Shirov and Vladimir Kramnik

Two players from Shanghai will meet the world's top rated player Magnus Carlsen and the World Champion Vishy Anand in a double round robin tournament in Bilbao.

Final Standings:
1. Alexei Shirov ESP 2749 (+3 =3 -0) 12
2. Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2780 (+1 =4 -1) 7
3. Levon Aronian ARM 2783 (+1 =4 -1) 7
4. Wang Hao CHN 2724 (+0 =3 -3) 3

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