Aronian on brink of first Meltwater Champions title
Levon Aronian has raced ahead in the Goldmoney Asian Rapid final, leaving Vladislav Artemiev with a mountain to climb tomorrow. The 38-year-old Armenian declined to celebrate at the halfway point as he clinched up a comfortable 2.5-1.5 first match win over the Russian. Artemiev now needs a comeback to take the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event final to a blitz playoff. The odds are heavily stacked against him. “I am sure Vladislav is going to bring everything he has,” Aronian said before tomorrow’s second half. “Because he is a great player. I have to be ready.” Artemiev is renowned for his prowess in speed chess but seemed out-of-sorts as he found himself struggling on the clock. After a draw in game 1, the 2019 European Champ had a golden opportunity to hit Aronian with an early win. Artemiev was streets ahead but let the advantage slip. Aronian used all his wily experience to pull off what he later described as a “miracle” save. With momentum behind him, Aronian then crashed through in game 3 to take the lead with just one game to go. Artemiev needed a win, but it was Aronian who attacked in game 4. The Russian tried hard but couldn’t lay a glove on Aronian, and the final game ended in a draw. Artemiev afterwards said it had been a “difficult day” but that he hoped to bounce back. He said: “Ok, I’m not very good today, but I have a chance to fight tomorrow.” Meanwhile, the two losing semi-finalists, World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren of China were battling it out in the third-place playoff match. At the halfway stage, Carlsen is ahead after a 2.5-1.5 win. The champ looked back to himself after a bad day at the office when he lost against Aronian. Carlsen, who is playing from Oslo, revealed that he has been in quarantine throughout the tournament and barely left his room. On having to play in the third-place match, Carlsen said: “Everyone knows it’s not where I want to be, but sometimes you’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt or dealt yourself.” The Goldmoney Asian Rapid is broadcast live on Norwegian TV station TV 2 and streamed with commentary in several languages on chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. Highlights will also be available in 60 countries on the Eurosport app. Play begins tomorrow at 13:00 CEST. All games will be played on the chess24.com playzone. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
Hou Yifan wins Women’s Speed Chess Championship
Hou Yifan is the winner of the 2021 FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship. In a roller-coaster final match with tension running high to the very end, she defeated Harika Dronavalli 15-13. Both opponents showed a great fighting spirit. The winner picked up the $20,000 first prize, whereas the runner-up took home $12,000 for her efforts. The Indian star was off to a flying start grabbing the lead in the 5+1 section, but the world’s #1 stormed back in the 3+1 segment levelling the score after a series of wins. It was back and forth in the bullet portion before Hou Yifan claimed the championship by winning the last two games. Internet connectivity problems on Harika’s side also affected the 1+1 part of the match. “In-between bullet, my Internet connection troubled me today. It never happened to me before, so I was a little disturbed. At the same time, I can’t give such reasons; my opponent played much stronger. I tried to fight until the end,” said Dronavalli. Hou Yifan also noted her opponent’s strength and unfortunate connectivity issues: “Harika had a very good performance, especially in a segment of 5+1. At some point, I was behind 2 or 3 points. I think the turning point was when Harika got some Internet connection problems. It is not only a technical issue but also bad psychologically. I had a similar experience before, and it can be annoying, to be honest.” “In the bullet segment, my opponent played very well, very fast… At any point, it could have gone either way. I was just lucky at some moments to win this match,” the champion added. The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event run from June 10 to July 3. Players battled for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000. Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events). More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.