Touring Toronto

John B. Henderson • July 17, 2023

He may well be sans the main world crown, but Magnus Carlsen showed he’s still the ‘king’ with yet another tournament triumph to add to his impressive haul of late, as the Norwegian ace crushed Wesley So in the Division 1 Grand Final of the Aimchess Rapid, the fourth leg in the $2m Champions Chess Tour 2023 season.


The in-form world No. 1 has hit a rich vein of form over the past couple of weeks with a series of dominant performances. He raced his way to the Grand Final without losing a game, and then cruised his way to the title in the Grand Final, going 2-0 up against So, before his only loss with the American winning game 3. 

But Carlsen was never in any danger of seeing the match going to extra time of a tiebreak-decider, hitting back immediately by winning game 4 to claim victory 3-1 to take the $30,000 first prize and a maximum of 150 Tour points. The defending Tour champion now retains the lead at the top of the Tour leaderboard, as he leapfrogs Hikaru Nakamura - who didn’t qualify via the play-in for the Aimchess Rapid - who slips to fourth place, with Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov now in second and third place respectively.


There are now only two events (to be held in late August and late September) still left to play in the regular Tour season before the split for the megabucks playoffs - and news was released recently about where the Tour climax of the playoffs and final will be taking place.


Last week, Chess.com announced Toronto as the host city for the Live 2023 Champions Chess Tour Finals. At stake in the Canadian city will be the little matter of the split of the $500,000 prize money and the title of the 2023 Tour Champion. All Tour winners during the regular season already have a ‘golden ticket’ into the main event, who are: Carlsen (Airthings Masters and Aimchess Rapid), Nakamura (Chessable Masters) and Abdusattorov (ChessKid Cup). 


The remaining spots up for grabs in the final two events of the regular season will therefore likely be hotly contested, and after that, spots distributed via points scored in the season-long Tour Leaderboard. 


Tour Leaderboard:

1. M. Carlsen (Norway) 375 points; 2. F. Caruana (USA) 280; 3. N. Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) 275; 4. H. Nakamura (USA) 270; 5. W. So (USA) 205; 6. J. van Foreest (Netherlands) 95; 7. V. Fedoseev (FIDE) 90; 8. L. Aronian (USA) 80; 9. Yu Yangyi (China) 69; 10. D. Lazavik (FIDE) 60.

GM Magnus Carlsen - GM Wesley So

Aimchess Rapid Div 1 Final, (1)


E05: Catalan Open

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Carlsen is a relative newcomer to the Catalan - but it seems to suit his style of play where he's not averse to sacrificing a pawn for long-term piece activity. 4...Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qa4 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 An innocuous little move that actually contains some bite, as left to his own devices White will play Ba5 making the defence of the c-pawn difficult. 10...Be4 So wants to play ...c6 without locking his bishop in behind his pawns. 11.Qc1 c6 12.e3 Nbd7 13.Nc3 Bg6 14.Nh4 Bh5 15.Qe1 The Catalan is full of strange strategic manoeuvres - this one facilitates Nc3-e2-f4 and at the same time threatens Ba5 and Rac1.15...Rc8 16.Ne2 c5 Black's game would be very uncomfortable if he couldn't get in the freeing ...c5. 17.Ba5 Qe8 18.Nf4 Bd8

