3/22/2021 – Anish Giri defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in tiebreaks to win the second edition of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. In the second set of the match, Nepomniachtchi had kept the score tied by winning the fourth game on demand. Magnus Carlsen beat Wesley So in the match for third place.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
In this course, Grandmaster Felix Blohberger delivers a complete opening repertoire for White, centred around the flexible move 1.Nf3.
€34.90
The last event before the Candidates
Next month, the second half of the Candidates Tournament will be played in Yekaterinburg. With seven rounds left to play, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are sharing the lead, a full point ahead of four players currently on fifty percent. Anish Giri, the winner of the second edition of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, is one of these four chasers.
Giri defeated Nepomniachtchi in blitz tiebreakers after the players drew both sets of the final. In Sunday’s second set, Giri took the lead by winning the second game of the day, but Nepo bounced back on demand in game 4. In the first 5-minute game, the Russian had a considerable advantage but a single blunder gave his opponent a crucial win. After playing Sicilians in every single game of the match, Nepomniachtchi opted for 1.b3 the second time he found himself in a must-win situation. The Russian could not bounce back twice in a day and also lost game 2 of the playoff.
This is Giri’s second consecutive remarkable result, as he tied for first place at the strong Tata Steel Tournament in January and was the most stable player throughout at the third event of the Champions Chess Tour series.
Talking to Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and Vidit after winning the tournament, Giri noted that, since the Candidates are coming, it is likely that people will “read much into [these results]”. The Dutchman rightly pointed out that Nepomniachtchi is probably the favourite to win the event in Yekaterinburg, since he is both playing well and is sharing the lead in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen had little trouble securing third place by beating Wesley So in a surprisingly lopsided confrontation. So, nevertheless, is still leading the overall standings of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, with Carlsen climbing to second place thanks to his performance in the third tournament of the series.
Sagar Shah shows you on this DVD how you can use typical patterns used by the Master of the past in your own games. From opening play to middlegame themes.
Giri* 2 : 2 Nepomniachtchi
*Won the tiebreaker 2 : 0
Excellent preparation gave Giri a smooth win with white in game 2 of the second set. The engines consider Nepo’s 16th move to have been the turning point in the game:
Giri vs. Nepomniachtchi - Game #2
Position after 18.f4
Black’s 18...Nc6 gave way to the strong 19.g6, massively weakening Black’s structure. The engines give 18...Ng6 as the correct way to defend for Black, but for a human, the move seems to simply lose a tempo after 19.f5. Giri himself later pointed out that it is really difficult to sort out why that knight manoeuvre is better, especially in a rapid game. The Dutchman described this win as mostly having to do with his good opening preparation.
White had a safe king and a strong initiative throughout:
It’s a problem every player encounters when he stands better in a game: how to convert his plus into a full point? In this DVD the author answers this difficult question of chess strategy, considering both the psychological aspects of the realisation of an advantage and the technical methods.
Position after 35...Qxe5
36.Nf7 Qh2 37.Qxc5+ Kb8 38.Qxd4 Rf8 39.Bf4 Bg3 40.Bxg3 Qxg3 41.Qb4 and Black resigned.
Going into the last rapid game of the day, Giri only needed a draw with the white pieces to win the tournament, but decided to play a rather sharp opening nonetheless. Vidit later asked his friend why he had done that, and Giri explained that, against some players, it is easier to play for a win than to play for a draw. This time around, however, the approach backfired, as Nepo won the game and took the match to tiebreaks.
Playing black for a second game in a row, the Russian grandmaster had a big edge in the first encounter of the playoff, but a single blunder gave away the game:
Giri vs. Nepomniachtchi - Blitz game #1
Position after 25.Bf6
25...Rh7 fails to 26.Qd7+:
Black is busted. After 26...Nge7 27.Bxe7, capturing with the bishop or with the knight are both bad alternatives — 27...Bxe7 28.Rxc8; 27...Nxe7 28.Rf4+. Nepomniachtchi opted for 27...Qxe7 allowing 28.Qxc8. Resignation came four moves later.
There was no second win on demand for the Russian, who also lost the second 5-minute game of the day.
Select an entry from the list to switch between games
Carlsen 2 : 1 So
The world champion kicked off the day with a black win over So, which meant two more draws — which he got — were enough to secure third place in the tournament. Carlsen was on point when he described his match against the American star:
Third is better than fourth. It’s good to get one over Wesley, that’s for sure. Clearly he was not a hundred percent motivated, and not in his best shape. It’s a lot better than to have lost the last match.
The Norwegian now trails So by merely 5 points in the overall tour standings table:
Wesley So published two new opening DVDs: 1.b3, the so called Nimzo-Larsen-Attack, for White and his black secrets in the modern Italian. Get them in a package and save money!
Expert analysis by GM Karsten Müller
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nc3Bb44.f3Nc65.a3Bxc3+6.bxc3b67.e4Ba68.Bg5h69.Bh4Qc810.Bd3Na511.Qe2d612.f4Qd713.Nf3Nh514.g3"Mighty Magnus" - When the World Champion gets his kind of position he is
extremely strong:g5‼A mighty blow, which shatters the walls of White's
house to the core.15.fxg5hxg516.Nxg516.Bxg5?Nxg3-+16...Nf4!17.gxf417.Qf1?Nxd3+18.Qxd30-0-019.Nf3Bxc420.Qe3Rdg8-+17...Rxh418.Qf2?!18.Rg1limits the damage.18...Rh819.f5?!This heads
for a lost endgame, but good advice is already hard to give.0-0-020.fxe6fxe621.Qf7Rdg822.Qxd7+Kxd723.Nf323.h4?runs intoRxg5-+23...Rh3!?Magnus increases the pressure strongly.The prosaic23...Bxc4
wins as well.24.Kf2Rf825.Be2Bxc426.Raf1Rf426...Rfxf3+27.Bxf3Bxf128.Rxf1Rxh2+wins as well.27.Ke3?White's king is not safer
here.It had to take the other direction with27.Kg2!but in the long
run Black wins as well due toBxe228.Kxh3Rxf3+29.Rxf3Bxf330.Re1Nc431.Kg3Bh5-+27...e5!28.dxe5dxe529.Rhg1Bxe230.Kxe2Rxe4+31.Kf2Nc432.Rg3Rh6!?Carlsen keeps the valuable winning and attacking potential
on the board of course.33.a4a534.Rfg1Rf435.Kg2Ne3+36.Kh1Nf537.Nxe5+Ke638.Rg4Rf20–1
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos 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.
The free app from ChessBase! ChessBase Mobile has everything you need as a chess player on the go:
access your chess data in cloud databases - and 13 million games.
Whether it’s a weak pawn, a vulnerable king, or poor piece coordination, this course will teach you how to pinpoint the critical targets, prioritise your attack, and execute a clear, effective plan.
Videos by Nico Zwirs: Nimzo-Indian with 4.e3 b6 and Robert Ris: French Advance Variation with 6.Na3. Alexander Donchenko analyses his winning game against Fabiano Caruana from the Saint Louis Masters 2024. “Lucky bag" with another 43 analyses by Edouard,
The Black Sniper is back – sharper and deadlier than ever! This dynamic system (1...g6, 2...Bg7, 3...c5 against 1.e4, 1.d4 and 1.c4) creates unpredictable, high-pressure positions, leaving opponents struggling to adapt.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.
€39.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.