Meltwater Finals: So and Le reach the podium

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/21/2022 – Magnus Carlsen had secured first place with a round to spare at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals, but nonetheless finished the tournament with a seventh straight win in San Francisco. Carlsen’s win over Jan-Krzysztof Duda allowed Le Quang Liem to climb to third place thanks to a victory over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Wesley So, who lost to Anish Giri, remained in second place. | Photo: Ayushi Shah

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Carlsen ends with yet another win

Despite having won both the series and the tour in advance, Magnus Carlsen arrived in San Francisco’s Ferry Building ready to fight on Sunday. He had to face none other than Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who finished the series in second place and was sharing the lead in this tournament until the third round.

Carlsen won games 2 and 4, both with black, to end the event with yet another win, a seventh in a row — six of which did not include blitz tiebreakers. In both games he won, Carlsen converted a superior endgame with a minor piece (and a few extra pawns) against a rook. 

 
Duda vs. Carlsen - Game #2

Four extra pawns turned out to be too much to handle for Duda in the second game of the day!

Tarjei J. Svensen is keeping track of Carlsen’s most important victories.

 
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1.g3 0 c5 0 2.c4 6 g6 0 3.Bg2 1 Bg7 1 4.Nc3 2 Nc6 2 5.Nf3 3 e6 11 6.h4 0 A37: Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 Nf3. Nf6 2:45 7.d4 3 cxd4 0 8.Nxd4 1 d5 4 9.0-0 1 0-0 3
10.Be3N 41 Predecessor: 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Bg5 Qa5 12.Nb3 Nxc3 13.Nxa5 Nxd1 14.Nxc6 Nxb2 15.Ne7+ Kh8 16.Rac1 ½-½ (55) Carlsen,M (2876) -Kasimdzhanov,R (2657) Douglas 2019 10...Re8 1:54 11.cxd5 4:47 exd5 0 12.Nxc6 1 bxc6 0 13.Bd4 0 Bg4 2:14 14.Qd2 25 a5 1:00 15.Rfe1 30 a4 16 16.a3 5 h5 1:16 17.Rad1 6 Kh7 0 18.Bf3 29 18.Qc2= 18...Bh6 33 19.Qd3 2 Bf5 6 20.Bxf6 1 Not 20.e4? dxe4 21.Qc4 21.Bxe4? Nxe4 22.Nxe4 Bxe4-+ 21.Nxe4? Bxe4 22.Rxe4 Nxe4-+ 21...Be6 22.Bxf6 Qxf6 23.Qxe4 Bg4 24.Bxg4 Rxe4 25.Nxe4 Qxb2-+ 20...Qxf6 2 21.Qd4 0 21.e4= keeps the balance. dxe4 22.Bxe4 21...Qxd4 38 21...Bg7!? 22.Qxf6 Bxf6 22.Rxd4 0 Reb8 2:11 23.e4 24 The position is equal. dxe4 2 24.Bxe4 5 Bxe4 31 25.Rexe4 9 Rxb2 1 26.Rxa4 1 Rxa4 8 27.Rxa4= 0       Endgame KRB-KRN Bf8 57 27...Bg7!? 28.Ne4 Ra2= 28.Ne4 12 Rb7 2 29.Ra6 16 Kg7 4 30.a4 2 Rb4 0 31.Nd2 56 c5 14 32.Ra7 3 Kf6 1:31 33.a5 23 Ra4 13 34.a6 0 c4 19 35.Ne4+ 10 Ke5 1 36.Nc3 34 Ra1+ 2 37.Kg2 1 Bb4 0 38.Ne2 22 Ra2 29 39.Kf3 0 Ra3+ 1 40.Kg2 1 Ra2 1 41.Rb7 24 Rxe2 1:13 42.Rxb4 8
Threatens to win with Ra4. KR-KR 42...Ra2 22 Prevents Ra4. White must now prevent ...Kd5. 43.Rxc4 1 Rxa6 1 44.Rf4 3 Ke6 1 45.Re4+! 1 Kf6 0 46.Rf4+ 1 Ke6 1 47.Re4+! 0 Kf6 0 48.Rf4+ 0 Ke6 0 Weighted Error Value: White=0.07 (flawless) /Black=0.05 (flawless) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2859Duda,J2731½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.1
Duda,J2731Carlsen,M28590–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.2
Carlsen,M2859Duda,J2731½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.3
Duda,J2731Carlsen,M28590–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.4
 

