Wesley So roars back to leave final on a knife-edge
Magnus Carlsen led early on before Wesley So roared back as the first day of a tense Opera Euro Rapid final ended all-square. The pair now goes into Sunday’s second day for a final-set shootout for the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event’s title. It was a slow start yet Game 1 eventually sparked into life when Carlsen, with the White pieces, made a small mistake. It left So with the winning chances and he went for it. So got so close, but not close enough as Carlsen held on for the draw. Game 2 started with a super-sharp line of the Two Knight Defense dangerous for both sides, and it was the champ who found himself on the wrong end of it. But with victory in his sights, So blundered and in just one move the game turned around. Carlsen made no mistake to convert. It was a painful missed opportunity for So, but a thrilling game to watch. Game 3 was a totally different affair. It lasted only 60 seconds as both players steered it to a super-quick draw. For Carlsen, now 2-1 up with one to play, the strategy appeared to make sense and he said after at that point he was “knackered”. For So, however, it was a more risky idea as taking the draw meant gambling the set on winning the last game with the White pieces. But it worked. Near the end, with Carlsen needing just a draw, the game exploded into life as So created a stunning checkmate threat. It was devastating and Carlsen had to resign. So, speaking from his home in Minnetonka, USA, said he was “thrilled to win on-demand with the White pieces” and happy to rescue the set. Carlsen had missed the chance to be in the driving seat in the final but was still happy with sharing the first set. He said: “I’m fairly happy with a draw today so I will just try and push a little bit harder tomorrow.” In the match for third place, Teimour Radjabov wrestled first set from Maxime Vachier Lagrave after winning Game 4 with white pieces. Tomorrow’s grand finale resumes at 17:00. Opera is the official browser of the Tour and title partner of the event which carries a $100,000 prize pot. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organized by the Play Magnus Group, is the first full season of top-level online chess events. It comprises nine Regular and Major tournaments culminating in a $300,000 Final which starts in September. All matches are played in a rapid chess format with blitz and “armageddon” tie-breaks if needed. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Carlsen and So set up a thrilling final
World Champion Magnus Carlsen and US rival Wesley So won their semis on Friday to set up a thrilling final of the Opera Euro Rapid. The two big guns of elite online chess will face-off for the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event title in a two-day final over the weekend. With $30,000 at stake, it promises a fascinating repeat of the Skilling Open final when So ruined Carlsen’s 30th birthday. So got there by making short work of the in-form Tour leader Teimour Radjabov. The American dominated today’s set and won with a game to spare. Wesley destroyed Radjabov, who went 15 games unbeaten during this event, in their third game. Following two draws, that result won So the set and the tie to take him smoothly into the final with the minimum of fuss. So, the reigning US Champion, said afterward: “Overall, today wasn’t Teimour’s day. Coming into the match I thought he was the slight favourite. “But Teimour is a very excellent player so, clearly, some things went wrong for him today.” It was nowhere near as smooth for Carlsen, however, who started the final having been seen on camera snacking on Chinese noodles. Presumably, Carlsen was celebrating the start of the Chinese Year of the Ox – an animal he would need all the strength of to overcome the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. And so it proved. Carlsen was made to battle his own blunders, a critical mouse-slip and an inspired ice-cool opponent to make it through in the final armageddon tiebreaker. After a dominant first set win yesterday, draws were good for Carlsen and when the first two games finished all-square, he appeared to be cruising. But in the third, the Norwegian made a critical oversight which lost him a bishop and left him doomed in the game. The Frenchman was back in the match. With another draw not enough, Carlsen went all out for the win in the last game of the set and promptly lost leaving the score 3-1 to Vachier-Lagrave. The tie was one-set all and had to be decided by a play-off. Carlsen was still the favourite, however, and showed his legendary endgame skills again as he crushed the life out of MVL’s position to win the first of two blitz tiebreaker games. The second descended into an intense battle of nerves but it was MVL who went ahead and then showed perfect endgame technique under pressure to force Carlsen into resigning. MVL was level again and the semi went down to the final Armageddon tiebreaker. Yet Carlsen had saved his best for last and played a flawless game to book his place in the final. Carlsen said he is expecting “a very tough fight” against So on Saturday. The champ added: “He’s been mightily impressive so far in the event. I don’t think he’s been in much danger since losing his first game. Yeah, it’s going to be fun.” Tomorrow’s two-day final starts at 17:00. Opera is the official browser of the Tour and title partner of the event which carries a $100,000 prize pot. The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organized by the Play Magnus Group, is the first full season of top-level online chess events. It comprises nine Regular and Major tournaments culminating in a $300,000 Final which starts in September. All matches are played in a rapid chess format with blitz and “armageddon” tie-breaks if needed. