THE quartet of Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Anish Giri demolished their respective rivals in the second day of the quarterfinals to enter the semi-final stage of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour – Magnus Carlsen Invitational on March 17 at the chess24.com server.
Carlsen prevailed over Levon Aronian, 2-1; Wesley whupped Aliresa Firouzja, 2½-½; Giri defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 3-1; and Nepomniachtchi ousted Hikaru Nakamura, 2½-½. Only Giri’s entry to the semi-finals was put in doubt when Vachier-Lagrave made a great fight in the second set. Too eager to level up, however, forced Vachier-Lagrave to go into time trouble and into erratic play, and Giri wrapped up. Wesley had the easiest time of it, frustrating Aliresa at every turn.
The semi-final pairings will be Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi and Wesley vs. Giri.
Aronian, L (2781)-Carlsen, M (2847) [C78]
chess24.com (1.21) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.c3 0-0 7.d4 Ba7 8.Bg5 exd4 9.e5 h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bxc6 dxc6 12.Nxg5 dxc3 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Nxc3 Nd5 15.Nge4 Nxc3 16.bxc3 Rd3 17.Rad1 Rxd1 18.Rxd1 Be6 19.a3 f5 20.exf6 Re8 21.h3 Bb3 22.f7+ Kxf7 23.Rd7+ Kg6 24.Nd2 Re1+ 25.Kh2 Be6 26.Rd8 Re2 27.Nf3 Bxf2 28.Bxf2 Rxf2 29.Kg3 Rc2 30.Rd3 Bd5 31.Kf4 Kf6 32.g4 Rf2 33.h4 b5 34.Kg3 Rxf3+ 35.Rxf3+ Bxf3 36.Kxf3 c5 37.Ke4 c6 38.Kf4 a5 39.Ke4 a4 40.Kd3 Ke5 41.Ke3 b4 42.Kd2 b3 0-1
Nepomniachtchi, I (2789)-Nakamura, H (2736) [C53]
chess24.com (1.21) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 h6 7.Re1 0-0 8.Nbd2 a5 9.Nf1 Be6 10.Bb5 Ne7 11.d4 exd4 12.cxd4 Bb6 13.Ng3 d5 14.e5 Ne4 15.Bd3 Nf5 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Rxe4 c5 18.Qe2 cxd4 19.Rf4 Qd7 20.Nh4 Nxh4 21.Rxh4 Bd8 22.Rh5 g6 23.Rxh6 Kg7 24.h4 Bf5 25.h5 Rc8 26.Bd2 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Qf5 28.Qxf5 gxf5 29.Rd6 Re8 30.Re1 Rc2 31.Rxd4 Rxb2 32.Rd7 Kg8 33.h6 Rc2 34.Re3 f4 35.Red3 Bg5 36.Rh3 Rxa2 37.e6 fxe6 38.Bc3 e5 39.Rg7+ 1-0
So, Wesley (2770)-Firouzja, A(2759) [B12]
chess24.com (1.22) 2021
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.0-0 h6 7.Nbd2 Nd7 8.Nb3 g5 9.Bd2 a5 10.a4 Qc7 11.c3 f6 12.exf6 Ng6 13.c4 Bd6 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Bd3 Bxd3 16.Bxa5 Rxa5 17.Qxd3 Kf7 18.Nxa5 Qxa5 19.Qf5 Qd8 20.Rae1 Ngf8 21.Re7+ Bxe7 22.fxe7+ Kxe7 23.Re1+ Kd6 24.Ne5 Rh7 25.Nxd7 Qxd7 26.Qe5# 1-0
Giri, A (2776)-Vachier-Lagrave, M (2758) [B67]
chess24.com (1.22) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Be7 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.Qd2 b5 13.g4 h5 14.gxh5 Nxh5 15.h4 b4 16.Ne2 a5 17.c3 f6 18.Be3 e5 19.Bh3 Bxh3 20.Rxh3 Qc4 21.cxb4 axb4 22.b3 Qe6 23.Rh2 f5 24.Bg5 fxe4 25.fxe4 0-0 26.Bxe7 Qxe7 27.Qxb4 Qa7 28.Nc3 Nf6 29.Qxd6 Qe3 30.Qd3 Qc5 31.Nd5 Kh8 32.Nxf6 Rxf6 33.h5 Raa6 34.Rc2 Qa3 35.Qg3 Qe7 36.Rdc1 Rf4 37.Rc8+ Kh7 38.R8c6 Rxc6 39.Rxc6 Qd7 40.Rc1 Rg4 41.Qxe5 Qd3+ 42.Ka1 Rg2 1-0
Firouzja, A (2759)-So, Wesley (2770) [A45]
chess24.com (1.23) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 a6 4.e3 e6 5.g4 Bb4 6.Nge2 0-0 7.a3 Be7 8.g5 Nh5 9.h4 Nxf4 10.Nxf4 c5 11.Bd3 c4 12.Bxh7+ Kxh7 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.g6 fxg6 15.Nxg6 Rf5 16.Qh8+ Kf7 17.Qh7 Bf6 18.e4 dxe4 19.Nh8+ Ke7 20.0-0-0 Nd7 21.Nxe4 Nf8 22.Qg8 Qe8 23.h5 Nd7 24.Ng6+ Kd8 25.Qxe8+ Kxe8 26.Nd6+ Kd8 27.Nxf5 exf5 28.f4 a5 29.d5 Ra6 30.Rhe1 Nc5 31.Ne5 Bd7 32.Rg1 Kc7 33.Nxc4 Ne4 34.Ne5 Kd6 35.h6 gxh6 36.Rg6 h5 37.Rh6 Be8 38.Rh7 b5 39.a4 Nf2 40.Rh6 Kc5 41.d6 Bxe5 42.fxe5 Nxd1 43.d7 Ra8 44.Rh8 Bxd7 45.Rxa8 Ne3 46.Ra6 Nc4 47.e6 Be8 48.e7 bxa4 49.Ra8 Nd6 50.Rxa5+ Kb6 51.Ra8 h4 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Ra5!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Bb7, Rb7/a7/c8 2.Qb5#; 1…Rxd7+ 2.Sd5#; 1…Sf3/h3/e2 2.B(x)f3#./PN
