Meltwater Finals: Carlsen bamboozles Giri

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/18/2022 – Magnus Carlsen continues his perfect run at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals as he got a second consecutive 3-0 win on Thursday. The world champion defeated Anish Giri while former co-leader Jan-Krzysztof Duda lost to Le Quang Liem, which means Carlsen has now taken the sole lead with three rounds to go. Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi also won their round-4 matches.

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Carlsen wins seven in a row

A dominating Mangus Carlsen has taken the sole lead at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals on Thursday. The Norwegian got a second straight 3-0 victory, this time defeating Anish Giri, while former co-leader Jan-Krzysztof Duda was defeated by Le Quang Liem. 

Before beating Giri, Carlsen had defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also with a perfect 3-0 score and had won his last game in round 2 against Arjun Erigaisi — which makes for a seven-game winning streak.

Against Giri, Carlsen won twice with black, first playing the French Defence and then entering a French-like structure out of a Sicilian. In game 3, Giri, in a must-win situation, made a strategic error that shocked star commentator Peter Leko.

 
Giri vs. Carlsen - Game #3

White had an edge before playing 22.dxe5, and grabbing the knight with 22.Rxe5 was doubtlessly the most logical continuation — keeping better chances of attacking the backward pawn on e6, among other things.

Leko could not believe his eyes, given how strong of a player Giri actually is.

And, indeed, Carlsen went on to win this game, grabbing his seventh straight victory at the Meltwater Tour Finals.

 
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1.e4 0 e6 0 2.d4 2 d5 0 3.Nc3 1 Nf6 2 4.e5 2 Nfd7 1 5.f4 1 c5 1 6.Nf3 1 Nc6 1 7.Be3 1 a6 7 8.Qd2 39 b5 12 9.a3 16 Qa5 21 10.Be2 1:08 b4 1:51 11.Nd1 0 Rb8 1:38 12.0-0 7 c4 4:29 13.a4 3:07 Be7 56 14.Qe1 58 b3 0 15.c3 47 Nb6 15 16.f5 49 exf5 8 17.Qg3 4 g6 10 18.Bg5 1:19 Be6 41 19.Bf6 1:56 Bxf6 0 20.exf6 1 Nd7 20 21.Ng5 39 Rc8 47 22.Nxe6 4:16 fxe6 2 23.Qd6 4 Nf8 21 24.Bxc4 1:10 dxc4 0 25.Ne3 0 Qc7 1:43 26.Nxc4 2 Kf7 39 27.d5 39 Nd8 12 28.dxe6+ 1:29 Nfxe6 1:31 29.Ne5+ 5 Kxf6 0 30.Nd7+ 1 Kf7 4 31.Qd5 3 Re8 22 32.Rad1 23 Kg7 7 33.g4 3 f4 32 34.a5 15 Nf7 9 35.Rfe1 7 Rcd8 8 36.h4 31 f3 3 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2764Carlsen,M28590–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.1
Carlsen,M2859Giri,A27641–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.2
Giri,A2764Carlsen,M28590–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.3
 

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Le stops Duda

Jan-Krzysztof Duda kicked off the tournament with three match wins, keeping up the pace with Carlsen. After drawing the first two games in his confrontation against Le Quang Liem, however, the Polish grandmaster faltered by allowing his opponent to use a tactical resource similar to the one he had employed to get a remarkable win over Giri on Wednesday.

 
Le vs. Duda - Game #3

Black’s best move here is 39...Rc5, while Duda’s 39...fxe5 allowed 40.f6 Qg6 41.Qd5+ Rf7 42.Qxe5, and it is clear that weakening the black king’s position was a mistake.

 

How to save the black queen (and the king for that matter)? There followed 42...Rxf6 43.Rxg5 Rc1+ 44.Kg2 and Black will run out of useful checks soon. Duda resigned two moves later.

