The GSCA was established on 17 January 2007, and the first edition of the series for 2008 announced in May, with Mexico City added to the list and Bilbao confirmed as Masters Final hosts.
[4] On 16 March 2009, the members of the GSCA Presidential Board was published, confirming the addition of Pearl Spring in Nanjing, China as Grand Slam hosts as well as interest from San Luis, Argentina and London.
After Topalov withdrew from the final, the remaining two places were decided during a preliminary tournament in China in early September involving Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian (the highest two rated players not having already qualified for the final), Alexei Shirov (nominee of host nation Spain) and Wang Hao (nominee of host nation China).
The final was the strongest tournament (by rating) in chess history, and it was won by Kramnik, followed by Anand, Carlsen and Shirov.
At the end of the 2012 edition of Tata Steel the rest of the 2012 series was confirmed and announced that the 2011 winners of Tal Memorial and London Chess Classic qualified for the 2012 Bilbao Final.