Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri posted contrasting victories against their respective foes in the semifinal round of the ongoing Chessable Masters Tournament at the chess24.com server to forge ahead in the best of three matches event.
Carlsen defeated Liren Ding in the blitz tiebreaker after the two wound up level in regulation, while Giri waltzed past a flustered Ian Nepomniachtchi, 2½-½. The Carlsen-Ding score was a drama-filled 3½-2½. The two had a drawn position in Game 1 until Ding lost on time after a disconnection. Carlsen wasn’t apparently pleased with this win, so gave Ding a gimme in Game 2 when he resigned after just four moves to even the count. The duo then drew the remaining regulation games and the first game of the blitz tiebreak before Carlsen finally nailed Ding with a win on the second tiebreak game.
One more match win for both Carlsen and Giri arranges a final showdown between them.
Carlsen, M (2863)-Ding, L (2791) [D38]
chess24.com (2.11) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qb3 c5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.e3 0-0 10.dxc5 Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 12.bxc3 Nd7 13.Rd1 Nf6 14.Nd4 Bd7 15.f3 Rfc8 16.Nb3 Ba4 17.Rd4 Bxb3 18.axb3 Rxc5 19.Kd2 Ra5 20.Bd3 Nd7 21.Kc1 Rc5 22.Kb2 Re8 23.Re1 Ne5 24.b4 Nxd3+ 25.Rxd3 Rb5 26.Kb3 Kf8 27.Ra1 a6 28.Ra5 Rxa5 29.bxa5 Re5 30.Kb4 Ke7 31.f4 Re4+ 32.Kc5 Ra4 33.Kb6 Ke6 34.Rd4 Ra3 35.e4 Rb3+ 36.Kc7 dxe4 37.Rxe4+ Kf5 38.Rb4 Rxc3+ 39.Kxb7 Rc2 40.g3 Rxh2 41.Kxa6 Kg4 42.Rb3 Ra2 43.Kb6 1-0
Ding, L (2791)-Carlsen, M (2863) [A13]
chess24.com (2.12) 2020
1.c4 e6 2.g3 Qg5 3.Bg2 Qxd2+ 4.Qxd2 1-0
Giri, A (2764)-Nepomniachtchi, I (2784) [D41]
chess24.com (2.12) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0-0 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.0-0 b6 13.d5 Nc5 14.Rfe1 exd5 15.exd5 Qd6 16.Qd4 Bb7 17.Rad1 Rae8 18.Ne5 a6 19.a3 Re7 20.Re3 Rfe8 21.Nxf7 Kxf7 22.Re6 Qd8 23.Qf4+ Kg8 24.Rxe7 Rxe7 25.d6+ Re6 26.d7 g6 27.Rd6 1-0
Giri, A (2764)-Nepomniachtchi, I (2784) [B08]
chess24.com (2.14) 2020
1.d4 d6 2.e4 g6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be3 c6 6.Qd2 Qa5 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.Ng1 e5 9.h3 Be6 10.Nf3 h6 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.a4 Qc7 13.a5 g5 14.Qe2 g4 15.hxg4 Bxg4 16.Nb1 Nh5 17.c3 Rg8 18.Nbd2 0-0-0 19.Qe1 Bf6 20.Kh1 Bg5 21.Nh2 Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Nf4 23.Bc4 d5 24.dxe5 Nxg2 25.Qxa7 Bh3 26.Rg1 Nf4 27.a6 Nxe5 28.axb7+ Kd7 29.exd5 Rxg1+ 30.Rxg1 Rb8 31.Qd4 Nxc4 32.Nxc4 cxd5 33.Ne5+ Ke6 34.Qxf4 Qxe5 35.Qxh6+ 1-0
Ding, L (2791)-Carlsen, M (2863) [A20]
chess24.com (2.16) 2020
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.d3 0-0 5.Nc3 h6 6.Nf3 Re8 7.0-0 d6 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 c6 10.b3 a5 11.Bb2 Na6 12.Qd2 Qe7 13.Rad1 Bd7 14.h3 Bb6 15.e4 Nc5 16.Rfe1 Rad8 17.Kh2 Bc8 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.exf5 Qc7 20.Rxe8+ Nxe8 21.Ne2 Nd7 22.Nf4 Ndf6 23.Qc2 Qe7 24.Rd2 Rd7 25.Bf3 Qd8 26.Qd1 Bc7 27.Nd3 Re7 28.Kg2 Qc8 29.g4 Nh7 30.Re2 Qd8 31.Rxe7 Qxe7 32.Qe2 Qd8 33.Kg1 Nef6 34.Bg2 Nf8 35.Bd4 N8d7 36.Qe3 Bb6 37.Bxb6 Qxb6 38.Qxb6 Nxb6 39.f4 Nfd7 40.Kf2 Kf8 41.g5 f6 42.h4 Nc5 43.Ke3 Nxd3 44.Kxd3 Ke7 45.Kd4 Na8 46.Be4 Nc7 47.a3 Kd7 48.b4 axb4 49.axb4 b5 50.c5 Na6 51.cxd6 Kxd6 52.Kc3 c5 53.bxc5+ Kxc5 54.Bc2 Nb4 55.Bb3 Nd5+ 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qf5! Black’s futile options are 1…Bxf5 2.Sa6#; 1…Bxf6 2.Qxc8#; 1…axb4 2.axb4#; 1…g2 2.Qxf2#; 1…Sg4/d3 2.S(x)d3#; 1…Rxd1 2.Rc4#./PN
