Russia dominated the Airthings Masters today as three of its top stars made it through to the semi-finals, with only World Champion Magnus Carlsen now being able to break the great chess superpower’s stranglehold on the event.
First through to the final four was Russia’s number 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi, who scored a decisive third-game point to secure a 3-1 win in his match against German prodigy Vincent Keymer. It continued Ian’s hot streak of form in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour that has seen him installed as the tournament favourite on the back of losing only twice in 19 games.
Nepomniachtchi now faces fellow Russian Andrey Esipenko, who ended the dream of world number 237, a popular Canadian chess streamer Eric Hansen. Hansen, the tournament underdog, had played brilliantly to beat Carlsen and Nepo in the prelims, but there was no fairytale end against the highly-rated 19-year-old Esipenko.
On the other side of the draw, Carlsen, seemingly recovered from Covid-19, made it through to the semis against Vietnam’s speed chess specialist Liem Quang Le. The World Champion won the first game against the dangerous Liem and then played out three draws for a 3-1 match score.
On settling for a draw in the final game, Carlsen said: “I have not come to value the tour rating that high that I’d forgo absolute certain qualification to go for more!”
In the other quarter-final, China’s Ding Liren missed several knockout blows in his match against Vladislav Artemiev and was eventually punished by the Russian. Ding played brilliantly in game 3, but Artemiev hung in there for a draw and then took the final game to win 2.5-1.5.
It made it a clean sweep for the Russian competitors – but can one of them now down the world number and reigning Tour champ Magnus Carlsen? The semis start tomorrow.
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.
