GM Magnus Carlsen completed the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals in fashion as he additionally gained his seventh and ultimate match, towards GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The world champion scored a surprising 20/21, seven factors greater than runner-up GM Wesley So.
Earlier within the match, the Carlsen-Duda pairing within the ultimate spherical was a mouth-watering perspective. In the previous couple of rounds the Polish grandmaster ran out of steam, giving Carlsen the prospect to safe match victory with a spherical to spare. This was a bonus for the winner who stated: “Right this moment was only a pleasure to play, figuring out I had it within the bag and I might simply chill out.”
Carlsen was essential of his two white video games, the place he did not present his greatest chess however received away with two attracts. As a result of he had gained the second recreation as Black, he wanted solely a attract recreation 4 however tried to win it anyway.
“There was a second within the final recreation the place, after he went for 39.Bb2 I used to be pondering, 39…Nxe3+ adopted by 40…Nc4 was a direct draw, however then I assumed, , it is the final recreation of the season. Let’s try to finish on a excessive observe, however I did not actually handle to transform it so I needed to power a draw, however then he needed to go for a draw, after all, however what he did simply misplaced as a substitute.”
Because the winner of the Finals, Carlsen claimed a “bonus” first prize of $50,000 in San Francisco. Collectively along with his first place within the total standings, the world champion collected $242,400 in whole Tour earnings, whereas his opponent Duda gained $162,500 for second place.
So can’t be discovered within the Tour leaderboard (see under) as he performed in solely the Finals, the place his second place was good for $32,500. He ended up dropping his final match to GM Anish Giri however as a result of his predominant rivals additionally misplaced, So saved his second place.
“It was a really enjoyable match,” stated So, after a battle that had gone the complete seven video games, together with an armageddon the place he had the white items. “I believe we each performed very solidly within the fast format, however within the blitz the video games had been very ‘fascinating’ [laughs] and likewise within the armageddon, it was backwards and forwards, loopy. I used to be attempting to flag him, but it surely did not work out.”
Giri: “Right this moment I’ve achieved all of my objectives. To begin with, I did not lose the match in three video games; secondly, I performed one good recreation; and third, the purpose I could not even have dreamt of: that I gained the match. It is true redemption for me.”
Here is the armageddon recreation, which noticed a loopy time-scramble:
The all-Indian match between GM Praggnanandhaa R. and GM Arjun Erigaisi was gained by the two-year-younger Pragg. Each gained a recreation, and one resulted in a draw earlier than Erigaisi was tricked within the opening in recreation 4.
“He fell for this lure with 12…c5 13.Rxa6! which is meant to be very unhealthy for Black,” knew Praggnanandhaa. “This change sac is excellent compensation, and it is nearly near successful for White.”
GM Le Quang Liem resulted in fourth place in each the general Tour and the Finals. Within the ultimate spherical, the Vietnamese GM beat GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3 times versus one loss. The primary recreation noticed a captivating, study-like ultimate part:
Closing Standings
| # | Fed | Identify | Rtg | Rating | Earnings |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 2848 | 20 | $50,000 | |
| 2 | Wesley So | 2774 | 13 | $32,500 | |
| 3 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 2798 | 10 | $27,500 | |
| 4 | Le Quang Liem | 2775 | 11 | $25,000 | |
| 5-6 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2733 | 9 | $22,500 | |
| 5-6 | Praggnanandhaa R. | 2750 | 9 | $22,500 | |
| 7-8 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2756 | 6 | $15,000 | |
| 7-8 | Anish Giri | 2732 | 6 | $15,000 |
All video games day 7
Closing Tour Standings
| # | Fed | Identify | Earnings | # | Fed | Identify | Earnings |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | $242,500 | 9 | Ding Liren | $50,500 | ||
| 2 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | $162,500 | 10 | Jorden van Foreest | $38,000 | ||
| 3 | Praggnanandhaa R. | $129,000 | 11 | Alireza Firouzja | $37,500 | ||
| 4 | Le Quang Liem | $123,000 | 12 | Wesley So | $32,500 | ||
| 5 | Anish Giri | $89,250 | 13 | Richard Rapport | $29,500 | ||
| 6 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | $80,500 | 14 | Wei Yi | $27,750 | ||
| 7 | Levon Aronian | $63,000 | 15 | Eric Hansen | $26,250 | ||
| 8 | Arjun Erigaisi | $62,250 | 16 | Vincent Keymer | $24,000 |
The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals passed off November 14-20, 2022 on chess24. The format was an eight-player round-robin; every spherical had four-game fast matches, and the winner received three factors. The time management was quarter-hour for every recreation plus a 10-second increment. A tiebreak adopted instantly in case of a 2-2 tie and in that case, the winner received two factors and the loser, one.
Earlier protection:
