Isle of Man: Round 9

by ChessBase
10/1/2017 – Magnus Carlsen has only one obstacle between him and his first tournament victory in over a year: Hikaru Nakamura. Carlsen's a clear favourite with white and a half point edge in Isle of Man. His eighth round win over Caruana, with the black pieces was extremely impressive, and he has only lost a classical game to Nakamura (with any colour) once (in Bilbao, 2016)! Hou Yifan, since taking a bye in round 5 has one three in a row and faces Anand on board 2! Watch games from the ninth and final round live... | Photos: Alina l'Ami
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Round 9

Live games and commentary

 

See Broadcasts on Playchess.com at a glance (guide)

Live commentary by GM Simon Williams and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni

Opening with the Chigorin shows your intention to play for a win right from the outset. After 2...Nc6 Black's pieces fly into the game putting pressure on White's position from a very early stage. This opening is ideal for the type of player who strives for an unconvential yet attacking game right from the start.

The master tournament is played over nine rounds between September 23rd and October 1st, 2017, which begin at 14:30 CEST, except the last round which starts at 13:00. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment per move from the start. The special charm of this competition is that it offers the possibility that amateur players can compete in an open tournament with the world elite.

Standings after round 9 (Top 20)

 

In total 168 players (full results at Chess-Results.com)

Photography by Alina l'Ami

Playing hall

The playing hall | Photo: Alina l´Ami

Anand

Anand eyes Carlsen across the hall | Photo: Alina l´Ami

More photos in the gallery at the top of this story!

All games

 

Links

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