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So loses to Giri in Armageddon, finishes in second place

Wesley So and Anish Giri had diametrically opposite runs going into their direct encounter in round 7 of the Meltwater Tour Finals — So had won his last four matches, while Giri had lost his last four matches. Fittingly, the players tied all four of their rapid games, traded wins in the blitz tiebreakers and decided their confrontation in an exciting Armageddon encounter.

In the sudden-death game, Giri had the black pieces and, under tremendous time pressure, got to find a mating attack following a blunder by his opponent.

 
So vs. Giri - Armageddon

So’s 55.Nf6 allowed 55...Qxf4+ 56.Kh5 Qf5+ 57.Kh4 Bxf6+ and White resigned.

 

Despite losing this game, and thus the match, So finished in sole second place with 13 points to his name. For Giri, getting to beat such a strong opponent (who, in addition, was in great form) will surely help him to more easily leave behind his bad run in San Francisco.

It was a crazy end to the Armageddon game, as demonstrated by Giri’s reaction!

 
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1.e4 0 c5 0 2.Nf3 3 d6 1 3.d4 7 cxd4 2 4.Nxd4 0 Nf6 0 5.Nc3 1 a6 1 6.Be2 9 e5 2 7.Nb3 2 Be7 1 8.0-0 0 0-0 2 9.Be3 2 Be6 1 10.Re1! 2       is now more promising than 10.Qd2. B92: Sicilian Najdorf: 6 Be2. Nc6 24 11.a3 35
11...Rc8N 20 Predecessor: 11...b5 12.a4 b4 13.Nd5 Nxe4 14.Bb6 Qb8 15.Qd3 Bxd5 16.Qxd5 Qxb6 17.Qxe4 f5 0-1 (47) Trevis,R (1074)-Slavin,P (1238) LSS email 2016 12.Bf3 1:37 Na5 1:22 13.Nxa5 11 Qxa5 0 14.Qd2 2 Rfe8 0 15.Red1 11 b5 2:13 16.Nd5 48 Qxd2 1 17.Nxe7+ 28 Rxe7 2 18.Rxd2 13 Rd7 37 19.Bg5 1:42 h6 0 20.Bxf6 15 gxf6 0 21.c3 3 Kf8 50 22.a4 59 Ke7 1:19 23.h3 28 Rb7 42 24.axb5 58 axb5 0 25.Ra6 6 b4 38 26.cxb4 22 Rd8 6 27.Bg4 12 Rxb4 41 28.f3 2 Rb7 2:25 29.Rc2 33 Bxg4 0 30.hxg4= 2       Endgame KRR-KRR d5 0 31.exd5 24 Rxd5 2 32.Kh2 8 Rdb5 27 33.Rcc6 11 Rxb2 6 34.Rxf6 2 Re2 3 35.Rab6 3:27
aiming for Rxf7+. 35...Rxb6 45 36.Rxb6 0 KR-KR f6 0 37.Rb7+ 8 Kf8 1 38.Rh7 25 Kg8 1 39.Rxh6 1 Kg7 0 40.Rh5 3 Kg6 2 Inhibits g5. 41.Kg3 2 Ra2 3 42.Rh8 12 Rb2 2 43.Rg8+ 6 Kf7 2 44.Ra8 0 Kg6 0 45.Ra6 5 Rc2 4 46.Kh3 4 Rf2 6 47.Ra3 2 Rb2 4 48.Re3 12 Rc2 4 49.Ra3 20 Rb2! 0 50.Ra4 23 Rc2 6 51.Ra1 8 Re2 4 52.Rf1 2 Kg5 3 53.Kg3 7 Rb2 14 54.Rf2 3 54.Rc1 54...Rb3 2 54...Rxf2!= was preferrable. 55.Kxf2 Kh4 55.Re2 4 Ra3 0 56.Rb2 6 Rc3 16 57.Kh3 5 Ra3 4 58.Kg3 27 Rc3 6 59.Kf2 2 Ra3 0 60.Re2 4 60.Rb8 60...Rc3 9 60...Kh4= 61.Ra2 4 Rb3 1 62.Ra8 3 Kg6 11 63.Rg8+ 2 Kf7 1 64.Rc8 5 Kg6 1 65.Rd8 6 Rb2+ 0 66.Kf1 3 Ra2 7 67.g3 0 67.Kg1 67...Rb2 19 The position is equal. 68.Kg1 2 Ra2 6 69.Rg8+ 3 Kf7 0 70.Rh8 1 Kg6 4 71.Rh2 1 Ra3 15 72.Kg2 2 Rb3 8 73.f4 5 exf4 32 74.gxf4 0 f5 0 75.g5 3
Strongly threatening Rh6+. 75...Rb2+ 0 76.Kg3 4 Rb3+ 1 77.Kg2 3 Black must now prevent Rh6+. Rb2+ 0 78.Kh1 3 78.Kg3!? Rb3+ 79.Kf2 Rb2+ 80.Kg1 Rb1+ 81.Kg2 Rb2+= 78...Rb1+ 1 79.Kg2 1 Hoping for Rh6+. Rb2+ 0 Weighted Error Value: White=0.09 (flawless) /Black=0.06 (flawless) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2760Giri,A2764½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.1
Giri,A2764So,W2760½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.2
So,W2760Giri,A2764½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.3
Giri,A2764So,W2760½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.4
So,W2760Giri,A27641–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.5
Giri,A2764So,W27601–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.6
So,W2760Giri,A27640–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.7
 

Le beats Mamedyarov, climbs to third place

Once again, Le Quang Liem proved his mettle as a rapid-chess player by finishing the strong tour Finals in sole third place after beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in round 7. It was a drawless match, with the Vietnamese winning three games to prevail and leapfrog Duda in the final standings.

Game 2 saw Mamedyarov blundering the game away by allowing a tactical shot in the middlegame.

 
Le vs. Mamedyarov - Game #2

25...Qg5 allowed 26.Bxd7 Rxd7 27.Qxd7, and after 27...Nf6 Black both attacks the queen and threatens mate on g2 —  what had Shakh missed in his calculations?

 

White emerges with a better position after 28.Qxb7 Rxb7 29.Nf3 Qg6 30.exf6. Two rooks and two knights were stronger than a queen and a rook in this setup. Black’s resignation came six moves later.

 
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1.c4 0 Nf6 0 2.Nc3 4 c5 0 3.Nf3 4 Nc6 2 4.g3 1 g6 10 5.Bg2 6 d6 4 6.d4 0 cxd4 0 7.Nxd4 1 Bd7 1 8.0-0 11 Bg7 2 9.Nc2 37 9.b3 is the hot move. h5 23 A31: Symmetrical English: 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 d4. 10.h4 31 0-0 4 11.Bg5 2 Rc8 0 White has an edge. 12.Qd2 13 Re8 12
13.Rfd1N 44 Predecessor: 13.Rac1 Qa5 14.Bf4 Nd8 15.b4 Qa6 16.b5 Qa5 17.Ne3 b6 18.Qd3 Ne6 19.Bg5 ½-½ (28) Kalinin,A (2568)-Scherk,T (2519) ICCF email 2007 13...Qa5 31 14.Rac1 1:16 Be6 1:19 14...Nh7= 15.Ne3 0       a6 1:46 16.b3 0 Ng4 3:20 17.Ned5 1:14 Kf8 1:37 18.Na4 1:40 18.f3 Nge5 19.Be3 18...Qxd2 11 19.Bxd2 40 Nd4 2:45 19...Bd4 20.Nf4 0 b5 1:14 20...Bf5 21.Nb6+- 25       Rb8 20 22.Nxe6+ 46 fxe6 0 23.Nd7+ 2 Kg8 0 Hoping for ...Rbd8. 24.Nxb8 19 Nxe2+ 1 25.Kf1 2 Nxc1 0 26.Nxa6 2 Nd3 8 26...Rf8 27.f3 27.Bxc1 Nxf2 28.Rd2 Ne4+ 29.Ke2 Nxd2 27...Nh2+ 28.Kg1 Nxf3+ 29.Bxf3 Rxf3 27.cxb5 1:01 Ndxf2 17 28.Rb1 21 Rf8 39
White must now prevent ...Ne4+. 29.Ke2! 9 And now b6 would win. Bd4 1 29...Rf5 was worth a try. 30.Nb4 1:35 Strongly threatening Nc6. d5 48 31.Nc6 11 Bc5 17 32.Rf1 2:09 d4 32 33.Bg5 0 e5 1:11 33...d3+? 34.Kd2+- 34.b4 1:15 d3+ 3 35.Kd2 1 Bb6 3 36.Re1 1:18 Prevents e4. Bc7 1:06 37.a4 16 e4 28 38.Bxe4 1 Bxg3 2 39.Bd5+ 1 A strong pair of Bishops. Kh8 3 40.Rxe7 3 Nh3 23 41.b6 24 Nxg5 0 42.hxg5 0 Nf2 20 43.Ne5 1:21 Bf4+ 1 44.Kc3 1 44.Ke1 d2+ 45.Kxf2 Bxe5+ 46.Ke2 Rf2+ 47.Kd1 47.Kxf2? too greedy. d1Q-+ 47...Bf4+- 44...Rc8+ 1 45.Kb3 22 Bxe5 3 46.Rxe5 0       Endgame KRB-KRN d2 10 47.Bf3 1 Rf8 31 48.Be2 5 h4 3 49.Rc5 39 White wants to mate with b7. h3 17 50.Rc4 9 Kg7 0 51.a5?? 2       51.b7+- h2 52.Rc7+ Kg8 53.Rc8 51...h2-+ 8 52.Rh4 4 Re8 1 52...h1R 53.Rxh1 Nxh1 54.Kc2± 53.Bd1 10
53...Nxd1? 1 Weaker is 53...h1R 54.Rxh1 Nxh1 55.Kc2 53...Re3+!-+ 54.Kb2 Nxd1+ 55.Kc2 Nf2 56.Kxd2 Nh3 57.Kxe3 h1Q 54.Rxh2? 8      
54.Kc2= Nf2 55.Kxd2 54...Nf2! 3       What a bad dream for White. Weighted Error Value: White=0.33/Black=0.46 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mamedyarov,S2741Le,Q27280–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.1
Le,Q2728Mamedyarov,S27411–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.2
Mamedyarov,S2741Le,Q27281–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.3
Le,Q2728Mamedyarov,S27411–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.4
 

Pragg stops Arjun

The all-Indian confrontation between two prodigious players favoured the one playing on-site in San Francisco, as Praggnanandhaa defeated Arjun Erigaisi by a 2½-1½ score. The compatriots both finished the tournament with 9 points, with Pragg grabbing fifth place thanks to his victory in the head-to-head encounter.

Pragg had a great performance throughout the series: the 17-year-old got third place in the overall standings, with his showing at the FTX Crypto Cup — where he finished second behind Carlsen — the highlight of the series for him.

Facing such tough opposition is no easy task. The ever-enthusiastic Pragg had no energy left to enjoy a Golden State Warriors game in full!

