LEVON Aronian completely got Vladislav Artemiev’s number and went on to win the first two games of the second set to convincingly win the Goldmoney Asian Rapid Tournament which ended July 4 at the chess24.com server. Aronian took home the $30,000 top prize, while Artemiev pocketed $15,000.
Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen defeated Liren Ding in a tiebreak match after the latter won the second set. Ding proved too hard to handle for Carlsen in the second set, beating the world champion via a 3-0 rout that extended the battle for 3rd place. Carlsen managed to win the first blitz tiebreak game and drew the second to win the $8,500 3rd place purse that goes with it, while Ding settled for $6,500.
The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour continues July 31 with the eighth leg of its tournament series.
Artemiev, V (2704)-Aronian, L (2781) [A07]
chess24.com (3.21) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 Nf6 5.c4 dxc4 6.Qa4+ Nfd7 7.Qxc4 Nc6 8.d3 Nb6 9.Qh4 0-0 10.Nc3 e5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.Bg5 f6 13.Be3 Ne7 14.Rac1 Ned5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Bd2 c6 17.b4 Be6 18.Rc2 Rd7 19.Rb1 Rad8 20.Be1 Bf8 21.a3 Nc7 22.a4 Bd5 23.Bh3 Be6 24.Bf1 Bf5 25.Nd2 Ne6 26.Rc4 g5 27.Ne4 Kf7 28.Bc3 h5 29.b5 cxb5 30.Rxb5 b6 31.a5 Rc7 32.Nxg5+ fxg5 33.Rxe5 Bg4 34.Rxe6 Rxc4 35.Rf6+ Ke7 36.dxc4 Bg7 37.Rf3 Bxf3 38.Bxg7 Bg4 39.axb6 Rd1 40.Kg2 axb6 41.e3 Bf5 42.Be2 Rd2 43.Bxh5 g4 44.Kf1 Rd1+ 45.Ke2 Rh1 46.Bc3 Rxh2 47.Bb4+ Ke6 48.e4 Rxh5 49.exf5+ Kxf5 50.f3 Rh2+ 51.Ke3 gxf3 52.Kxf3 Rc2 53.g4+ Ke6 54.g5 Rxc4 55.Bf8 Kf5 56.Bh6 Rc8 57.Ke3 Kg6 58.Kd3 b5 0-1
Aronian, L (2781)-Artemiev, V (2704) [B07]
chess24.com (3.22) 2021
1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bd3 0-0 6.0-0 c5 7.h3 Qc7 8.Re1 e5 9.Be3 b6 10.Nbd2 Nc6 11.Rc1 Re8 12.d5 Ne7 13.b4 Nd7 14.Nf1 c4 15.Bc2 f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.Bg5 e4 18.Ng3 exf3 19.Nxf5 Ne5 20.Nxg7 Kxg7 21.Rxe5 dxe5 22.d6 Qd7 23.Qxf3 Ng6 24.Qxa8 Bb7 25.Qxa7 Qc6 26.f3 Ra8 27.d7 Qxd7 28.Qxb6 Ra6 29.Qe3 Rxa2 30.Rd1 Qe6 31.Qc5 Rxc2 32.Qc7+ Kg8 33.Qxb7 Nf8 34.Rd8 Rxc3 35.Be7 Rc1+ 36.Kh2 1-0
Carlsen, M (2847)-Ding, L (2799) [A01]
chess24.com (3.22) 2021
1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Bf5 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.c4 c6 8.d3 h6 9.Nbd2 a5 10.a3 Nbd7 11.Ra2 Bh7 12.Qa1 Re8 13.Rc1 Bd6 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bf8 16.Bc3 Nd7 17.b4 Nb6 18.bxa5 Na4 19.Bb4 c5 20.Nb3 b6 21.Be1 bxa5 22.Qe5 Qb6 23.Rb1 Rab8 24.Raa1 Bd6 25.Qh5 Bg6 26.Qf3 Be5 27.Nd2 Qc7 28.Rxb8 Rxb8 29.Rc1 Bb2 30.Rc2 d4 31.Nb1 Ba1 32.Rc1 Bb2 33.Rc2 Nc3 34.Nxc3 Bxc3 35.Rc1 Bb2 36.Rb1 Bxa3 37.Rxb8+ Qxb8 38.Bd2 Bb4 39.Bf4 Qa7 40.Qc6 a4 41.Qc8+ Kh7 42.Bb8 Qe7 43.Qa6 a3 44.Be5 f6 45.Bf4 e5 46.Bc1 e4 47.dxe4 Bxe4 48.Bf1 0-1
Ding, L (2799)-Carlsen, M (2847) [E60]
chess24.com (3.22) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg2 Qa5+ 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 Nxd2 8.Qxd2 d6 9.0-0 Nc6 10.e3 0-0 11.Rac1 Bg4 12.d5 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Ne5 14.Be2 a6 15.a4 Qb4 16.Qc2 b5 17.cxb5 c4 18.Na2 Qb3 19.Qxb3 cxb3 20.Nb4 axb5 21.Bxb5 Nf3+ 22.Kg2 Nd2 23.Rfd1 Bxb2 24.Rc7 Ne4 25.Rb1 Bf6 26.Rxb3 Nc5 27.Rb1 Nxa4 28.Bxa4 Rxa4 29.Nc6 Re8 30.Rb8 Rxb8 31.Nxb8 g5 32.Nc6 Kf8 33.Rc8+ Kg7 34.Re8 1-0
Carlsen, M (2847)-Ding, L (2799) [C84]
chess24.com (3.31) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.a4 Bd7 10.Bc2 Re8 11.Re1 h6 12.Nbd2 Bf8 13.h3 Rb8 14.b4 Ne7 15.axb5 axb5 16.d4 Ng6 17.Nb3 Ra8 18.Bd2 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 Qc8 20.Kh2 Nh5 21.Bd3 Nhf4 22.Bf1 c6 23.dxe5 dxe5 24.Be3 Be6 25.Nc5 Bxc5 26.bxc5 f6 27.Rd1 Kh7 28.Rd6 f5 29.Bxf4 exf4 30.Nd4 Ne5 31.Qb1 g6 32.Qc1 Bd7 33.exf5 g5 34.Qc2 Rg8 35.Qe4 Qe8 36.Ne6 Nf7 37.f6+ Kh8 38.Bd3 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Bd3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Nd6 2.Re6#; 1…Nc5 2.Rf5#; 1…Ng5 2.Be7#; 1…Nxc3+ 2.Bxc3#./PN
