Meltwater Finals: Carlsen and Pragg win in Armageddon

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/19/2022 – Magnus Carlsen has a 4-point lead with two rounds to go at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals. The world champion defeated Le Quang Liem in Armageddon, as he remains the big favourite to take the title. Praggnanandhaa beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda, also in Armageddon, while Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi won their matches ‘in regulation’.
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Pragg beats Duda

Remarkably, six consecutive games in the match between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Praggnanandhaa finished with wins for the white side — which led to an Armageddon decider. Playing black, Pragg got a draw and thus won the confrontation.

Karsten Müller analysed the very instructive first game of the day, in which Duda showed great technique and a nice trick in a knight ending. 

 
 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 1 e6 14 3.g3 4 d5 3 4.Bg2 1 dxc4 2 5.Nf3 2 c6 1 6.Ne5 7 Bb4+ 3 7.Bd2 0       White has compensation. E04: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3. Be7 2 The main line 7...Be7 scores better than 7...Qxd4. 7...Qxd4!? 8.Bxb4 Qxe5 8.e3 3 b5 1 9.a4 10 Black must now prevent axb5. White is slightly better. b4 41 10.0-0 1:17 0-0 24 11.Qc2 1:23 11.Nxc6 Nxc6 12.Bxc6 Rb8 11...a5 1:54 12.Rd1 1:47
12...Ra7N 1:35 Predecessor: 12...Ba6 13.Be1 Ra7 14.Nd2 c5 15.dxc5 Qc7 16.Ndxc4 Qxc5 17.b3 Nbd7 18.Qb2 Bxc4 19.Nxc4 ½-½ (38) Druska,J (2493)-Bartel,M (2611) Reykjavik 2021 13.e4 2:16 Qxd4 4:52 13...c5= 14.Bf4! 0 Qc5 40
Better is 14...b3 15.Qc1 15.Rxd4 bxc2 16.Na3 c3 15...Qc5 15.Nd2!± 13 White is more active. Nbd7 57 16.Nexc4 1:33 Qh5 4 16...Ng4? 17.Nb3 Qh5 18.h3+- 17.Rac1 20 Ba6 0
17...Ng4? 18.h3 Ngf6 19.Nf3+- 17...g5 deserves consideration. 18.Bf3 Ng4 19.Bxg4 Qxg4 18.Bf3! 2:40 Ng4 1:22 19.Bxg4 29 Qxg4 0 20.Nxa5 0 Rc8 1:40 21.Ndc4 4 Inhibits e5. aiming for Rxd7! Pair of Knights! 21.Nxc6 Bc5 22.Qxc5 Nxc5= 21...Qh5 36 22.Rd2 1:39 h6 26 23.Qd1 1:09 Qxd1+ 17 24.Rcxd1 0 Bxc4 16 25.Nxc4 0 Nf6 43 26.Be3 17 c5 30 27.f3 40 b3 1 27...Rcc7± 28.Bf4 29 g5 34 29.Be5 0 g4 13 30.f4? 1:02 30.Kg2+- 30...Nxe4= 21 31.Rd7 4 Rca8 17 ...Rxd7 is the strong threat. 32.Nb6 18 Rxd7 2 33.Rxd7 0 Ra6 1 Threatens to win with ...Bf8. 34.a5! 13 Bf6 26 34...Rxa5= 35.Rxe7 f6 36.Rxe6 fxe5 37.Rxe5 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 Nd6 35.Nc4± 10 Bxe5 13 36.fxe5 0       Endgame KRN-KRN f6? 8 This move loses the game for Black. 36...Kf8± was worth a try. 37.Rb7+- 10 fxe5 9 38.Rxb3 29 Nd6? 14 38...Ra8 39.Rb6 39.Nxe5 Rxa5 40.Rb8+ Kg7= 39...Kf7 40.Nxe5+ Kf6 41.Nxg4+ Kg5 39.Rb6 35 Rxb6 1 40.axb6 11 KN-KN Less strong is 40.Nxb6 h5 41.Kf1 Kf8 42.Nd7+ Kf7+- 40...Nb7 1 41.Kf2 7 Kg7 0 42.Nxe5 6 h5 2 43.Ke3 1 Kf6 1 44.Kf4 2 Ke7 20 45.Kg5 20 Kd6 2 46.Ng6 2 Na5 0 47.Kxh5 6 Nc4 2 48.b3 30 Threatening mate with b7. Nd2 17
49.Ne5! 18       Nc4+ would kill now. Nxb3 18 49...Nf3 50.Nxg4 50.Nc4+ 4 Kc6 8 51.Kxg4 0 Nd4 29 White mates. 52.h4 3       Kb5 13 53.b7 16 Nc6 2 54.Nd6+ 10 Kb6 5 55.h5 2 c4 23 56.Nxc4+ 22 Kxb7 8 57.h6 0 Weighted Error Value: White=0.11 (very precise) /Black=0.39 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Duda,J2731Praggnanandhaa R26781–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.1
Praggnanandhaa R2678Duda,J27311–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.2
Duda,J2731Praggnanandhaa R26781–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.3
Praggnanandhaa R2678Duda,J27311–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.4
Praggnanandhaa R2678Duda,J27311–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.5
Duda,J2731Praggnanandhaa R26781–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.6
Duda,J2731Praggnanandhaa R2678½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.7
 

