Shanghai-Bilbao Grand Slam Masters Final
The first two Grand Slam Finals were held in Bilbao, Spain. The first year (2008) it was a 6-player double round-robin won by Veselin Topalov, and the second year (2009) a 4-player double round-robin was won by Levon Aronian.
For 2010, the event will be split into two parts: first half in Shanghai, China (September 3 – 12). The four players who will participate in the first stage in Shanghai are: Wang Hao, as best Chinese player (20th ranked); Alexei Shírov, as best Spanish player (9th ranked); Levon Aronian, as winner of the Final Chess Masters 2009 (5th ranked); and Vladimir Kramnik, as fourth ranked in the world ranking (4th ranked). and second half in Bilbao, Spain (October 6–14). The top two qualified in Shanghai will play in Bilbao along with Magnus Carlsen, winner of the tournaments of Wijk aan Zee, Nankín and Bazna, and current number one of the wold (1st ranked) and Viswanathan Anand, current World Champion (3rd ranked). The 39th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk takes place September 19 – October 4 in between the two parts.
Read more about this topic: Chess In China
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