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Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer each started their quarterfinal matches with victories against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh Dommaraju and Alireza Firouzja, respectively. This allowed them to take a more relaxed approach on the second day of this knockout round and observe what their opponents would come up with. Hikaru Nakamura, on the other hand, narrowly escaped defeat against Javokhir Sindarov.
The battle for ninth place between Levon Aronian and Vladimir Fedoseev also took place. Aronian took the lead with a victory.
On the second day of the quarterfinals, all games opened with the move 1.Nb3. Black responded either with 1...Nb6 or 1...Nc6. Only Magnus Carlsen deviated from this pattern with the black pieces, opting for 1...f6.
Master Class Vol.2: Mihail Tal
On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.
Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen left no doubts in their respective matches, both securing a clear 2-0 victory with another win.
Photo: Lennart Ootes
Carlsen emerged from the opening in a superior position and gained a pawn. He then simplified the position into a rook endgame, which he guided to victory with his usual remarkable technique.
Fabiano Caruana and Gukesh played an extremely short game. The classical chess world champion lost a pawn early and hoped for compensation against Caruana's slightly exposed king. However, after the white king was evacuated from the danger zone with an unusually long short castle, Gukesh resigned - somewhat prematurely.
Photo: Stev Bonhage
Vincent Keymer had also emerged victorious against Alireza Firouzja in the first game of the quarterfinals. In the second game, the German grandmaster had the white pieces, although in Freestyle Chess, this may not be as significant as in classical chess.
The Keymer Variation - 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3
This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. You’ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.
Firouzja needed to win to level the match and put in the effort, but it was not enough. In a winning position, Keymer settled for a draw.
Photo: Stev Bonhage
The final quarterfinal between Javokhir Sindarov and Hikaru Nakamura ended in another draw, which took the match to a tiebreak. In a somewhat surprising outcome, the Uzbek player prevailed in the rapid games with a score of 1½-½.
Javokhir Sindarov | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
Hikaru Nakamura examines the starting position | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Levon Aronian won the match for ninth place, securing overall victory with a draw after his initial win.
Replay all games of the rapid round-robin on Live.ChessBase.com