Carlsen twice checkmates So, wins Aimchess Rapid

by Klaus Besenthal
7/16/2023 – In the Grand Final of the Aimchess Rapid, Magnus Carlsen defeated Wesley So by a 3-1 score on Friday. The 15+3 rapid tournament was the fourth event of the Champions Chess Tour and was played online. In the overall tour standings, Carlsen now has a 95-point lead over his closest chaser, Fabiano Caruana. Denis Lazavik won Division II, while Yu Yangyi prevailed in Division III.
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A clear winner

Magnus Carlsen kicked off the Grand Final with back-to-back wins. In the first game, he got a considerable advantage in the middlegame, missed a chance to all but end the game on move 36, and then saw his opponent blundering in a rook and knight versus rook and bishop ending.

Carlsen, Magnus28351–0So, Wesley2769
Aimchess-Rapid-Div-I 2023
Online14.07.2023[Mueller,Karsten]
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qa4 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 c6 12.e3 Nbd7 13.Nc3 Bg6 14.Nh4 Bh5 15.Qe1 Rc8 16.Ne2 c5 17.Ba5 Qe8 18.Nf4 Bd8 19.Nxh5 Nxh5 20.Nf3 Nhf6 21.Rc1 c4 22.b3 Nd5 23.bxc4 bxc4 24.e4 N5f6 25.Bc3 Nb6 26.Qe2 Be7 27.Rc2 Na4 28.Rb1 Nxc3 29.Rxc3 Qd7 30.Rxc4 Rxc4 31.Qxc4 Nxe4 32.Ne5 Qd5 33.Qd3 f5 34.Qxa6 g6 35.Rb5 Qxd4 36.Qxe6+ Kh8 37.Bxe4 fxe4 38.Nf7+ Kg7 39.Qe5+ Qxe5 40.Nxe5
Counterplay counts. Activity is often important in an endgame: 40...Ra8! 41.Nc6 Kf7?? But this passive move loses directly. After 41...Bf6 Black can defend, e.g. 42.Ra5 42.Na5?! Bc3= 42...Rc8
The active rook must of course attempt to create counterplay. 43.Ra6 Re8 44.a4 e3 45.fxe3 Rxe3 46.a5 Ra3 47.Ra7+ Kh6 48.Kg2 Rc3 49.Ra6 Ra3 50.Ra8 Rc3 51.Rc8 Ra3 and Black holds. 42.Rb7 42.Rb7 Re8 43.Kf1 Kf6 44.Rxe7 Rxe7 45.Nxe7 Kxe7 46.Ke2+- 1–0

Carlsen got to checkmate Wesley So in the next game, but the resilient US grandmaster won on-demand in game 3, thus keeping theoretical chances of winning the match. However, the former world champion again managed to give a checkmate in game 4.

So, Wesley27690–1Carlsen, Magnus2835
Aimchess-Rapid-Div-I 2023
Online14.07.2023[Mueller,Karsten]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 c5 5.d4 a6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.g3 c4 8.Bg2 Bb4 9.0-0 0-0 10.Ne5 Re8 11.Bd2 Nc6 12.a3 Ba5 13.b4 cxb3 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Qxb3 h5 16.Qc2 h4 17.Rfc1 h3 18.Bh1 Bg4 19.Nb1 Bb6 20.Bb4 Ne4 21.Bxe4 Rxe4 22.Nd2 Re6 23.Qd3 Qf6 24.Qf1 Ree8 25.Rab1 Reb8 26.Bc5 Ba5 27.Bb4 Bc7 28.Bc3 a5 29.f3 Bf5 30.e4 Be6 31.e5 Qe7 32.Ra1 c5 33.Qf2 c4 34.g4
Magnus' mighty men. Even pawns can be very powerful: 34...f6! Magnus opens attacking inroads. 35.Kh1?! Loses more or less directly. But 35.Qh4 Qd8-+ does not defend in the long run either. 35...fxe5 36.dxe5 Bb6 37.Bd4 Bxd4 38.Qxd4 Qa7! This breaks White's blockade and Magnus' mighty pawns win. 39.Qxa7 Rxa7 40.Rc2 d4 41.Nxc4 Rc8
Pin and win. 42.Rac1 d3 Now the d-pawn will decide the day in style. 43.Rc3 Rxc4 44.Rxc4 Bxc4 45.Rxc4 d2 46.Rd4 Rc7 47.Rxd2 Rc1+ 48.Rd1 Rxd1# 0–1

Overall tour standings

Aimchess Rapid

Division I - Games and brackets

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Division II - Games and brackets

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Division III: Games at Live.ChessBase.com | Brackets at Challonge.com

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.

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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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