“A pretty good, clean day”
World Champion Magnus Carlsen and eleven more of the world's best chess players are competing in the Chessable Masters by chess24, the third event in the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, taking place from June 20 to July 5.
The first two semifinalists of the Chessable Masters reached the penultimate stage of the knockout by obtaining convincing wins over Fabiano Caruana and Vladislav Artemiev. In fact, both Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi won their matchups after playing the lowest amount of games possible — six in total.
Scoring back-to-back 2½:1½ victories means they will get to the semis rested and confident. Starting Tuesday, Carlsen will face the winner of Ding Liren vs Hikaru Nakamura, while Nepomniachtchi will play the winner of Anish Giri vs Alexander Grischuk.
Talking to the commentators after his quick win on Saturday, Carlsen concluded:
I gotta say it was a pretty good, clean day.
This is the third event of the Magnus Carlsen Tour, which uses a rapid time control of 15 minutes for the game and 10-second increments from move one. When asked about his preference of formats, Carlsen responded:
I’ve sort of always found rapid chess the most difficult, because it’s such a tricky hybrid between classical and blitz chess. [...] To balance them is very, very hard. But I think it’s also a very entertaining form of play.
Indeed, it felt like the world champion was having fun during his match against Caruana, who certainly did not show his best form in the quarterfinals — Carlsen was unyielding in making the most of his colleague’s uninspired performance.
Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.

Carlsen 2½:½ Caruana
Mini-match #2 |
Game 1 |
Game 2 |
Game 3 |
Magnus Carlsen |
½ |
1 |
1 |
Fabiano Caruana |
½ |
0 |
0 |
After Caruana did not hesitate to enter a rook endgame a pawn down in game 1 with white (the game finished drawn), Carlsen obtained a major advantage in the second encounter as early as move 19:
Carlsen vs. Caruana - Game 2
Although White does not have a huge material edge or a clear mating attack, Carlsen later noted that he already felt he would win the game from this position. White is better developed and has a strong bishop on the long diagonal to boot. The game continued 19...Ne7 20.Rc7 Nf5 21.Rg4 h5 22.Rg6:
White transferred his rook to the strong g6-square, exerting huge pressure on the g7-pawn. Black’s f6-pawn was lost in the next move, and Carlsen swiftly converted his advantage into a full point.
Pressed to win, Caruana was over-ambitious in game 3, when he got a good position out of the opening for the first time in the match. By move 34, Carlsen had already managed to equalize though:
Rustam Kasimdzhanov, the FIDE World Champion in 2004, has been extremely successful with the Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2 with White and with Black. In over 4 hours of video, Rustam Kasimdzhanov explains all the important ideas, strategies and tricks helped by sample games in which the white side is represented, e.g., by Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Ivanchuk as well as the author himself.
In another situation, Caruana would have probably gone 34.h3 here, giving Black a chance to draw by infiltrating with his queen and getting a draw by perpetual check. The American played 34.Ke2 instead, keeping the game alive. Carlsen took advantage of his opponent’s recklessness and went on to score a deciding 50-move win.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd2 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.Qa4 Qc8 11.Rc1 Re8 12.0-0 Bf8 13.Ne2 c5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Qc2 Qa6 16.Bc3N 16.Nc3 Rac8 17.Rcd1 Nce4 18.Qb3 Qc4 19.Be1 Qxb3 20.axb3 Red8 21.Nd4 Nxc3 22.Bxc3 Ne4 23.Rd3 g6 24.Rfd1 Nc5 25.R3d2 Ne4 26.Rd3 Nc5 27.R3d2 Ne4 16...Nfe4 17.a3 Rac8 18.Rcd1 18.Nf4 Qc4 19.Qb1 Nb3 20.Rcd1 Rcd8 21.Nd4 18...Na4 19.Rxd5 Naxc3 20.Nxc3 Nxc3 21.bxc3 Qxa3 22.c4 22.Ng5 g6 23.Ne4 Red8 24.Nf6+ Kh8 25.Qd3 22...Red8 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Nd4 g6 25.g3 Rc8 26.Rb1 Bg7 27.Nb5 Qe7 28.Qa4 a5 29.Nd4 Qd6 30.Qb3 Bxd4 31.exd4 31.Rd1! 31...Qxd4 32.Qxb6 Qxb6 32...Qxc4?! 33.Qxa5 Qd3 34.Re1= 33.Rxb6 Rxc4 34.Ra6 a4 35.h4 Kf8 36.Ra7 Kg7 36...Rc1+!-+ 37.Kg2 Ra1 37.Ra6 37.Kg2 37...Rc1+!-+ 38.Kg2 38...Ra1! 39.g4 a3 40.g5 Kf8 41.Ra7 Ke8 42.Kh2 42.Ra8+ Kd7 43.Kf3 42...Kd8? 42...a2-+ 43.Kg2 Kd8 43.Rxf7= Rf1 44.Ra7 Rxf2+ 45.Kg3 Ra2 46.Rxh7 Ra1 47.Ra7 a2 48.Kg2 Ke8 49.Kh2 Kf8 50.Kg2 Kg8 51.Kh2 Kh8 52.Kg2 Kg8 53.Kh2 Kh8 54.Kg2 Kg8 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
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Caruana,F | 2773 | Carlsen,M | 2881 | ½–½ | 2020 | | Chessable Masters by chess24-KO | 2.1 |
Carlsen,M | 2881 | Caruana,F | 2773 | 1–0 | 2020 | | Chessable Masters by chess24-KO | 2.2 |
Caruana,F | 2773 | Carlsen,M | 2881 | 0–1 | 2020 | | Chessable Masters by chess24-KO | 2.3 |
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Nepomniachtchi 2½:½ Artemiev
Mini-match #2 |
Game 1 |
Game 2 |
Game 3 |
Ian Nepomniachtchi |
½ |
1 |
1 |
Vladislav Artemiev |
½ |
0 |
0 |
The exact same results as in Carlsen vs Caruana were seen in the all-Russian matchup, with Nepomniachtchi getting two wins to clinch the match after the first game finished drawn.