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Champions Chess Tourleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
KCF University Cup goes big
The first Kasparov Chess Foundation University Cup has exceeded all expectations with a huge number of participants. The team on-line tournament brought together universities from around the world to compete in a four against four rapid format. The universities were allowed to line up four players and one alternate per team. Each university could participate with more than one team, but only with one team with a rating average of over 2200. GM Naroditsky and FM Giannatos provided commentary during the event Played over two days on the weekend of February 6 and 7, the event accommodated college students from all continents. This proved to be a great success as the following incredible statistics show: 122 teams from 72 universities All continents 24 countries 527 players – 19 GMs, 14 IMs, 1 WGM, 20 FMs, 4 WFMs 2156 games played The tournament was broadcasted live on Twitch to tens of thousands of unique viewers and was widely spread in social media. KCF Young Stars alum GM Daniel Naroditsky was joined by FM Peter Giannatos to cover the action throughout all nine rounds. World Champion Garry Kasparov joined the commentary during the second day and talked about a variety of subjects, from the tournament games to Alireza Firouzja’s meteoric rise! You can find the candid commentary in the following links: Twitch Link Day 1 Twitch Link Day 2 Garry Kasparov’s commentary can be found between rounds six and seven on the second day. Kasparov also welcomed all the participants before the games of the day started. Garry Kasparov eloquently spoke about many things in the chess world, and passionately analyzed some of the games The tournament had some clear rating favorites, and they certainly did not disappoint. The University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (USA) was the #1 seed and really put their foot down on the event. Scoring a perfect 9/9, they left no doubt of who the best team in the event was. The clear leader of the team was GM Vladimir Fedoseev who scored an amazing 8.5/9. Second place went to the University of Missouri (USA), a relatively new scholarship program that fielded strong grandmasters. Their second board, GM Mikhail Antipov also scored 8.5/9 and became a cornerstone of the team’s success. Third place was decided on tiebreaks, as Texas Tech University edged out the University of Texas at Dallas (USA), Gunadarma University (Indonesia) and University of Cambridge (England) in the final standings. It was Texas Tech’s FM Alexey Sorokin with another 8.5/9 performance that strengthened their squad. Many other prizes were awarded, but the most valuable ones were certainly the 1st place and top-u2200 prize as they included an exclusive online training session with Garry Kasparov himself! The final prizewinner list is as follows: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley A, USA – 1st Place and Top University of the Americas + special prize of an on-Line training session with Garry Kasparov. University of Missouri A, USA – 2nd Place Texas Tech University A, USA – 3rd Place All top 3 teams from the USA Gunadarma University A, Indonesia – Top University of Asia University of Cambridge, England – Top University of Europe University of Benin, Nigeria – Top University of Africa Ivan Boberskyj Lviv State University of Physical Culture A, Ukraine – Top U2200 + on-line training session with Garry Kasparov Georgia Tech B, USA – Top U2000 Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua, Mexico – Top U1800 The tournament was successfully hosted on the lichess.org platform. Chacha Nugroho provided the web hosting and pairing system for the event. Kudos to the exceptional group of people that organized this event: • Michael Khodarkovsky, Kasparov Chess Foundation President• GM Alex Onischuk, US Chess College Committee Chair• Grant Oen, Chief Arbiter• GM Zlatko Klaric, KCF Adriatic Director• Graham Jurgensen, KCF Africa Director• Ignatius Leong, International Arbiter, KCF Asia-Pacific Director• GM Darcy Lima, KCF Lusophone Director• Hiquingari Carranza, KCF Ibero-America Director• Charlotte Chess Center for their assistance during the event For more details and results please visit the official website. Text and pictures: https://kasparovchessfoundation.org/