Magnua Carlsen emerged the convincing winner of the first event of this year’s Meltwater Champions Chess Tour – the Airthings Masters, beating Ian Nepomniachtchi, 2½-½, in the second set of their finals match over at the chess24.com play server.
The finals match especially proved disquieting for Nepomniachtchi, coming as it does on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nonetheless, Nepomniachtchi put up a great fight on the first set of the finals, which ended in a draw. On the second set, though, it was Carlsen who showed better appreciation and stronger nerves to find the winning path during critical situations.
Earlier, Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi arrainged the finals clash after semifinal victories over Vladsilav Artemiev and Andrey Esipenko, respectively. Each of the matches ended in similar 2½-½ routs.
The finals victory was worth $25,000 for Carlsen.
Carlsen,M (2865)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2773) [D41]
chess24.com (3.13) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.e3 0-0 9.Rd1 Nc6 10.Qa4 Qb6 11.Rd2 Be6 12.Bd3 h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Bb4 15.0-0 Ne4 16.Bxe4 dxe4 17.Nd4 Bc4 18.Rfd1 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Bd3 20.Nf5 Qc5 21.Nd6 b5 22.Qa6 f5 23.a4 f4 24.axb5 Ne5 25.exf4 gxf4 26.Nxe4 Bxe4 27.Qe6+ Nf7 28.Qxe4 fxg3 29.hxg3 Qxc3 30.Rd7 Qe5 31.Qg6+ Qg7 32.Qa6 Qe5 33.Qg6+ Qg7 34.Qa6 Qe5 35.R1d5 Qg7 36.Rf5 Rae8 37.Rxa7 Qg4 38.Rf4 Re1+ 39.Kh2 Qe6 40.Rf6 Qxa6 41.bxa6 Ne5 42.Rxf8+ Kxf8 43.f3 Ra1 44.g4 Kg8 45.Kg3 Nc6 46.Ra8+ Kg7 47.f4 Ra4 48.Kh4 Rxf4 49.Rc8 Rf6 50.Rc7+ Kg6 51.a7 ½-½
Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-Carlsen,M (2865) [C53]
chess24.com (3.14) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Na3 h6 9.Nb5 Bb8 10.d4 0-0 11.h3 Re8 12.Bd3 Ne7 13.c4 Ng6 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 dxe5 16.c5 c6 17.Nc3 Be6 18.Be3 Qe7 19.Qe2 Bc7 20.b3 Nd7 21.Na4 Red8 22.Rad1 Nf8 23.Qc2 Rd7 24.Bf1 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Rd8 26.Rb1 Nd7 27.b4 axb4 28.Rxb4 Rb8 29.Qb2 b5 30.cxb6 Bd6 31.a3 Bxb4 32.axb4 Qd6 33.Be2 Ra8 34.Bc5 Nxc5 35.Nxc5 Ra2 36.Qc3 Rxe2 37.b7 Qc7 38.Qa3 Rd2 39.Qa8+ Rd8 40.Na6 Qd6 41.Qxd8+ Qxd8 42.b8Q Qc8 43.f3 f6 44.Qb6 Bc4 45.Nc5 Kh7 46.Kh2 h5 47.h4 Kg6 48.Kg3 Kh7 49.Kh2 Kg6 50.Qa7 Qd8 51.Qb7 Qd2 52.Qxc6 Bf1 53.Qe8+ Kh6 54.Qh8+ Kg6 55.Qe8+ Kh6 56.Qh8+ Kg6 57.Qe8+ ½-½
Carlsen,M (2865)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2773) [C24]
chess24.com (3.22) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Na4 Bb6 7.Nxb6 axb6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Bd2 0-0 10.0-0 Ne7 11.b3 Ng6 12.Re1 c5 13.h3 Bc6 14.b4 d5 15.exd5 Bxd5 16.Bb5 e4 17.dxe4 Nxe4 18.bxc5 Nxd2 19.Nxd2 Nf4 20.Bf1 bxc5 21.Nc4 Qf6 22.Ne3 Bc6 23.Ng4 Qg5 24.g3 Rad8 25.gxf4 Qxf4 26.Qe2 Rde8 27.Qd3 h5 28.Nh2 Re5 29.Rxe5 Qxe5 30.c3 Re8 31.Bg2 Qg5 32.Nf3 Qf4 33.Re1 Rxe1+ 34.Nxe1 Qxa4 35.Bxc6 Qxc6 36.c4 g6 37.Ng2 Qf6 38.Qe4 Qa1+ 39.Kh2 Qb2 40.Kg3 Kg7 41.Ne3 b5 42.cxb5 Qxb5 43.Qe5+ Kg8 44.Nd5 Qd3+ 45.Kh4 Qd2 46.f4 Qg2 47.Nf6+ Kf8 48.Nd7+ Kg8 49.Qe8+ Kg7 50.Qf8+ 1-0
Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-Carlsen,M (2865) [B48]
chess24.com (3.23) 2022
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.g4 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 b5 9.0-0-0 Bb7 10.Kb1 Nf6 11.f3 Rc8 12.g5 Nh5 13.Qd2 Be7 14.Bh3 b4 15.Ne2 d5 16.Bg4 g6 17.Bxh5 gxh5 18.Nf4 dxe4 19.Nxh5 exf3 20.Bf4 Qd8 21.Qe3 Bd5 22.Nf6+ Bxf6 23.gxf6 Rg8 24.Rhe1 Rg2 25.Qa7 Qd7 26.Qd4 Rcxc2 27.Bc1 Rxc1+ 28.Kxc1 Qc6+ 29.Kb1 Qa4 30.Rd2 Bxa2+ 0-1
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Nh4!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Kf4 2.Qd6#; 1…Kf6 2.Bxd4#; 1…Nxh4 2.Bh2#.
