IT WAS A CLOSE, tense and thrilling a final match as it could get, but in the end world champion Magnus Carlsen defeated Wesley So in Armageddon to take the second set of their championship bout and win the FTX Crypto Cup – the final major tournament of the $1.5-million 2021 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour – which ended Monday at the chess24.com server.
The second set saw Carlsen winning the first game, and Wesley immediately evened the score in Game 2. Two draws followed before the blitz tiebreaks where again the two combatants traded wins to arrange the Armageddon showdown. Wesley chose black, meaning he got four minutes against Carlsen’s five minutes on the clock but wins if he draws. Unfortunately for him, the Norwegian was more determined than ever to win, and Carlsen did, foiling Wesley’s bid for a hat trick. Wesley earlier beat the world champion in two finals matches of the 2021 Champions Chess Tour.
The win was worth $60,000 for Carlsen, while Wesley settled for the $40,000 runner-up pot. Both also received an undetermined amount of crypto-currency bonuses. Meanwhile, Ian Nepomniachtchi crushed Teimour Radjabov in the second set to win their battle for 3rd-4th places. The next regular tournament of the Tour is on June 26.
Carlsen, M (2847)-So, Wesley (2770) [D40]
chess24.com (3.21) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.e3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 a6 7.0-0 b5 8.Be2 Bb7 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Nd2 Ke7 12.Nb3 Nbd7 13.Rd1 Bb6 14.a4 b4 15.a5 Ba7 16.Na4 Bd5 17.Nd4 Rhb8 18.Bd2 Nc5 19.Nxc5 Bxc5 20.Rac1 Bxd4 21.exd4 Kd7 22.Bf4 Rb7 23.h4 Bb3 24.Rd3 Ba4 25.Be5 Bb5 26.Bf3 Nd5 27.Bxd5 exd5 28.Rg3 g6 29.Rc5 Bc6 30.Rf3 f5 31.h5 Rb5 32.Rc1 Re8 33.hxg6 hxg6 34.Rh3 Re6 35.Rh7+ Kd8 36.b3 g5 37.Bc7+ Ke8 38.Bb6 f4 39.Rg7 1-0
So, Wesley (2770)-Carlsen, M (2847) [B30]
chess24.com (3.22) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e5 4.0-0 Bd6 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bb3 Nge7 8.d4 c4 9.Bc2 Ng6 10.dxe5 Be7 11.Nd4 Ngxe5 12.f4 Ng6 13.Nxc6 dxc6 14.Qh5 Qb6+ 15.Kh1 Qc5 16.Qf3 0-0 17.Be3 Qd6 18.Qh5 c5 19.Nd2 Bb7 20.e5 Qc7 21.Nf3 h6 22.Rae1 Qc6 23.e6 Nh4 24.exf7+ Rxf7 25.Qxf7+ Kxf7 26.Ne5+ Kf8 27.Nxc6 Bxc6 28.Re2 Re8 29.Bc1 Rc8 30.Kg1 Bf6 31.f5 b4 32.Bd2 Rd8 33.Be1 b3 34.axb3 cxb3 35.Bxb3 Bb5 36.c4 Bc6 37.Rf4 Rd4 38.Rd4 Bxd4 39.Bf2 Nf5 40.Bc2 1-0
Carlsen, M (2847)-So, Wesley (2770) [D41]
