Like following the same script, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So both demolished their respective foes at the start of the semifinal round of the ongoing Clutch Chess Showdown II on the lichess.org server.
Carlsen crushed Levon Aronian while Wesley steamrollered Fabiano Caruana via similar 6-2 scores coming from identical 3-win, 3-draw slates. Carlsen and So rather uncannily both won Games 1, 2 and 5 and drew Games 3, 4 and 6 of their matches.
The round, however, is far from over as the remaining six games of their semifinals matches will still be played, and both Caruana and Aronian have a chance to level or even win with the scoring format being used in the event.
Caruana, F (2773)-So, Wesley (2741) [E32]
lichess.org (2.1) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 d5 6.e5 Ne4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c5 9.f3 Qh4+ 10.g3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 Qxh1 12.Qf2 Qh5 13.Bd3 f6 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.g4 Qf7 16.Qh4 g6 17.Bg5 Nd7 18.Kf2 dxc4 19.Bxc4 cxd4 20.cxd4 b5 21.Bxb5 Bb7 22.Qg3 Rf8 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Kg2 h5 25.gxh5 Nxh5 26.Qg4 Nf4+ 27.Kf2 e5 28.Ne2 Bxf3 29.Kxf3 Qb3+ 30.Kf2 Qxb5 31.Ke1 Kg7 32.Ng3 Qb2 0-1
So, Wesley (2741)-Caruana, F (2773) [C42]
lichess.org (2.2) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nf6 10.Bd3 Re8 11.Kb1 Bd7 12.Rhe1 c5 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Be4 Qb6 16.Ka1 Bc6 17.Bd5 Rad8 18.h4 Rxe1 19.Rxe1 Bxd5 20.Qxd5 Qc6 21.Qxc6 bxc6 22.g4 Kf8 23.Kb1 d5 24.Kc1 c4 25.g5 hxg5 26.hxg5 Be7 27.Rg1 c5 28.b3 cxb3 29.axb3 Rd6 30.Kd2 Bd8 31.Kd3 Re6 32.Nd2 Re5 33.f4 Rf5 34.Rg4 Bc7 35.Ke3 f6 36.Nf3 fxg5 37.Nxg5 Ke7 38.Nf3 Kf6 39.Rh4 Kf7 40.Ng5+ Ke7 41.Nf3 a5 42.Nd2 Ke6 43.c4 Bd8 44.Rg4 Bf6 45.cxd5+ Rxd5 46.Nc4 Kf5 47.Kf3 Rd4 48.Ne3+ Ke6 49.Rg2 a4 50.bxa4 Rxa4 51.Re2 Kd6 52.Rd2+ Kc6 53.Rg2 Ra7 54.c4 Kd6 55.Nd5 Ke6 56.Ke4 Bd4 57.Rg6+ Kf7 58.Rc6 g6 59.Nc7 Ra1 60.Ne6 Re1+ 61.Kd5 Be3 62.Ng5+ Kg7 63.Rc7+ Kg8 64.Ne6 Kh8 65.Nf8 Rg1 66.Ke4 Bd4 67.Rc8 Re1+ 68.Kd5 Rd1 69.Ne6+ Kh7 70.Nxc5 Ba1+ 71.Ke6 Rf1 72.Nd3 Rf3 73.Rd8 Re3+ 74.Kf7 Re4 75.c5 Rc4 76.Ke6 Rc2 77.Rd5 Kg7 78.Kd7 1-0
Caruana, F (2773)-So, Wesley (2741) [C51]
