Chessable Masters: Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi in semis

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/28/2020 – Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi won their quarterfinal matchups with the equivalent of a 6-1 6-1 victory in tennis, needing only three games in each set to knock out Fabiano Caruana and Vladislav Artemiev. On Saturday, Carlsen showed precise play to beat Caruana in game 2 and saw his opponent crash and burn in the third encounter. Meanwhile, Nepomniachtchi was tactically superior in the positions that arose from Artemiev’s offbeat opening choices. | Photo: Justin Kellar

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“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.  

 

Chessable Masters 2020

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
Position after 19.Rd4

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:

 
Position after 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:  

 
Position after 33...Qxd8

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. 

 
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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 E51: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4...0-0 5 Nf3 d5. 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 Predecessor: 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 1/2-1/2 (27) Hillarp Persson,T (2521)-Socko,B (2587) Stockholm 2016 16...Nfe4 17.a3 Rac8 18.Rcd1 18.Nf4 seems wilder. Qc4 19.Qb1 Nb3 20.Rcd1 Rcd8 21.Nd4 18...Na4 19.Rxd5 Naxc3 20.Nxc3 Nxc3 21.bxc3 Qxa3 22.c4 22.Ng5 with more complications. 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 Much worse is 32...Qxc4?! 33.Qxa5 Qd3 34.Re1= 33.Rxb6 Rxc4 Endgame KR-KR 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-+ Hoping for ...Kf8. 43.Kg2 Kd8 43.Rxf7= The position is equal. Rf1 Strongly threatening ...a2. 44.Ra7 Rxf2+ 45.Kg3 Ra2 46.Rxh7 Ra1 47.Ra7 a2 And now ...Rg1+ would win. 48.Kg2 Ke8 49.Kh2 Kf8 50.Kg2 Kg8 51.Kh2 Kh8 52.Kg2 Kg8 53.Kh2 Kh8 54.Kg2 Kg8 And White is the lucky defender. Accuracy: White = 81%, Black = 89%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2773Carlsen,M2881½–½2020Chessable Masters by chess24-KO2.1
Carlsen,M2881Caruana,F27731–02020Chessable Masters by chess24-KO2.2
Caruana,F2773Carlsen,M28810–12020Chessable Masters by chess24-KO2.3

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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:

 
Artemiev vs. Nepomniachtchi - Game 3
Position after 20.Ng3

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.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Bxf6 gxf6 5.c4 dxc4 6.Bxc4 D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines. cxd4 7.exd4 Much weaker is 7.Qh5 e6 7...Bg7 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.Nge2 0-0 10.0-0 Bg4 11.d5 Ne5 12.Bb3 Rc8
13.h3N Predecessor: 13.f3 Bd7 14.Ng3 b5 15.Bc2 b4 16.Nce2 e6 17.Nh5 Bb5 18.f4 Qb6+ 19.Nd4 0-1 (26) Kulashko,A (2336)-Hague,B (2356) Auckland 2018 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
Black must now prevent Nxe7+! 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 Threatens to win with Ne3. Qd4 29.Ne3 Qxb2 30.Nf5+ Kf8 31.g3 Nd6 is the strong threat. White has compensation. Qe5 32.Qc8+ Kf7 33.Qd7+ Ne7 The position is equal. 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 White threatens Nf5+ and mate. Qd5+ 46.f3 Qg5+ 47.Qg4 Nd5 Hoping for ...Ne3+. 48.Kg3 Ne3 49.Qxg5+ fxg5= Endgame KN-KN 50.f4 Kh6 51.fxg5+ Kxg5 52.Nc8 Kxh5 53.Nxa7 Nd5 54.Nc8 Nc3 55.Nxb6 Nxa4 56.Nxa4 Accuracy: White = 94%, Black = 95%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Artemiev,V2769Nepomniachtchi,I2778½–½2020Chessable Masters by chess24-KO2.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Artemiev,V27691–02020Chessable Masters by chess24-KO2.2
Artemiev,V2769Nepomniachtchi,I27780–12020Chessable Masters by chess24-KO2.3

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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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