Nakamura, Ding, Carlsen and Caruana in MCI Final 4
The preliminary stage of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, an online tournament with an impressive prize fund of $250,000, is in the books. At this stage, the players earned 3 points for a win in the rapid games, while when a match went to Armageddon the winner got 2 points and the loser just 1. After 7 rounds and 13 days of play Hikaru Nakamura, Ding Liren, Magnus Carlsen, and Fabiano Caruana qualified for the semis, whereas Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are out of the competition but may find solace in handsome paychecks. The semifinal quartet was formed in the penultimate round after Fabiano Caruana beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and by doing so left him no chance to catch up. Nevertheless, intrigue remained even in the final round as it decided who would face Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals. Most likely, Ding Liren was far from all these scenarios as he beat the World Champion, while Hikaru Nakamura bested Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Armageddon while Fabiano Caruana somewhat unexpectedly lost to Anish Giri. As a result, in today’s semis Nakamura takes on Caruana while Ding Liren is facing Carlsen once again. Magnus got probably the least desirable out of three possible opponents, the player who had beaten him not only yesterday but also on tie-break of Sinquefield Cup 2019. The second semifinal is a tough call as at the preliminary stage the Americans went all the way to Armageddon in which Fabiano prevailed with white pieces. Ding Liren and Hikaru Nakamura played four Armageddon encounters each at the preliminary stage – more than any other player did. Both won just two of them but their overall strong performance secured them the coveted spots in the semifinals. Interestingly enough, Ding’s most impressive and quick victory came in Armageddon vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Ding Liren – Vachier-Lagrave 14.Ne5! the only winning move 14…b5 15.Qa5+ Ke8 16.Qc7! 1-0 Hikaru Nakamura had a tough start as he lost Armageddon to Magnus Carlsen after leveling score twice. Nevertheless, this outcome was an indication of Hikaru’s great form and he proved it in the course of the event. Nakamura made probably the most spectacular and deadly move in the event so far: Nakamura – Firouzja 14.Nxf7! 1-0 Magnus Carlsen entered the competition as a clear favorite and made it to the semis, despite losing two matches. Occasionally the World Champion seemed out of sorts, but in the semifinal we will sure see Magnus with all guns blazing. Although Fabiano Caruana stated in his interview after the first round that “the quality online is much lower than over the board” he managed to maintain good enough level to tie for third place with Magnus. Other participants had their good moments but did not demonstrate stability and consistency so much needed in such a strong field. Arguably, Ian Nepomniachtchi fell the victim of his speed – on several occasions he blitzed into losing positions having more time on the clock than before the start of the game and fell into deep thought when it was too late. Alireza Firoujza flunked the start of the event but collected himself and by winning two matches finished the event on a positive note. Despite losing the match vs. Carlsen, in the second game he pulled off a “fantastic swindle” (as GM Grischuk put it) that is worth demonstrating: Firouzja – Carlsen Magnus just played 39… Rd2?? and after 40.Rb8+! Kh7 41.Qg4! there is no reasonable way to prevent Qg6+ with checkmate 41…Qf1+ 42.Rg2 Qxg2 43.Kxg2 1-0 Anish Giri was unable to score a single victory for a while but in the match with Ding Liren the Dutchman finally got the ball rolling and the next day he took down Magnus Carlsen himself. In the final round, Anish got another scalp, this time defeating Caruana, which definitely lifted his spirits. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was in the contest for a spot in the semis almost until the very end but a disastrous finish relegated him to the bottom of the standings. Photo: chess24.com