A very strong field
The play-in stage of Champions Chess Tour’s second event took place on March 13. A total of 147 players participated in a 9-round Swiss tournament with a time control of 10 minutes for the game and 2-second increments from move one. The top 8 finishers decided who would move on to Division I of the main event in 2-game matches. At the end of the day, Le Quang Liem, Levon Aronian, Vladimir Fedoseev and Vladislav Artemiev qualified for the star-studded knockout set to start on April 3.
In “The refreshed Evans Gambit”, you will find a small opening repertoire with new ideas in the Evans Gambit. The Evans Gambit is a positional pawn sacrifice in the opening, to create a strong bind or even a quick attack.
Four other players gained their spots in Division I thanks to their performances at the Airthings Masters in February — i.e. Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana. A double-elimination knockout will decide who gets the 150 Tour points and $30,000 reserved for the winner.
Like Dommaraju Gukesh at the Airthings Masters Play-In, Le Quang Liem scored 7½/9 points to get clear first place in the Swiss tournament. Levon Aronian and Vladimir Fedoseev finished a half point back, while ten players scored 6½ points. Out of the ten, five moved on to the match-play stage thanks to their tiebreak scores: Vladislav Artemiev, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Maksim Chigaev and Denis Lazavik, in that order.

According to the tour regulations, the top four finishers in the Swiss get to choose whom to face in match-play. Despite getting to choose first, Le was the one struggling the most to win his match, as he only beat Chigaev in Armageddon after trading wins with white.
Chigaev had white in the sudden-death decider, and lost the thread in a double-edged position after underestimating his opponent’s attacking chances on the kingside:
Chigaev vs. Le - Armageddon
White has an extra pawn in a position with both kings rather exposed. His best chance here is to simplify the position a bit with 30.Re8+, forcing a rook swap — the setup is lively enough for him to look for winning chances in this must-win situation (Black gets draw odds in Armageddon).
Instead, Chigaev’s decision to play 30.Kh1, probably motivated by a refusal to simplify matters, allowed Le to double on the h-file with 30...Qh6, when 31.Re8+ would remarkably fail to 31...Ka7. Chigaev went for 31.R1e2, but there is nothing to do against the black attack starting with 31...Rxh3+ — if White captures with the bishop, a knight check from f3 in many ensuing variations becomes deadly.
Chigaev resigned eight moves later.
Considered a master of prophylaxis, Petrosian sensed dangers long before they actually became acute on the board. In his prime, Petrosian was almost invincible. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Tigran Petrosian.
In the three remaining matches, Aronian showed his class against Lazavik, while elite GMs Abdusattorov and Vachier-Lagrave were defeated by their Russian opponents.

Division I
The pairings are ready for the main event starting on April 3. The favourites will certainly have a tough task right off the bat.
All matches for Division I spots
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nge2 e5 6.d5 h5 7.h4 a5 8.Ng3 Na6 9.Be2 Bd7 10.Bg5 Bh6 11.Bxh6 Rxh6 12.Qd2 Rh8 13.0-0-0 Qe7 14.Kb1 Nc5 15.f3 b6 16.Nf1 Qf8 17.Ne3 Qh6 18.Rdf1 Ng8 19.g4 Qf4 20.Bd3 Qh6 21.Bc2 Ne7 22.g5 Qg7 23.f4 exf4 24.Rxf4 Qe5 25.Nf5 Rf8 26.Nd4 Bg4 27.Rhf1 Nd7 28.Ba4 Bh3 29.R1f3 Bg4 30.Rf2 Qg7 31.Ne6 1–0
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Le,Q | 2728 | Chigaev,M | 2632 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Aronian,L | 2745 | Lazavik,D | 2544 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Fedoseev,V | 2674 | Abdusattorov,N | 2731 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Artemiev,V | 2701 | Vachier-Lagrave,M | 2736 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Chigaev,M | 2632 | Le,Q | 2728 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Lazavik,D | 2544 | Aronian,L | 2745 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Abdusattorov,N | 2731 | Fedoseev,V | 2674 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Vachier-Lagrave,M | 2736 | Artemiev,V | 2701 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Chigaev,M | 2632 | Le,Q | 2728 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
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Division II
Plenty of strong players will be fighting in Division II, with two matches particularly enticing for chess enthusiasts: Abdusattorov vs Anish Giri and Yu Yangyi vs Vladimir Kramnik.
