As expected, world champion Magnus Carlsen won the preliminary phase of the ongoing Legends of Chess Online Rapid Tournament on the chess24.com server, capping his preliminary run with a 3-1 clubbing of Vladimir Kramnik in the final round.
Carlsen thus advanced to the semifinal knockout stage along with Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri and Peter Svidler.
The other preliminary final round match results saw Nepomniachtchi lose to Boris Gelfand in Armageddon, 3-2; Liren Ding defeat Peter Leko, 2½-1½; Vassily Ivanchuk prevail via draw odds in Armageddon versus Viswanathan Anand; and Giri beating Svidler, 2½-1½.
The semifinal knockout stage will pit Carlsen versus Svidler and Nepomniachtchi against Giri.
The final standings (preliminary stage): 1. Carlsen, 25; 2. Nepomniachtchi, 20; 3. Giri, 18; 4. Svidler, 14; 5. Ivanchuk, 13; 6. Kramnik, 12; 7. Gelfand, 11; 8. Ding, 9; 9. Anand, 7; 10. Leko, 6.
Ding, L (2791)-Leko, P (2663) [C50]
chess24.com (9.1) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.0-0 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Re1 Ba7 8.a4 0-0 9.h3 Ne7 10.d4 Ng6 11.Nbd2 exd4 12.cxd4 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Ne4 c6 15.Bg5 f6 16.Bd2 Kh8 17.Qb3 Nge7 18.Nc5 Rb8 19.Ne6 Bxe6 20.Rxe6 Nc7 21.Re2 Nf5 22.Rd1 Nd5 23.Bxd5 Qxd5 24.Qxd5 cxd5 25.g4 Nd6 26.Bf4 Rbd8 27.Re7 Ne4 28.Rc1 Bb8 29.Bxb8 Rxb8 30.Rcc7 Rg8 31.Nh4 Nd6 32.Rcd7 Nc8 33.Re6 Na7 34.Nf5 Nc6 35.Rxd5 Rge8 36.Rxe8+ Rxe8 37.Rd7 g6 38.Ne3 Re4 39.Nd5 Rxd4 40.Nxf6 Rxd7 41.Nxd7 b5 42.Nc5 Nb4 43.axb5 axb5 44.f4 Nd5 45.Nd3 h5 46.g5 Kg7 47.Kf2 Kf7 48.Kf3 Ke6 49.Ke4 Ne7 50.Ne5 Kd6 51.b4 Nd5 52.Nxg6 Nxb4 53.f5 Nd5 54.f6 Nxf6+ 55.gxf6 Ke6 56.Nf4+ Kxf6 57.Nxh5+ Kg5 58.Nf4 Kh4 59.Kf3 b4 60.Kg2 b3 61.Nd3 Kh5 62.Kg3 Kg5 63.h4+ Kf5 64.Kf3 Ke6 65.Nc5+ 1-0
Nepomniachtchi, I (2784)-Gelfand, B (2676) [B20]
