After a week of play, the first event of the Champions Chess Tour, Skilling Open, is down the stretch. Magnus Carlsen will face off with Wesley So in the final that will take place on Sunday and Monday on chess24.
In the semifinals, Carlsen and So defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura respectively in close duels. After winning the first match, Carlsen fell behind in the second but bounced back immediately and then sealed his spot in the finals by drawing games 3 and 4.
So also won his first match over Nakamura and managed to hold his edge on the second day as all four games were drawn.
Carlsen about his So: “He’s one of the people that I find most difficult to play against because he rarely makes either tactical or positional mistakes, so he’s just very, very strong and I’ll have to be on top of my game!”
Carlsen’s loss to So in the 2019 World Fischer Random Championship final is still fresh in memory, so the upcoming match promises a fierce and exciting battle.