The Week in Chess

Magnus Carlsen made an emphatic recovery after his loss of the set on day one of the "Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Final benefiting Kiva" tournament by beating Ding Liren 2.5-0.5 to level the match one set each. Meanwhile Hikaru Nakamura took a giant stride towards the final by winning a second mini-match against Daniil Dubov.

Carlsen said he was surprised by the specifics of how Ding Liren played the opening in game one but he had a positional idea which he executed and just when he thought Ding was close to equalising Ding quickly lost which he thought was "a bit weird". Indeed it is rather hard to put a finger on a specific mistake but the rather strange 32...Kg8 seems to have been the last chance rather than 32...Kg6 as black was clearly lost after that. In game two as black Carlsen decided initially to play solidly in a Giuoco Piano but then sacrificed a pawn when the opportunity arose and then he executed a rather stunning plan crowned by a positional exchange sacrifice that left Ding's position in tatters. Ding resigned still an exchange up but with Carlsen about to have three pawns for it - with the power to add. The final game three was a King's Indian where Carlsen maintained control and Ding eventually had to settle for a draw by repetition and the loss of the set.

Hikaru Nakamura took a 2 sets to 0 lead by winning 3-1 today. Nakamura was pressing for a win in game 1 but he credited Dubov for defending very well and holding the draw. Nakamura thought the second game was key, Dubov had a very nice endgame edge, but Nakamura held the draw relatively comfortably, a significant boost for him. For a while game three was an unclear Sveshnikov but black didn't quite equalise out of the opening, Nakamura thought 29...Bf5?! was the start of real trouble "the move doesn't have a concept" he said and also it blocked the rook on the f-file. White has one clear plan, to queen the b-pawn and after trading off the light squared bishops Nakamura managed to use the b-pawn to win. In the final game four Dubov played an unusual variation of the Vienna with an early d4 but Nakamura accepted an offered pawn and never seemed in serious trouble.

Dubov now has to win the remaining three sets, possible in this format but also very hard. Nakamura has shown signs of very good opening preparation for this final, something he didn't seem to have at the start. Can he reach the final tomorrow?

Day 2 score: Carlsen 1-1 Ding and Nakamura 2-0 Dubov.