2/10/2023 – The knockout phase of the Airthings Masters took place on February 6-10. Three Divisions (with 8, 16 and 32 players respectively) were played concurrently. Each knockout includes winners’ and losers’ brackets. Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Samuel Sevian were crowned winners of each division. | Replay the games and check out each division’s full brackets.
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Three Divisions
The Airthings Masters is the first event of the Champions Chess Tour. Following a play-in phase, a total of 56 players are participating in the knockout stage on February 6-10.
Division I: 8 players
Division II: 16 players
Division III: 32 players
Each division has separate prize funds, with players also winning Tour Points according to the division they played in and their placement. By the end of the tour’s sixth event, the players with the most Tour Points get a spot in the CCT Playoff.
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.
Commentary by David Howell, Tania Sachdev, Robert Hess, Kaja Snare & Jovanka Houska
Brackets
Division I
Division II
Division III
Format
The Airthings Masters has a Play-in stage, open to all grandmasters, and a Knockout stage featuring three divisions. Each division has separate prize funds, with players also winning Tour Points according to the division they played in and their placement. By the end of the tour’s sixth event, the players with the most Tour Points get a spot in the CCT Playoff.
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Knockout
The Knockout stage features 56 players playing across three different divisions based on their Match Play results:
Division I: 8 players.
Two invited players (Carlsen and So).
The six winners of the matches between the top-12 players from the Play-in Swiss.
Division II: 16 players.
The six losers of the matches between the top-12 players from the Play-in Swiss.
The ten winners of the matches between players placed 13th to 32nd in the Play-in Swiss.
Division III: 32 players.
The 10 losers of the matches between players placed 13th to 32nd in the Play-in Swiss.
The 22 winners of the matches between players placed 33rd to 76th in the Play-in Swiss.
Each division has prize money and Tour Points on the line.
The Knockout stage has the following format:
Each division features a double-elimination knockout bracket.
The time control is 15+3.
Divisions I and II feature four-game matches in the Winners Bracket and two-game matches in the Losers Bracket.
Division III features two-game matches in both the Winners and Losers Brackets and a four-game match in the Grand Finals.
If there’s a Grand Finals reset (player coming out of the Losers Bracket wins the first set), the second set features a two-game match.
A bidding armageddon game with a 15-minute base time breaks ties.
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Keep it simple. Stay objective. Watch the clock. Sometimes take the risk. GM Loek van Wely explains the ten principles that decide real games. They aren’t about theory. They’re about what you do at the board when it counts.
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Most players don’t lack the urge to attack, they just strike at the wrong moment, and GM Sipke Ernst shows you which signals tell you to go for the king and which tell you to choose another plan.
How grandmasters win without fireworks: GM Jan Markos shows you 11 very practical tips from "How to play in a lost position" to "Be patient like Carlsen" that will improve your tournament chess.
The Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
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In this 60-minute video course you’ll learn how to use the Austrian Defence as a practical weapon for Black!
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