The Airthings Masters, the starting event for the new 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season, kicked off over the weekend with a bang at the chess24.com playing server.
The strong playing cast is made up of 16 top grandmasters. They are Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri, Levon Aronian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Andrey Esipenko, Quang Liem Le, Vladislav Artemiev, Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Hans Moke Niemann, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Eric Hansen and Alexandra Kosteniuk.
The rapid event has a time format of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move. Only half or eight of the 16 players will continue to play in the next stage which is the knockout phase. Four rounds are played during the preliminary phase.
Standings after Round 4: 1. Ding, 3½; 2-3. Nepomniachtchi, Esipenko, 3; 4-7. Niemann, Aronian, Keymer, Hansen, 2½; 8-11. Abdusattorov, Artemiev, Giri, Duda, 2; 12-13. Carlsen, Le, 1½; 14. Mamedyarov, 1; 15. Praggnanandhaa, ½; 16. Kosteniuk, 0.
Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-Aronian,L (2772) [C50]
chess24.com (1.4) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0 0-0 6.h3 h6 7.Re1 Re8 8.Nbd2 d6 9.c3 Be6 10.b4 Bb6 11.a4 a6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.Nc4 d5 14.Nxb6 cxb6 15.Qb3 dxe4 16.dxe4 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Rxa8 Qxa8 19.Qc2 Qa4 20.Qe2 Rd6 21.Nh4 Ne7 22.Nf5 Nxf5 23.exf5 Rd5 24.Be3 Qb3 25.Rc1 Qc4 26.Qf3 Kh7 27.g4 Ne4 28.h4 Nd2 29.Qg3 Qe4 30.Kh2 Nf3+ 31.Kh3 Rd3 32.Qg2 f6 33.Ra1 Qc6 34.Rc1 Qe4 35.Ra1 Qc6 36.Rc1 Qd5 37.Qh1 e4 38.Kg2 Rxe3 39.fxe3 Qd2+ 40.Kg3 Qxe3 41.Qd1 Ne1+ 0-1
Esipenko,A (2714)-Carlsen,M (2865) [C55]
chess24.com (3.2) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Nc3 d6 7.a4 a5 8.Re1 Nb4 9.Ne2 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Ng3 Nc6 12.c3 Nd7 13.Be3 Nf6 14.d4 exd4 15.cxd4 d5 16.Ng5 Qd7 17.e5 Ne8 18.Nh3 Ra6 19.Qg4 Rb6 20.Nf4 Rxb2 21.Qxe6+ Qxe6 22.Nxe6 Rf7 23.Rec1 g6 24.Rab1 Rxb1 25.Rxb1 Nb4 26.Ne2 c6 27.Bh6 Rf5 28.g4 Rf3 29.Be3 Kf7 30.N6f4 g5 31.Nh5 Kg8 32.Kg2 Rf8 33.h4 h6 34.Neg3 Kf7 35.Nf5 Rh8 36.Nxe7 Kxe7 37.hxg5 hxg5 38.Bxg5+ Kf7 39.f4 Rg8 40.Kg3 Nc7 41.Nf6 Rg7 42.Bh6 Rg6 43.g5 Ne6 44.f5 Rxf6 1-0
Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-Giri,A (2772) [B92]
