New in Chess Classic: Carlsen and Nakamura in the finals

by Klaus Besenthal
5/1/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura will play the final of the New In Chess Classic online tournament. Carlsen safely won his second semifinal mini-match against Levon Aronian 3-1 on Friday after the first set had ended 2-2 the day before. The match between Nakamura and Shakriyar Mamedyarov was more exciting. Mamedyarov initially levelled the score with a convincing 3-0 victory in the second set. The Azerbaijani, however, went on to lose the tiebreaker in Armageddon. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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.

Semifinals, Day 2

Carlsen 3 - 1 Aronian 

The second semifinal mini-match between Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian started with two draws, before game 3 turned the tide in Carlsen’s favour. Playing white, Aronian left the opening with a rather harmless position, and he never found a way to create problems for his famed opponent.

 

So in the fourth game, Aronian desperately needed a win, which is never good at this level  — and even more difficult when the opponent is Carlsen. Aronian attacked vehemently from the start, but in the end that only led to Carlsen managing another unchallenged win.

 

 

Select an entry from the list to switch between games

Nakamura* 0 - 3 Mamedyarov 

*Won the tiebreaker 2-1

In the second semifinal set against Shakriyar Mamedyarov, Hikaru Nakamura was initially unsuccessful after he had managed a clear 3-1 victory the day before. Already in the first game, Naka didn’t find the right defence in a queen endgame that what was actually equal. A clear chance for our endgame expert Karsten Müller to send instructive notes.

 

Shakh then also won games 2 and 3, so that the fourth game was no longer needed. The Azerbaijani had already made up for his defeat the day before.

Karsten Müller took a closer look on game 3, when an interesting duel of bishop against knight appeared on the board in the endgame.

 

But there was a tiebreaker to be played still, and Nakamura is known to be one of the strongest blitz players in the world. Nonetheless, the first two games ended in draws. A final Armageddon game would decide the winner. Nakamura had black, so a draw would have been enough for him to enter the final. In that case, Naka would have reached the final without having won a single game on the second day of the semifinals — and he did not want that to happen. The Armageddon game was a clear-cut affair:

 

 

Select an entry from the list to switch between games

Links

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.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register