On Friday I mentioned that the Banter Blitz semi-final between Alireza Firouzja and S. L. Narayanan was underway. It was a fairly close match, won by Firouzja 9-6. In the end it was closer than that score might appear, as it was 8-6 and Narayanan was completely winning the last game, with what should also have been a decisive advantage on the clock. Unfortunately for the Indian star, he blundered into mate in one, but his loss was our gain.
Before we see how, however, let's have a look back at this brilliant old Geico commercial, which I've posted at least twice before:
Impressive, but he is a tyro compared to Pepe Cuenca (of Pepe Cuence Invitational fame), who could be at least as good an auctioneer as a chess player. This is insane. (Unfortunately, I don't see a YouTube link, or I would embed it. If someone can make one and send me the link, I'll update the post and include it.)
More about the match here. As for the Carlsen-Firouzja final, I would guess that it will happen sometime this week, before the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, but no date has been set as far I know.