Norway Chess, Round 3: Carlsen & Aronian Win in Classical, Firouzja Defeats Caruana in the Armageddon Game

A busy day, so I'm afraid that this entry will be limited to results. (It may or may not be supplemented in a day or two.) It was a day where the rich got richer and the poor stayed poor. Magnus Carlsen started out in serious trouble on the black side of a Classical Sicilian (the Rauzer Variation) against Aryan Tari, but at some point Tari lost the thread and fell victim to a vicious queenside counterattack. Levon Aronian also had the black pieces, also against a player yet to get on the scoreboard - in this case Jan-Krzysztof Duda - and he also won. He wasn't in trouble, unlike Carlsen, but it also seemed that the game was petering out to a routine draw in a rook ending. Apparently it wasn't routine enough for Duda, and Aronian scraped out a win.

That win put him into a tie for first with Fabiano Caruana, a point ahead of Carlsen, thanks to Alireza Firouzja's "match" win over Caruana. Firouzja had White in their games. Their classical game was fairly short, and it was Caruana who was doing the pressing. Then it was time for blitz, and this just isn't Caruana's forte, especially relative to Firouzja. The game wasn't a rout by any means, but as time ran low Caruana couldn't maintain as high a level of play as his opponent, and Firouzja won the game and closed to within a point and a half of the leaders.

Here are the round 4 pairings:

• Carlsen (6) - Caruana (7)
• Aronian (7) - Firouzja (5.5)
• Tari (0) - Duda (0)

This is obviously going to be a big round for the standings, and at least one of the tailenders (and possibly both) will finally eliminate the unsightly goose egg from the scoretable.

Norway Chess, Round 1: Classical Wins for Caruana & Firouzja, an Armageddon Win for Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen took up where he left off last year, winning an Armageddon game. He won lots of them last year on his way to a decisive victory in the 2019 Norway Chess tournament. This year, with the different scoring system, that strategy may not prove as effective. We'll see.

At any rate, he got off to a good start, drawing comfortably on the Black side of a Nimzo-Indian with an early 6.Bd2 against Levon Aronian, and then winning the Armageddon game to collect 1.5 points on the day. Aronian was equal-to-better until the last move, but because he needed a win he had to keep taking risks even after the position became at best drawn for him, and short of time he blundered a rook. Even so, he collected a point on the round.

The other two matches finished with 3-0 scores. Fabiano Caruana - or rather, his second, Rustam Kasimdzhanov - found a brilliant new idea in the Taimanov Sicilian, and despite being a pawn down in an ending Caruana enjoyed enduring pressure against Aryan Tari. Tari cracked on move 36, retreating his bishop on the wrong diagonal, and Caruana was able to invade and win. It was an impressive performance by Caruana, one that even impressed Vladimir Kramnik, who was commentating along with Judit Polgar. (If you have the chance to watch the commentary, it's well worth your time to do so. The players are engaging in substantive interviews with K & P afterwards, too.)

Finally, Jan-Krzysztof Duda seemed at sea in the opening against Alireza Firouzja, and was lost fairly quickly. Firouzja's technique was not immaculate, but Duda failed to make the most of his chances and lost anyway.

The games, with my brief comments, are here; here are tomorrow's pairings:

• Carlsen (1.5) - Firouzja (3)
• Caruana (3) - Duda (0)
• Aronian (1) - Tari (0)

Banter Blitz 2020 Final, Day 7 (or 10?): Carlsen Wins

It was a well-contested match, but in the end your humble blogger's prediction was correct: Magnus Carlsen defeated by Wesley So by two points, winning the Banter Blitz 2020 final by a 5.5-3.5 score. The difference was a matter of converting chances: Carlsen squeezed out half points in "drawn" endings, while So failed to convert winning advantages in multiple games. (Three, to be precise.)

Carlsen got out to a 2-0 lead, despite having a lost position at many times in game 1 and nothing special in game 2, either. In that first game, Carlsen began with 1.f3 and 2.Kf2, which may have made his most rabid fans happy but is to my mind an extraordinarily disrespectful way to play. Someone may reply that this is the point, to which my reply is that there are more valuable things than in life than succeeding in this way. At any rate, So obtained a winning position, but let Carlsen slip...and then obtained a winning position again. Still later Carlsen had a winning position, which he let slip, and it looked like So was finally going to save the game - until he didn't. In game two, So was defending a slightly worse but eminently drawable rook ending, but Carlsen has won games like this many, many times in his career, and So faltered once again.

