GM Magnus Carlsen defeated GM Vincent Keymer within the Champions Chess Tour Chess.com Traditional 2024 Division I Winners Ultimate. Within the Losers Semifinals, GMs Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda respectively eradicated GMs Denis Lazavik and Ian Nepomniachtchi.
In Division II, GM Grigoriy Oparin will play GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave within the Winners Ultimate. In the meantime, in Division III, GM Dmitry Andreikin gained a pleasant attacking recreation with a “kamikaze bishop” to succeed in the Winners Ultimate vs. GM Nils Grandelius.
Day six begins on Monday, Might 13, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET / 18:30 CEST / 10 p.m. IST.
Division I Bracket
Division I Winners: The Sky Is Blue, Carlsen Wins At Chess
Winners Ultimate – Match Scores
Carlsen was already the favourite, however after successful the Grand Chess Tour: Superbet Poland Fast & Blitz 2024 with a 10-game successful streak—together with a win towards Keymer, who misplaced his final six video games in a row—Carlsen’s triumph may have felt inevitable. In opposition to the German number-one, Carlsen gained his sixteenth Division I CCT Winners Ultimate, although victory solely got here late within the remaining recreation.
Video games one and three have been comparatively tame attracts, the place Keymer shut down any “Magnus magic” within the endgame—and was even the one urgent within the third. However in recreation two Keymer may have gained on the spot if he discovered the colinear transfer 25.Qc4!!.
So after three attracts, all of it got here all the way down to the final recreation, and Carlsen prevented an armageddon tiebreak by successful with the black items. After Keymer traded a bishop and knight for 2 pawns and a rook, Howell quipped: “If I have been writing a chess ebook again within the Nineteen Nineties, I’d simply try this squiggly signal, the infinity signal, saying ‘unclear.'”
Howell: “If I have been writing a chess ebook again within the Nineteen Nineties, I’d simply try this squiggly signal, the infinity signal, saying ‘unclear.'”https://t.co/yBPeHkGX2S#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/ffuBjnekeB
— chess24 (@chess24com) Might 12, 2024
“Clearly I did not know this line that we performed very well, so I used to be sort of improvising,” stated Carlsen. “And I felt that after this commerce… though White might be higher, I felt that in a fast recreation there ought to be a variety of tactical potential for Black.” GM Rafael Leitao breaks down your complete Recreation of the Day intimately under.
Carlsen hilariously, however honestly, stated: “I did not have a lot vitality, however I knew if I gained this match I’d have two days off… in order that in itself was greater than sufficient motivation!”
I did not have a lot vitality, however I knew if I gained this match I’d have two days off.
—Magnus Carlsen
Keymer could have a second shot within the Losers Ultimate, the place if he wins, he could have one other duel with an on-fire Carlsen within the Grand Ultimate. In the meantime, after two super performances in someday, Carlsen shared that at dinner he “received a cheesecake to go, so now that cheesecake goes to be devoured. That is the plan.”
Division I Losers: Lazavik, Nepomniachtchi Eradicated
Losers Quarterfinals Outcomes
Whereas Firouzja handily defeated Lazavik with an ideal rating, Duda’s match towards Nepomniachtchi went all the way down to the armageddon.
Lazavik has by no means overwhelmed Firouzja within the Champions Chess Tour, and that document stays unchanged after the French number-one’s clear sweep.
Within the first recreation, Firouzja took a web page out of GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov‘s ebook with the aggressive 5.g4 within the opening and finally performed a killer assault with out castling his personal king. Essentially the most thrilling second got here when Firouzja performed a full rook sacrifice with 19.Rxg7?, a transfer that would have theoretically allowed the defending aspect to win.
Within the recreation, Lazavik had below a minute left, which wasn’t sufficient to seek out the miraculous, line-blocking thought of 23…Rd4!!.
Within the battle of Ian vs. Jan, the Polish-number one prevailed within the armageddon. However his assault in recreation one was the extra convincing victory, the place he lower via White’s holes on darkish squares like a knife via Swiss cheese.
Lazavik and Nepomniachtchi obtain $10,000 and 40 tour factors on their means out of the Chess.com Traditional, whereas their opponents can earn, at minimal, $12,500 on the subsequent stage. Keymer will play the winner of Firouzja vs. Duda.
Division II: Aronian Blunders Piece In Recreation 2, Oparin Sacrifices Piece In Recreation 3
GM Levon Aronian gained a pleasant attacking recreation towards Oparin, however the match took a tragic flip for him in recreation two. In a successful place, he castled—a transfer that misplaced on the spot. Can you discover the transfer that pressured resignation?
Oparin gained a pleasant endgame with bishop vs. knight in recreation three, and drew the final, to safe his spot within the Winners Ultimate. In that third recreation, the star from Mizzou sacrificed his bishop and his pawns overcame a knight:
In the meantime, Vachier-Lagrave surpassed GM Daniil Dubov in armageddon to make it to the Winners Ultimate. There, he’ll face Oparin.
Division II Bracket
Yow will discover the complete standings for Division II right here.
Division III: Andreikin Wins With Kamikaze Bishop
Andreikin defeated GM Tuan Minh Le within the first two video games and gained the match, with a recreation to spare, with a draw within the third. In recreation two, Andreikin sacrificed his bishop a number of occasions in a row, however capturing it might have led his opponent to catastrophe at each flip. White gained a pawn after which the sport after many extra strikes.
After three attracts, Grandelius defeated GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and can meet Andreikin within the Winners Ultimate.
Division III Bracket
Yow will discover the complete standings for Division III right here.
The 2024 Chess.com Traditional is the second of the Champions Chess Tour’s 4 occasions and determines one of many gamers who’ll make it to the in-person CCT Finals. The occasion begins on Might 8 at 12:30 p.m. ET/18:30 CEST/10 p.m. IST and encompasses a $300,000 prize fund.
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