Anish Giri Wins the 2021 Magnus Carlsen Invitational

After the anti-climactic semifinals, it was fortunate for us as chess fans that we got to enjoy a dramatic final match between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi. As we already saw in the preceding post, they split their first mini-match 2-2, after four draws, and as it turned out...they split the second day's match 2-2 as well - but not with four draws.

In game 1, Nepomniachtchi had White, and once against it was a Najdorf with 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6. This time, however, Nepo prevented the capture on b2 with 8.Nb3. This line can be a little dry, but not this time. The play was sharp and tactical, and the result was a draw that was well-played by both sides.

Giri also played well in game 2, but it was a bad outing for his opponent. White's opening play, whether the product of preparation or excellence at the board, gave him a significant advantage. Nepomniachtchi hung in there, in a difficult position, but his 18th move was a major error, leaving him a pawn down with a lousy position. Giri converted his advantage without much trouble.

Game 3 was another Averted Poisoned Pawn, to propose a name for the 8.Nb3 line, and once again the players managed to sharpen what can be a relatively quiet line. It was Giri who had some chances for more than a draw, but Nepomniachtchi eventually escaped.

Despite that escape, he was still in a very difficult situation, needing to win game 4 with Black to split the second match, maintain a tie in the overall match, and force a blitz playoff. And this he did, though early on his position in a Rossolimo was precarious. Giri played his worst game of the match, slipping from a promising and advantageous position to one that was equal, then a bit worse, and then lost. One slip by Nepo gave Giri a single chance to save the game, but he missed it, after which Nepo won confidently and convincingly.

Nepomniachtchi had Black in the first blitz game, but it looked like this would prove as little an obstacle as it did in the previous game. An unsound piece sac by Giri left Nepo with an objectively winning advantage, and he retained this advantage for eight moves or so. Alas, when consolidation was not too far away, he blundered, losing his extra material (and then some) while retaining his other disadvantages. He was forced to resign soon afterwards, and once again faced a must-win situation.

The good news was that he could use the white pieces this time, but he obtained nothing from the opening. More importantly, he blundered on move 16, leaving himself the option of sacrificing the exchange (without any compensation) or maintaining material equality at the cost of a strategically hopeless position. He chose the latter option, after which not even the short time control allowed him to scrape up even a whiff of counterplay. Giri was able to coast in with a comfortable win, giving him the game, the match, and the championship.

This was not the only match, but it was the only one with any drama. In the match for third place, Magnus Carlsen had already won the first day's mini-match against Wesley So (reported in the previous post), and started this day with a win in the first game. Draws in the next two games clinched at least a tie in the second mini-match, and since So could only save the overall match by winning the second mini-match, their contest ended at that point.

Congrats to the winner and all the players on the metaphorical medal platform! Here are the games from the final day of play, most of them with my comments. Tournament website here.

Magnus Carlsen Invitational: Day 1 of the Finals

The first day of the finals is over, and fortunately for the spectators we got two matches for the price of one. There's the match between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi for all the marbles (or at least the lion's share of them, i.e., for first place), but there's also a match for third between the semi-final losers Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So. It's not that the Giri-Nepo match was a snoozefest; in fact, they played interesting chess, and while all four games finished peacefully Giri had chances to win, especially in game 1. Meanwhile, Carlsen bludgeoned So, winning miniatures in games 1 and 4.

Tomorrow is the final day of the tournament, and then we can start rubbing our hands in glee awaiting the resumption of the Candidates tournament next month. But this event is not over, and I've annotated most of today's (or yesterday's, depending on where you are) games for you, here.

Magnus Carlsen Invitational: It's Giri vs. Nepomniachtchi in the Finals

It has been a few days, and any delays on my part cannot be chalked up to NCAA basketball (who cares? Notre Dame isn't playing). I could try to blame my getting my first vaccination (no side effects, thankfully, though I'm hoping it will improve my playing strength by a couple of hundred points), but that would be a joke. Anyway, delays or not, you'll at least benefit by receiving a bunch of annotated games. (Mostly light annotations [insert photon joke here], but there should be something instructive or at least entertaining in the mix.)

To catch up where we left off, we had this situation after day 1 of the quarterfinals: Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So had won their first mini-matches with Levon Aronian and Alireza Firouzja, respectively, while the Ian Nepomniachtchi vs. Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave mini-matches were drawn. Unfortunately, there was little drama on day two, and after two games all four contests were at match point. Carlsen won game 1 and drew game 2 with Aronian, and needed just one more draw to clinch the match. So did the same but in reverse, winning game 2 after a draw in game 1. Nepomniachtchi won both games 1 and 2 against Nakamura, while Giri won game 2 after an initial drew against MVL.