chess24.com (3.3) 2022
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 Be6 10.Re1 h6 11.Qd2 Nc6 12.Bf3 a5 13.Nd5 a4 14.Nc1 Bxd5 15.exd5 Nd4 16.Bxd4 exd4 17.Qxd4 Nd7 18.Nd3 a3 19.Qb4 axb2 20.Rab1 Bf6 21.Nxb2 Rxa2 22.Nd3 Ne5 23.Be4 Ra7 24.Nxe5 Bxe5 25.g3 Qf6 26.Re2 Bd4 27.Kg2 Bc5 28.Qb5 b6 29.Rb3 Qd8 30.Rf3 Re7 31.h4 h5 32.Qd3 Rfe8 33.Rf4 Qd7 34.Bf5 Qb7 35.Bh7+ Kf8 36.Rxe7 Rxe7 37.Bg6 Kg8 38.Bxh5 Qd7 39.Bg4 Qe8 40.h5 Re1 41.Bf5 Kh8 42.Be4 f6 43.Bg6 Qa8 44.h6 Qa1 45.Qf5 Rg1+ 46.Kh3 Qf1+ 47.Kg4 Qd1+ 48.f3 Rxg3+ 49.Kxg3 Qg1+ 50.Kh3 Qf1+ 51.Kg4 Qg2+ 52.Kh5 Qh2+ 53.Rh4 1-0
Ding,L (2799)-Le,QL (2709) [D37]
chess24.com (4.2) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bxc4 Nxe4 7.0-0 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.Ne5 0-0 10.Qg4 Nc6 11.Re1 f5 12.Qf3 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 Kh8 14.Bf4 Bd6 15.Re3 Bxf4 16.Qxf4 Qd6 17.Qxd6 cxd6 18.Bxe6 f4 19.Ree1 Bxe6 20.Rxe6 Rac8 21.Rxd6 Rxc3 22.Rd7 f3 23.Re1 h6 24.Rxb7 Rc2 25.g4 Rxa2 26.h3 Rc8 27.Rf7 Kg8 28.Ree7 Rc1+ 29.Kh2 Rxf2+ 30.Kg3 Rg2+ 31.Kh4 f2 32.Rxg7+ Kh8 33.Rh7+ Kg8 34.Reg7+ Kf8 35.Rxa7 Kg8 36.Rhg7+ Kh8 37.Rgb7 Rc8 38.Rh7+ Kg8 39.Rag7+ Kf8 40.Rf7+ Kg8 41.Rhg7+ Kh8 42.Rg6 Rc7 43.Rxh6+ Kg8 44.Rf5 Rf7 45.Rg6+ Kf8 46.Rgf6 Rxf6 47.Rxf6+ Ke7 48.Rf5 Ke6 49.Kg5 1-0
Carlsen,M (2865)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2773) [E06]
chess24.com (4.7) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Na3 Bxa3 8.bxa3 Bd7 9.a4 Bc6 10.Ba3 Re8 11.Qc2 Nbd7 12.Rac1 Bd5 13.Rfe1 Rc8 14.e4 Bc6 15.Nd2 c3 16.Nb1 Nb6 17.a5 Na4 18.Nxc3 Qxd4 19.Nxa4 Qxa4 20.Qxa4 Bxa4 21.Bb2 b6 22.Bf1 c5 23.f3 Red8 24.Ba6 Rc6 25.Be5 Nd7 26.Bf4 e5 27.Be3 Rd6 28.Rb1 Nf8 29.f4 Bc2 30.fxe5 Rg6 31.Rb2 Bxe4 32.Rf1 Rd7 33.e6 Nxe6 34.axb6 axb6 35.Rxb6 h5 36.Bc4 h4 37.Bxe6 fxe6 38.Rb8+ Kh7 39.Rf4 Rd1+ 40.Kf2 Rf6 41.Bxc5 Rxf4+ 42.gxf4 Bd5 43.Rb2 Rd3 44.Ke1 Kg6 45.a4 Rc3 46.Bd6 Rc1+ 47.Kd2 Ra1 48.Be5 Rxa4 49.Rb1 Ra2+ 50.Rb2 Ra7 51.Rb1 Kf5 52.Ra1 Rd7 53.Rg1 Bg2+ 54.Ke3 h3 55.Bd4 Rb7 56.Rc1 Bd5 57.Rg1 Rb3+ 58.Kd2 g6 59.Rg5+ Ke4 60.Be5 Rf3 61.Ke1 Bc4 62.Rxg6 Rf1+ 63.Kd2 Rf2+ 64.Kc3 Bd5 65.Rh6 Rxh2 66.Kb4 Kf5 67.Kc5 Rc2+ 68.Kd6 h2 0-1
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rf7!, and Blackâs futile options are: 1…Nbc6 2.Rxd7#; 1…d6 2.Nxe6#; 1…Bc4/a4/c6 2.R(x)c4#; 1…Bxd3 2.Nxf3#; 1…f2+ 2.Qxf2#.
