5th M-Tel Masters

The winner in action in round 8. Photo © Ivan A. Grigorov and the Press Center of International Super Chess Tournament M-Tel Masters: http://www.mtelmasters.com

The 5th M-Tel Masters took place in Sofia 12th-23rd May 2009. In the best result of his career Alexei Shirov took clear first place after defeating Magnus Carlsen in the final round. Carlsen took 2nd place on tie-break from Veselin Topalov, both won three games but Carlsen beat Topalov in one of their individual games.

The Category XXI event saw Veselin Topalov, Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wang Yue, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Alexei Shirov play in a double round robin format. The games were played in a glass pavilion on the square in front of the National Theatre Ivan Vazov.

The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves per player and 60 minutes per player till the end of the game. The maximum period for a single game is 5 hours. "Sofia rules" were used. They are that: Opponents cannot communicate during the games and cannot offer a draw. Proposals for a draw can be made only through the Chief Arbiter in three cases: triple repetition, eternal chess and theoretical draw position. When making the decisions the Chief Arbiter will be consulted by Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Vice President of FIDE.

Official site: http://www.mtelmasters.com - including live coverage.