Magnus Carlsen wins the "Meltwater Champions Chess Tour"

by Klaus Besenthal
10/3/2021 – After the 7th round of the final tournament of the "Meltwater Champions Chess Tour" played on Saturday, Magnus Carlsen is now the "Tour Winner". Although neither the World Champion nor his direct rival Wesley So scored, So cannot catch up to Carlsen's seven-point lead with only two remaining rounds. Carlsen lost to Teimour Radjabov 1:3, while So lost to Levon Aronian 0.5:2.5 after just three games. Radjabov is now only half a point behind So and could challenge him for second place - the prize money difference between second and third place is USD 20,000. | Graphic: Play Magnus Group
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Meltwater Champions Chess Tour

Before the fourth and final game, Carlsen was trailing Radjabov 1-2. So to score in this match the World Champion needed a win - a situation that does not necessarily improve the quality of the games. As was the case this time: Carlsen lost hopelessly, which resulted in a final score of 3:1 for Radjabov.

 
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1.d4 g6 2.e4 d6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 a6 7.a4 Nc6 8.Be3 b6 9.d5 Nb8 10.Nd4 Bb7 11.f3 c6 12.dxc6 Nxc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Qd2 Re8 15.Rfd1 Nd7 16.Bd4 Bf8 17.Bc4 e6 18.Bf1 Qc7 19.Be3 Qb7
Ein "Igel" ist dies nicht (dafür müsste der weiße Bauer auf c4 stehen), aber ein wenig fühlt man sich doch daran erinnert. 20.b4 b5?! Carlsen stoppt b4-b5, doch dieser Zug wäre gar nicht besonders gut gewesen. Nach 20...Qc7! 21.b5?! axb5 22.axb5 Bb7 steht der Bb5 den weißen Figuren eher im Weg. 21.axb5 axb5 22.Bf2 22.Ra5 Rxa5 23.bxa5 hätte vielleicht etwas Vorteil ergeben. Nach b4?! 24.Na2 hängt der Bb4 und es geht auch a5-a6. 22...h5?! Das ist wohl eher Zeitverschwendung. Nach 22...Reb8! 23.Ra5 Rxa5 24.bxa5 b4 geht a5-a6 zunächst nicht. 23.Ra5! Rxa5 24.bxa5 Ra8? 24...Rb8 war hier besser. 25.Nxb5 d5 25...Bxb5 26.Rb1 funktioniert nicht für Schwarz. 26.Nd4 Nf6 27.a6 Qc7? Das verliert sofort. 28.Qc3 Schwarz ist restlos am Ende: Der Lc6 hängt, die Dc7 ist ungedeckt, f6 hängt indirekt, der Ba6 kann laufen... 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Radjabov,T2763Carlsen,M28551–02021B08Meltwater CCTF 20217.4

_REPLACE_BY_ADV_1

It was a rather wasted day for the World Champion, but in light of the overall standings and the tournament win, he seemed content:

Wesley So did not benefit from the world champion's bad day. On the contrary, the runner-up also lost in the 7th round without winning chances. See game 1 against Levon Aronian:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 c6 10.h4 d5 11.Kb1 Re8 12.Bd3 Bc5 13.Bg5 f6 14.Bf4 Ne5 15.Nd4 Bb6 16.Be2 Nc4 17.Bxc4 dxc4 18.h5 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Qxd4 20.Rxd4 Be6 21.b3 Bd5
22.f3 In dieser Stellung war sogar 22.bxc4 gut spielbar: Bxg2 23.Rg1 Bh3 24.Bh6 Re7 25.Rd3 Bf5 26.Rf3 Be4 27.Rxf6= Auf Kh8?! käme 28.Bg5! 22...b5 23.Kc1 Re2 24.Rd2 Rae8
Diese Stellung musste So nicht verlieren. 25.Kd1? Aber jetzt passiert ihm genau das dennoch. Angebracht war 25.Rhd1 25...Rxg2 26.Rxg2 Bxf3+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2778Aronian,L27820–12021C42Meltwater CCTF 20217.1

_REPLACE_BY_ADV_2

Right afterwards Wesley So lost another game:

Another draw followed - after only three games the match was over as Levon Aronian had won 2.5:0.5. Consequently Wesley So cannot catch up to Magnus Carlsen in the standings anymore.

Results of Round 7

Standings after Round 7

Games

 
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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.

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