All matches for Division II spots
1.e4 | 1,166,623 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
1.d4 | 947,298 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
1.Nf3 | 281,602 | 56% | 2441 | --- |
1.c4 | 182,102 | 56% | 2442 | --- |
1.g3 | 19,702 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
1.b3 | 14,265 | 54% | 2427 | --- |
1.f4 | 5,897 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
1.Nc3 | 3,801 | 51% | 2384 | --- |
1.b4 | 1,756 | 48% | 2380 | --- |
1.a3 | 1,206 | 54% | 2404 | --- |
1.e3 | 1,068 | 48% | 2408 | --- |
1.d3 | 954 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
1.g4 | 664 | 46% | 2360 | --- |
1.h4 | 446 | 53% | 2374 | --- |
1.c3 | 433 | 51% | 2426 | --- |
1.h3 | 280 | 56% | 2418 | --- |
1.a4 | 110 | 60% | 2466 | --- |
1.f3 | 92 | 46% | 2436 | --- |
1.Nh3 | 89 | 66% | 2508 | --- |
1.Na3 | 42 | 62% | 2482 | --- |
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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb4 6.Bc4 Nd3+ 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kf1 Ne6 9.h4 h5 10.Ne2 Nc6 11.b4 Nxb4 12.Bb2 Nc7 13.Ne5 e6 14.Ng3 f6 15.a3 Nba6 16.Ng6 Rh6 17.Be2 Qd7 18.Nxf8 Kxf8 19.d4 b6 20.Nxh5 Bb7 21.Ng3 Rd8 22.dxc5 Nxc5 23.f3 Qe8 24.Qc2 Ba6 25.Rd1 Bxe2+ 26.Nxe2 e5 27.Bc1 Rh8 28.Be3 N7e6 29.Kf2 Kf7 30.Rd5 Rc8 31.Qa2 Rc7 32.g3 Kg6 33.Rhd1 Qa4 34.Rd6 Re8 35.Qd5 Qxa3 36.f4 Kh7 37.f5 Nf8 38.g4 Qa4 39.Ng3 Qb3 40.g5 Qxd5 41.R1xd5 Nfd7 42.g6+ Kg8 43.h5 a5 44.h6 gxh6 45.Kf3 a4 46.Bxc5 Nxc5 47.Nh5 Rf8 48.Nxf6+ Rxf6 49.Rxf6 Ra7 50.Rfd6 a3 51.f6 1–0
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Keymer,V | 2699 | Salem,A | 2677 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Tabatabaei,M | 2675 | Giri,A | 2768 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Yu,Y | 2729 | Makarian,R | 2557 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Praggnanandhaa R | 2691 | Alonso Rosell,A | 2567 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Sadhwani,R | 2627 | Martinez Alcantara,J | 2607 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Sevian,S | 2687 | Dreev,A | 2606 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Erigaisi Arjun | 2701 | Fier,A | 2606 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Le,T | 2542 | Bluebaum,M | 2661 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Kramnik,V | 2753 | Gukesh D | 2730 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Meier,G | 2613 | Kravtsiv,M | 2598 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Iturrizaga Bonelli,E | 2636 | Oparin,G | 2667 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Pantsulaia,L | 2597 | Dubov,D | 2708 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Salem,A | 2677 | Keymer,V | 2699 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Giri,A | 2768 | Tabatabaei,M | 2675 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Makarian,R | 2557 | Yu,Y | 2729 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Alonso Rosell,A | 2567 | Praggnanandhaa R | 2691 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Martinez Alcantara,J | 2607 | Sadhwani,R | 2627 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Dreev,A | 2606 | Sevian,S | 2687 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Fier,A | 2606 | Erigaisi Arjun | 2701 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Bluebaum,M | 2661 | Le,T | 2542 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Gukesh D | 2730 | Kramnik,V | 2753 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Kravtsiv,M | 2598 | Meier,G | 2613 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Oparin,G | 2667 | Iturrizaga Bonelli,E | 2636 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Dubov,D | 2708 | Pantsulaia,L | 2597 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Tabatabaei,M | 2675 | Giri,A | 2768 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Sadhwani,R | 2627 | Martinez Alcantara,J | 2607 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Dreev,A | 2606 | Sevian,S | 2687 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Erigaisi Arjun | 2701 | Fier,A | 2606 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Bluebaum,M | 2661 | Le,T | 2542 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Oparin,G | 2667 | Iturrizaga Bonelli,E | 2636 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
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Division III
The likes of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Dommaraju Gukesh and European champion Alexey Sarana will be among the 32 participants in a very competitive Division III.
