THE quarterfinal opening matches of the Aimchess US Rapid Tournament being played at the chess.com server started on Monday with Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, and Aliresa Firouzja crushing their respective foes, while preliminary phase winner Vladislav Artemiev was held by Leinier Dominguez Perez, who barely made it to the knockout stage.
Carlsen drubbed Jan-Krzysztof Duda, 2½-½, in their four-game opening match and needs only to draw the second match to advance to the semifinal round. On the other hand, Aronian overpowered Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, 3-1, even as Firouzja clubbed Wesley So, 2½-½. Artemiev and Dominguez Perez traded wins and draws for a 2-2 count.
Wesley was unrecognizable against Firouzja, and his rather ineffectual play seems the result of exhaustion from having played in one strong tournament after the other. While he defended tenaciously, his handling of the opening phase appeared shaky, if tenuous.
Each knockout stage of the Aimchess US Rapid Tournament – quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals – consist of two matches of four games each. The time format remains at 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move.
Now, all Carlsen, Aronian, and Firouzja have to do is draw their second matches to make it to the semis.
Firouzja, A (2759)-
So, Wesley (2772) [E20]
chess24.com (1.11) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 b5 6.e4 0-0 7.e5 Ne8 8.f4 exd5 9.cxd5 d6 10.Nf3 c4 11.a4 Nd7 12.Be2 Qb6 13.Bd2 Nc7 14.Nxb5 Nxd5 15.Bxb4 Nxb4 16.Nxd6 Ba6 17.Qd2 Nc5 18.a5 Qb8 19.0-0 Nb3 20.Qe3 Nxa1 21.Ng5 h6 22.Nf5 Qc7 23.Ne4 f6 24.Qg3 Kh8 25.exf6 Rxf6 26.Nxf6 Qc5+ 27.Kh1 Qxf5 28.Nh5 Qf7 29.f5 Nac2 30.f6 g5 31.Ng7 c3 32.Bxa6 cxb2 33.Be2 Rf8 34.Nh5 Nd4 35.Qc3 Nxe2 36.Qxb4 Kg8 37.Ng3 Nxg3+ 38.hxg3 Qh5+ 39.Kg1 Qe2 40.Qb3+ Rf7 41.Rb1 Qe5 42.Qxb2 Qxa5 43.Qd4 Qc7 44.Qe4 Rxf6 45.Rb7 Qxb7 46.Qxb7 Rf7 47.Qc6 Kg7 48.Kh2 Rf8 49.Kh3 Rf6 50.Qd7+ Rf7 51.Qd4+ Kg6 52.Qe4+ 1-0
Carlsen, M (2847)-
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof (2738) [B40]
chess24.com (1.13) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 Nc6 4.Bb2 a6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qa5+ 7.Nd2 Nf6 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bd3 Bb4 10.Ke2 0-0 11.Nc4 Qc7 12.Be5 Qd8 13.c3 Be7 14.Bc2 Nd7 15.Bd6 b5 16.Ne3 a5 17.e5 b4 18.Qd3 g6 19.Rad1 Bxd6 20.Qxd6 Qg5 21.Qxc6 Ra7 22.c4 Qxe5 23.Qd6 Qh5+ 24.f3 f5 25.Qxe6+ Kg7 26.Qd6 Nf6 27.Qd4 Re7 28.Kf2 Rfe8 29.Rhe1 Bb7 30.Qf4 Kg8 31.Nf1 g5 32.Qxf5 Rxe1 33.Rxe1 Qh4+ 34.Ng3 Qd4+ 35.Kf1 Rxe1+ 36.Kxe1 Qe3+ 37.Ne2 Kg7 38.Qxa5 1-0
Aronian, L (2782)-
Mamedyarov, S (2782) [C77]
chess24.com (1.11) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 0-0 8.0-0 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nbd2 f6 11.Ne4 Ba7 12.a3 Kh8 13.Re1 Bg4 14.h3 Bh5 15.Ng3 Bf7 16.Bc2 Qd7 17.Bd2 Rae8 18.b4 Nde7 19.a4 Bb6 20.Qe2 f5 21.Nh4 h6 22.Kh1 Qe6 23.axb5 axb5 24.d4 Qf6 25.Nhxf5 Nxf5 26.Nxf5 exd4 27.Qd3 Bc4 28.Rxe8 Rxe8 29.Qg3 Nxb4 30.Bb1 d3 31.Nd4 Bxd4 32.cxd4 Nc6 33.Ra3 Qxd4 34.Bxd3 Ne5 35.Bxc4 bxc4 36.Bc3 Qd6 37.Ra5 Ng6 38.Qxd6 cxd6 39.Ra6 Re6 40.Rc6 Ne5 41.Rc8+ Kh7 42.f4 Nd3 43.Rc7 Kg8 44.f5 Re2 45.Rxg7+ Kf8 46.Rc7 Ne5 47.Bb4 Kg8 48.Bxd6 Nf7 49.Bf4 Re4 50.g3 h5 51.Kg2 Rd4 52.Kf3 h4 53.g4 Rd3+ 54.Ke4 Rxh3 55.g5 Rd3 56.g6 1-0
Dominguez Perez, L (2758)-
Artemiev, V (2704) [B12]
chess24.com (1.12) 2021
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Nd7 7.0-0 Ne7 8.Nbd2 Nc6 9.c4 Be7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Bxc5 Nxc5 13.Nb3 Nxb3 14.Qxb3 Qb6 15.Qxd5 Qxb2 16.Bb5 0-0 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6 Rfd8 19.h3 h6 20.a4 Rac8 21.Qb5 Qc3 22.Rac1 Qxc1 23.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 24.Kh2 Be6 25.Qb7 Rd7 26.Qa8+ Kh7 27.Qe4+ g6 28.Qh4 Kg7 29.Nd4 Bd5 30.Qf6+ Kh7 31.Nf5 gxf5 32.Qxf5+ Kg7 33.Qg4+ Kh7 34.Qxd7 Be6 35.Qxa7 1-0
Dominguez Perez, L (2758)-
Artemiev, V (2704) [B06]
chess24.com (1.14) 2021
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.g4 b5 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.h4 h6 8.h5 g5 9.Nge2 Nd7 10.Ng3 e6 11.f4 gxf4 12.Bxf4 Nb6 13.Qd3 Nf6 14.g5 Nfd7 15.gxh6 Bxh6 16.Bxh6 Rxh6 17.Qe3 Rh7 18.b3 Qe7 19.a4 b4 20.Nce2 a5 21.0-0-0 0-0-0 22.Kb1 Rg8 23.Bf3 Qg5 24.Qf2 Kb8 25.Rhg1 Qf6 26.Qe3 Ka7 27.c3 Qh6 28.Qf2 Kb8 29.cxb4 axb4 30.Rc1 Rg5 31.Qe1 c5 32.dxc5 dxc5 33.Qd2 f6 34.Qd6+ Ka7 35.Qxe6 Re5 36.Qg4 Qe3 37.Ka2 c4 38.Rb1 Nc5 39.Qf4 Qd3 40.Nc1 cxb3+ 41.Nxb3 Qc2+ 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa1!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…f5 2.Qh1#; 1…Kf5 2.Qb1#; 1…Kd5 2.Qh1#./PN