chess24.com (3.23) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.e4 dxe4 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Ng5 Be6 10.Nxe6+ fxe6 11.Bg5 Ke8 12.0-0-0 Nc6 13.Bc4 Ne5 14.Bxe6 Nd3+ 15.Kc2 Nxf2 16.Bxf6 Nxd1 17.Rxd1 gxf6 18.Rd7 Rd8 19.Rxb7 Rd6 20.Bc4 f5 21.Rxa7 Kd8 22.Ra8+ Ke7 23.Ra5 Bh6 24.Nd5+ Kf7 25.Ne3+ Kg6 26.Nxf5 Rd2+ 27.Kc3 Rf2 28.Ne7+ Kf6 29.Nd5+ Kg7 30.Ra7+ Kg6 31.Ra6+ Kg7 32.Ra7+ Kg6 33.Ra6+ Kg7 34.Ra7+ ½-½
So, Wesley (2770)-Carlsen, M (2847) [C67]
chess24.com (3.24) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 Nbd4 8.Nxd4 d5 9.exd6 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Qxd6 11.Qe4+ Qe6 12.Qd4 Qd6 13.Qe4+ Qe6 14.Qd4 Qd6 ½-½
Carlsen, M (2847)-So, Wesley (2770) [A00]
chess24.com (3.31) 2021
1.b4 d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.e3 Bg4 4.Be2 Bxe2 5.Qxe2 Nbd7 6.Nf3 e6 7.a3 c6 8.c4 Bd6 9.d3 a5 10.c5 Bc7 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nbd2 b6 13.cxb6 Bxb6 14.Rfc1 axb4 15.axb4 Qe7 16.Rab1 Rfc8 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.d4 Bc7 19.Ne1 Bd6 20.Nd3 Rcb8 21.Nf3 Rb6 22.Nfe5 Qb7 23.Qc2 Bxe5 24.dxe5 Nd7 25.Rb3 c5 26.Nxc5 Nxc5 27.Qxc5 Rc6 28.Rbc3 Rxc5 29.Rxc5 h5 30.b5 Ra5 31.h3 g6 32.Rb1 Kg7 33.h4 Qb8 34.g3 Qxe5 35.Rcc1 Ra2 36.b6 Qf5 37.Rf1 Rxf2 38.b7 Rxf1+ 39.Rxf1 Qe5 0-1
So, Wesley (2770)-Carlsen, M (2847) [B51]
chess24.com (3.32) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.0-0 Ngf6 5.Re1 a6 6.Bf1 b6 7.c4 Bb7 8.Nc3 Ne5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.d3 e6 11.a3 Be7 12.b4 0-0 13.Rb1 Nd7 14.Be3 Qc7 15.Rb2 cxb4 16.axb4 a5 17.bxa5 bxa5 18.Nb5 Qd8 19.Qc2 Bc6 20.Ra1 h6 21.Na7 Qc7 22.Nb5 Qc8 23.h3 Nc5 24.Rba2 a4 25.Qc3 Nb3 26.Na7 Qd7 27.Nxc6 Qxc6 28.Rb1 Nd4 29.f4 f6 30.Bxd4 exd4 31.Qc2 a3 32.c5 Qxc5 33.Qxc5 Bxc5 34.Be2 Rfb8 35.Rc1 Rb2 36.Bg4 f5 0-1
Carlsen, M (2847)-So, Wesley (2770) [C50]
chess24.com (3.33) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0 h6 6.c3 0-0 7.b4 Bb6 8.a4 a6 9.Nbd2 d6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.d4 exd4 12.cxd4 d5 13.e5 Nh5 14.Bf1 Nf4 15.Nb3 Neg6 16.a5 Ba7 17.Bxf4 Nxf4 18.Qd2 Ng6 19.Nc5 f6 20.Bd3 f5 21.Bc2 Re8 22.g3 Bxc5 23.bxc5 Be6 24.Rab1 Rb8 25.Re3 Ne7 26.Reb3 Qc8 27.Nh4 Rf8 28.Ng2 Bd7 29.h4 Ba4 30.R3b2 Bxc2 31.Qxc2 Nc6 32.Qc3 g5 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.f4 Kg7 35.Kf2 Rh8 36.fxg5 Rh2 37.Qf3 Nxd4 38.Qxd5 Nc6 39.e6 Qd8 40.Qd7+ Qxd7 41.exd7 Rd8 42.Rd2 Ne5 43.Rxb7 Kg6 44.Rxc7 1-0
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qe6!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Nxc7, Rb4, Qb3/a2 2 Qb6#; 1…Nd6+ 2.Qxd6#; 1…Kxd4 2.Qe3#; 1..Kb4 2.Qxc4#; 1…Qxd4 2.Na6#; 1…Qd5+ 2.Qxd5#; 1…Qxe6 2.Nxe6#./PN
