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The implacable Carlsen starts out a slight favorite to retain his crown in the 12-game November match in Dubai, but the always talented Nepomniachtchi has embraced a new work ethic and fighting attitude at the board in recent years and has surged to third in the FIDE world rankings. Pundits say he has a genuine chance to take down the champ.
In what appears to be a first in the history of chess, we have a game between the two finalists played way back when both were still waiting for their voices to change at the Spanish tournament 19 years ago. Nepo took the game and the Under-12 European title over Carlsen on tiebreaks. (Remarkably, French star GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who came in second in the Candidates’ tournament last month, was in the same Under-12 field, while fellow candidates and now GMs Fabiano Caruana of the U.S. and Ding Liren of China were competing in the Under-10 section.)
Published April 28, 2021, 1:30 PM
Wesley So
Two-time United States champion Wesley So had a costly misstep and absorbed a 3-1 defeat in the first of their two-set quarterfinal duel with Armenia-born Levon Aronian in the New In Chess Classic of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Wednesday, April 28.
The 27-year-old So committed a mouse slip that allowed Aronian to turn a drawish position into a victory in the first of the scheduled four games for the day, unnerving the Cavite-born Grandmaster and taking the early 1-0 lead.
The 38-year-old Aronian later admitted he “got lucky.”
So, the Fischer-Random king, will have a chance to bounce back and snatch their second and final match to force a deciding blitz playoff.
Grandmaster Wesley So scored 3.5 points in the last five preliminary rounds to clinch a quarterfinal berth in the New In Chess Classic of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Tuesday, April 27.
Magnus Carlsen storms into lead
Carlsen extends unbeaten streak to 10
Nakamura moves ominously up the leaderboard
Top 8 tomorrow progress, bottom 8 go out
Magnus Carlsen cranked up the gears to move smoothly into the lead in the New In Chess Classic on Sunday. The World Champion said felt comfortable as he stretched his unbeaten run in the $100,000 online event to 10 games.
Breathing down Carlsen s neck are long-time rival
Hikaru Nakamura, who is also 10 unbeaten, and Iranian wunderkind
Alireza Firouzja.
Nakamura showed he is back in form and nearly broke through against Carlsen in the final round of the day. Firouzja, meanwhile, got himself into the mix by closing the day with two wins.