The Week in Chess

Magnus Carlsen beat Hikaru Nakamura 2.5-1.5 in the final of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. This was the 16th and final day of the tournament. Way back on day one Carlsen beat Nakamura 3-2 in their preliminary match only after an Armageddon tie-break. In that match all four rapid games were decisive with white winning them all. In the final the first three games were won by the player with the white pieces and in the final game Carlsen was almost certainly objectively lost at one stage.

Unlike the wild matches in the semi-finals all four games in the final were more technical and settled in the endgame. In game one Carlsen ground down Nakamura in a very long English Opening where he had a small but persistant edge. Game two Carlsen got a poor endgame quite quickly which was instructively won by Nakamura. In game three Carlsen himself got a favourable endgame almost out of the opening and didn't let Nakamura off the hook. In the final game Carlsen equalised quickly with black but only a couple of moves rather carelessly allowed chances again and later Nakamura had a near decisive advantage but gradually let Carlsen off the hook to allow the draw and lose the match. A more detailed summary below.

Carlsen was obviously happy to win the event. Tarjei J. Svensen reports that later on TV2 Sporten (a Norwegian TV Channel) Carlsen said "I can't disclose much yet, but I can say that there will be more tournaments like this. For everyone who wants to watch, this is not the end, but rather the beginning of something that will be a lot of fun in the future."

Final Standings and prizes 1st Carlsen - $70,000 2nd Nakamura - $45,000 3rd Ding Liren - $30,000 3rd Caruana - $30,000 5th Nepomniachtchi - $22,500 6th Firouzja - $20,000 7th Giri - $17,500 8th Maxime Vachier-Lagrave - $15,000

The next two major online chess events with top stars are FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup 2020 Tuesday 5th May 2020 Sunday 10th May 2020 and Play for Russia. Tuesday 12th May 2020 Thursday 14th May 2020