Skilling Open, Quarterfinals Start Momentarily
With Thanksgiving coming up I was enjoying some family time, not noticing until last night that super-events have resumed - not that they ever really end any more. The latest entry on the chess calendar is the Skilling Open, the first event on the Champions Chess Tour. (I'm not sure how "open" it is - I don't recall getting an invitation, and I'm guessing you probably didn't, either.) It's a multi-stage event that began as a 16-player round robin, with the top eight making it to a series of knockout matches that start in just a few minutes. (The broadcast begins at 11:45 a.m. ET/17:45 CET on Chess24.) Here are the standings from the round robin:
1. Carlsen 9 (out of 15)
2. Nakamura 9
3. So 8.5
4. Nepomniachtchi 8.5
5. Aronian 8.5
6. Radjabov 8
7. Vachier-Lagrave 8
8. Giri 8
9. Firouzja 8
10. Le 8
11. Ding 7.5
12. Vidit 6.5
13. Anton 6.5
14. Svidler 6
15. Karjakin 5.5
16. Duda 4.5
The standings were given in full rather than with ties, because tiebreaks determined seeding - or, indeed, whether someone qualified for the quarterfinals. Radjabov, MVL, and Giri are in; Firouzja and Le are out. The pairings follow the 1-8, 2-7 etc. format, so this is what we have to look forward to:
- Carlsen vs. Giri
- Nepomniachtchi vs. Aronian
- So vs. Radjabov
- Nakamura vs. Vachier-Lagrave
Finally, here's the Carlsen-Nakamura game from the preliminaries, which featured a very nice combination by the American (though he was unable to convert his advantage into a full point).