It was a welcomed return to form for Alexei Shirov at the Shanghai Masters, as the Spanish No.1 rolled back the years for an unexpected and stunning outright victory to book his ticket for next month's Bilbao Masters Grand Slam Final.

Shirov, with three wins and undefeated in the tournament, top scored with 11-points (3 points for a win) for an emphatic lead at the top by 5 points ahead of his nearest rivals.  But there was drama at the end of the tournament as Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronioan had to play a blitz tiebreaker to decide second place and to also join Shirov in Bilbao. 

The first two blitz games were both won with the white pieces and then the match went to an all-deciding, sudden-death armageddon game.  Kramnik, who had black and the draw advantage (but with less time, 4 min to 5 min), won on time to scrap through in an event he came perilously close to being eliminated from.  

Both Kramnik and Shirov will now join world No.1 Magnus Carlsen and world champion Vishy Anand next month in the Blibao Masters Grand Slam Final.  Chess.FM will have live coverage and commentary of the event.

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