CCT Finals: Carlsen wins first set

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
12/16/2023 – Magnus Carlsen only needs a draw in the second set of the Champions Chess Tour Finals to claim his third consecutive title in the online series (he also won in 2020, when the tour was fittingly named after him). Carlsen beat Wesley So in the first set of the match for the title after scoring the one win of the set from a very balanced endgame position. | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio

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“I hustle him”

How to beat a player as solid as Wesley So? Magnus Carlsen, the best chess player of this era, revealed the formula after winning the first set of the Champions Chess Tour Finals’ match for the title:

I just, you know — I hustle him. I use his sort of lack of aggression against him.

Saturday’s 4-game set was a tense, technical battle. So, who has been very active on X lately, asked Fabiano Caruana for last-minute tips for the match. Caruana jokingly replied:

Just be yourself! And prepare for 1.b3

After sharing that he hopes that Carlsen does not get to read that post, he indeed played 1.b3 in the first game of the match. The game was balanced throughout and ended in a draw after 44 moves. The second encounter was also drawn, after 41 moves.

Carlsen again got the black pieces in game 3, and he attempted to get imbalances from the get go out of a Sicilian Defence. True to his style, So tried to keep things under control — but he could not prevent Carlsen from getting a slight edge in the pure rook endgame that appeared on the board.

So vs. Carlsen - Game #3

Black is a pawn up, but he also has four pawn islands to White’s two, and his king is not as active as its white counterpart.

So began to find the most precise defensive ideas in the position, regaining the balance with active play. However, on move 53, with around 10 seconds on his clock, the Filipino-born GM misjudged where he needed to place his king.

Despite being two pawns down, White needs not to hurry with 53.Kxh5 (as played in the game) and instead continue to activate his king via 53.Kf6 — there would follow 53...b4 54.Rb8+ Kd7 55.Kxf7 Kc7 56.Rb5, and the white king will return to g6 to capture the h-pawn (diagram).

Analysis diagram

Note that the black king cannot be easily activated due to the pawn on d5.

In the game, on the other hand, Black got to push his f-pawn, getting two distant passers. As it turns out, White’s h-pawn did not provide enough compensation. Resignation came in the following position.

It was a remarkable showing by the former world champion, who converted such small advantages into wins on his way to the very top of the rankings — and during his long, ongoing stay at the pinnacle of the sport.

A draw in the next game granted Carlsen overall victory in the first set of the match.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.b3 g6 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.c4 b6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.d4 0-0 6.g3 Bb7 7.Bg2 e6 8.0-0 Na6 9.e3 d5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Nc3 Qe7 12.Rc1 Rfd8 13.Re1 c5 14.Nb5 Ne4 15.Qe2 Nb4 16.a3 Na2 17.Ra1 a6 18.dxc5 axb5 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qxa2 bxc5 21.b4 cxb4 22.Qb2+ Qf6 23.Qxb4 d4 24.exd4 Nd6 25.Ne5 Ra4 26.Qb2 Bxg2 27.Kxg2 Nc4 28.Qxb5 Rxd4 29.Nf3 Ra5 30.Qb3 Nd2 31.Qc3 Nxf3 32.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 33.Kxf3 g5 34.h3 h5 35.Kg2 Rd3 36.Re3 Rxe3 37.fxe3 Ra4 38.Kf3 f5 39.Ke2 Kf6 40.Ra2 Ke5 41.Kf3 h4 42.gxh4 Rxh4 43.Kg2 Ra4 44.Kf3 Rh4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2752Carlsen,M2830½–½2023A01CCT Final KO 20231.1
Carlsen,M2830So,W2752½–½2023A29CCT Final KO 20231.2
So,W2752Carlsen,M28300–12023B28CCT Final KO 20231.3
Carlsen,M2830So,W2752½–½2023B22CCT Final KO 20231.4

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Champions Chess Tour Finals 2023

Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave showed up at the Fan Zone set up in Toronto | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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