Artemiev needed to win the second set to stay alive and, instead of playing it cool, he decided to play offbeat openings against his famed opponent. The experiment was not a success as, although he got good positions in the early middlegames, Nepomniachtchi outplayed him when things got complex.
Nepo’s 20th move in game 3 was the biggest highlight of the day:
Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into the practice of today's world elite, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the subject for ChessBase: none other than Grandmaster Wesley So!
Artemiev vs. Nepomniachtchi - Game 3
White’s 20.Ng3 was a blunder, but Black has only one move that gives him a massive advantage. Seeing Nepomnaichtchi play the correct 20...Bb1 definitely impressed commentator Peter Svidler, while Carlsen, who was being interviewed at the moment, commented:
If you would pick one player in the field to actually find this move, it would be Ian.
Artemiev cannot capture the bishop due to 21...Qd3+, so was forced to go for the awkward 20...Kg1 - 21...Nf1 sequence. Nepomniachtchi had a massive advantage though, and only needed six more moves to convert it into his second win of the day.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Bxf6 gxf6 5.c4 dxc4 6.Bxc4 cxd4 7.exd4 7.Qh5 e6 7...Bg7 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.Nge2 0-0 10.0-0 Bg4 11.d5 Ne5 12.Bb3 Rc8 13.h3N 13.f3 Bd7 14.Ng3 b5 15.Bc2 b4 16.Nce2 e6 17.Nh5 Bb5 18.f4 Qb6+ 19.Nd4 13...Bd7 14.Ng3 Qb6 15.Qh5 Qd4 16.Bc2 16...Ng6 17.Bf5 Rfd8 18.Bxd7 18.Rad1!? Qb6 19.Qe2 18...Rxd7 19.Nf5 Qd2 20.Qg4 20...Rcd8! 21.h4 Qf4 22.Qh3 e6 23.dxe6 fxe6 24.Nxg7 Kxg7 25.Qxe6 Qxh4 26.Rad1 Rxd1 27.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 28.Nxd1 Qd4 29.Ne3 Qxb2 30.Nf5+ Kf8 31.g3 Qe5 32.Qc8+ Kf7 33.Qd7+ Ne7 34.Nd6+ Kg7 35.a4 b6 36.Nc8 Kf8 37.Nd6 Kg7 38.Kf1 Qa1+ 39.Kg2 Qe5 40.Kf1 Qa1+ 41.Kg2 Qe5 42.g4 h5 43.gxh5 Qd5+ 44.Kg1 Qd1+ 45.Kg2 Qd5+ 46.f3 Qg5+ 47.Qg4 Nd5 48.Kg3 Ne3 49.Qxg5+ fxg5= 50.f4 Kh6 51.fxg5+ Kxg5 52.Nc8 Kxh5 53.Nxa7 Nd5 54.Nc8 Nc3 55.Nxb6 Nxa4 56.Nxa4 ½–½ - 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 | 2769 | Nepomniachtchi,I | 2778 | ½–½ | 2020 | | Chessable Masters by chess24-KO | 2.1 |
Nepomniachtchi,I | 2778 | Artemiev,V | 2769 | 1–0 | 2020 | | Chessable Masters by chess24-KO | 2.2 |
Artemiev,V | 2769 | Nepomniachtchi,I | 2778 | 0–1 | 2020 | | Chessable Masters by chess24-KO | 2.3 |
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