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 Topalov Tops - but Carlsen Numero Uno!

Play starts daily at 11:00am ET (17:00pm CET) Next round: 11:00am ICC Sep 08, 2008 8:00am PDT Sep 08, 2008 9:00am MDT Sep 08, 2008 10:00am CDT Sep 08, 2008 11:00am EDT Sep 08, 2008 16:00 BST Sep 08, 2008 17:00 CEST Sep 08, 2008 11:00am EDT Sep 08, 2008 ICC link: http://www.chessclub.com/finger/bilbao08 Official link: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/en_index.asp Taking advantage of the new scoring system of 3-points for a win in the $570,00 Bilbao Grand Slam Final, Veselin Topalov and Magnus Carlsen have been the two stars enthralling the large audience each day surrounding the sound-proofed air-conditioned glass arena on Plaza Nueva in the Basque city. Topalov, who has a reputation of being a streak player, looks to be in formidable form as he takes the lead with his unbeaten score of 8/12 in the richest tournament of the year following two big wins in successive rounds - first beating Carlsen in round three, and then sensationally world champion Vishy Anand in just 25 moves! But just a point behind there lurks the young 17-year-old Norwegian ace Carlsen, who not only has his eye on the top prize but also Anand's World #1 spot! Although Carlsen (who was profiled this week in the International Herald Tribune) lost to Topalov, in the opening round he beat Levon Aronian followed by Teimour Radjabov in round four - and he has now grabbed the unofficial #1 spot in Hans Arild Runde's virtual live ratings at http://chess.liverating.org/ We could be in for an epoch-making finish to the tournament. Carlsen could well be celebrating a double joy of taking the top prize and the youngest-ever World #1 come the official publication of the FIDE world rating list on October 1. Will he do it or will Topalov top him? You can find out with ICC Chess.FM's extended live coverage throughout all of next week! Play starts daily at 11:00am ET (17:00pm local CET) with Mig Greengard being joined each day by his regular GM sidekicks, Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Nick De Firmian, Ronan Har-Zvi and Gregory Kaidanov - and don't dare miss a very special guest appearance in the commentary hot-seat all day Monday, September 8 from four-time Russian champion GM Peter Svidler! CJA Chess Journalist of the Year, Macauley Peterson is in Bilbao giving us his unique spin on all the action on and off the board - and a special live video feed of the players in action during each round! Check out his videos below. Also in Bilbao is Chess.FM Producer John Henderson, who will be providing a daily picture gallery of what's likely to be a visual extravaganza for chess fans. Check out his picture gallery below.

XII 'New In Chess' Trivia Contest winners

The XII 'New in Chess' TRIVIA Contest! ICC Chess.FM ICC and New in Chess present The XII 'New in Chess' Trivia Contest! Tune-in to Mig on ICC Chess.FM for our round-by-round coverage of the Grand Slam Finals in Bilbao, Spain, and each round you could win a 1-year subscription to the world's best chess magazine in the New in Chess TRIVIA Contest! For more information and rules, visit our help page.

Regular ICC Events

ICC Newsletter XXXVI September 5, 2008 In this issue: Topalov Tops - but Carlsen Numero Uno!, Chess.FM videos, and the ICC Store.

All events are free to ICC members unless noted. All times are Eastern Standard Time. Add 5 hours for GMT. Add 6 hours for CET.

Monday, September 08   00:45   Tournament Sleepless - 3 tourneys - 5 rounds of 3 0     07:00   Tournament Early Morning - 7 rounds of 3 1     10:00   Tournament ICC Store - Flash 8 rounds of 1 0     11:30   Tournament Chess21 Series - 5 rounds of 5 0     13:00   Tournament Chess21 Series - 5 rounds of 5 0     14:15   Tournament Daily Standard - 4 rounds of 20 5     15:00   Webcast GM Ronen Har-Zvi     18:00   Simul IM Jon Schroer - 55 20 - ch 3     19:00   Play The Master Blitz against a title FIDE player     21:00   Tournament Bullet - 9 rounds of 1 0     23:00   Tournament Nightly O1500 - 5 rounds of 5 0     23:00   Tournament Nightly U1500 - 5 rounds of 2 6     View this week's entire event list