In the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, Magnus Carlsen faced Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. On the way to the final, Carlsen had eliminated Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniachtchi quite smoothly. Vachier-Lagrave had won just as smoothly, without a playoff, against Alireza Firouzja and against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
In the final, the Frenchman proved to be an equal opponent for the Norwegian. In the first game, Carlsen played 3.Bb5 against Vachier-Lagrave’s Najdorf, but didn’t achieve much. The game ended in a draw. In the second game, Carlsen himself tried the Najdorf variation, was slightly worse for a long time, but finally achieved a draw in a knight ending.
The third game gave the former world champion the lead. Once again, the Najdorf appeared on the board. The two contenders followed well-known ideas of the English Attack. In the endgame with unequal material, Carlsen finally gained the upper hand.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e6 9.Be3 b5 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.g4 b4 12.Na4 h6 13.0-0-0 Ne5 14.b3 Bd7 15.Nb2 d5 16.Bf4 Nxf3 17.Nxf3 Nxe4 18.Qd4 Rg8 18...f6 19.Bd3 Bc5 20.Bxe4 Bxd4 21.Bg6+ Kf8 22.Rxd4 a5 23.Re1 Be8 24.Nh4 e5 25.Rd2 a4 26.bxa4 Kg8 27.Bg3 d4 28.Rd3 h5 29.Bxe8 Qxe8 30.g5 Rc8 31.g6 Rh6 32.Rxd4 Rxg6 33.Nxg6 Qxg6 34.Rd2 Rc3 35.Red1 Kh7 36.Kb1 Qf5 37.Be1 Ra3 38.Rd6 Rh3 39.a5 Rxh2 40.Rc1 Qe4 41.a6 Qa8 42.Bxb4 h4 43.Bc5 h3 44.Nd3 Rd2 45.Rb6 h2 46.Nf2 Qd5 47.Be3 Re2 48.Rb3 f5 49.a7 Rxe3 50.Rxe3 Qb7+ 51.Rb3 Qxa7 52.Nh1 f4 53.c4 e4 54.c5 e3 55.c6 e2 56.c7 Qxc7 57.Rxc7 e1Q+ 58.Rc1 Qe4+ 59.Ka1 Qd4+ 60.Kb1 Qe4+ 61.Ka1 Qd4+ 62.Kb1 Qe4+ 19.Ne5 Bc5 20.Qxe4 dxe4 21.Nxd7 Qxd7 21...Rc8 22.Bxa6+- 21...Qa5 22.Kb1 Ra7 23.Nxc5 Qxc5 24.Bd6+- 22.Rxd7 Kxd7 23.Nc4 23.Na4!? 23...g5 24.Be5 Ke7= 25.h4 Rad8 25...gxh4 26.Rxh4 h5 27.Rxh5 27.gxh5 Rg1 28.Rf4 f5 27...Rxg4= 26.hxg5 Rxg5 27.Be2 Rg6 28.Bf4 Bd4 29.Ne5 Bxe5 29...Rf6!? 30.Nc6+ Kd7 31.Nxd4 Rxf4 30.Bxe5 f5 31.gxf5 exf5 32.Bf4 a5 32...Rh8!? 33.Rh5 Kf6 34.Bxa6 Ra8 35.Bc4 Rxa2= 33.Bxh6 Rg2 34.Bf1 Rg6 35.Be3 Kf6 36.Bc4 Ke5 37.Rh7 f4 38.Rh5+ Kf6 39.Bb6 39.Bxf4?? Rg1+ 40.Kb2 Rdd1-+ 39...Rd7 40.Bxa5 Rg1+ 41.Kb2 f3 42.Bxb4 f2 43.Bc3+ Kg6 44.Re5 Re1 44...f1Q 45.Bxf1 Rxf1 46.Rxe4+- 45.Re6+ Kg5 46.Rf6 e3 47.Rf8 Rc7 48.Bd4 Rxc4 49.Bxe3+ Rxe3 50.bxc4 50.bxc4 Re2 51.c5+- 1–0 In the fourth game, Vachier-Lagrave was in a must-win situation. And he succeeded in doing so. Against Carlsen’s Sicilian Four Knights, MVL soon had some advantage, but couldn’t get more than an endgame with queen and pawns against two rooks and pawns. Objectively it was a draw, but Carlsen lost his focus for a moment and was mated.
A bidding Armageddon ensued: the player who bids the shorter time gets to choose the colour and then plays with that time against the rival’s 15 minutes. A draw is enough for Black to win. Carlsen won the bidding with 8 minutes, played with black and achieved a draw, thus winning the Armageddon and the match.
In the losers’ bracket, Anish Giri continued to show good form, beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2-0, while Ian Nepomniachtchi eliminated Alireza Firouzja in Armageddon.
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.d4 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Re1 Nxe5 10.Rxe5 Qc7 11.Qe2 Bg6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Rxe6+ Kf7 14.Qc4 b5 15.Qb3 Nd5 16.Nxd5 cxd5 17.Qxd5 Qc4 18.Re7+ Kxe7 19.Bg5+ Ke8 20.Re1+ Be7 21.Rxe7+ Kf8 22.Qxa8+ 3...Nf6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Nc6 6.h3 6.0-0?! 0-0-0 7.c4 Qh5 6.c4 Qh5 7.Be3 0-0-0 8.Nbd2 e5 9.d5 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Bxg4+ Nxg4 12.Bxd4 Re8+ 13.Kf1 Nxh2+ 14.Kg1 Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1 Ng4 16.f3 Ne5 17.Re1 f6 6...Bf5 6...Bxf3 7.Bxf3 Qe6+ 7...Qxd4 8.Bxc6+ 8.Be3 6...Bh5 7.c4 Qd6 8.d5 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Ne5 10.0-0 Qd7 11.Qe2 Nxf3+ 12.Qxf3 g6 13.Nc3 Bg7 14.Re1 0-0 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bh4 Rfe8 17.Rad1 a6 18.Bg3 Qf5 19.Qxf5 gxf5 20.c5 c6 21.d6 exd6 22.cxd6 Re6 23.Re5 7.0-0 e6 8.c4 Qd7 9.Nc3 0-0-0 10.Be3 10.Qa4!? 10...g5 11.Bxg5 Be7 12.d5 exd5 13.cxd5 Nb4 13...Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Qxd5 15.Nxd5 Bxg5 16.Nxg5 Rxd5 17.Bc4 Rd2 18.Nxf7 Re8± 14.Qd4 c5 15.Qh4 15.Qe5 Nfxd5 16.Bxe7 Nxe7 17.Qxc5+ Nbc6 18.Rfd1+- 15...Nfxd5 16.Nxd5 Bxg5 17.Nxg5 Nxd5 18.Rac1 Kb8 19.Rxc5 Qe7 20.Qd4 Rhg8 20...Nb6 21.Qf4++- 21.Rxd5 Rxd5 22.Qxd5 Rxg5 23.h4 Rxg2+ 24.Qxg2 24.Qxg2 Qxe2 25.Qg3+ Kc8 26.Qg8+ Kc7 27.Qxf7+ Bd7 28.Rc1++- 1–0 
Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.
On Thursday, Giri and Nepomniachtchi will play in the losers’ bracket semifinal and the winner will play Vachier-Lagrave in the losers’ bracket final. On Friday, the winner of that bracket will face Carlsen, who can now rest for a day.
All games
Division I
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Division II
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Replay all the games from Division III at Live.ChessBase.com
Brackets
Division I
Division II
Division III
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