Carlsen, Naka, Nepo and Abdusattorov in semis
The first day of the Playoffs in the Chess.com Classic concluded with four players advancing to the semifinals of the Winners Bracket. Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Ian Nepomniachtchi all progressed after winning two consecutive matches.
Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.Much like in the inaugural event of this year's Champions Chess Tour, a 10-minute time control without increments is in place. In the event of a tied match, an Armageddon tiebreak decides who wins the match.
Sixteen players reached this stage - eight by direct invitation and eight through qualification in the Play-In. All players began in the Winners Bracket and played a four-game round-of-16 match. Only two of these initial matches required an Armageddon decider. Nakamura narrowly defeated Levon Aronian in tiebreaks, while Nepomniachtchi advanced over Arjun Erigaisi after holding a draw with the black pieces. A standout result came from Vladimir Fedoseev, who defeated world champion Gukesh Dommaraju 3–1.
In the quarterfinals, Carlsen, Nakamura and Abdusattorov all won their matches with a game to spare, dispatching Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ding Liren and Wei Yi to the Losers Bracket, respectively. The closest match of the round saw Nepomniachtchi once again prevail in Armageddon, this time against Fedoseev.
Notably, in their third game, Nepomniachtchi overlooked a mate-in-one. At that point, Fedoseev had only 1 second on the clock to his opponent's 20. Since there is no increment in this event, Nepo would have surely flagged Fedoseev. The Russian GM laughed on camera after this curious incident - a case of selfmate which only happens at this level in games with no increments!
The eight players who lost a match dropped into the Losers Bracket, where matches were shorter (played to the best-of-two) with Armageddon used if tied.
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Overview
Free video sample: Chigorin: 9...Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7/cxd4
Four players were eliminated. Among them was world champion Gukesh, who lost to Arjun Erigaisi in an all-Indian clash. Also knocked out were Jan-Krzysztof Duda (defeated by Fabiano Caruana), Denis Lazavik (beaten by Vladislav Artemiev) and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (eliminated by Levon Aronian).
Remaining in contention via the Losers Bracket are Fedoseev, Caruana, Ding, Artemiev, Wei, Aronian, Vachier-Lagrave and Arjun. These players now have no margin for error, as a further loss would end their run in the tournament.
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