Three of the matches finished after the next game - Carlsen drew, So won, and Nepo drew, and all three thereby advanced. Giri's draw in the third game gave Vachier-Lagrave the chance to force a tiebreaker, if the latter could win with Black in game 4, but as it happened he lost in a Modern in just 20 moves.

On to the semis, with the pairings Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi and So-Giri, with the favorites - and ultimately, match losers - listed first. Nothing terrible happened in the first two games on day 1: two clean draws in the first match, and a win for So with Black in game 1 (thanks to a Giri blunder). So made what I take to be a mistake in game 2 (though some think this strategy is okay), wasting the white pieces by allowing Giri to make the same draw that occurred three months earlier in the game So-Nepomniachtchi. Giri built off of this psychological respite with a win in the third game, and then took advantage of So's blunders in the last game to take the first day's mini-match 2.5-1.5. As for Carlsen, game 3 was a disaster. A good opening and early middlegame gave him a winning advantage with White, but a fairly simple oversight prevented him from exploiting that advantage. He was still okay after that, but a later, mistaken exchange sacrifice left him with a lost position, and Nepomniachtchi cashed in to take the lead. Carlsen tried hard in game 4, but Nepo held and won the day, 2.5-1.5.

On day two, So was unable to dent Giri. He had a chance in the first game, but failed to convert, and Giri also had a chance for a significant advantage in game 2. But both games were drawn, as was game 3, and So was forced to play for a win with Black in game 4 to force a tiebreaker. He achieved a good position with the French, and after Giri's poor 26th move So was clearly better. Unfortunately, his reply was an outright blunder, and after Giri's 27th move So resigned, losing the game, mini-match, and the overall match.

Carlsen's comeback went better - though not at first. Game 1 was drawn, and then he lost game 2, overpressing once again. Now all Nepo needed was a draw to end the match, and in game 3 he had plenty of opportunities to achieve that aim. Every time he came close, however, he'd make a mistake, and after one error too many Carlsen managed to win. Game 4 was a blowout: Nepo was crushed out of the opening, and Carlsen sailed to a second straight win and victory in the second mini-match, tying the overall match 1-1 and forcing a blitz tiebreaker.

Nepomniachtchi had White in the first game, which went for a very long time, though without managing to be of much interest. Carlsen enjoyed a nominal endgame edge, and for simplicity's sake Nepo bailed out into the endgame R vs. R+N. While it's not impossible to lose the ending (we all remember Judit Polgar's loss to Garry Kasparov, right?) it's much easier to hold than R vs. R+B, and the weaker side generally holds it without much trouble. As one would expect from a near-2800 player, Nepo was holding it comfortably, and after 45 moves of mild suffering Carlsen blundered his rook (presumably a mouse-slip or a pre-move error). Now it was the World Champion's turn to hold a semi-trivial inferior ending (rook vs. knight), and after 36 or so more moves they finally called it a game: draw.

After those misadventures, it was Carlsen's shot with the white pieces. If the game finished in a draw, they'd go to Armageddon, but as Carlsen obtained the advantage and "his" kind of position, it looked like he'd win and advance to the finals. Surprisingly, his technique was a bit shaky, and when he once again overpressed in what had become an equal ending he went on to lose.

So that's where things stand: we've got a Giri vs. Nepomniachtchi final. Here are all the games from the semi-final matches, with at least cursory comments to most of the games.

Magnus Carlsen Invitational: Day 1 of the Quarterfinals

There was a nice symmetry: two of the day's mini-matches were done in three games, with the winner winning the first two and drawing the third; meanwhile, the other two matches saw one player win the first game, his opponent win the second, followed by two draws to split the match. The day's winners were Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So, defeating Levon Aronian and Alireza Firouzja, respectively; the draws were in the Ian Nepomniachtchi vs. Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs. Anish Giri matches, with the first-named player winning the first game before losing the second.

Remember, advancement to the semi-finals means triumphing over the course of two days, so Aronian and Firouzja are still alive and kicking.

Tournament website here.

Magnus Carlsen Invitational, Day 3: Prelims Finish

The action on day 3 of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational was far less interesting than it was for the first two days. Most of the stratification had already taken place, so players at the top were generally content to maintain their placement. Hikaru Nakamura in particular took this to extremes, playing five games that went 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 Nbd4 8.Nxd4 d5 9.exd6 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Qxd6 11.Qe4+ Qe6 12.Qd4 Qd6 13.Qe4+ Qe6 14.Qd4 Qd6 1/2-1/2. This drawing line has been known for a long time, and Nakamura used it with White in rounds 5, 11, and 14 while being the recipient in rounds 8 and 13. Others caught on, using it once in round 13 and twice in round 15, but by that point Nakamura had "improved" with the help of Magnus Carlsen (the champion had White): 1.e4 e5 2.Ke2 Ke7 3.Ke1 Ke8 4.Ke2 Ke7 5.Ke1 Ke8 6.Ke2 Ke7 1/2-1/2. There were other short draws as well, but there was some action too, particularly in rounds 11, 12, and 15.

