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Summary of day 2
By WGM Tatev Abrahamyan
The second day of Champions Showdown: Chess9LX was full of action. After winning all three games, Levon Aronian emerged as the new leader, half a point ahead of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. In the post-game interview, Aronian commented that he spent more time preparing and doing tactics before the games. today and felt that he was playing “with more passion”. He still has a lot of work ahead of him when he takes on Garry Kasparov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Magnus Carlsen on the final day. With $ 37,500 and the title at stake, tomorrow promises to be a thriller.
Ranking after day 2
Round 4
First position of the day was 777, with the bishop pair on the edge of the board, pointing threateningly at the opponent’s kingside.
Rank # 777
The big showdown of the round was between Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen. The two rivals had an epic showdown last month at the Magnus Carlsen Invitational Finals, which came to the end after 7 close matches and was won by the World Champion in tiebreakers. Nakamura had a big advantage with the white pieces in this game, but with a tenacious defense, Carlsen was unharmed. Their joint leader, Leinier Domínguez, kept up the pace by tying his game against Peter Svidler in a quiet game.
Levon Aronian’s first victory of the day came against the young Alireza Firouzja, who continues to fight in this event. The Armenian star had the upper hand throughout the game and finished off her opponent with an attack on the vulnerable king.
The big surprise of the round was Garry Kasparov’s involuntary anticipation that cost him a bishop and a point. After grabbing a pawn, he intended to offer a queen trade to his opponent Fabiano Caruana, but his queen did not reach the desired square. Kasparov attempted to drag his queen, which was recorded as a previous move when his opponent instantly moved.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scored his first half point in the event by building a fortress in a two-pawn-down finish against Wesley So.
Garry Kasparov showed clear frustration after the incident
Round 5
The starting position for the round was # 476, this time with the bishop pair on the edge of the kingside, pointing to the opponent’s queenside.
Rank # 476
In a crucial showdown, Fischer Random World Champion Wesley So defeated Carlsen with black pieces in flawless play, outscoring his opponent and taking the lead. Aronian joined the American at the top of the rankings with a one-sided 20-move win against Svidler. The duo was joined by Domínguez, who had a very difficult finish against Kasparov.
The epic battle of the round was the 95-move match between Caruana and Nakamura. Caruana was down in the exchange, but fought doggedly to pose problems. Unfortunately, defending for a long time with seconds left is an arduous task, and the reigning US Champion was finally able to turn his lead into a full point.
After just 10 moves, it looked like Vachier-Lagrave would score his first full point of the tournament, but his young opponent proved extremely resourceful. Step by step, Firouzja outplayed his opponent, and when MVL made a mistake, the 17-year-old secured his first win of the event.
Wesley So analyzing his win over Magnus Carlsen
Round 6
The final position of the day was # 75, with the queens on the edge and the bishops in the middle of the board this time.
Position # 75
Aronian took the solo lead after his win against Dominguez. The American made a mistake with an unusual and beautiful tactic and lost a pawn. He fought for 35 more moves, but had to face the inevitable after Aronian forced a trade towards a winning king and pawn ending.
Carlsen recovered from his loss quickly with a victory over Firouzja. The young man had to resign when he realized that he was simply wrong without counterplay.
Nakamura not only escaped the jaws of defeat, but managed to turn the game around and win against Kasparov after the latter gave up his lead and then lost the thread of the game. The mythical World Champion pointed out that yesterday he had three bad positions but scored 1.5 points, while today he had 3 winning positions and only scored half a point.
So too he escaped unscathed. After thinking about it for a bit, Caruana refused to enter what would have been a winning king and pawn ending and mistakenly chose to keep the minor pieces on the board. With this tie, So fell half a point behind the leader.
Vachier-Lagrave finally got on the scoreboard after Svidler went to great lengths to sacrifice a piece, reject a tie for a perpetual, and then sacrifice another piece. He soon found himself with too much material and had to quit.
Levon Aronian in post game interview
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