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Carlsen no longer perfect, beats Le in tiebreaks

After beating Le Quang Liem in Armageddon, Magnus Carlsen confessed that he was hoping to end the tournament with a perfect 21/21 by winning all his matches in the rapid section. Nonetheless, he will win the event with a round to spare if he beats Pragg in rapid on Saturday. The Norwaegian already secured overall victory in the tour with an event to spare.

An endgame wizard, Carlsen demonstrated his ability to handle technical positions by converting a superior ending with queen against rook and knight in the first game of the day. Karsten Müller shared instructive analysis of the endgame.

 
 
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1.e4 0 e5 0 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 1 3.Bb5 1 a6 2 4.Ba4 1 Nf6 1 5.0-0 1 Nxe4 0 6.Re1 58 Nc5 5 7.Bxc6 1 dxc6 3 8.Nxe5 1 Be7 6 9.d4 0 Ne6 14 10.Be3 1 0-0 5 11.c4 3 f6 1:57 C80: Open Ruy Lopez: Sidelines and 9 Nbd2. 12.Nf3 3 Re8 1 13.Nc3 26 Nf8 5 The position is equal. 14.Qb3 56 b6 1:36
15.h3N 2:42 Predecessor: 15.Rad1 Bg4 16.c5+ Be6 17.d5 cxd5 18.cxb6 d4 19.Qc2 c5 20.b7 Rb8 21.Ne4 0-1 (39) Le Pen,S (1853)-Dubois,P (1930) Cholet 2011 15...Be6 8 15...Ng6 seems wilder. 16.c5+ Kh8 17.Rad1 Bf5 16.Rad1 47 Bf7 29 17.d5 2:18 c5 2:05 18.Bf4 0 Bd6 1:38 19.Rxe8 43 Bxe8 0 20.Bxd6 3 cxd6 37 21.Re1 22 b5 1:06 22.cxb5 49 axb5 0 23.Nxb5 1 Black must now prevent Rxe8! Rb8! 7 But not 23...Bxb5 24.Qxb5 Qd7 25.Qxd7 Nxd7 26.a3± 24.a4 0 Bxb5 7 25.axb5 1 Qa5 26 Inhibits Ra1. 26.Qe3 3:19       White fights for an advantage. Qxb5 14 26...Rxb5 keeps more tension. 27.Qe7 Qa6 28.Nh4 Rb7 27.Nd2 4 Against Qc4 Qxb2 3:55 28.Rb1 3 Qxb1+ 7 29.Nxb1 0 Rxb1+ 1       Endgame KQ-KRN 30.Kh2 0 Strongly threatening Qe7. Kf7 34 Inhibits Qe7+. 31.Qa3 25       Hoping for Qa7+. White has compensation. Rb7 3 Inhibits Qa7. 31...Ke7!= 32.Qa6± 3 Black is on the road to losing. Rd7 4 33.f4 11 White is more active. Ng6 36
34.Qc8! 18 Re7 0 34...Nf8± was worth a try. 35.Qc6 51 Nxf4 0 36.Qxd6 1 g5 1:05 36...Nd3± is a better defense. 37.h4 1:52       Resist 37.Qxc5?! Re2± 37...Re2 33
38.h5! 1:03 Kg7? 1:29 38...Rxg2+ 39.Kh1 Rd2 40.Qc7+ Kf8 41.d6 Rd1+ 42.Kh2 Rd2+ 43.Kg1 Nxh5 44.d7+- 38...Nxh5 39.Qc7+ 39.Qxc5 Nf4= 39...Kg6 39.Qxc5+- 33 Rxg2+ 5 40.Kh1 0 Re2 1:23 Inhibits Qe7+. 41.d6 11       Ne6 1 42.Qa7+ 4 Kh6 0 43.Qe7 16 Kxh5 19 44.d7 31 Re5 6 45.Qxf6 6 Re1+ 4 46.Kh2 11 46.Kg2 Nf4+ 47.Kf3 Rd1 48.d8Q Rxd8 49.Qxd8 Kg6 50.Ke4 Ne6 51.Qd6 46...Kg4 3 White is clearly winning. 47.Qe7 32 Re2+ 13 48.Kg1 1 Kf3 0 49.Qf7+ 19 Kg4 26 50.Qxh7 9 Qd3 is the strong threat. Rd2 21 Inhibits Qd3. 51.Qe4+ 32 Nf4 2 52.Qe8 2 Ne2+ 0 53.Kf1 8 53.Kf2 Nf4+ 54.Ke1 Rxd7 55.Qxd7+ Kg3 56.Qe7 53...Ng3+ 11 54.Ke1 3 Weighted Error Value: White=0.23 (precise) /Black=0.36 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2859Le,Q27281–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.1
Le,Q2728Carlsen,M28591–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.2
Carlsen,M2859Le,Q2728½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.3
Le,Q2728Carlsen,M2859½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.4
Carlsen,M2859Le,Q27281–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.5
Le,Q2728Carlsen,M28591–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.6
Carlsen,M2859Le,Q27281–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.7
 

