Topalov Leads in Bilbao

The Grand Slam Final of the 2008 chess season is taking place in Bilbao, Spain -- and is likely one of the strongest chess tournaments in history. Six of the world's top Grandmasters are competing in a double round-robin format: World Champion Viswanathan Anand, rising superstar Magnus Carlsen, former champion Veselin Topalov, Mtel Masters winner Vassily Ivanchuk, young star Teimour Radjabov and Corus champion Levon Aronian.

There are a few points of interest about the Bilbao tournament:

• Bilbao uses a unique scoring system designed to encourage fighting play. Wins are awarded 3 points, while draws score 1 point. In addition, the players are not allowed to offer draws to one another; only the arbiter can declare a game drawn.
• Magnus Carlsen has a legitimate chance to become the world's top-ranked player at the end of this tournament - making him the world's #1 before he turns 18! According to the Live Ratings List, which calculates ratings after each round, Carlsen currently has a slight lead (about 1 point) on Anand.
• There can be no complaints about the prize fund: a cool €400,000, or about $570,000. €150,000 ($214,000) goes to the winner, with the rest split among the other five players.

At the halfway point, Topalov leads with 9 points (+2 =3) with Carlsen close behind with 8 points (+2 -1 =2). Anand's performance has been disappointing; he's tied for 4th with just 4 points (-1 =4). The games start again on Monday, 5 p.m. local time (11 a.m. Eastern US time).