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The third match of the "Hans Niemann against the world" series will come to an end on Saturday. Niemann already defeated Anish Giri (in Utrecht) and Nikita Vitiugov (in London) earlier this month, and is now the clear favourite to achieve overall victory in his Paris match against Etienne Bacrot.
After scoring 3 wins and 3 draws in the classical portion of the match, Niemann obtained a major 9-point lead on the scoreboard (wins in classical grant 3 points each). In the rapid section, with each win granting 2 points, Niemann and Bacrot scored 2 wins apiece and signed 2 draws to keep the 9-point gap intact.
The final day of action, set to start at 18.00 CEST on Saturday, will feature 12 blitz games, with each win granting a single point - i.e. Bacrot needs to score 11/12 to win the match outright or 10½/12 to tie the score.
The big lead achieved by Niemann is likely to result in more relaxed play by both grandmasters, which combines well with the laid-back atmosphere at the Blitz Society Bar in Paris (at least from what we can gather from the photos shared by the organisers).
Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik was a guest of honour during Friday's session | Photo: Frans Peeters
The final positions in the 2 encounters won by Niemann on Friday are rather good-looking. In game 2, his 37.c3 prompted Bacrot's resignation, as the pawn push distracts the knight from the defence of the f5-pawn - which would then be captured by the queen thanks to a pin along the c4-f7 diagonal.
37...Nc6 fails to 38.Qxf5+ with a devastating attack, while 37...Kg7 38.cxd4 Rxd4 is no good for Black due to the simple 39.Qb3 and White is a bishop up.
In game 5, Niemann got to finish things off in style by giving checkmate with 48...Rh5#
Parisian chess fans following the action live | Photo: Frans Peeters
