World champion Magnus Carlsen waltzed past Peter Svidler in their best-of-three semifinals match to grab the first finals seat of the ongoing Legends of Chess Online Rapid Tournament on the chess24.com server.
The other semifinals match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Anish Giri goes to a third and deciding match after Giri equalized their duel in the second set.
Both Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi comfortably defeated Svidler and Giri, respectively, in the first set of their semifinal jousts with identical 2½-½ scores.
In the second set, Carlsen ousted Svidler again with a 2½-½ tally while Giri fought back and narrowly beat Nepomniachtchi in Armageddon, 3-2. Each set of matches, by the way, is made up of four rapid games.
Nepomniachtchi, one of the world’s top blitz and rapid players, will try to wrap things up against Giri when they collide for a third and deciding set.
Giri, while not noted as a great blitz and rapid player, is also not a pushover and will likely fight tooth and nail for the second and last finals seat. Losing finalists go home with $17,500 each, while the eventual champion pockets $45,000 and the runner-up $30,000.
Svidler, P (2723)-Carlsen, M (2863) [A22]
chess24.com (1.11) 2020
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Bb4 4.e4 Bxc3 5.bxc3 0-0 6.f3 Re8 7.d4 d6 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.Ne2 b6 10.g4 Nd7 11.0-0 Ba6 12.Ng3 exd4 13.cxd4 Nxd4 14.Bb2 Ne6 15.f4 g5 16.fxg5 Qxg5 17.Rf5 Qe3+ 18.Kh1 Ne5 19.Be2 Bb7 20.Qc2 Nc5 21.Bc1 Bxe4+ 22.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 23.Qxe4 Nxe4 24.Bb2 Re6 25.Raf1 Rae8 26.g5 Nd2 27.R1f2 Nexc4 0-1
Carlsen, M (2863)-Svidler, P (2723) [B90]
chess24.com (1.21) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8.Qd2 b5 9.a3 Bb7 10.f3 Nbd7 11.0-0-0 d5 12.exd5 Bxd5 13.Bf4 Qb6 14.Rhe1 0-0-0 15.Be3 Qb7 16.a4 b4 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Nb3 Qc6 19.Qd4 Bd6 20.Na5 Qc5 21.Bxa6+ Kc7 22.Nb7 Qxd4 23.Rxd4 Ra8 24.Nxd6 Kxd6 25.Bb5 N7f6 26.Bd2 1-0
Giri, A (2764)-Nepomniachtchi, I (2784) [A33]
chess24.com (1.22) 2020
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.a3 Be7 7.e4 0-0 8.Nf3 Qa5 9.Bd2 Qh5 10.Rg1 a6 11.h3 Ne5 12.g4 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 Qc5 14.g5 Ne8 15.h4 b5 16.cxb5 axb5 17.Bxb5 Bb7 18.Bd3 Nd6 19.Qe2 Rfc8 20.Rc1 Qb6 21.Be3 Qa5 22.Bd2 Qb6 23.Be3 Qa5 24.Bd2 Ba6 25.Bxa6 Rxa6 26.Kf1 Rac6 27.Be1 Qc7 28.Rg3 Nc4 29.Rc2 Qf4 30.Rh3 Bf8 31.Nd1 d5 32.exd5 exd5 33.Qf3 Qd6 34.Re2 d4 35.Bb4 Qd7 36.Bxf8 Rxf8 37.Kg2 f6 38.Qe4 f5 39.Qf3 f4 40.b4 Ne3+ 41.fxe3 fxe3 42.Qe4 Re6 43.Qd3 Qc6+ 44.Kg1 Re4 45.Nxe3 dxe3 46.Rexe3 Qc1+ 47.Kg2 Rd4 48.Qb3+ Kh8 49.Rhf3 Rd2+ 50.Kh3 Qh1+ 51.Kg4 Rg2+ 52.Rg3 Rh2 53.Rh3 Qg2+ 54.Reg3 Qe4+ 0-1
Nepomniachtchi, I (2784)-Giri, A (2764) [B51]
chess24.com (1.23) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bxd7+ Bxd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.Qd3 Rc8 9.0-0 h6 10.Rd1 Nf6 11.h3 Be7 12.a4 Qc7 13.Nd2 0-0 14.Nf1 Be6 15.Ne3 Qc5 16.Qe2 Bd8 17.Qf3 b5 18.axb5 axb5 19.Ne2 g6 20.Ng3 Kg7 21.Ra3 b4 22.Rad3 Be7 23.b3 Rh8 24.Bb2 h5 25.Ngf1 Qc6 26.Nd2 Rhd8 27.Nec4 Bxc4 28.Nxc4 Nxe4 29.Qe3 Nf6 30.Qe1 Qc5 31.Kh1 Kf8 32.f4 exf4 33.Bxf6 Bxf6 34.Rd5 Qa7 35.Qe4 Qf2 36.R5d2 d5 37.Rxf2 dxe4 38.Rxd8+ Bxd8 39.Rxf4 f5 40.Rf1 Bc7 41.Ra1 Bg3 42.Kg1 f4 43.Kf1 f3 44.Ra6 Kg7 45.Ra7+ Kh6 46.gxf3 exf3 47.Rf7 f2 48.Kg2 Bh4 49.Ne3 Rc3 50.Rf3 Kg7 51.Nf1 Rxf3 52.Kxf3 Kf6 53.Ke4 g5 54.Ne3 Ke6 55.Kf3 Ke5 56.Kg2 Kd4 57.Nd1 Bg3 58.Nb2 Kc3 59.Nd3 Bd6 60.Nxf2 Kxc2 61.Ne4 Be7 62.h4 g4 63.Ng3 Kxb3 64.Nxh5 Kc2 65.Nf4 b3 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qc6! Black’s futile options are 1…Sc8/xc6/g6 2.Rxf5#; 1…Sc7/b4/e3 2.Qe4#; 1…Sf6 2.Se2#; 1…Sc3 2.Se6#; 1…g4 2.Qh6#; 1…Bxd4+ 2.Rxd4#./PN
