Firouzja withdraws due to illness
Wunderkind Alireza Firouzja impressed in the last ‘regular’ event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, as he reached the semifinals for the first time in the series after failing to make it through the quarterfinals on multiple occasions. Moreover, he knocked out Wesley So, one of the favourites to take first place. In the semis, the 18-year-old from Babol lost against Vladislav Artemiev in an incredibly close match that was only decided in Armageddon.
These DVDs are about Understanding Middlegame Strategies. In the first DVD dynamic decisions involving pawns are discussed. The second DVD deals with decision making process concerning practical play.
After missing his chance to set up a final match against Magnus Carlsen, Firouzja could have still fought for third place against Levon Aronian. However, shortly before the match, it was announced that the youngster would not be able to play due to health issues. Firouzja sent an apology to his fans on Twitter.
Thus, Aronian was granted third place. The Armenian played in all 9 events of the tour, reaching the semifinals (or more) five times. A couple of months ago, he won the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament.
During the webcast of the finals, Aronian told the commentators that he will travel to Saint Louis tomorrow night — the world number 5 announced his federation switch to the United States back in February.
Carlsen’s victory
The world champion had nothing but words of praise for Artemiev on Friday, as he described the Russian’s positional prowess as “sublime”. There is no doubt Artemiev’s ability to quickly ‘feel’ the position on the board helps him greatly in quickplay tournaments. However, nerves seem to have betrayed the 23-year-old in the first set of the finals.
Artemiev vs. Carlsen - Game #1
Playing white in game 1, the Russian erred decisively with 31.Rac1, allowing 31...Bc4 which cuts the connection between the white rooks and attacks the queen — to prevent this trick, it was necessary to trade a couple of rooks first: 31.Rxc8. There followed 32.Rxc8 Bxe2 33.Rxe8+ Kh7 34.Bd2
The aim of this course is to help you understand how to make tactical opportunities arise as well as to sharpen your tactical vision - these selected lectures will help to foster your overall tactical understanding.
34...Bxg4 35.Bg2 Bf3 and White resigned.
Artemiev got a good position with black in game 2, but he found himself low on time after suffering problems with his internet connection. The players reached a difficult endgame, the kind that needs precise play to stay afloat.
Carlsen vs. Artemiev - Game #2
The Russian’s 26...Ra4 was not accurate, as the more active 26...Ra1 was called for. After 27.Nxd4 Rxc4 28.Nf5, Black made the last mistake.
FM Claus Dieter Meyer has put under the microscope a comprehensive fund of topical and timeless games / fragments. On video Hamburg GM Dr. Karsten Müller has outlined corner points of Meyer's work and created 14 tests plus 10 interactive test sets.
28...g6 loses to 29.Nd6, and 29...Rc5 — keeping the defence of the knight on c3 — fails due to the lethal fork 30.Nb7+. Artemiev resigned.
Endgame specialist Karsten Müller took a more in-depth look into this position. Do not miss his full annotations in the replayer below (second game).
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.Nc3 e6 4.e3 d5 5.d4 a6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.g3 c4 8.Bg2 Bb4 9.Bd2 0-0 10.Ne5 Nc6 11.0-0 Re8 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.b3 a5 14.bxc4 Ba6 15.Qc2 Bxc4 16.Rfb1 Bxc3 17.Bxc3 Ne4 18.Be1 h5 19.Qd1 h4 20.g4 a4 21.a3 Bb3 22.Qe2 Re6 23.Rc1 Qg5 24.f4 Qe7 25.Bb4 Qc7 26.f5 Ree8 27.Qe1 Qd8 28.Rxc6 h3 29.Bxh3 Qg5 30.Qe2 Rac8 31.Rac1 Bc4 32.Rxc8 Bxe2 33.Rxe8+ Kh7 34.Bd2 Bxg4 35.Bg2 Bf3 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Artemiev,V | 2704 | Carlsen,M | 2847 | 0–1 | 2021 | A15 | Aimchess US Rapid KO 2021 | 1.1 |
Carlsen,M | 2847 | Artemiev,V | 2704 | 1–0 | 2021 | D32 | Aimchess US Rapid KO 2021 | 1.2 |
Artemiev,V | 2704 | Carlsen,M | 2847 | 1–0 | 2021 | A04 | Aimchess US Rapid KO 2021 | 1.3 |
Carlsen,M | 2847 | Artemiev,V | 2704 | ½–½ | 2021 | B51 | Aimchess US Rapid KO 2021 | 1.4 |
Please, wait...

Links