 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 3 e6 2 3.Nf3 2 d5 2 4.Nc3 0 Bb4 1 5.Qa4+ 5 Nc6 0 6.e3 2 0-0 4 7.Qc2 9 dxc4 12 8.Bxc4 4 Bd6 0 9.0-0 0 e5 2 10.h3 12 a6 17 11.a3 12 Bd7 22
E51: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4... 0-0 5 Nf3 d5. 12.dxe5N 3:15 Predecessor: 12.Bd2 exd4 13.exd4 Qc8 14.Ne4 Bxh3 15.Nxd6 Qg4 16.Ne1 Nxd4 17.Qd1 cxd6 18.Bc3 Nc6 19.Be2 0-1 (84) Le,Q (2709)-Mamedyarov,S (2771) Oslo 2022 12...Nxe5 0 13.Nxe5 1 Bxe5 2 14.Bd2 1 Qe7 1:35 15.f4 1:54 Bxc3 1:04 16.Bxc3 0 Bb5 35 17.Bxf6 1:28 Qxf6 0 18.Bxb5 6 axb5 0 19.e4 11 Qd4+ 1:56 20.Kh2 5 Qc4 5 21.Rac1 2:13 Qxc2 25 22.Rxc2= 0       Endgame KRR-KRR c6 0 23.Rd2 8 Rfd8 0 Against Rd7 24.Rfd1 5 Rxd2 1 25.Rxd2 0 KR-KR Kf8 1 26.Rd4 2:19 f6 3:48 27.Kg3 6 Ke7 1 28.Kf3 0 b6 36 29.Ke3 28 c5 12 30.Rd3 40 Ra4 7 31.Rb3 1:54 b4 0 32.axb4 0 c4 14 33.Ra3 2 Rxb4 0 34.Ra7+ 1 Kd6 2:06 Hoping for ...b5. 35.Rxg7 53 35.Kd4= 35...b5! 3 White must now prevent ...Rb3+. 36.Kd4 28 Rxb2 6 37.e5+! 3 fxe5+ 3:08 38.fxe5+ 0 Kc6! 1 aiming for ...Rd2+. Much worse is 38...Ke6 39.Rb7= 39.e6? 18      
Only move: 39.Rxh7 Rd2+ 40.Ke3 40.Kc3 Rd3+ 41.Kb2 Rg3 40...Rxg2 41.e6 39...Rd2+!-+ 36 Worse is 39...Re2 40.e7= 40.Ke3 13 c3 19 40...Rd6-+ 41.e7 Kd7 41.Rg8= 1:01 e7 would kill now. The position is equal. Kd6 17 42.Rd8+ 0 Kxe6 3 43.Rxd2 0 cxd2 0 44.Kxd2 0 KPP-KPP Kf5 1:39 45.Kc3 2 Kf4 14 46.Kb4 6 Kg3 28 47.Kxb5 2 Kxg2 31 KP-KP 47...h5!? 48.Kc4 Kxg2= 48.h4 2 h5 7       48...Kg3!? 49.h5 Kf4= 49.Kc4 2 Kg3 0 50.Kd3 2 Kxh4 0 KP-K 51.Ke2 0       Kg3 0
( -> ...Kg2) 52.Kf1 1 Kh2 1 52...h4!? 53.Kf2 1 h4 0 54.Kf1 1 h3 0 54...Kg3!? 55.Kf2 1 Kh1 1 56.Kg3 2 h2 1 57.Kf2 1 Weighted Error Value: White=0.16 (very precise) /Black=0.08 (flawless) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Le,Q2728Duda,J2731½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.1
Duda,J2731Le,Q2728½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.2
Le,Q2728Duda,J27311–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.3
Duda,J2731Le,Q27280–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.4
 

Arjun scores first match win

Given that half the participants of the tournament are playing on-site in San Francisco, the starting times have been delayed in comparison to previous tour events, which is the most punishing to Mamedyarov (playing from Azerbaijan) and Arjun Erigaisi (playing from India). In their direct matchup, it was Arjun who prevailed, grabbing his first match win of the event.

