Aronian, Shirov Lead Shanghai Masters

Happy Labor Day to everyone reading in the United States! Around the world, there's still a lot of chess being played on what for some of us is a holiday weekend. Perhaps the highest-profile event is the Shanghai Masters, featuring Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Alexei Shirov and Wang Hao. It's a small double-round robin, with the big prize being that the top two finishers will join Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen for the second half of the event, which takes place in Bilbao, Spain. Also of note, the tournament uses the 3-1-0 scoring system (familiar to any soccer/football fans around the world), where a win earns a player three points, and a draw just one point.

After four rounds, there are two clear leaders. Out in front with eight points is Alexei Shirov, who has already scored wins with White over Wang Hao and Kramnik. Shirov has all but clinched a spot in the final, barring a terrible collapse in the final two rounds combined with a couple wins by Kramnik to pass him by. Also in great position is Aronian, who has scored a win over Wang Hao and drawn his other three games to stand at six points. Kramnik has three points, while Hao is in even worse shape, with just two draws so far.

With just two rounds to go, it seems likely that Shirov and Aronian will be moving on to Bilbao, but anything is still possible -- neither Kramnik or Hao have been eliminated just yet. The next phase of the tournament will take place in mid-October, after the Chess Olympiad: which we'll also be talking about very soon.