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World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen was the only player to score a positive score on Day 2 of the Airthings Masters when he beat Daniil Dubov in the first match to join Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Wesley So and then Dubov in front. That was one of the three decisive games, the other two being Giri 1-0 Harikrishna and Dubov 1-0 Giri, as the players assured that the last day of the preliminaries will be tense. No one is safe, with any of the group’s leaders in immediate danger if they lose in the last three rounds on Monday.
On Day 2 of the Airthings Masters 21 out of 24 amazing games were drawn, with the 12 games in rounds 7 and 8 ending peacefully. You can replay the games below.
Here are the live commentary of the day from Kaja Snare, Jovanka Houska and David Howell.
And from Tania Sachdev and Peter Leko.
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Let’s take a look at the day’s action from the point of view of where the players started.
The leading group (+1): Nakamura, Aronian, Dubov, Radjabov and So
These five players entered Day 2 of the Airthings Masters after drawing three games and winning one on the first day of the tournament. They understandably reasoned that holding +1 would secure them a spot in the Top 8 and thus a qualifying spot for the knockout stages, but it was still notable that all but one of the players tied in all four games.
The approach was summed up with the Nakamura-So clash between all Americans that ended in a 14-move tie that ended almost before it started.
With Hikaru starting at 6am, you could see the appeal of a quick draw, but he also followed up with 19- and 22-move draws in his remaining games, with four draws proving to be enough to remain in the leading group.
The only exception among the leaders was, with no prizes to guess, Daniil Dubov, who also scored 50%, but only after a loss, a win and a near miss (against Grischuk). It was a case of “be careful what you wish for”, as his confrontation with his boss at some point, Magnus Carlsen, proved to be as interesting as he expected the day before.
However, it came down to a finale where Magnus had a slight edge, and the World Champion described what happened next:
I was trying to keep the position alive, obviously, and I felt like there was nothing, nothing and suddenly I managed to fool him into a win. It felt a bit accidental, to be fair, but that’s okay, as long as you can prevent it from being a forced draw, you can often get something in those games.
It certainly escalated rapidly, with 46… Rb1 a loose move, if not a loser.
After Carlsen 47.f4!
Black was suddenly on the brink, and 47… Rg1 + 48.Rf2 Rg2 + 49.Rf1 Rd2 50.Ne6 + Kf7? I was already lost 50… Kh8! could have held, with the difference that in the game after 51.fxg5 Nf3 White has a winning move due to the unfortunate position of the black king.
52.g6 +! It was the shot of grace. 52 … Kxg6 loses the black knight to 53.Nd4 +, but then 52… Ke7 53.Ka3! It was also useless for Black, as the game will soon be over.
However, Dubov struck back to beat Anish Giri in the next game after playing a novelty on move 9 for Berlin. Several high-level games had reached the same position, but no one had tried. 9.c3.
It wasn’t the kind of move that would blow your mind, but 10 moves later Black was lost, and Anish admitted that he “lost straight from the opening”, although he kept playing until the end.
50%: Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen and Harikrishna
The 50% players were in a dangerous place. If the preliminary stage had ended after Day 1, the top three would have qualified for the knockout, but Harikrishna would have been lost. So everyone had a clear incentive to try and find a win, but Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi, despite some shaving, both tied all four of their games.
The other two players ended the day as the only ones to have moved up or down the rankings. Harikrishna fell to -1 after missing a tactical detail and losing to Anish Giri in the first game of the day.
The other player to make a move was Magnus Carlsen, who, as we saw, took the win against Daniil Dubov. The World Champion tied his remaining three games and was not thrilled with how things had gone.
I think I played pretty bad today. Especially in the last game I was very, very bad. In general, of course, I would have loved to get another win today in one of White’s last two games. I just didn’t play that well, but I’m still undefeated, so that’s a good thing, but obviously I have to play a lot better.
He struggled to explain what was wrong.
I don’t know, it was just slow. I think I’ve had some decent positions since the opening too, especially with the white pieces, I just haven’t played that well afterwards. I don’t know what’s really missing, and it’s been a bit frustrating so far, but as long as I don’t break down tomorrow, everything will be fine.
-1: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Not French. I found myself only -1 after Day 1, having tied three games and lost a game that I should have won to Nepo. That meant he needed at least one win to get back on track to qualifying, but instead had to settle for four draws, with a missed opportunity with white against Aronian but also two tough games with black pieces against David Anton and Magnus Carlsen.
-2: David Anton and Anish Giri
Both players really needed to make things happen, but as Anish said:
I feel like I’m in good shape so it’s very unfortunate to be in this situation because of course now, for everyone who is scoring well, they’re just there relaxing and playing safe with each other, waiting for qualification. phase to finish. And people like me, who are in the gutter, we have to fight to recover, so it will be difficult, but I feel that my game has been good, my form is fine, so if I have a little more luck, maybe once I ‘I will be able to win and not lose. With two victories I will achieve it, but it will be very difficult.
Spanish Champion David Anton had good positions against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Magnus Carlsen, but couldn’t help but tie all four of his games. Anish, as we’ve seen, looked back on contention after winning the first game of the day only for Dubov to act as the destroyer in the next game.
The most anticipated game of the day was perhaps Giri’s last-round clash with Magnus Carlsen, and the Dutchman was not. I got the early lead by giving a surprise with the Grünfeld Defense. Magnus took his time, only to rush at the wrong time.
16.axb3! it was the right move, since 16.Qxb3?! I found 16… e6! As Magnus admitted:
That was really a very, very bad moment, because when I got the knight back with the queen, I just lost that he could play e6 and kick my knight, after which my position is just terrible. I always thought that Nf6 could find e6, but obviously with the missing queen he can’t.
Anish had some real chances later, but it was never easy and the game fell through in a draw, leaving Magnus at the top and Giri at the bottom of the standings presented by Julius Bär.
It had been a remarkably calm day, but that may just be the calm before the storm. Only three rounds left on Monday, but no one is safe. Suffice it to remember how Daniil Dubov led the Chessable Masters A standings with two rounds to go, but lost the last two games and finished fifth out of 6, when only the first 4. More recently, and even more dramatic, was the case with Alireza Firouzja at the Skilling Open. The 17-year-old played brilliantly to take the solo lead with two rounds left, but again lost those games and finished ninth when only the first 8 had passed.
Such unpredictability also gives Giri hope:
You probably remember the previous tournament on the Tour where I was first before the last day, and then on the last day I completely collapsed and barely qualified. Now I will try to do the opposite. Now I am the last, but maybe the last day will change things!
The main thing at stake on the last day of the preliminaries is qualifying for the knockout, but that’s not all. There are waypoints based on where you finish, and since the points are doubled for a Major like the Airthings Masters, those points are significant. The general points of the route will decide the eight players automatically invited to the next event, as well as who qualifies for the Grand Final.
More immediately, however, the rankings also determine the pairings for the knockout, as it is 1st against 8th, 2nd against 7th, and so on; it is true that at this stage it is not entirely clear which seed number will give the easiest path to the final.
Don’t miss the last day of the preliminary stage, with all the action from the Airthings Masters starting at 15:00 CET (09:00 CET)!
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