Magnus Calsen Tour Final: Carlsen gifts Nakamura the lead
Magnus Carlsen punched the air in disbelief after his howler gifted Hikaru Nakamura the lead in the $140,000 Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Final. The World Champion stunned a bumper audience watching online as he fell to a simple trick from the American who goes 2-1 up in the best-of-seven decider. Viewing figures hit new highs as tens of thousands tuned in to watch the drama unfold in the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour’s dream final between the fierce rivals. Carlsen had looked exhausted and out of sorts in the first two days of the final with some commentators suggesting his summer of intense online chess had finally caught up with him. But the champ signaled he was back in the groove straight away on day 3 with an opening game win that was as smooth as silk. Game 2 then saw Carlsen repeat the match tactic both he and Nakamura have used of, having gone into the lead, piling on the pressure ahead by playing for a quick draw. Carlsen laughed when it happened yesterday, but this time it was Nakamura who was seen chuckling to himself as the game lasted just 17 moves. However, with the score 1.5-0.5 to Carlsen and games running out, Nakamura still needed a route back into the match. And it came. Nakamura struck back in the third with aplomb as he outplayed the champ in a brilliant game which ended with Carlsen resigning in disgust. With game 4 finishing in another draw, Carlsen and Nakamura headed into a two-game blitz decider. It was then that Carlsen made his shock mistake, falling into a trap in the first few moves of the first blitz game. Nakamura converted with ease and left Carlsen needing to win the next game on demand. The Norwegian showed his incredible trademark tenacity in the final blitz game to take the fight to Nakamura but the American matched him and yet another thrilling game ended in a draw. Nakamura said afterward: “It was obviously a very tricky match and then at the end, it got really crazy.” Nakamura is now 2-1 up in the best-of-seven final with play due to start again tomorrow at 16:00 CEST. Supporting Kiva Broadcaster chess24 has pledged 50 percent of new Premium memberships bought during its Tour Final to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 Response fund that aims to raise at least $50 million for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by COVID‑19. During the event, chess24 and Kiva will highlight stories where chess has changed people’s lives under the official tournament social media hashtag #ImpactChess. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the Tour Final and support small businesses impacted by COVID-19 by signing up for a premium subscription here. More details on the Finals The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was devised by Norway’s World Champion and chess24 after traditional over the board chess was halted suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour Final kicks off on August 9 and runs until August 20. It is the culmination of four elite-level super-tournaments that began in March as a way of getting chess started again while other sports worldwide were prohibited. The first four stages of the first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour were: The Magnus Carlsen Invitational The Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge The Chessable Masters The chess24 Legends of Chess Four players have qualified for the final crescendo of chess after being the best performers during the preceding tour events. The winner of the Tour Final, which has a total prize pot of $300,000, will scoop a top prize of $140,000 and the title of Champion of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. Tournament rules and schedule The Tour Final will be a 12-day event running from August 9 to August 20. Time control is a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. The semi-finals of the Tour Final tournament will be a best of 5 four-game mini-matches. The final will be a best of 7 mini-matches. As usual, play will start at 16:00 CEST. Highlights English:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_QSmtZoiwL24EGuZSEmi1UR5j4hInR0u?usp=sharingNew files at around 23.00 CEST Rough edit highlights:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12mwKPkAfzeyfzd1Gay-FU5dJ8uU6OXMY?usp=sharingNew files ready around 02.00 CEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Division 2: Day 2 Round-up
