Champions Chess Tour Final: Carlsen at the finish line

by ChessBase
10/2/2021 – In the 6th round of the "Meltwater Champions Chess Tour" played on Friday Wesley So has suffered a significant setback, which may prove to be decisive: In his 1:3 against Teimour Radjabov, Wesley So, 2nd in the standings, failed to score, while Carlsen, still occupying the top spot, extended his lead by two more points in the overall ranking thanks to his victory (in a tiebreak) against Anish Giri. The world champion's lead over So is now 7 points - almost insurmountable given that there is only a maximum of 9 points still to be earned. The tournament organizers might therefore soon proclaim Magnus Carlsen as the "world's top online chess player" as the potential winner of the tournament. | Fotos: Play Magnus Group
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Meltwater Champions Chess Tour - Round 6

The four regular games between Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri had all ended in draws. To break the tie, two blitz games had to be played. The World Champion won the first game and drew the second, which put the match 2-1 in his favor in the overall standings.

The blitz game Carlsen won, was a tough one, because the World Champion decided to fight Giri's queen with three minor pieces. Although it was only a blitz game, there were some nice moves, such as the world championly 23. ... Lc8! and the consolidation of the black position following Giri's 24.g5, which would lead to a perfect interplay of the minor pieces:

 

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qb6 7.Be3 Nxd4 8.a4
In dieser ungewöhnlichen, bislang nicht wirklich erprobten Stellung gibt der Weltmeister nun die Dame für drei Leichtfiguren. Das war nicht besonders gut, doch es gelingt Giri nicht, dies nachzuweisen. Möglicherweise waren beide Spieler mit der Stellung nicht richtig vertraut. 8...Nxb5?! 9.Bxb6 axb6 10.Nd2?! Jetzt kann der Sb5 nach d6 gelangen. Nach 10.Qd3! hätte der Springer auf die deutlich schlechteren Felder c7 oder a7 ausweichen müssen. 10...Nd6 11.e5 Ndf5 12.Ne4 12.Nc4 Nd5 13.Qf3 war hier besser. 12...Nc6 13.g4 Nh4 14.f4 h5 15.h3?! Giri erlaubt seinem Gegner die Öffnung der h-Linie. Besser war 15.g5= 15...hxg4 16.hxg4 d5 Hier war 16...g5! ein guter Zug: 17.Nxg5 Bc5+ 17.exd6 Ra5 18.c4 f5 Dies war die Absicht hinter 16. ... d5: Der Se4 soll verschwinden. 19.b4 Nxb4 20.d7+ Bxd7 21.Nd6+ Bxd6 22.Qxd6 Nc6
Die Computer beurteilen diese superscharfe Stellung als vollkommen ausgeglichen, aber in dieser praktischen (Blitz-) Partie bedeutet das nichts. 23.Rad1? Dieser so stark erscheinende Zug ist nicht gut. Weiß musste erst 23.Qc7! ziehen: Der Zug greift nicht nur zwei Bauern an, sondern lässt auch den Ld7 nicht nach c8. 23...Bc8! Dieser Läufer hält jetzt weißfeldrig den schwarzen Damenflügel fest zusammen. Und Dc7 könnte der Nachziehende nunmehr mit 0-0 beantworten. 24.g5 Ng6 25.Rf2 Kf7 26.Qc7+ Nce7 27.Rd8 Rxd8 28.Qxd8 Rxa4 29.Qc7 e5 30.fxe5 Be6 31.Qxb7 Rxc4 32.Qxb6 Nxe5
Jetzt hat Carlsen eine wunderbare Koordination seiner Figuren erreicht und verfügt zudem über materiellen Vorteil. 33.Re2 Rc6 34.Qe3 N5g6 35.Kh2 Bc4 36.Rb2 Re6 37.Qf3 Re4 38.Rb7 Be6 39.Kg1 Rg4+ 40.Kh2 Rxg5 41.Rb6 Bd5 42.Qe3 Rg2+ 43.Kh3 Rg4 44.Kh2 f4 45.Qd4 Rg5
Eine Qual für Weiß! 46.Rd6 f3 47.Rd7 Rf5 48.Qg4 Be6 49.Rd1 Ne5 50.Qh4 f2 51.Kg2 Bd5+ 52.Kf1 Bc4+ 53.Kg2 f1Q+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2777Carlsen,M28550–12021B30Meltwater CCTF 20216.5

_REPLACE_BY_ADV_2

After losing the first two games against Teimour Radjabov, Wesley So managed to bounce back with a win in game 3, but he still had the fourth game ahead of him, which he had to win, if he wanted to score this round.

Such a must-win-situation is usually not very helpful, which proved itself here once more, as So lost quickly:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bg3 d6 9.a4 Nh7 10.Nc3 Ng5 11.Nd2 Ne6 12.Nd5 Bg5 13.Nf3 Ne7 14.h4 Bf4 15.Bxf4 exf4 16.Nxe7+ Qxe7 17.d4 g5 18.Nh2 gxh4 19.Re1 Kh8 20.e5 Qg5 21.Nf3 Qg4
In dieser Stellung war Weiß in die Defensive geraten: Die schwarzen Aktivitäten in der g-Linie sind vorerst wirksamer als der weiße Gegenstoß im Zentrum. 22.exd6? Und jetzt dieser Fehltritt, der von Radjabov energisch bestraft wird. Nach 22.Kh2! wäre die weiße Stellung verteidigungsfähig geblieben. Zum Beispiel: Ng5 23.Nxg5 Qxg5 24.Qf3 Allerdings musste So diese Partie ja gewinnen, wenn er in dem Match noch punkten wollte. Eine gerade noch wirksame Verteidigung, die ihm vielleicht ein Remis eingetragen hätte, konnte er schlichtweg nicht gebrauchen. 22...h3 23.Bf1 hxg2 24.Be2 Ng5 25.d5 25.Nxg5 Qh4! nützt nichts: 26.Kxg2 Qxg5+ und jetzt besorgen der Lc8 oder der nach g8 gelangende Tf8 den Rest. 25...Qh5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2778Radjabov,T27630–12021C50Meltwater CCTF 20216.4

_REPLACE_BY_ADV_1

 Wesley So now has to be careful not to be overtaken by Teimour Radjabov in the standings

Round 6 Results

Standings after Round 6

Games

 
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