 
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.Bf4 3 d5 0 3.e3 2 Bf5 1 4.Bd3 6 Bxd3 2 5.cxd3 2 e6 1 6.Nc3 0 D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines. Bd6 2 7.Qb3 0 b6 7 8.Bxd6 9 The position is equal. Qxd6 1 9.Nf3 1
9...Ng8N 18 Predecessor: 9...0-0 10.0-0 c6 11.Rac1 Nbd7 12.e4 e5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Ne4 Qg6 15.g3 Rfe8 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Rxe5 1-0 (61) Niemann,H (2642)-Avila Pavas,S (2450) Chess.com INT 2022 10.h4 1:42 Ne7 11 11.h5 3 h6 5 12.g4 35 c6 2:33       13.0-0-0 1:22 Nd7 5 14.Kb1 1 c5 3:04 15.Rhg1 0 f6 40 16.e4 18 Better is 16.Nh4 16...0-0 50 16...Qf4!? 17.exd5 cxd4= 17.Rde1 31 17.exd5 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Qxd5 exd5 20.dxc5 17...cxd4!= 36 18.Nb5 1:25 Qf4 45 19.Nfxd4 2 Nc5 9 20.Qc2 18 Rfc8 2:17       20...a6!? 21.Nc3 Rfc8 21.Qe2 3:07 21.exd5!= keeps the balance. a6 22.Ne2 21...dxe4 35 22.dxe4 0 Nc6 1:44 22...a6 23.Nc3 b5 23.Nxc6 1:04 Rxc6 0 24.Qe3 1 e5 54 25.Nc3 0 Qxe3 32 26.Rxe3 0 Rd6 1 27.b4 1:24 Nd3 37 28.Nd5? 1:06
Now White is beyond hope. 28.Nb5= and White is okay. Rd7 29.Rd1 28...Nxf2-+ 9 29.Ne7+ 9 Kf7 37 Black should play 29...Kf8-+ 30.Ng6+ Ke8 30.Nf5 1 Rd2 16 31.Rc1 35 Rad8 8       Black is in control. 31...Nxg4? 32.Rg3 Rd7 33.Rxg4+- 32.Rc7+ 11 R8d7 7 33.Rxd7+ 2 Rxd7 0       Endgame KRN-KRN 34.Kc2 0 34.Re2 Nh3 35.a4 34...g6-+ 1:16 Stronger than 34...Nxg4 35.Rg3 Nf2 36.Rxg7+ Ke6 37.Rxd7 Kxd7 38.Nxh6 Nxe4 39.Nf5 35.hxg6+? 0 35.Nh4 35...Kxg6 2 36.a4 36 Kg5 28 Black is clearly winning. 37.a5 6 Nxg4 25 38.Rc3 5 Kf4 14 39.Kb3 0 bxa5 12 40.bxa5 0 Nf2 21 41.Nxh6 13 Nxe4 23 42.Rc8 7 f5 11
Threatens to win with ...Kg5. 43.Rf8 8 Ng3 8 And now ...e4 would win. 44.Ng8 29 e4 0       45.Nf6 1 Rd6 0 Hoping for ...e3. 46.Ne8 7 Ra6 21 46...Rd8 47.Ng7 Rxf8 48.Ne6+ Kg4 49.Nxf8 f4 47.Kb4 11 e3 1 48.Nc7 1 e2 3 49.Re8 0 Ne4 3 Weighted Error Value: White=0.64/Black=0.10 (very precise) 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Erigaisi Arjun2718Praggnanandhaa R26780–12022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.1
Praggnanandhaa R2678Erigaisi Arjun2718½–½2022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.2
Erigaisi Arjun2718Praggnanandhaa R26781–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.3
Praggnanandhaa R2678Erigaisi Arjun27181–02022Meltwater CCT Finals 20227.4
 

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2022

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1-6

In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.

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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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