chess24.com (9.2) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.a3 g6 3.Bc4 Bg7 4.h4 e6 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.h5 d5 7.Ba2 d4 8.Nce2 d3 9.cxd3 Qxd3 10.Nf3 Nbc6 11.Bb1 Qd6 12.d3 b6 13.Bf4 e5 14.Be3 Bg4 15.h6 Bf6 16.Ba2 Rd8 17.Nc3 0-0 18.Bc4 Nd4 19.Bxd4 cxd4 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.Bxd5 Bg5 22.Qa4 Bxf3 23.gxf3 Qf6 24.Rh3 Rxd5 25.exd5 Qf5 26.Rg3 Bf4 27.Rg4 Qxd3 28.Rxf4 exf4 29.Rd1 Qxf3 30.Qxd4 Qh1+ 31.Kd2 Qxh6 32.d6 Rd8 33.Qf6 Qf8 34.Kc2 Qe8 35.Kb1 Rd7 36.Ka1 Qe6 37.Qxf4 Kg7 38.Qd2 h5 39.Qc3+ Kh7 40.Qd4 Qg4 41.f4 Qe6 42.a4 Kg8 43.Rd3 Qe1+ 44.Ka2 Qe6+ 45.Ka1 Kh7 46.b3 f6 47.Ka2 Kg7 48.Rd2 Kf7 49.Qc3 h4 50.Qc6 Kg7 51.f5 Qxf5 52.Re2 Kh6 53.Re7 Rd8 54.Qc1+ g5 55.Qd2 h3 56.d7 Kg6 57.Kb2 g4 58.Ka2 a6 59.Kb2 b5 60.b4 bxa4 61.Ka3 g3 62.Re3 g2 63.Rg3+ Kf7 64.Qa2+ Qe6 65.Qc2 f5 66.Qb2 Qf6 67.Qa2+ Ke7 68.Re3+ Kf8 69.Rg3 Rxd7 70.Qg8+ Ke7 71.Re3+ Kd6 72.Qb8+ Kd5 73.Qg8+ Kd4 74.Re1 Rg7 75.Qb8 g1Q 76.Rxg1 Rxg1 77.Qa7+ Ke4 78.Qxg1 Qc3+ 79.Kxa4 Qe3 80.Qh1+ Kf4 81.Qf1+ Kg4 82.Qxa6 h2 83.Qg6+ Qg5 84.Qc6 Qf4 85.Qg2+ Kh4 86.Ka5 Qe5+ 87.Kb6 Qd4+ 88.Kb5 Qg1 0-1
Svidler, P (2723)-Giri, A (2764) [A20]
chess24.com (9.3) 2020
1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 3.d4 e4 4.Qa4 d5 5.cxd5 Bd7 6.d6 Bxd6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 c5 9.Qd1 Be7 10.Bg2 0-0 11.dxc5 Na6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nxe4 Bxb2 14.Rb1 Ba3 15.Nh3 Bb4+ 16.Kf1 Bf5 17.c6 bxc6 18.Qa4 Qe7 19.Qxa6 Bxe4 20.Rc1 Bf5 21.Nf4 Bd2 22.Rxc6 Rab8 23.e3 Bxe3 24.Nd5 Rb1+ 25.Ke2 Rb2+ 26.Kd1 Qe5 0-1
Carlsen, M (2863)-Kramnik, V (2753) [D35]
chess24.com (9.3) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nge2 Re8 10.0-0 Nh5 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Qd2 Nd7 13.Rae1 Nf8 14.Nc1 Nf6 15.f3 Ne6 16.N1e2 b5 17.Ng3 a5 18.Qf2 Ba6 19.Nf5 Qd8 20.Ne2 c5 21.Qg3 c4 22.Bc2 Nh5 23.Qh3 g6 24.Nxh6+ Kg7 25.Nf5+ Kg8 26.Neg3 Nxg3 27.Qxg3 b4 28.Nh6+ Kg7 29.Nxf7 Kxf7 30.Bxg6+ Ke7 31.Bxe8 Kxe8 32.e4 c3 33.Rf2 Kf7 34.bxc3 bxc3 35.f4 dxe4 36.f5 Nf8 37.Rxe4 Rb8 38.h3 Rb1+ 39.Kh2 Qb8 40.Qxb8 Rxb8 41.Re3 Bc4 42.Rxc3 Bd5 43.Rc5 Rd8 44.Rxa5 Rd7 45.g4 Nh7 46.Kg3 Nf6 47.Rc2 Re7 48.Kh4 Be4 49.Rb2 Nd5 50.Kg5 Rd7 51.Ra6 Rc7 52.Re6 Nc3 53.Rf6+ Kg7 54.Rg6+ Kf7 55.Kh6 Rc8 56.Rg7+ Kf8 57.Rb6 Bd5 58.Rh7 Ne4 59.Rh8+ Bg8 60.Rg6 Kf7 61.Rg7+ Kf6 62.Rhxg8 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qe1! Black’s futile options are 1…Kxd4+ 2.Qe5#; 1…Qxd4 2.Qe6#; 1…Be3 2.Re5#./PN