Carlsen finished on top with 10.5/15, coming out half a point ahead of Anish Giri, who finally lost a game (in round 12 to Ian Nepomniachtchi) and drew his remaining games. Wesley So finished in clear third with 9.5, Berlin specialist Nakamura was clear fourth with 9, and three of the remaining four spots were occupied by players with 8.5 points apiece: Alireza Firouzja, Nepomniachtchi, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The last spot went to Sergey Karjakin on tiebreaks ahead of Levon Aronian, thanks to his win over Teimour Radjabov. (Had Radjabov won, he would have been part of the tie for the final spot; I'm not sure what his tiebreak score would have been compared to Aronian's.)

The remaining also-rans: Daniil Dubov (7.5), Radjabov (7), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (6.5), Jordeen Van Foreest & Nils Grandelius (6 each), David Anton Guijarro (4), Alan Pichot (2.5).

On to stage two, with the following pairings: Carlsen - Aronian, Nakamura - Nepomniachtchi, Giri - Vachier-Lagrave, and So - Firouzja. By now most of us are familiar with the way these online rapid knockouts work: each match consists of a pair of 4-game matches each day. If a player wins the day's match, he gets a point and his opponent gets nothing; if the match ends 2-2 they get half a point apiece. If the score at the end of the second day's mini-match is 1-1 (i.e., if both matches were drawn, or one player won the first day's match and the second player won the second), then there's a two-game blitz playoff followed by an Armageddon game, if necessary. Finally, a day's match can end ahead of schedule if a player clinches victory before the fourth game (by scoring 2.5 or 3 points in the first three games), or if (on day 2) a player has already clinched overall match victory (e.g. if he won the first day's match and leads 2-0 on day 2, because even if he lost both remaining games he'd still split the second mini-match and finish with 1.5-.5 victory overall).

Let's look forward to exciting games, and no draws of the sort mentioned above.

The Magnus Carlsen Invitational: Giri On Fire Through Day 2 of the Preliminary Stage

With only half the field able to qualify for the knockout stage of the 2021 Magnus Carlsen Invitational, the play over the first two days has been pleasingly pugilistic (suitably, in remembrance of the late great Marvelous Marvin Hagler). The champion - the tournament's namesake - has been playing very well, and has scored 7.5/10 so far. He has only lost one game, but it was a very important one, as it's to the tournament leader: Anish Giri! Giri, of all people, leads with 8/10, and this includes a five-game winning streak from rounds 3-7. With a sixth win coming in the final round of the second day, he enjoys a clear lead entering the final day of the prelims.

Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura are also in good shape with 6.5 points, Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave have 6 points apiece, and the last two qualifying spots are currently contested by three players with 5 points apiece: Levon Aronian, Daniil Dubov, and Sergey Karjakin. Below them are Ian Nepomniachtchi and Teimour Radjabov (4.5 points apiece), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Nils Grandelius (4 each), Jorden Van Foreest (3), David Anton Guijarro (2.5), and Alan Pichot (2).

There have been plenty of blunders, as one would expect from a 15'+10" time control, but overall the play has been very good. There have been model positional and attacking games, and plenty of nice tactics, too. I've singled out (seventeened out?) a number of games with varying degrees of commentary for your instruction, training, and mostly entertainment, here.

The Magnus Carlsen Invitational Starts Today (Saturday)

After a bit of a break, I'm back, and blogging will now resume. I had a busy few weeks, but it was also a rare break in the tournament schedule, so when it came to elite chess there was nothing too special to report. (Well, there was one major story to report, which I'll mention soon, though it's likely that all of you already know about this. For those who don't know, there's a hint, below.)

For now, let's start with the most immediate reason to resume blogging: a major tournament starts today. The 2021 Magnus Carlsen Invitational runs from the 13th through the 24th of this month, and as has been usual in these online events it will take place in two stages: a preliminary stage in which the 16 players will be whittled down to eight finalists, who will then face off in a series of knockout mini-matches.

The preliminary stage is a single round-robin, with the action beginning at 11:00 ET today. (I'm not sure if that will be true come Sunday, when we here in the U.S. "spring forward", setting out clocks an hour ahead. Europe generally makes the change on a different date [or rather, different dates] than we do over here.) I don't know the pairings yet, but here are the participants: Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Daniil Dubov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Teimour Radjabov, Wesley So, Anish Giri, Sergey Karjakin, Alireza Firouzja, David Anton Guijarro, Nils Grandelius (qualifier), Alan Pichot (qualifier), and Jorden Van Foreest.

Predictions? Obviously Carlsen is a favorite - the favorite - but Dubov has done extremely well in these events, and so has Radjabov. And of course, there are the three Americans...