The second day in Division 2 clearly demonstrated that several squads that got into action at this stage are superior to all the teams which thousands of spectators of the Online Olympiad have seen before. These teams showed their worth and should be reckoned with even in Top Division where they are bound to qualify. On the other hand, not all the favorites looked convincing and some of them might “zip rackets in a bag” this Sunday. Pool A Team Bulgaria continues its impressive run in the competition. Yesterday the Bulgarian chess players outclassed their opponents in all three matches losing just two games out of eighteen. If we have to highlight someone personally, it should be 19-year old WIM Viktoria Radeva who won all five games on her sixth board. Germany was scraping up points all day but the high level of this team allows it to win one match after another although sometimes by a minimal margin. Given that Elisabeth Paehtz is having rest this week, by the decisive matches in Top Division Germany will become a powerful force. Australia made an important, maybe even decisive step towards the third “golden” place in the final standings by winning three matches with the same score 4:2, including one against its main competitor Philippines. Team Philippines also lost two points in the encounter with Belgium and now has very little chance to progress into the next stage. Indonesia became the main rival of Australia – their match in Round 7 will be decisive. Belarus suffered three straight defeats yesterday – the Belarussian players surely just want to leave this terrible week behind and move on. Pool B The day started with the match between prohibitive favorite Romania and a hell-raiser team Slovakia. Not without some problems but Romania lowered the broom on Slovakia – 4:2, despite another victory by GM GM Lubomir Ftacnik. In Round 5 Lubomir lost after all – in-form GM Antonios Pavlidis from Greece, finished him off with a nice “petite combination” (as Capablanca would put it): Antonios Pavlidis – Lubomir Ftacnik Antonios played an elegant 32. Ra8! Qxa8 33. fxg6 hxg6? (33…Kh8 would have protracted the game, but after 34.gxf7 Black will hardly survive with White’s pawn on the seventh rank) 34. Qxf7+ Kh8 35. Rf3, and Black resigned facing the imminent checkmate. Despite its moral leader’s defeat, Slovakia managed to draw the match with Greece and now has all the reasons to be optimistic about its future. Israel lost one point in each of two matches with IPCA and Singapore and is trailing by two points. Given that in addition to the key match with Slovakia, Israel will also face Romania, the team has only a slim chance to advance. Pool С This pool has the highest concentration of star players in all Division 2. However, after his first-day setback, the leader of team Netherlands Anish Giri did not show up yesterday due to some organizational problems. For two-thirds of the day, the Dutchmen managed without their leader but unexpectedly lost the final match of the day against Switzerland and seriously complicated their task of advancing to Top Division. Noel Studer – Jorden Van Foreest A highly irrational, chaotic position emerged by move 15 on the first board, which Noel Studer (SUI) handled better than his higher-rated opponent. Spain also benched its leaders – David Anton Guijarro played just a single game, Francisco Vallejo Pons had a rest day, but as some sort of compensation, Alexei Shirov has torn it up, winning six games in six rounds. Check out how he wrapped it up in a key match with Italy: Danyyil Dvirnyy – Alexei Shirov Danyyil Dvirnyy has just imprudently played 26. g4?, thinking that Black’s queen was trapped. All of a sudden the hunter became the hunted – 26…Nxg4! 27. Rxg4 Qxg4! 28. Qxg4 Nxd2+ and it turns out that after 29.Ka2 b3+ Black delivers an elegant checkmate 0-1 Spain dominates the field in this group; despite the defeat in the above-mentioned game and the match Italy will most likely come second. As for the third position, there are four candidates for this spot with Slovenia (not the Netherlands) having the best shot. Pool D Three teams have shown outstanding results and level of play in this pool – Turkey, Norway, and Serbia won six matches each. Turkey was considered to be a clear favorite before the start but Serbia’s and especially Norway’s performance came as a surprise. Both teams clobbered Sweden yesterday with the same score 5:1. Since it is pretty much over for Sweden, Croatia remains the only squad that can prevent one of top-trio from advancing to the next stage. The Croatian players have to beat Norway and hope that this team will be a weak link in the matches between the leaders. Other teams are relegated to supporting roles although many spectators were happy to see in action legendary Icelandic GM Johann Hjartarson. Pool E Hungary has all the right to claim an unofficial title of the best team in Division 2. On the first day, the Magyars scored 15 out 18, on the second day they went even further and nicked 15.5. England also won all its matches including the key one against Ecuador in Round 6. In Round 7 the leaders will clash to determine who will take the first position in the pool. Since both teams advanced to the next stage only prestige will be on stake in this match. Ecuador looked like a clear candidate for the spot, but a loss in Round 5 at hands of Mexico complicated matters to the max. Today four teams – Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina – will determine the only team to advance in their matches between each other. After Scotland lost chances for top-3 Andrew N Greet and Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant opted not to play – in the absence of the leaders, the Scots did not win a single game and finished the day in 9th position. This Sunday the final matches in Division 2 will be played. Very soon we will know all 15 teams to join 25 seeded squads in Top Division. The way things are going, those will be 13 teams from Europe, Australia, and one of the South American squads.