Arjun won twice with white. Game 4 saw the young Indian playing a nice final move.

 
Arjun vs. Mamedyarov - Game #4

33.Be5+ prompted Shakh’s resignation. Capturing with the bishop allows Qxe8+, while capturing with either rook allows Qf6+. Game over.

 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 3 e6 2 3.Nc3 0 Bb4 2 4.Qc2 2 d5 5 5.Nf3 22 0-0 14 6.Bg5 11 c5 56 E32: Nimzo-Indian: Classical (4 Qc2): 4...0-0. 7.dxc5 3:13 dxc4 14 8.e3 38 h6 1:31 White has an edge. 9.Bh4 35 Nbd7 1:15 10.Bxc4 1:48 Qa5 2
11.0-0N 49 Predecessor: 11.c6 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.0-0 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 Qxc3 15.bxc3 bxc6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Rfd1 0-1 (52) Tremblay,A (2028)-Boudreau,D (1905) Montreal 2012 11...Bxc3 9 12.bxc3 4 Qxc5 8 13.Be2 25 b6 9 14.Rfd1 3 Bb7 12 15.c4 24 Rac8 18 16.Rac1 2 Rfd8 1:52 17.Nd4 1:41 Ne5 0 18.Qa4 1:40 a6 1:28 19.Nb3 0 Rxd1+ 1:24 20.Rxd1 7 Qc7 0       Black has some attack. 21.f3 3:47 Prevents Ne4. 21.Nd2= 21...Nxc4 2:42 22.Bxc4 1:17 Qxc4 0 23.Qxc4 8 Rxc4 0 24.Rd8+ 2 Kh7 1 25.Bxf6 2 gxf6 0       Endgame KRB-KRN 26.Rd7 9 Bc8 1 27.Rxf7+ 8 Kg6 1 28.Rf8 8 a5 38       29.h3 1:01
Better is 29.Nd2 Rc2 30.Ne4 29...a4! 54 30.Nd2 13 Rc1+ 1 31.Kh2 2
31.Kf2 31...f5!-+ 4 32.f4? 24 32.Kg3 is a better defense. 32...Bb7 9 33.Rb8 22 Bd5 10 34.Nf3 3 Bxf3? 1:12 Stronger than 34...Bxa2 35.Rxb6 Rc3 36.Ne5+ Kg7 37.Rb7+ Kf8 38.e4 34...a3-+ is more deadly. 35.Rxb6 35.Ne5+? Kg7-+ 35...Rc2 35.gxf3 0 KR-KR Rb1 0 ...a3 is the strong threat. 36.Kg3 18 b5 3 37.a3 0 Rb3 5 38.Rb7 9 38.Kf2 38...Rxa3? 44 38...h5-+ 39.Kf2 h4 39.Rxb5 1 Rxe3 1 40.Ra5 6 a3 0 41.Ra7 2 Rb3 18 42.Re7 16 Kf6 20 42...a2 43.Rxe6+ Kf7 44.Ra6 43.Ra7 1 Rc3 1 44.Kf2 16 Rc2+ 1:02 45.Kg3! 1 a2 4 46.h4! 31 Kg6 0 46...e5!? 47.Ra6+ Kg7 48.fxe5 Kf7= 47.Kh3! 1 Kh5 4 48.Kg3 1 Re2 20 49.Ra6? 3       49.Kh3= and White is okay. Kg6 50.Kg3 49...Kg6 41 ( -> ...Kf7) 50.Ra7 2 Kf6? 0 50...Rb2-+ And now ...Rd2 would win. 51.Kh3 Re2 51.Kh3 0 The position is equal. h5 14 51...Rb2!? 52.h5 Re2= 52.Kg3 2 Rb2 3 53.Kh3! 5 Rc2 6 53...e5!? 54.Ra6+ Ke7 55.fxe5 Kf7= 54.Kg3 1 Re2 3 54...e5!? 55.Ra6+ Kf7 56.fxe5 Ke7= 55.Kh3! 6 e5 26 White must now prevent ... e4. 56.Ra6+ 2 Ke7 1 57.fxe5 0 f4 0 58.Ra7+ 10 Ke6 5 59.Rxa2 2 Rxa2 4 Weighted Error Value: White=0.20 (precise) /Black=0.25 (precise) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mamedyarov,S2741Erigaisi Arjun2718½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.1
Erigaisi Arjun2718Mamedyarov,S27411–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.2
Mamedyarov,S2741Erigaisi Arjun2718½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.3
Erigaisi Arjun2718Mamedyarov,S27411–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.4
 

