Day 2 of Airthings Masters produced even fewer decisive outcomes comparing to the first day – just 3 in 24 games. The participants opted to tread carefully hoping to qualify for the knockout stage with minimum casualities.
Magnus Carlsen wore down Daniil Dubov in a drawish endgame in Round 5 and joined a large group of leaders with 4½ out of 8 points. In the same round, Anish Giri prevailed over Pentala Harikrishna in tactical complications. To Daniil’s credit, he bounced back immediately by defeating Anish in the next round and returned to the +1 mark.
The $200,000 event features a 3-day preliminary battle, with the top 8 players going through to the knockout stages that continue into the New Year. The participants play each other once at 15-minute rapid chess, with a 10-second increment after each move. The first prize is not only $60,000, double that on offer for the Skilling Open, but direct entry to the Grand Final next September.
Official website: championschesstour.com/