And the Carlsen carnage continued, with the unstoppable Norwegian almost effortlessly overpowering Wesley So by 3-1 in the Grand Final. The only scant conciliation for the US #3 - who remarkably completed a spectacular Losers Bracket run - in their best-of-four-games match was that, unlike the others, he managed to at least take a game off of Carlsen!

The emphatic run to the Grand Final and victory, allowed Carlsen to walk away with the $30,000 first prize and a very valuable 150 Tour points - and being the only player with two Tour titles to his name this year, he now ominously moves up two spots in the Leaderboard, up to 375 points, as he takes the lead at the top by leapfrogging Hikaru Nakamura, now in second spot, on 250 points.

One of Carlsen’s key wins en route to the Grand Final witnessed the return of a once-popular defence seldom seen in elite praxis these days: The Sicilian Hedgehog - which can also be reached via the English/Reti Opening - one of the most remarkable theoretical milestones of the 1970s.  The Swedish Grandmaster, Ulf Andersson, was one of the earliest proponents. Many leading Grandmasters followed, notably Ljubomir Ljubojevic, followed suit - and even Garry Kasparov - as they realised not just the rock-solid defensive qualities of the Hedgehog system, but, more importantly, their counter-attacking chances. 

All good and well, but you can see an early Tal-like knight sacrifice in the middle of the board that, despite being a common Hedgehog sacrificial motif, yet no matter how many times you see it, or face it across the board, the shock value alone is priceless.

GM Magnus Carlsen - GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov 

Aimchess Rapid Div 1 Final, (3)


B40: Sicilian Defence, Hedgehog system

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 d6 6.c4 The Maróczy Bind, named after the early 20th-century Hungarian grandmaster Géza Maróczy, aims to put a big clamp on the d5 square to stifle Black activity in the center of the board. 6...Be7 7.Nc3 a6 8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O b6 10.f4 Qc7 With ...Nbd7 and ...Bb7 soon to follow, we have the basic "Hedgehog formation", chiefly characterised by its third-rank pawn formation acting as fourth-rank "quills" stopping any white advance. 11.Rc1 Nbd7 12.g4 Nc5 13.Bb1 Bb7 The full Hedgehog; the strategy for black is, as white moves forward, to counter-punch with a timely breakthrough with either ...d5 or ...b5 levers. 14.Qf3 g6 15.b4 Ncd7 16.g5 Nh5 17.Nd5!? It’s that Tal-like knight sacrifice that’s often seen in the Hedgehog - mostly you can just play around it, as Abdusattorov does, or it can lead to a total meltdown for Black if handled badly. 17...Qd8 It's really tough facing Magnus Carlsen across the board, rather than having Mr Engine kibitzing that the "safer option" was just to take the knight. But just a glance at some of the variations might have been enough to convince Abdusattorov not to take the knight - but there's the rub as, with very accurate play, it is, indeed, Black's best option. The lines run 17...exd5!? 18.Nf5! Qd8 (Bad is 18...gxf5? 19.cxd5! Qb8 20.Qxh5 fxe4 21.Bd4 Qe8 22.f5 with a winning attack. Meanwhile 18...Rae8 19.cxd5 Qd8 20.Qg4 Bc8 the engine says is marginally better for Black, but you try convincing yourself of this when you have a rampant Magnus Carlsen facing you over the board!) 19.exd5 Ng7 20.Nh6+ Kh8 21.Qg2! Preparing the way for crashing through with f5 while defending g5. 21...f6 22.Bd4 The engine soon finds the accurate way for black to play, but with the alignment of White's pieces, when you start to see such visions in your head, doubt creeps in - but after 22...fxg5 23.fxg5 Qc7! 24.Rf7 (If 24.Qb2? Ne5 and Black has a big advantage both materially and positionally) 24...Ne5! White has nothing, and has to seek the bailout now with 25.Rcf1 Rxf7 26.Nxf7+ Kg8 27.Nh6+ Kh8 28.Nf7+ and a repetition. 18.Nxe7+ Qxe7 19.Qh3 Rae8 The whole rationale of the Hedgehog is to counter-strike - and here, the best move was 19...a5! 20.b5 Rac8 with the queenside pawns fixed, and a big hole again on c5 for the knight to jump into and hit e4, Black is more than holding his own in a balanced position. 20.Rce1 Qd8 21.Ne2 e5? The young Uzbek cracks under the pressure and lashes out unwisely. Best was to look for good waiting move for now, such as 21...Qc8! 22.f5 f6 23.Qh4 Rf7 24.Rd1 Qc7 25.Bd3

