Aimchess Quarterfinals Finish; Semis Set
The quarterfinals are over, and we're down to the final four of Vladislav Artemiev vs. Alireza Firouzja in the battle of the youngsters, and Magnus Carlsen vs. Levon Aronian in the battle of the 30-somethings.
Firouzja had the most difficult time in the quarters, though it certainly didn't seem like it through the first five games. On day one he won the first two games against Wesley So and then clinched the first mini-match with a draw, and on day two he drew the first game and won the second, after which a single draw in the remaining two games would suffice to clinch overall match victory. It didn't happen. So crushed Firouzja in game 3 of the second mini-match and with Black in round 4 ground out a win in a rook ending to win that mini-match and force a two-game blitz playoff. In the first of those games, So enjoyed a winning advantage, but could not figure out how to put opponent away. That game finished in a draw, and in the second Firouzja bounced back to win and advance to the next round.
Artemiev had some trouble as well. After drawing with Leinier Dominguez in the first game, he lost game 2 and only drew the third game with the white pieces. No matter: he won on demand in the fourth game to split the first mini-match. On day two, the first two games were drawn, but then Artemiev won - again with Black - to take the lead. Now Dominguez would have to win on demand, with Black, to split the second mini-match and force a blitz playoff - and he came close. He revved up a dangerous attack with the sequence 21...Rc6, 22...Rh6, and 23...Rxh3, and at the end of a wonderfully complicated line found himself with a serious advantage. Unfortunately for Dominguez, his 36...Bc7 allowed Artemiev to equalize, though the position was still challenging for both sides, and then a couple of moves later 38...Qe6?? was an outright blunder. Having no competitive choice but to keep playing, Dominguez struggled all the way to move 83, but the outcome was never in doubt, and it would have required "miracles" for him to save half a point, never mind get the win he needed.
The world champion faced Jan-Krzysztof Duda, a strong and very tricky opponent for most players. For Magnus Carlsen, well, not so much. On day 1 he won games 1 and 3 with White and drew game 2 with Black to clinch the first mini-match, and on day 2 he did exactly the same thing, except that his wins in games 1 & 3 came with Black.
As for Aronian, day 1 saw four decisive battles, with Aronian winning games 1 and 3 with White, Mamedyarov winning game 2 with White, but Aronian winning game 4 with Black to take the first mini-match. On day Aronian started with a win, and clinched match victory with two draws.
So, again, it's Artemiev-Firouzja and Carlsen-Aronian, starting later today (Thursday).
Event website here.
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