GM Vladimir Fedoseev gained the 2024 Chess.com Chess960 Championship, defeating GM Denis Lazavik 3.5-1.5 within the Last and profitable $2,000 within the course of. 4 days of qualifiers culminated on Friday with an eight-player knockout.
The subsequent neighborhood championship would be the Spell Chess Championship, happening on July 25-26.
Last Standings
Quarterfinals: All However 1 Match Ends With Recreation To Spare
After 4 days of qualifiers, eight grandmasters competed on the ultimate day for the $2,000 first prize. They performed in a single-elimination bracket with a 5+2 time management, with four-game matches main as much as the six-game Last.
Apart from one matchup, all the others resulted in simply three video games.
Fedoseev 3-0 Sevian
GM Sam Sevian, who resigned accidentally within the qualifiers when trying to supply a draw, continued his collection of unlucky occasions and met an in-form Fedoseev within the first match. In recreation two, Sevian hung a rook however was nonetheless, even then, profitable…
Tfw you blunder a complete rook however are nonetheless profitable 😎.#Chess960Champshttps://t.co/UpVFZUy17A pic.twitter.com/DnzBqh5QQW
— chess24 (@chess24com) June 21, 2024
…when he misplaced on time in a very profitable place. Black gained on this place, with White to maneuver, and Fedoseev went on to win the match with a 3-0 rating.
Raunak 3-0 Hong
GM Raunak Sadhwani additionally went 3-0 in opposition to GM Andrew Hong. The primary recreation was proof of how shortly a place can flip bitter in Chess960—however regardless of shedding an alternate out of the opening, Raunak went on to win anyway.
Duda 2.5-0.5 Bok
GM Benjamin Bok had a number of probabilities to win in opposition to GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda however realized not certainly one of them. The nail within the coffin was the ultimate recreation, the place he stumbled from a profitable place into checkmate.
Bok will get swindled out of a profitable place and is out of the #Chess960Champs! 💔https://t.co/bL9JjZtaT6 pic.twitter.com/AB7seBtpsL
— chess24 (@chess24com) June 21, 2024
Lazavik 2.5-1.5 Yoo
Lazavik vs. GM Christopher Yoo was the one match to achieve 4 video games. Within the last recreation, Lazavik carried out a checkmating assault whereas most of White’s items noticed as poor spectators on the opposite aspect of the board.
Semifinals: Armageddons Determine Finalists
Each matches had been determined in armageddon, however they reached the tiebreaker in reverse methods. Whereas Raunak-Fedoseev made 4 attracts, the opposite match featured 4 decisive video games earlier than armageddon.
Fedoseev 3-2 Raunak
Not like the opposite match, there was only one decisive recreation, although it wasn’t for an absence of preventing. Fedoseev later shared that this was essentially the most difficult match for him: “That match with Raunak was completely key for me. I struggled loads on this match. I could not get my recreation in principally any recreation this match.”
I struggled loads on this match. I could not get my recreation in principally any recreation this match.
—Vladimir Fedoseev
Fedoseev, needing only a draw, gained the armageddon recreation with Black. He began with a “turtle-up” opening, and his items unfurled like a spring after his pissed off opponent was unable to interrupt by means of.
Duda 2.5-2.5 Lazavik
The one draw on this match was the armageddon recreation, but it surely was filled with motion regardless of the end result. Commentator GM Robert Hess praised Duda’s 44.c5! as “world-class approach,” however Lazavik’s good 51…Kb7! afterward was much more spectacular—the one transfer to keep away from a loss and, in the end, to attract.
Last: Fedoseev Sacrifices His Queen En Route To Glory
Not like the opposite matches, the final one was a best-of-six. Fedoseev stated, “Denis performed tremendous effectively. He took a recreation in opposition to me. It reveals that he was on a very good degree,” admitting that if Lazavik had transformed recreation 4, the end result might have been completely different.
Denis performed tremendous effectively. He took a recreation in opposition to me. It reveals that he was on a very good degree.
—Vladimir Fedoseev
Fedoseev 3.5-1.5 Lazavik
After a attract recreation one, Fedoseev’s victory in recreation two was the Recreation of the Day. He capped off a kingside assault with a outstanding queen sacrifice. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the total recreation under:
Lazavik retorted with a convincing endgame win and appeared to be coasting to profitable recreation 4 when the place turned on him:
Fedoseev crawls again from a shedding place to win recreation 4 and takes a two-point lead!
In a time scramble, Lazavik might have forgotten that his rook hangs on a6 after White trades on f7!https://t.co/HXXLa7vbKc#Chess960Champs pic.twitter.com/QB10Rnlfdm
— chess24 (@chess24com) June 21, 2024
In a must-win last recreation, Lazavik made his worst blunder of the week, shedding a chunk within the opening.
Fedoseev defined his mindset throughout Chess960 video games concisely: “In all video games, the very first thing you search for is concord of items and you then’re simply attempting to know how you can pose any concrete issues… if it is attainable with White.”
As for what’s subsequent on his schedule, he stated, “I’ll play extra on-line within the subsequent two months.” He’ll play within the Velocity Chess Championship qualifiers subsequent week after which the Champions Chess Tour Play-in in mid-July. He is taking a break from over-the-board till the center of August, after which he stated he’ll be way more lively by means of the top of the 12 months, which he hopes to shut out with the World Fast & Blitz Championships in New York.
The Chess.com Chess960 Championship is the second occasion of the Chess.com Group Championships collection. The eight Swiss qualifiers ran June 17-20 whereas the primary eight-player single-elimination knockout takes place on June 21. The time management is 5+2, with best-of-four Quarterfinals and Semifinals earlier than a best-of-six Last. The prize fund is $7,500, with $2,000 for the winner.
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