Abdusattorov is just managing to stay in the game - but he's eaten up a lot of clock time and allowed Carlsen too many easy moves to get his pieces into prime position for the attack. 25...Ref8 26.gxf6 More convincing was the rook 'luft' 26.Rf3! with the dual plan of either doubling rooks on the f-file or jumping over to the h-file and pressure down the h-file. 26...Ndxf6 27.Bh6 g5? This is just a blunder that should lose - this is what happens when you crack under severe pressure when you play Carlsen. There was nothing wrong with the retreat 27...Ng7 28.Ng3 b5! (Taking full advantage that White can't double capture on b5 due to ...Qb6+) 29.cxb5 axb5 30.Qg5 Qb6+ 31.Kh1 Qd4! and a finely balanced game with both sides having weaknesses and their kings exposed. 28.Qxg5+ Kh8 29.Bxf8 Rxf8 30.Ng3 Rg8 31.Qh6 Qf7 It could well be as simple as Abdusattorov imploding under the clock pressure, and that his intended move 31...Qg7 is easily met by 32.Qxg7+ Rxg7 33.Bb1 and Black's position collapses after 33...Nxg3 34.hxg3 Rd7 35.c5! 32.Be2?! The only miscue for Carlsen in this game, and down to his clock pressure - what was needed was the subtle move 32.Rf2! b5 (The reason for Rf2 is that 32...Nxg3 33.hxg3 Nxe4 34.Bxe4 Bxe4 35.Rxd6 Rxg3+ 36.Kh2 and there's no ...Rg2+ threat) 33.c5! dxc5 34.bxc5 Qe7 35.Kf1! You got to admire the resourcefulness of the engine in such double-edged positions! 35...Qxc5 36.Rf3 and Black has nothing better than 36...Nxg3+ 37.hxg3 Qe7 38.Re1 with White having everything covered and retaining a big material advantage. 32...Nf4? A blunder too many, and it should really be game over. The only hope was forcing the R+P ending with 32...Nxg3 33.hxg3 Nxe4 34.g4 Nc3 35.Kf2! once again, the engine finds the most resourceful move. 35...Nxe2 36.Qxd6! Re8 37.Qd7 Re7 38.Qd8+ Re8 39.Rd7 Rxd8 40.Rxf7 Be4! and it is not easy for White to win, as 41.Kxe2 Bd3+ 42.Kf2 Bxc4! 43.Rb7 Bxf1 44.Kxf1 Rd4 45.Rxb6 Rxg4 46.a3 a5! The only move. 47.b5 (A mistake is 47.bxa5? Ra4! and we have a textbook R+P drawing ending) 47...Kg7 48.Ke2 a4 49.Rb8 Rg2+ 50.Kd1 Kf6 51.b6 Rg7 52.Rf8+ Kg5 53.f6 Rb7 54.f7 Kf6! 55.Ra8 Rxf7 56.Rxa4 (It is easy to go wrong in a R+P ending with 56.Ra7? Rf8 57.Rxa4 Ke6 58.Ra7 Rb8 59.Rxh7 Kd5 and a technical draw) 56...Rb7 57.Rb4 Ke7 58.a4 winning. 33.Rxf4! Black's position is imploding - but both players face a horological horror challenge due to a lack of time leading to a series of mutual blunders. 33...exf4 34.Qxf4 Nxe4 35.Kf1 The simple way to win, just nudging the king out of the pin down the g-file and asking your opponent the big question: What do you have now?

35...Qg7 36.f6! Nxf6 37.Ke1? (see diagram) The simple way to win was 37.Qxd6 Rf8 38.Kg1! Ne4 39.Qd4! Rf6 40.Qd7 forcing the queens off with 40...Nxg3 41.Qxg7+ Kxg7 42.hxg3 and a clear winning endgame with the extra pawn and better potential for the rook on the d-file. 37...Qe7? Right idea, wrong execution! After 37...Re8! 38.Rxd6 Ne4 39.Nxe4 Bxe4 Black should easily hold with White's king exposed and in the open. 38.Qxd6 Qg7 A sure sign from Abdusattorov that he realised he has blundered away any chance he had of saving this game. 39.Qxb6 Re8 40.Rd8! Gifted a second chance to win the game, Carlsen doesn't waste it! 40...Rxd8 41.Qxd8+ Ng8 42.Nf5 Qc3+ 43.Kf2 1-0 And Abdusattorov resigns, as Carlsen can easily trade down to a clear winning endgame after

43...Qe5 44.Qd4 Qxd4+ 45.Nxd4 etc.