The prelim stage of the Airthings Masters reached its climax with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi crowning a dominating display and the relief of the first win for chess queen Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Ian booked his place in the knockout starting tomorrow with ease as he racked up a total of 29 points that included an impressive eight wins.
Meanwhile, Kosteniuk, the only woman in the field, halted a streak of 13 defeats in her Meltwater Champions Chess Tour debut when she beat the in-form Canadian streamer, Eric Hansen.
At the end of the play, she tweeted: I never knew that scoring 1 out of 15 could be such a relief. Thank you so much for your support! Your messages meant a lot!”
The round-robin prelims finished with plenty of surprises over its four days of play. Hansen, the world number 237 and rank outsider, confounded all predictions to make it through – and along the way took the scalps of both Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen, last year’s two World Championship competitors.
“It’s been a bit of a dream,” Hansen said afterwards. “I’m still taking it all in.”
Having also beaten Carlsen in Round 8, India’s teen sensation Praggnanandhaa failed to make the cut, having finished in 11th place.
Big names also crashed out, notably the winner of last season’s Goldmoney Asian Rapid Levon Aronian and the Magnus Carlsen Invitational champion Anish Giri.
Carlsen, who revealed he is suffering from the after-effects of Covid-19, secured his place with two wins and two draws. He was, however, unhappy with his form.
Carlsen said: “I think I played pretty badly today, so I will have to play a lot better in the knockouts. But at least I’m there, which is the most important thing.
“I didn’t expect to play particularly well, but I hoped to play better. But it doesn’t matter now. I’m through, and I have the chance to fight regardless of who I’m going to face.”
By the final round, only three were assured of a spot in the last 8, with 11 fighting it out for the remaining 5 places. China’s Ding Liren, the leader on Day 1 who has been playing through the night in his timezone, scraped through in 6th, while Vietnam’s speed chess specialist Liem Quang Le finished 7th.
The final place was taken by the German teen prodigy Vincent Keymer, who has largely gone under the radar in this event but is an intriguing prospect for the knockout.
The top eight now go through to the quarter-finals starting at 18:00 CET tomorrow.
Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels.
Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels.
For further comments, contact:
Leon Watson – leon@championschesstour.com
About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide, determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com, with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information, visit www.championschesstour.com.
About Play Magnus Group
Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG.
