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Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge 2020 (Day 9)

Carlsen crushes Nakamura and Dubov shocks Ding in the first mini-matches of the semi-finals of the Lindores Abbey Rapid

The first day of the Semifinals of the Lindores Abbey Rapid 2020. Photo ©

The first day of the Semifinals of the Lindores Abbey Rapid 2020. Photo © | https://chess24.com

Magnus Carlsen dominated the first mini-match against Hikaru Nakamura on the first day of the semi-finals of the Lindores Abbey Rapid winning all three games. The other semifinal between Ding Liren and Daniil Dubov was much closer but at the last moment Ding failed to hold a drawish endgame in game four and allowed Dubov to take the lead.

Carlsen played the Scotch in the first game against Nakamura and got a very nice endgame edge which he won with a remarkable piece sacrifice to break down Nakamura's defences. In game two Carlsen was under pressure at the start and maybe with 16.Qf3 followed by 17.h4 white is much better. 16.c3 turned out to be a key waste of time and after 18.h5?! (18.Rg1=) 19...b6 Carlsen was probably was already better and quite soon his initiative led to a winning position. Nakamura was doing OK in the must win game three but in avoiding the draw he just went down to another loss. Nakamura can't have been helped in playing the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown overnight.

Daniil Dubov won a smashing victory over Ding Liren in only 20 moves of a Vienna Game. 13....g5 was risky if not just outright bad and Dubov tore into Ding's Kingside forcing resignation on move 20. Game two saw one of Dubov's creative opening ideas completely backfire afterwards he said that he forgot the precise move order that gave him an acceptable position and then Ding was better throughout eventually winning a pawn that proved decisive. Game three saw Queens come off after 17 moves and the balanced endgame was eventually drawn. Dubov was happy that he "sort of outplayed" Ding and forced him to fight for a draw. This was important for his morale.

The final game saw Dubov get equality quite easily as black in a Dubov Tarrasch by transposition. There were a few adventures where Dubov tried to press but just as the game appeared to be heading for a draw Ding went completely wrong allowing Dubov's king to get active and lost the endgame. Thus Dubov went 1-0 up.

Day two of the semifinals is on Friday 29th May at 3pm BST.

Lindores Abbey Final 8 chess24.com INT Tue 19th May 2020 - Wed 3rd Jun 2020
Leading Round 2 (of 3) Standings:
RkNameTiFEDRtg1a1b2a2b3a3bPts
Semifinals
1Carlsen, MagnusGMNOR2863131
2Nakamura, HikaruGMUSA2736000
1Dubov, DaniilGMRUS269912.51
2Ding, LirenGMCHN279101.50
Quarterfinals
1Ding, LirenGMCHN27910212.5132
2Yu, YangyiGMCHN27091301.5021
1Nakamura, HikaruGMUSA273613132
2Aronian, LevonGMARM277302010
1Carlsen, MagnusGMNOR286312.512.52
2So, WesleyGMUSA277000.500.50
1Dubov, DaniilGMRUS26991302132
2Karjakin, SergeyGMRUS27520013001
8 players

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