lichess.org (2.5) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Be7 6.d4 Na5 7.Bd3 d6 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Nf6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Qc2 Bd6 12.Nf3 Nc6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 Bxg3 16.hxg3 g4 17.Nh4 Ne5 18.Be2 Re8 19.Nd2 b6 20.Rad1 Qe7 21.Rfe1 Be6 22.Nf1 Rad8 23.Ne3 Qc5 24.Nef5 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 h5 26.Rd4 Qf8 27.Qd2 Nh7 28.a4 Nc6 29.Nh6+ Kg7 30.N4f5+ Kg6 31.Bd3 Ng5 32.Qf4 f6 33.Bb5 Nxd4 34.Bxe8+ Qxe8 35.cxd4 Bxf5 36.Nxf5 Qxe4 37.Nh4+ Kf7 38.Qxc7+ Qe7 39.Qc4+ Qe6 40.d5 Qd6 41.Qd3 Qe5 42.Qg6+ Ke7 43.Nf5+ Kd8 44.Kh2 Ne4 45.Qg8+ Kd7 46.Qf7+ Kd8 47.Ng7 h4 48.Ne6+ Kc8 49.Qg8+ Kb7 50.Qh7+ Ka6 51.Qxh4 Nxf2 52.Qh8 Qe1 53.Nc5+ Ka5 0-1
Carlsen, M (2881)-Aronian, L (2778) [A07]
lichess.org (2.1) 2020
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Be7 5.d3 0-0 6.Nbd2 a5 7.c4 a4 8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.Ndf3 c5 10.Bf4 d4 11.Nxd7 Nxd7 12.e4 b5 13.b3 Qb6 14.Rb1 axb3 15.axb3 Bb7 16.h4 Bc6 17.h5 Ra2 18.Bh3 Rfa8 19.Ne5 Nxe5 20.Bxe5 Bd7 21.h6 g6 22.Qf3 Qd8 23.Bg7 b4 24.e5 Bf8 25.Bxf8 Kxf8 26.Bg2 R8a6 27.Qf4 Bc6 28.Bxc6 Rxc6 29.Rfe1 Rca6 30.Re4 Rc2 31.Qf3 Raa2 32.Rf1 Rcb2 33.Rf4 Qc7 34.Rg4 Qxe5 35.Re4 Qh5 36.Qf6 Qxh6 37.Rxe6 1-0
Aronian, L (2778)-Carlsen, M (2881) [B03]
lichess.org (2.2) 2020
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.h3 0-0 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.d5 Na5 11.Bd4 Bxd4 12.Qxd4 e5 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.Ne4 Nc6 15.Nf6+ Kh8 16.Qf4 Bf5 17.Ng4 Re8+ 18.Be2 Bd3 19.Ne3 Bxe2 20.Kxe2 d5 21.Ng5 Qe7 22.Rhe1 d4 23.Kf1 dxe3 24.Rxe3 Qd7 25.Nxf7+ Kg7 26.Rf3 Qd4 27.Nd6 Re7 28.Qxd4+ Nxd4 29.Rd3 Nc6 30.b3 Nd7 31.Rad1 Nc5 32.R3d2 a5 33.g3 a4 34.Rb2 Nb4 35.bxa4 Rxa4 36.a3 Nbd3 37.Rb3 Nxb3 0-1
Carlsen, M (2881)-Aronian, L (2778) [A22]
lichess.org (2.5) 2020
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Bb4 4.e4 Bxc3 5.dxc3 d6 6.f3 Be6 7.Nh3 a5 8.a4 0-0 9.b3 Na6 10.Ng5 Bd7 11.Be3 Nc5 12.Ra2 Ra6 13.Rd2 Rb6 14.Bxc5 dxc5 15.Bh3 h6 16.Bxd7 hxg5 17.h4 Rd6 18.Rxd6 cxd6 19.Bf5 Nh5 20.Kf2 g6 21.Bg4 Nf6 22.Qd2 Nxg4+ 23.fxg4 Kg7 24.h5 Rh8 25.Ke2 f6 26.Kd1 Qd7 27.Qe2 b6 28.Qf3 Rh6 29.Kc2 Qe6 30.Kb2 Qd7 31.Ka3 Qe6 32.Rd1 Rh8 33.Rd5 Rd8 34.Rd2 Rd7 35.Rh2 Rd8 36.hxg6 Kxg6 37.Qh1 Qg8 38.Rh6+ Kf7 39.Qh5+ Ke6 40.Rg6 Qf7 41.Qxg5 Ke7 42.Qf5 Rg8 43.Rh6 Rg5 44.Qc8 Rg8 45.Qc7+ Ke6 46.Qc6 Re8 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.e4!. Black’s futile options are: 1…exf5 2.exf5#; 1…Rd5 2.exd5#; 1…Sf6 2.f4#; 1…Sc5 2.d4#./PN
