WORLD chess champion Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So traded wins and draws to level the first set of their two-set finals match in the FTX Crypto Cup being played at the chess24.com server. The Cup is the final major tournament of the $1.5-million 2021 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, the richest and most prestigious online event in chess history.
The Carlsen-Wesley final arose after the world champ knocked out Teimour Radjabov and Wesley ousted Ian Nepomniachtchi in the semifinal round. Both likewise eliminated Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, respectively, in the quarterfinals. Incidentally, the FTX Crypto Cup’s star-studded preliminary round was topped by Fabiano Caruana (knocked out in the quarters by Nepomniachtchi), with Wesley wounding up tied for 2nd-5th places and Carlsen barely advancing to the quarterfinals.
Carlsen opened the first set by defeating So in Game 1 which also ended Wesley’s winning streak in the event. Wesley struck back in Game 3, before both played a draw in Game 4 – a game which was a duplicate copy of the drawn Game 2.
The winner of the finals gets $60,000 while the losing finalist receives $40,000, plus bonuses in crypto-currency for both finalists.
Nepomniachtchi, I (2792)-So, Wesley (2770) [A08]
chess24.com (2.14) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Be7 5.d3 0-0 6.Nbd2 c5 7.e4 Nc6 8.Re1 b5 9.e5 Nd7 10.Nf1 a5 11.h4 b4 12.Bf4 a4 13.a3 bxa3 14.bxa3 Rb8 15.Ne3 Bb7 16.c4 Nb6 17.cxd5 Nxd5 18.Qxa4 Nc3 19.Qc4 Qa5 20.Rac1 Nb5 21.Nc2 Nxa3 22.Nxa3 Qxa3 23.Bg5 Rfd8 24.Bxe7 Nxe7 25.Qxc5 Qxc5 26.Rxc5 Bxf3 27.Bxf3 Rxd3 28.Be4 Rd7 29.h5 g6 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.Rh1 Ng8 32.Rhc1 gxh5 33.Rh1 Rb4 34.Bc2 Kh6 35.Bd1 h4 36.Be2 Ne7 37.Rxh4+ Rxh4 38.gxh4 Ng6 39.Kg3 Rd4 40.Rc4 Rxc4 41.Bxc4 Nxe5 42.Bb3 Kg7 43.f4 Nc6 44.Bc2 h6 45.Bb1 Ne7 46.Kg4 Nd5 47.Kg3 Kf8 48.Kg4 Nf6+ 49.Kf3 Ke7 50.Bc2 Nh5 51.Kg4 Ng7 52.Bb1 f6 53.Ba2 Kd6 54.Kf3 h5 55.Kg3 Kc5 56.Bb3 Kd4 57.Kf3 Kd3 58.Ba4 Nf5 59.Bb5+ Kd4 60.Be8 Nxh4+ 61.Kg3 Nf5+ 62.Kf3 Ng7 63.Bf7 Kd5 64.Bg6 f5 65.Bf7 Kd6 66.Kg3 Ke7 67.Bg6 Kf6 68.Bh7 Ne8 0-1
Nepomniachtchi, I (2792)-So, Wesley (2770) [D35]
chess24.com (2.23) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 Be7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.h4 b6 10.h5 h6 11.Bd3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nc6 13.Be2 Bb7 14.Rh3 Rc8 15.Rg3 Kh8 16.a3 Na5 17.Bd3 Nc4 18.Kf1 Nd6 19.d5 exd5 20.Bb2 dxe4 21.Bxg7+ Kh7 22.Bxf8 Bxf8 23.Rg4 exd3 24.Rd4 Rc3 25.Qd2 Qc7 26.Qf4 Bxf3 27.gxf3 Rc4 28.Rd1 Rxd4 29.Qxd4 Qc4 30.Qe3 Nb5 31.Rxd3 Bxa3 32.Kg2 Bc5 33.Qd2 Nd4 34.Re3 a5 35.Re5 f6 36.Re4 f5 37.Re8 Qf7 38.Qe1 Qg7 39.Kh1 Nf3 40.Qd1 Qf7 0-1
So, Wesley (2770)-Carlsen, M (2847) [C53]
chess24.com (3.11) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Be3 Bg4 11.Qc2 Bf5 12.Qb3 Ne7 13.0-0 c6 14.Be2 Rb8 15.Na4 Bc7 16.Nh4 f6 17.Bf3 b5 18.Nc3 Nxc3 19.exf6 Be4 20.bxc3 Qd6 21.g3 Bxf3 22.Bf4 Qxf6 23.Bxc7 Rb7 24.Be5 Qf7 25.Nxf3 Qxf3 26.Qb4 Nf5 27.Qc5 Rbf7 28.Rae1 h5 29.h3 h4 30.Qxc6 Nxg3 31.Bxg3 hxg3 32.Re8 g2 33.Rxf8+ Rxf8 0-1
Carlsen, M (2847)-So, Wesley (2770) [C67]
chess24.com (3.12) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Bf4 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8 13.c3 d5 14.Bd3 g6 15.Nd2 Ng7 16.Nf3 Bf5 17.Bxf5 Nxf5 18.Qe2 c6 19.Re1 Ng7 20.Be5 Bxe5 21.Nxe5 Qd6 22.Qf3 f6 23.Nd3 Re8 24.Rxe8+ Nxe8 25.Qe3 Kf7 26.Qh6 Kg8 27.Qe3 Kf7 28.Qh6 Kg8 29.Qe3 ½-½
So, Wesley (2770)-Carlsen, M (2847) [C53]
chess24.com (3.13) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Be3 Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 12.Rc1 Ba5 13.0-0 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Na5 15.g4 Bg6 16.Ne1 f6 17.f3 c6 18.Bd3 Ng5 19.Bxg6 hxg6 20.Bxg5 fxg5 21.Qd3 Nc4 22.Qxg6 Qe7 23.Rf2 c5 24.Ng2 Rac8 25.Rcf1 cxd4 26.cxd4 Rc6 27.Qd3 Ra6 28.f4 Ra3 29.Qg6 Rxh3 30.f5 Kh8 31.f6 gxf6 32.exf6 Qh7 33.Qg7+ 1-0
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa8!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Bxc7/a7 2.Qg8#; 1…Qc6+ 2.Be6#; 1…Kxc4 2.Qxa2#; 1…Bxc4 2.Qxb7#./PN