So had a winning advantage in game 3, but Carlsen slipped away once again, though he "only" managed to draw this time. Getting on the scoreboard was apparently all that So needed, and he won a clean game (by blitz standards) in game 4 to close to within a point.

Unfortunately for So, Carlsen won a clean game (again, by blitz standards) in reply, bringing the lead back to two points, but the violence continued as So won speedily in game 6. So had been better, but he didn't need to prove the advantage when Carlsen simply blundered a piece on move 24. The lead was back to a single point, and when So held with the black pieces in game 7 the momentum seemed to be on his side.

So came out of the opening of game 8 with a huge, definitely winning advantage, but he couldn't figure out how to take full advantage of it, and Carlsen escaped with a draw. That put Carlsen in striking distance of the finish line, and he took advantage of it. He had an opportunity to win the game relatively early on (30.f4 more or less won on the spot, as Black's knight on d4 is stranded), but he let So escape to an inferior but objectively drawn ending. (Not trivially drawn.) Carlsen was in his element, however, and So didn't have time to find the precise moves necessary to hold it, and Carlsen won the game, the match, and the tournament.

Congrats to both Carlsen and So, and for those of you desperate for the next event, you won't have to wait long: Norway Chess starts October 5 (on the web), and is a double round robin with Carlsen, Caruana, Aronian, Duda, Firouzja, and Tari.

Magnus Carlsen's Business, Rising Fast?

This isn't really my area, but it seems to be a growth projection chart - is this in anticipation of an IPO, or accompanying one? Those with the relevant expertise are invited to chime in and elaborate as they see fit. (HT: Tyler Cowen)

Banter Blitz 2020 Final, Day 6: It's a Carlsen-So Final

Surprise! (Not.) Both Wesley So and Magnus Carlsen won their matches by commanding margins, though Carlsen at least had some anxious moments early on.

After five games, So led Le Quang Liem with an undefeated 4.5-1.5, and that was with Le saving at least two lost games. A quick bathroom break seemed to wreck his concentration at the start of game 7, when he mixed up his move order in the opening. He was worse with White, but managed to equalize before going nuts and losing. No matter: he recovered with a draw in game 8 to set up match (half-) point, and won game 9 to finish things off with a 6-3 score.

Carlsen got off to a brutal 0-2 start, missing tactical tricks along the way, but then he took over, leaving Levon far behind. (How long have I been waiting to use that line? A very, very long time.) He went 5.5-0.5 the rest of the way, and was never in trouble in any game. (In fact, Carlsen was winning game 6, which ended in the only draw of the match.)

The tournament concludes on Tuesday at 20:00 CEST (= 2 p.m. ET). Carlsen is obviously the favorite - only in blitz against Nakamura can one plausibly suggest anything else - but I think So has enough game to have a chance, if he's on form and Carlsen is a bit off. Otherwise, I'd go with Carlsen as a 2-3 point favorite.

Today's games can be accessed through this page, on the event website. (Scroll down and click on a game in the match tables.)

Banter Blitz 2020 Final, Day 5: Carlsen, Le Quang Liem Advance **UPDATED With Match Times**

In what was no surprise at all, Magnus Carlsen steamrolled Anish Giri in the day's first match. He won the first three games before giving up a draw, and after winning game five he finally lost one game. No problem: he won game seven to finish things off with a 5.5-1.5 rout. Next up for Carlsen, a semi-final match with Levon Aronian.

The day's other quarterfinal match looked much less clear on paper, and so the result wasn't surprising, at least not to me. Le Quang Liem was the 2013 World Blitz Champion, and while Fabiano Caruana is the world's #2 in classical chess he rarely looks like a player of that caliber when it comes to blitz time controls. (I don't mean he's weak, obviously. But number two in the world in blitz? No way, not even close. On 2700chess.com, Caruana is #33 in blitz, at least if one only counts the world's top 100 in classical chess. Maybe he moves up or down a few spots in an online context, but at least at this point he's not competing at the same level as the world's best in blitz, most notably Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.)