So beats Praggnanandhaa

After losing his first two matches in San Francisco, Wesley So has climbed to fourth place by scoring 3 match points in his two last confrontations. On Wednesday, the US grandmaster defeated Arjun, which was followed by a victory over Praggnanandhaa.

It was a close match, with So winning the one decisive game of the confrontation (game 3). 

Pragg will face Carlsen and Duda back to back in the next two matches. Having his coach R.B. Ramesh with him will surely help him deal with this tough task.

 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 11 e6 2 3.Nc3 3 Bb4 3 4.e3 1 0-0 3 5.Bd2 0 d5 2 6.Nf3 2 b6 1 7.cxd5 1 exd5 0 8.Bd3 1 E51: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4...0-0 5 Nf3 d5. Re8 9 9.0-0 3 Bd6 6 10.Nb5 1 Be7 6 11.Ne5 1:12 c5 3 12.f4 44 Bb7 9
13.Be1N 59       Predecessor: 13.Nc3 Nc6 14.Bb5 Qd6 15.Ne2 Ne4 16.Be1 f6 17.Nf3 Bf8 18.Rc1 a6 19.Bd3 ½-½ (53) Lysenko,M (2286)-Girya,O (2407) Moscow 2022 13...Nc6 1:29 14.Bh4 3:05
Threatens to win with Bxf6. 14...Ne4 30 15.Bxe4 54 dxe4 8 16.Qb3 1:30 Nxe5 4:20 17.fxe5 53 Bd5 0 18.Bxe7 6 Qd7 1:15 19.Qc3 2:15 Much worse is 19.e6 fxe6 20.Qc2 Rxe7 19...Qxb5 25 20.Bd6 2 cxd4 23 21.Qxd4 10 Rac8 11 22.a4 22 Qc4 46 23.Rfd1 19 Be6 35 24.a5 17 Qb3 0 25.Ra3 1:17       Qb5 0 26.axb6 9 axb6 5 27.Rc3 26 h5 29 28.h3 47 Ra8 2:07 29.Rc7 39 Ra4 23 30.Qc3 7 Rea8 0 31.Ba3 5 Rc4 18 31...Kh7 looks sharper. 32.Kf2 R8a7 33.Rxa7 Rxa7 34.Rd6 Ra4 32.Rxc4 6 Bxc4 0 33.Qb4 1:37 Qxb4 2:23 34.Bxb4= 0       Endgame KRB-KRB Bd3 10 35.Rc1 3 Re8 6 36.Bc3 12 Kh7 0 37.Bd4 10 b5 7 38.Rc7 8 Kg6 5 39.Rc6+ 24 Kf5 8 The position is equal. 40.Rc7 15 Kg6 18 41.Rc6+ 2 Kf5 2 42.Rc7 1 Kg6 1 A balanced but interesting game. Weighted Error Value: White=0.03 (flawless) /Black=0.02 (flawless) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Praggnanandhaa R2678So,W2760½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.1
So,W2760Praggnanandhaa R2678½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.2
Praggnanandhaa R2678So,W27600–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.3
So,W2760Praggnanandhaa R2678½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20224.4
 

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2022Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2022

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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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