The purists among you would no doubt have opted for the more natural and Slav-like 18...Bg6 19.Nhxg6 hxg6 with a minimal edge for White. 19.Nxh5 Nxh5 20.Nf3 Nhf6 21.Rc1 c4?! All of So's problems stem from this wrong 'un. Better first was 21...Nd5 looking to lure White into 22.Qd2 and now 22...c4 as 23.b3 is well met by 23...N7f6! and Black seems to be unravelling nicely with his knights taking up excellent outposts. 22.b3! With this intuitive counter-punch, Carlsen doesn't give So a chance to regroup his pieces, with the American having to tread carefully just to stay in the game. 22...Nd5 23.bxc4 bxc4 24.e4 N5f6 25.Bc3! Carlsen has emerged with a promising position with the bishop-pair and more space due to his central pawns - and more crucially, there's now a long-term target with Black's fractured queenside pawns that could become a big liability heading into the endgame. 25...Nb6 26.Qe2 Be7 27.Rc2 With the plan of either doubling rooks on the c-file or Rb1 and there's no way to defend the c4-pawn. 27...Na4 28.Rb1 Nxc3 29.Rxc3 Qd7 30.Rxc4 Rxc4 31.Qxc4 Nxe4 32.Ne5! It's always trouble for Black when the Catalan knight ominously swings into e5! 32...Qd5 33.Qd3 Just about the only miscue from Carlsen in this game - I fully expected 33.Qxd5! exd5 34.Rb7 and a typical Carlsen grind-o-rama. 33...f5 34.Qxa6 g6?! (see diagram) Very strange - the logical counterplay continuation was 34...Ra8!? 35.Qd3 Bf6 36.Rb5 Qxa2 37.Bxe4 fxe4 38.Qxe4 Rd8 and White still has a lot of work left to do at the office to convert for a win. 35.Rb5?! Carlsen readily admitted after the game that So's last move confused him - and so much so that he missed the winning plan of 35.Rb7! leaving Black struggling to survive. with the bishop attacked and Rd7 and Qxe6+ threatened. If 35...Qxd4 (The alternatives fair no better. If 35...Qd6 36.Qa7 Re8 with a decisive, winning advantage or 35...Bf6 36.Bxe4 fxe4 37.Rd7 Ra8 38.Qb6)

36.Qxe6+ Kh8 37.Bxe4 fxe4 38.Nf7+ Kg7 39.Qe5+! Qxe5 40.Nxe5 transposing down to a winning K+P ending)

35...Qxd4 36.Qxe6+ Kh8 37.Bxe4 fxe4 38.Nf7+ Kg7 This was the reason So opted for...g6 - and with it confusing Carlsen, it almost saves the game for Black. 39.Qe5+ Qxe5 40.Nxe5 Ra8! Activity in the endgame can often safeguard the draw - but alas, down on the clock, the American fails to follow up with the right plan to save the game. 41.Nc6 Kf7?? Snatching a loss from the jaws of a draw! The logical move to continue the counterplay and save the ending was 41...Bf6! and Black defends, as now 42.Ra5 (If 42.Na5?! Bc3=) 42...Rc8 43.Ra6 (If 43.Nb4 Bd4! targeting f2 and covering a7 stopping the pawn from advancing) 43...Re8 44.a4 e3 45.fxe3 Rxe3 46.a5 Ra3 47.Ra7+ Kh6 48.Kg2 Rc3 49.Ra6 Ra3 50.Ra8 (If 50. Rb6 Bg5! 51.Rb5 Be3 52.Re5 Bd2 53.Kf2 Kg7 54.Ke2 Bc3 55.Rc5 Ba1 56.Nb4 Bd4 57.Rc7+ Kf6 58.a6 Ke6! 59.Rxh7 Bc5 60.Nd3 Ra2+ 61.Kf1 Ra1+ 62.Kg2 Ra2+ 63.Kf3 Ra3 64.Ke2 Ra2+ etc White can't make progress with his extra pawn due to Black's active R+B) 50...Rc3 51.Rc8 Ra3 and with careful play Black holds the draw. 42.Rb7 1-0 So resigns as White transitions down to an easily winning K+P after a series of forced exchanges on e7.

The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • October 2, 2023
Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • September 29, 2023
The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • September 27, 2023
Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • September 25, 2023
Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • September 22, 2023
With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • September 19, 2023
India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • September 14, 2023
“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • September 11, 2023
With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • September 8, 2023
The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • September 4, 2023
The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.
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