All matches for Division III spots
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.b3 cxb3 7.axb3 e6 8.Bd3 a5 9.0-0 Na6 10.Qxc6+ Bd7 11.Qb7 Nb4 12.Bxb5 Rb8 13.Bxd7+ Nxd7 14.Qa7 Ra8 15.Qb7 Rb8 16.Qa7 Ra8 17.Qb7 Rb8 ½–½
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Andreikin,D | 2729 | Shimanov,A | 2581 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Sjugirov,S | 2712 | Vokhidov,S | 2601 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Rasulov,V | 2516 | Kevlishvili,R | 2541 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Harikrishna,P | 2707 | Pichot,A | 2638 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Durarbayli,V | 2635 | Alekseenko,K | 2686 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Michalik,P | 2577 | Antipov,M | 2581 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Svane,R | 2620 | Mitrabha,G | 2510 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Yakubboev,N | 2630 | Wei,Y | 2722 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Terry,R | 2520 | Anton Guijarro,D | 2685 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Kosteniuk,A | 2536 | Nguyen,N | 2645 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Tari,A | 2649 | Aditya Mittal | 2505 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Paravyan,D | 2584 | Salgado Lopez,I | 2591 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Frolyanov,D | 2491 | Grischuk,A | 2745 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Vallejo Pons,F | 2710 | Smirnov,P | 2545 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Darini,P | 2405 | Lobanov,S | 2545 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Wagner,D | 2586 | Mamedyarov,S | 2738 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Bachmann,A | 2604 | Sychev,K | 2549 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Kamsky,G | 2663 | Chirila,I | 2543 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Volkov,S | 2453 | Sarana,A | 2668 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Ibarra Jerez,J | 2563 | Malakhov,V | 2650 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 10 |
Shimanov,A | 2581 | Andreikin,D | 2729 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Vokhidov,S | 2601 | Sjugirov,S | 2712 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Kevlishvili,R | 2541 | Rasulov,V | 2516 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Pichot,A | 2638 | Harikrishna,P | 2707 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Alekseenko,K | 2686 | Durarbayli,V | 2635 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Antipov,M | 2581 | Michalik,P | 2577 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Mitrabha,G | 2510 | Svane,R | 2620 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Wei,Y | 2722 | Yakubboev,N | 2630 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Anton Guijarro,D | 2685 | Terry,R | 2520 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Nguyen,N | 2645 | Kosteniuk,A | 2536 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Aditya Mittal | 2505 | Tari,A | 2649 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Salgado Lopez,I | 2591 | Paravyan,D | 2584 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Grischuk,A | 2745 | Frolyanov,D | 2491 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Smirnov,P | 2545 | Vallejo Pons,F | 2710 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Lobanov,S | 2545 | Darini,P | 2405 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Mamedyarov,S | 2738 | Wagner,D | 2586 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Bachmann,A | 2604 | Sychev,K | 2549 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Chirila,I | 2543 | Kamsky,G | 2663 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Sarana,A | 2668 | Volkov,S | 2453 | ½–½ | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Malakhov,V | 2650 | Ibarra Jerez,J | 2563 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 11 |
Andreikin,D | 2729 | Shimanov,A | 2581 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Terry,R | 2520 | Anton Guijarro,D | 2685 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Wagner,D | 2586 | Mamedyarov,S | 2738 | 0–1 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Kamsky,G | 2663 | Chirila,I | 2543 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
Sarana,A | 2668 | Volkov,S | 2453 | 1–0 | 2023 | | Chessable Masters Play-In | Champions Chess Tour | 12 |
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