So dominates Mamedyarov

Wesley So has grabbed 3 points in the last three rounds after a disappointing start with back-to-back losses in the first two days of action. Against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, he got to win by a convincing 3-0 score.

In game 3, Shakh’s queen found herself trapped in the middle of the board.

 
So vs. Mamedyarov - Game #3

29.Qc3 leaves the black queen without a way to escape — 30.Rf3 is coming! Shakh resigned.

 
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1.e4 0 e5 0 2.Nf3 5 Nc6 1 3.Bc4 2 Nf6 14 4.d3 2 d5 3 5.exd5 0 Nxd5 0 6.0-0 1 Nb6 1 7.Bb5 15 C24: Bishop's Opening: 2...Nf6. Bd6 4
8.Nxe5!? 4       A promising side line. Bxe5 8 9.Bxc6+ 2 White is slightly better. bxc6 7 10.Re1 0 Qe7 3 11.Kh1 44 Much weaker is 11.d4 Bxh2+ 12.Kxh2 Be6= 11...0-0 10 aiming for ...Qf6. 12.f4 0
12...f6N 4 Predecessor: 12...Qh4 13.Rxe5 f6 14.Qe1 Qg4 15.Re2 Bb7 16.Nc3 c5 17.Qg3 Qxg3 18.hxg3 Rfe8 ½-½ (41) Rog,B (2055)-Kujawski,A (2246) Bydgoszcz 2022 13.fxe5 2:44 fxe5 5 14.Nc3 30 Nd5 23 15.Ne4 1:15 Bf5 2 16.Bg5 31 Qb4 0 17.b3 1:19 Qd4 11 18.Rc1 2:41       Bxe4 1:28 19.dxe4 35 Wrong is 19.Rxe4? Nc3 20.Rxd4 Nxd1-+ 19...Qxd1 1:02 20.Rcxd1 16 Nc3 13 21.Rd7 1:38       White has the initiative. Nxe4 1:25 22.Be7 1:32 Rf7 43 23.Rxc7 7 Nf6 3:56 Threatens to win with ...Nd5. 24.Bd6 16 Not 24.Rxe5? Ne8 25.h3 Nxc7-+ 24...Rxc7 7 25.Bxc7 0       Endgame KRB-KRN e4 1 26.Kg1 25 Re8 19 27.c4 27 Kf7 13 28.Kf2 3 Re7 1:30 29.Bd8 34 Re5 0 30.Ke3 18 Ke6 59 31.h3 11       Inhibits Ng4+. h5 7 32.Re2 0 White is more active. Ne8 1:32 32...Rf5± 33.Rd2 Rg5 33.Bh4 50 Nd6 10 Strongly threatening ...Nf5+. 34.g4 2 Inhibits Nf5+. hxg4 2 35.hxg4 0 Nf7 1:08 36.Bg3 5 Ra5 16 37.Kxe4 8 Ng5+? 1 37...Kd7 38.Kf4 Nd8 38.Kf4++- 7 White is clearly winning. Kf7 6 39.Be1 17 Ne6+ 12
40.Rxe6! 10       Weighted Error Value: White=0.03 (flawless) /Black=0.12 (very precise) 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2760Mamedyarov,S27411–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.1
Mamedyarov,S2741So,W27600–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.2
So,W2760Mamedyarov,S27411–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.3
 

