Sports

Opera Euro Rapid: Carlsen, Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley, Radjabov enter semis

Friday, February 12, 2021

THE semi-final cast of the Opera Euro Rapid was completed on Wednesday after a dramatic and action packed quarterfinal finale that saw three matches going into nail-biting tiebreaks.

Wesley So has the easiest second set, ousting Jan-Krzysztof Duda in two straight games. However, Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov – who all advanced to the semifinals – had to go through the wringer in dispatching Daniil Dubov, Levon Aronian and Amish Giri, respectively. Carlsen and Ragjabov went through Armageddon versus Dubov and Giri where they barely prevailed, while Vachier-Lagrave scrambled to get the second set draw he needed to send Aronian packing home.

The semifinal pairings will pit Carlsen against Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley versus Radjabov.

Aronian, L (2781)-Vachier-Lagrave, M (2784) [B90]

chess24.com (1.21) 2021

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 b5 8.Bb3 Be7 9.a3 0-0 10.f3 Bb7 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.g4 Rc8 13.g5 Nh5 14.Rg1 g6 15.0-0-0 Rxc3 16.bxc3 Qa5 17.Nxe6 Rc8 18.Nd4 Ne5 19.Kb1 Nc4 20.Bxc4 bxc4 21.Ka2 d5 22.Bc1 dxe4 23.fxe4 Qxc3 24.Rgf1 Qa5 25.Qf3 Rf8 26.Bb2 c3 27.Nb3 Qc7 28.Qxc3 Qxc3 29.Bxc3 Bxg5 30.Nc5 Bc6 31.Be5 Bb5 32.Rfe1 Rc8 33.Bd6 Nf4 34.a4 Be2 35.Rd4 Bh4 36.Rxe2 Nxe2 37.Rd2 Bf2 38.Rxe2 Bxc5 39.e5 f5 40.Kb3 Kf7 41.e6+ Ke8 42.Bf4 Be7 43.c4 Rc6 44.Kc3 Bf6+ 45.Kd3 Ke7 46.Re1 g5 47.Bb8 Rxe6 48.Rb1 Kd7 49.c5 f4 50.Rb7+ Kc6 51.Rb6+ Kd5 52.Rxe6 Kxe6 53.c6 f3 54.Ke3 g4 55.h3 h5 56.hxg4 hxg4 57.Bg3 Be7 58.Kf4 Bc5 59.Kxg4 f2 60.Bxf2 Bxf2 0-1

Duda, J-K (2743)-So, Wesley (2770) [A22]

chess24.com (1.21) 2021

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ng5 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Re8 8.0-0 h6 9.Nh3 Nc6 10.Nf4 d6 11.Nd5 Be6 12.Nxf6+ Qxf6 13.Bxe4 Bh3 14.Bd5 Bxf1 15.Qxf1 Na5 16.e3 c6 17.Bg2 a6 18.a4 Qg6 19.e4 Nb3 20.Ra3 Nxc1 21.Qxc1 b5 22.e5 bxc4 23.Bxc6 Rab8 24.Bxe8 Rb1 25.Ra1 Rxc1+ 26.Rxc1 dxe5 27.a5 Qd3 28.Re1 Qxd2 29.Rxe5 Qxc3 30.Re7 Kf8 31.Re4 g6 32.Bc6 Qb3 33.Re8+ Kg7 34.Rc8 c3 35.Be4 Qe6 0-1

Aronian, L (2781)-Vachier-Lagrave, M (2784) [B90]

chess24.com (1.21) 2021

Carlsen, M (2862)-Dubov, D (2710) [C55]

chess24.com (1.22) 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.0-0 Bxc3 7.bxc3 0-0 8.Bb3 d6 9.Nd2 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Ne4 Na5 12.Bxd5 Qxd5 13.Bxh6 f5 14.c4 Qc6 15.Bd2 fxe4 16.Bxa5 Qg6 17.Qe2 Rf4 18.Bd2 Bg4 19.f3 Bxf3 20.Qf2 Rg4 21.g3 Rf8 22.Rae1 Rf6 23.dxe4 Qh5 24.Re3 Bxe4 25.Qe2 Rxg3+ 0-1

So, Wesley (2770)-Duda, J-K(2743) [E94]

chess24.com (1.22) 2021

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 8.Be3 c6 9.d5 c5 10.Ne1 Ne8 11.g4 f6 12.Kh1 Rf7 13.Rg1 Kh8 14.a3 Qe7 15.b4 b6 16.Rb1 Nf8 17.Nf3 Rb8 18.a4 Nd7 19.a5 Qf8 20.axb6 axb6 21.Qd2 Nc7 22.b5 Ra8 23.Ra1 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 f5 25.exf5 gxf5 26.Ng5 f4 27.Qc2 Nf6 28.Bd2 Re7 29.Rg1 f3 30.Bd1 h6 31.Nxf3 Nxg4 32.Nh4 Nxf2+ 33.Kg2 Bh3+ 34.Kg3 Qf7 35.Ng6+ Kh7 36.Nxe7+ e4 37.Nxe4 Be5+ 38.Kh4 Bf5 39.Nxf5 Qxf5 40.Nxf2 1-0

Radjabov, T (2765)-Giri, A (2764) [C44]

chess24.com (1.32) 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 Nge7 6.0-0 0-0 7.c4 d6 8.Nc3 h6 9.Nd5 Kh7 10.Bd2 f5 11.Rc1 g5 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Be3 Qd7 14.Nxe7 Qxe7 15.h4 Bf6 16.hxg5 hxg5 17.Nxg5+ Bxg5 18.Qh5+ Kg7 19.Bxg5 Qe6 20.Be3 Bxd3 21.Rfd1 Qg6 22.Qxg6+ Bxg6 23.c5 Rad8 24.cxd6 cxd6 25.a3 Rd7 26.Rd2 Bf5 27.Rcd1 Rf6 28.Bc5 e4 29.Rxd6 Rfxd6 30.Rxd6 Rxd6 31.Bxd6 Kf6 32.f4 exf3 33.Bxf3 Bc8 34.Bc5 a6 35.Kf2 Kg6 36.Ke3 Ne5 37.Be4+ Kg5 38.Kd4 Nc6+ 39.Kd5 Kg4 40.Kd6 Kxg3 41.Kc7 Be6 42.Kxb7 Na5+ 43.Kxa6 Nc4 44.Bd4 Kf4 45.Bd3 Nd2 46.Kb5 Bd7+ 47.Kb4 Nf3 48.Kc3 Ng5 49.b4 Ne4+ 50.Kb2 Ba4 51.b5 Nd6 52.b6 Nb7 53.Kc3 Bc6 54.Kb4 Be4 55.Bf1 Bf3 56.a4 Ke4 57.Bg1 Kd5 58.a5 Nd6 59.a6 Kc6 60.Bc5 Nf5 61.Bb5+ Kd5 62.b7 1-0

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