Mercurial genius Vasyl Ivanchuk inflicted Magnus Carlsen's first wound in the chess24 Legends of Chess event today - but couldn't stop the reigning World Champion roaring back.
Carlsen, in red hot form recently, had gone 15 games unbeaten in the $150,000 online super-tournament before facing the veteran Ivanchuk, one of the most feared and unpredictable players in elite chess.
And after Carlsen said Ivanchuk was the player he was looking forward to playing most, the 51-year-old didn't disappoint. Game 1 of their Round 5 clash saw Ivanchuk, Ukraine's former world number 2 nicknamed "Chucky", showcase his brilliance by putting Carlsen under severe pressure.
The champion blundered and Ivanchuk went ahead. A draw straight afterward had Carlsen needing a win and the Norwegian, as he so often does manage it.
With the score level, the final game ended in another draw to send the match into an Armageddon play-off. Carlsen was not to be denied and took the match but only two out of three tournament points to ruin his perfect record.
Elsewhere, Ian Nepomniachtchi drew level with Carlsen at the top of the table as he posted an emphatic 3-point win over fellow Russian Peter Svidler.
Nepomniachtchi, another opponent Carlsen has said he finds tough, won the third and fourth games after the match opened with two draws.
Anish Giri's tournament is picking up as he won a second match in a row, beating Boris Gelfand 2.5-1.5, to move up the leaderboard.
Ding Liren, who has endured a tough tournament so far, overcame connection problems to appear in the driving against former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik.
But the Chinese number 1 suffered something of a collapse to allow Kramnik to take it to a tiebreak, which Ding then lost. His chances of making the semis, and the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour's Grand Final, are now effectively over.
Finally, Peter Leko beat Indian hero Vishy Anand in an Armageddon play-off after the two legends finished 2-2 with one win each and two draws.
Today was the fourth day of the round-robin battle for four places in the Legends of Chess semi-finals.
The event, the fifth leg of the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, runs until August 5 and will carry a $150,000 prize fund.
The winner will scoop a top prize of $45,000 and the last of the coveted spots in the tour’s Grand Final in August.
Tournament rules and schedule
The time control will be a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone. There will be two stages starting with a 10-player round-robin (July 21-29) with each round consisting of 4-game matches and Armageddon tiebreaks if needed.
The top four will advance to the knockout semi-finals (July 31-August 2) and two will go through to the final (August 3-5). July 30 is a free day. All sessions will begin at 16:00 CEST.
Highlights in English:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rmx6IFrFYxYPrNhZVtxZbRWTiMAIICvc?usp=sharing
New files at around 23.00 CEST
Rough edit highlights:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SItw6DwCyoTsZ0WiVAjw4BkVHEaGQFDI?usp=sharing
New files ready around 02.00 CEST
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Leon Watson
leon@chessable.com
+447786 078770