Le got off to a good start, winning game three after a couple of mostly normal draws. Then everything went nuts. Le was really, really winning in both games 4 and 6, but Caruana somehow survived them. Caruana was winning in game 5 - and also had a momentary chance to win game 6 - but again, everything finished in a draw. Finally, Caruana broke through in game 7 and won, leveling the match at 3.5 points apiece. Maybe this would have broken a lesser player, ruing his missed chances, but it was no problem for Le: he won game 8 in good style. Caruana had a significant advantage in game 9 but let it slip, and some rickety play in the resulting ending gave Le the chance to put an end to the match - which he did. He'll have the pleasure of facing Wesley So in the other semi-final.

I haven't seen a time set for the So-Le semi yet, but Carlsen-Aronian is set for tomorrow (Saturday) at 21:00 CEST = 3 p.m. ET. I would expect a Carlsen-So final, but I think both Aronian and Le could put up a fight if they don't fall into an early hole. Still...make your plans for a Carlsen-So final on Sunday.

Event page here.

UPDATE: The So-Le match is set to start at 20:00 CEST = 2 p.m. ET, with Carlsen-Aronian pushed back half an hour from the original announcement to 21:30 CEST/3:30 p.m. ET.

Banter Blitz 2020 Final, Day 2

Today's matches were mostly routs, but there was one glorious exception. All the first-round pairings involved seeded players facing off against qualifiers, and while the latter are all terrific players there's still a gap (with one exception; two [at least or especially in blitz], counting yesterday, when qualifier and 2013 World Blitz Champion Le Quang Liem upended Teimour Radjabov) between them and the creme de la creme of the world's elite.

There were five matches today: Levon Aronian vs. Gawain Jones, Anish Giri vs. Peter Svidler, Magnus Carlsen vs. S.L. Narayanan, Alexander Grischuk vs. Rauf Mamedov, and Fabiano Caruana vs. Matthias Bluebaum. Excepting the Giri-Svidler match - the one case where the qualifier (Svidler) is himself a member of the world elite, and indeed, the player whose overall career is still the more impressive one - the other four matches were blowouts, with the losing side collectively achieving only three wins. Carlsen won 5.5-.5 (obviously going undefeated), Aronian won 5.5-2.5 (Jones won one game), Grischuk won 5.5-1.5 (also undefeated), and Caruana dropped a couple of games to Bluebaum on the way to a 5.5-2.5 victory (he started off 3-0, and was never really threatened).

Giri-Svidler, by contrast, was a dream match. The first seven games were decisive, with White winning the first six before Svidler broke the string in game seven. After a couple of draws, Svidler only needed a draw in game 10 to clinch the match, but lost. Two further draws ensued, and then Giri won the Armageddon game with White to win the match 7-6. (Giri's wins in games 1, 3, and 13 are here.)

Tomorrow the last of the first-round matches takes place between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Grigoriy Oparin, and then the quarter-finals will look like this:

• Carlsen - Giri
• Aronian - Grischuk
• Caruana - Le Quang Liem
• So - MVL/Oparin

Website here.

St. Louis Rapid & Blitz, Day 5 (Final Day): Carlsen & So Tie for First

It was a remarkable final day, and when one considers what a great clutch player Magnus Carlsen is, that he entered the last day with a half point lead over Wesley So, and that he defeated So in their individual game today, it's not surprising that he finished in first. What is surprising is that So managed to make up the point and a half in the remaining eight games to share first place. (There was no tiebreak or playoff in the event.)

In the first round of the day, Hikaru Nakamura, who finished in a very strong third place, defeated Carlsen in brutal fashion...well, mostly brutal fashion. Nakamura blundered on move 12, but Carlsen didn't notice it, and then things quickly went downhill. So drew his game with Xiong, bringing him into a tie with Carlsen.

In round 2 So went for a well-known anti-Berlin drawing line - one that occurred at least twice more over the course of the day's action - to take a round off against Nakamura, while Carlsen was given a colossal gift against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Nepo was completely winning and enjoyed a huge time advantage, but played a series of dreadful moves to go from won to lost. Somehow, to his credit, he rebounded and managed to save the game, so the first-place tie remained.

In round 3 Carlsen outplayed So (though not altogether cleanly), won, and took a full-point lead. Normally, that would be that, but after his unambitious play pretty much throughout the blitz, So finally started playing like a man who wanted to win the tournament, and he went +4 in the remaining six rounds.

In round 4, Carlsen demonstrated an ingenious idea with Black against Levon Aronian in a Giuoco that led to a short but brilliant draw. So, meanwhile, won speedily against Leinier Dominguez to close the gap to half a point, regaining the status quo ante from the start of the day.