Arjun defeats Giri

Much like So, Arjun Erigaisi had a subpar start and managed to bounce back in the second half of the tournament. After beating Mamedyarov in round 4, the Indian prodigy inflicted Anish Giri’s third consecutive loss to leapfrog his Dutch colleague in the standings.

Sagar Shah, from ChessBase India, analysed the match.

 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.Bf4 4 g6 3 3.Nc3 4 d5 1 4.e3 1 Bg7 2 5.h4 3 h5 0 6.Nf3 4 A45: Trompowsky Attack. 0-0 10 7.Qd2 12 c5 19 8.Ne5 0 The position is equal. Nc6 19 9.f3 4 cxd4 1:14 10.exd4 1 Bf5 0 11.Bb5 6 Nxe5 17 12.dxe5 22 Nd7 0
13.0-0-0N 3 Predecessor: 13.Qxd5 Nb6 14.Qxd8 Rfxd8 15.0-0 Rd4 16.Bg5 Kf8 17.Rfe1 Rb4 18.a4 Rxb2 19.a5 ½-½ (45) Cuhendi,S (2419)-Karthikeyan,M (2630) Sitges 2021 13...Nxe5 5:49 14.Rhe1 3 d4 2:41 15.Bxe5 0 Bxe5 1 16.Rxe5 2 dxc3 1 17.Qxc3 0 Qb6 3 18.Qd4 1:54 Rac8 46 19.c3 1:15
Strongly threatening Qxb6. 19...Qxd4 3 20.Rxd4 0 Rc7 13 21.g4 0 hxg4 2 22.fxg4 0 Be6 13 23.a4 1:12 Kg7 10 24.h5 1:27 Rh8 1:25 25.Bd3 1:11 gxh5 20 26.gxh5 0 b6 24 27.Be2 1:17 Rc5 59 28.Re3 13 Rg5 18 29.b4 0 Kf6 53 30.Kd2 1:37 Rd5 15 30...Rg2= 31.Rxd5 16 Bxd5 0       Endgame KRB-KRB 32.c4 1 Bb7 40 33.a5 0 e5 6 34.Ra3 44 Rd8+ 46 35.Kc3 1:37 Kg5 6 36.Ra1 28 Be4 53 37.axb6 34 axb6 1 38.Ra6 8 Rb8 23 39.Ra7 24 Rf8 0 40.Rd7 36 Kf4 6 41.h6 25 Bg6 49 41...Ke3!? 42.Bf1 f5 42.c5 0 bxc5 6 43.bxc5 0 Bf5 20 44.Re7 11 Kg5 11 44...Rc8= keeps the balance. 45.Rxe5± 8 And now Bd3 would win. White is more active. Kf6? 2       Loses the game. 45...Kf4± is a better chance. 46.Kd4 Rh8 46.Rd5+- 9 Rh8 0
47.Bd3! 32 Bxd3 27 47...Be6+- 48.Kxd3 0 Kd4 would kill now. KR-KR Kg6 0 49.Rd6+ 1:52 White mates. f6 1 50.c6 2       Rf8 12 51.Kd4 34 Kxh6 12 52.c7 3 Rc8 1 53.Rxf6+ 2 Kg7 0 54.Rc6 1 Kf7 0 55.Kc5 3 Ke7 8 56.Kb6 1 Weighted Error Value: White=0.05 (flawless) /Black=0.46 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Erigaisi Arjun2718Giri,A27641–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.1
Giri,A2764Erigaisi Arjun27180–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.2
Erigaisi Arjun2718Giri,A2764½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20225.3
 

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

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.

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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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