The Week in Chess

Hikaru Nakamura only needs one more set to win the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Final and the event might end a day early tomorrow. After Carlsen enjoyed his best day to level the match yesterday it was a quieter day all round in the rapid with Carlsen's best chance coming in the first rapid game where Nakamura drifted into trouble in a Queen endgame and briefly had a lost position if Carlsen had played 42...Qxc2 instead of 42...Qe1? Game two a Giuoco Piano, game three a Berlin Ruy and Game four a London were drawn any clear chances going begging. In the first blitz game Carlsen played the Alekhine's Defence, Nakamura said that although he reacted badly he thought it wasn't especially well prepared and he had good chances to be better out of the opening. Carlsen was winning for a long time but Nakamura resisted until move 58. In the second blitz game Nakamura had to win with black and managed to get an extremely messy King's Indian where he won a pawn and eventually the game after a long struggle. In the Armageddon Carlsen chose white - a little surprisingly perhaps - and never got anything with white and Nakamura was better pretty much throughout.

Carlsen now has to win tomorrow and on Thursday if he is to win his own tour series. This result was a huge step forward for Nakamura and it wouldn't surprise me if he managed to win the whole thing tomorrow.

Score Nakamura 3 Carlsen 2 (best of 7)