The relative standings were the same after round 5: Carlsen drew with Black against Dominguez and So drew with Black against Alireza Firouzja. 

Round 6 was a bright moment for the world champion, as another nice opening idea led to a nice victory over Pentala Harikrishna, while So was unable to achieve anything with White against Alexander Grischuk. Carlsen led by a point again, with just three rounds remaining. Normally, that would be the end of the story, but not this time.

In round 7, Carlsen could only draw with White against Firouzja, while So won speedily with Black against Nepo's 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd3 - a contemporary twist on the Center Game. There's probably nothing terribly wrong with the line, whose most notably advocate prior to this game was Daniil Dubov, but it didn't work so well in this game. Back to a half-point deficit.

In round 8, So won again. Alexander Grischuk had a fine position with Black, but overestimated his attacking chances. More importantly, he missed a neat tactical trick - he had probably missed 25.Bd3 several moves earlier, and once it appeared on the board (er, on the screen) it was hopeless. Carlsen maintained his lead, smoothly defeating Jeffery Xiong on the black side of the 1.b3 opening. Carlsen quickly obtained the advantage, and when seeing games like this one wonders why anyone would bother with 1.b3. Of course, it's not really so simple, and Carlsen (and other super-GMs) have won such smooth games against mainstream openings that one might ask why anyone bothers with any opening against him.

Finally, round 9 on the day, round 27 overall. A win would seal clear first for Carlsen, but that plan was nipped in the bud when Grischuk used the same lame anti-Berlin line So used against Nakamura in round 2. That left the door open for So, if he could defeat Harikrishna with the black pieces - and as you already know, he did. Thanks to his 3-0 finish, he tied for first - a great result!

As for the blitz, Carlsen and Nakamura tied for first in that discipline over the last two days, scoring 12/18, with So scoring 11 points. Nakamura was especially strong today, scoring 6.5/9. Aronian and So both went 6/9 today, largely on the strength of his 4.5/5 start (only allowing the short, exciting draw with Carlsen noted above). I think Carlsen played better chess today than he did yesterday, but excepting the gift against Nepomniachtchi didn't get the sort of luck he did in yesterday's action, and finished with "only" 5.5 points today.

Here are the final standings (out of 36 points; remember that the rapid games were evaluated on 2-1-0 scoring):

1-2. Carlsen, So 24
3. Nakamura 21
4-5. Grischuk, Aronian 18.5
6. Nepomniachtchi 18
7-8. Harikrishna, Xiong 15.5
9-10. Dominguez, Firouzja 12.5

Tournament website here, a few games (with brief comments) here.

St. Louis Rapid & Blitz, Day 4: Carlsen Retakes the Lead

Back and forth it goes...Magnus Carlsen is now in the lead of the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz, though just half a point ahead of Wesley So. So played reasonably well on the day, but didn't make the most of his chances. More importantly, he didn't always push very hard to make the most of his chances. Carlsen, by contrast, fought to the last breath throughout, and while he had a colossal amount of luck on the day, it's also true that he put himself in a position to get that good luck, and has a narrow lead as a result.

Nine games remain today (Saturday) - a final round-robin - and the winner will be crowned. The chase pack is probably too far behind, so barring a quasi-miracle, it's going to be Carlsen (yet again) or So.

St. Louis Rapid & Blitz, Day 3: So Leads After the Rapid

Three days, four different leaders! It seemed for a while as if Magnus Carlsen might find that extra gear that let him pull away from the field, and that may still happen over the next two days of blitz. For now, however, the pack has fought back, and thanks to Wesley So's scoring 2.5/3 on day three while Carlsen was soundly beaten by Alexander Grischuk in the last game of the day, it is So who enters the blitz with the lead. Here are the full standings after the rapid, based on 2-1-0 scoring:

• 1. So 13 (and undefeated, too)
• 2. Carlsen 12
• 3-4. Nepomniachtchi, Grischuk 10
• 5-7. Nakamura, Harikrishna, Aronian 9
• 8. Xiong 7
• 9. Dominguez 6
• 10. Firouzja 5

Carlsen has been winning everything in sight this year. Is this finally the tournament where his streak will be broken? I wouldn't bet on it, but I'm doing my patriotic duty and rooting for So.

Tournament site here.