LONG shots Ian Nepomniachtchi and Anish Giri proved their capability to win against very tough opposition when they won their respective semi-final matches in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour – Magnus Carlsen Invitational at the chess24.com server.
Nepomniachtchi defeated Magnus Carlsen while Giri dumped Wesley So, effectively dousing high expectations of another Carlsen-Wesley title tiff. Nepomniachtchi and Giri both won their opening sets, and while Giri won the second set with little effort as Wesley self-destructed in his eagerness to level the score, Nepomniachtchi went through the blitz tiebreakers to knock out Carlsen.
Nepomniachtchi and Giri began their final showdown over the weekend and drew 2-2 in the opening set after four draws in four Sicilian games. In the battle for 3rd-4th places, on the other hand, Carlsen won the first set against an uninspired Wesley, 3-1. The second set will be played as we write this and we’ll have a winner by today, March 21.
Carlsen, M (2847)-Nepomniachtchi, I (2789) [D35]
chess24.com (2.22) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.e3 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Nge2 0-0 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.Nxc3 Ne7 12.Be2 c6 13.0-0 Nf5 14.b4 Nh4 15.Kh1 Qg6 16.g3 Nf5 17.b5 h5 18.bxc6 bxc6 19.Rg1 h4 20.gxh4 Qf6 21.h5 c5 22.Nxd5 Bb7 23.Bf3 Bxd5 24.Bxd5 Rad8 25.Qc6 Qxc6 26.Bxc6 cxd4 27.Rg5 Ne7 28.Bf3 dxe3 29.fxe3 Rd3 30.Re5 Nc8 31.a4 Nd6 32.Rc1 Rb8 33.Kg2 Rbb3 34.Rc6 Kf8 35.a5 f6 36.Re6 Nf5 37.h6 Nxh6 38.Rc8+ Kf7 39.Ra6 Rd2+ 40.Kg3 Nf5+ 41.Kf4 Rf2 42.Rxa7+ Kg6 43.Rcc7 Kh6 44.Kxf5 Rxe3 45.Rc5 g6+ 46.Kg4 Rfxf3 0-1
Giri, A (2776)-So, Wesley (2770) [C65]
chess24.com (2.11) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Nd7 7.c3 0-0 8.d4 Bd6 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bh4 Qe7 11.Nbd2 Qf7 12.Bg3 Re8 13.Qc2 a5 14.b3 exd4 15.cxd4 Bxg3 16.hxg3 Nb6 17.a4 Bg4 18.Rfe1 h6 19.Re3 Re7 20.Rae1 Rae8 21.Qc3 Qh5 22.Nh2 Be6 23.f4 f5 24.Qxa5 Bf7 25.g4 fxg4 26.Qc3 Qh4 27.Ndf1 g3 28.Nxg3 Qxf4 29.Nf5 Rxe4 30.Rxe4 Rxe4 31.Rf1 Qg5 32.Nxh6+ gxh6 0-1
Giri, A (2776)-So, Wesley (2770) [C65]
chess24.com (2.13) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Nd7 7.c3 a5 8.d4 Bd6 9.Re1 a4 10.Nbd2 exd4 11.cxd4 Nb6 12.Nf1 0-0 13.Bg5 f6 14.Bh4 Bg4 15.h3 Bh5 16.Qd3 Qd7 17.g4 Bg6 18.Ne3 Nd5 19.Nf5 Nf4 20.Qf1 Bxf5 21.gxf5 g6 22.Bg3 Nh5 23.fxg6 hxg6 24.Qg2 Kh7 25.Rad1 Rae8 26.a3 Bxg3 27.fxg3 Qd6 28.Kh2 Re7 29.Rd2 Kg7 30.e5 Qd7 31.Re4 Qd5 32.exf6+ Kxf6 33.Re5 Qd7 34.Rg5 Qd6 35.Rf2 Kg7 36.Nh4 Re6 37.Nf5+ Rxf5 38.Rfxf5 Qxd4 39.Rg4 Qd6 40.Rf2 Re3 41.Re2 Rd3 42.Qf2 c5 43.Rg5 c4 44.Rge5 Nxg3 45.Re7+ Kh6 46.Qf8+ Kg5 47.Rg2 Re3 48.Rf7 Qd1 49.Rf1 Qd3 50.Rf4 1-0
So, Wesley (2770)-Giri, A (2776) [D83]
chess24.com (2.14) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.Rc1 Be6 7.c5 c6 8.Bd3 Bg4 9.Nge2 b6 10.Na4 Nfd7 11.f3 e5 12.Bxe5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bc8 14.f4 f6 15.exf6 Qxf6 16.0-0 Qe7 17.Qd2 Re8 18.Rf3 Bg4 19.Rg3 Bxe2 20.Bxe2 Nd7 21.b4 Nf6 22.Nc3 bxc5 23.bxc5 Rad8 24.f5 gxf5 25.Rf1 Ne4 26.Nxe4 fxe4 27.Bg4 Rf8 28.Bf5 Rf6 29.Qe2 Qf7 30.Qg4 Rf8 31.Rf2 Kh8 32.Be6 Qe7 33.Bf5 Bh6 34.Rh3 Qe5 35.Rf1 Rxf5 36.Rxf5 Rxf5 0-1
Carlsen, M (2847)-Nepomniachtchi, I (2789) [D35]
chess24.com (2.32) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.Nge2 h5 10.h3 Nxg3 11.Nxg3 h4 12.Nh5 c6 13.Be2 Nd7 14.Qb3 Bxc3+ 15.Qxc3 Nf6 16.Nxf6+ Qxf6 17.b4 a6 18.a4 Bf5 19.b5 axb5 20.axb5 0-0 21.0-0 Qe6 22.Rfc1 cxb5 23.Qb3 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 Rc8 25.Bf3 Be4 26.Bxe4 Qxe4 27.Qxb5 Rc7 28.Qb6 Qe7 29.Qa5 Qd6 30.Rb1 Kg7 31.Qb5 b6 32.Qd3 Qe6 33.Qa6 Qd6 34.Qe2 Qg6 35.Ra1 Qe4 36.Qb5 Qe6 37.Qb4 Rc4 38.Qb1 Qc6 39.Qf5 Rc1+ 40.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 41.Kh2 Qc7+ 42.g3 hxg3+ 43.Kg2 Qd8 44.Kxg3 b5 45.Qb1 Qd6+ 46.Kf3 b4 47.Qb3 Qf6+ 48.Kg2 Qd6 49.Kg1 f6 50.Kg2 Qb6 51.h4 gxh4 52.Kh3 Qb5 53.Kxh4 Kf7 54.Kg4 Ke6 55.Kf4 Qc4 56.Qa4 b3 57.Qe8+ Kd6 58.Qb8+ Kc6 59.Kf5 Qb5 60.Qc8+ Kb6 61.Qb8+ Ka5 62.Qa7+ Kb4 63.Qa1 Qe2 64.Ke6 b2 65.Qa6 Qxa6+ 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qb8!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…e6 2.Qxd6#; 1…Qxc6 2.Sc3#; 1…Qc7/xb8 2.R4xc5#; 1…Ke5 2.R6xc5#; 1…Kxc6 2.Qb7#./PN
