Magnus Invitational Online Supertournament

[Chris Rice]

Day 5 Naka schools Firouzja and this sort of time limit is not really Caruana's strong suit.

Nakamura 3.5 - Firouzja 0.5

Carlsen 3-1 Caruana

[Tim Harding]

Day 5 Naka schools Firouzja and this sort of time limit is not really Caruana's strong suit.

Nakamura 3.5 - Firouzja 0.5

Carlsen 3-1 Caruana

Seriously spoiled, though, by the controversy of Firouzja being disconnected when in a winning position but short of time. Saying Naka "schooled" Firouzja is a very odd way of putting it, to my mind.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/mci-da ... ja-suffers

This kind of issue is going to bedevil online events for a long time to come. And it didn't make for a satisfactory viewer experience, whereas the two simultaneous games format was working well until now.

Eventually somebody decided (or they ultimately agreed?) to call that game a draw, rather than continue (as the rules said?) or replay. Firouzja just wasn't the same after that and threw away a drawn ending (where earlier he had been pressing).

Now it's already clear that Magnus will make the final four and Forouzja won't.
Giri also won't unless he can beat Nepo' today which I deem unlikely. That leaves five chasing three spots.

[Mick Norris]

TWIC

Round 3 Standings: Carlsen (3 matches) 8pts, Nakamura (3) 7pts, Caruana (3) 5pts, MVL (2) 4pts, Ding (2) 4pts, Nepomniachtchi (2) 2pts, Firouzja (3) 0pts and Giri, Anish (2) 0pts

[Matt Mackenzie]

Carlsen causing some comment by essaying the (supposedly "discredited" at top level) Alekhine's Defence.

[LawrenceCooper]

Nepo beat Giri with +1=3 whilst Ding won a miniature v MVL in the armageddon after 4 draws.

[Chris Rice]

OK apparently I should have been calling the rounds slightly differently, today it was Round 4 Day 1:

Carlsen 2.5-1.5 MVL

MVL's pawn structure in Game 2 was memorable. However,its the last game of this that I thought was more memorable. You would think it was an optically looking simple Rook & Pawn ending but if you watch Chess24 again you will hear Grischuk and Svidler analysis this to an intensity which will have your head spinning. Grischuk just makes me laugh so much. At one point it was clear Carlsen was going to get at least a draw and win the match but kept playing for the win to which Grischuk remarked "its like being in a fight which you've already lost but the guy keeps punching you in the face anyway".The game ended in a draw which enabled Carlsen to join the commentary team for the last game of the Caruana - Firouzja match. This was an incredibly complex game and the speed and accuracy with which the three of them were dissecting the game after every move was awesome. I really tried to follow it but realised these guys are Gods so stood back and just admired. It did look like Firouzja was going to come back from 2-0 down for a while but Caruana who was clearly worried was just too good.

Caruana 3-1 Firouzja

So the standings apparently are in terms of match points are surprising:

1 Carlsen 11
2 Caruana 8
3 Nakamura 7
4 Ding Liren 6
5= MVL, Nepo 5
7= Giri, Firouzja 0

[LawrenceCooper]

So the standings apparently are in terms of match points are surprising:

1 Carlsen 11
2 Caruana 8
3 Nakamura 7
4 Ding Liren 6
5= MVL, Nepo 5
7= Giri, Firouzja 0

Naka, Ding, Nepo & Giri have a match in hand so 2nd-6th may look increasingly competitive by tomorrow night.

[Chris Rice]

So the standings apparently are in terms of match points are surprising:

1 Carlsen 11
2 Caruana 8
3 Nakamura 7
4 Ding Liren 6
5= MVL, Nepo 5
7= Giri, Firouzja 0

Naka, Ding, Nepo & Giri have a match in hand so 2nd-6th may look increasingly competitive by tomorrow night.

Yes I had forgotten about that. It's not a bad idea to use this for OTB tournaments when they ever come back. Rest days in tournaments can be irritating to spectators whilst you know the players may be tired and need them. Instead of a rest day, for one of the rounds you could split the field in two and play it over two days. The players get a rest day and the spectators still see some action. Worth thinking about.

[Mick Norris]

TWIC

Round 4 Standings: Carlsen 11pts, Nakamura 10pts, Caruana, Ding 8pts, MVL, Nepomniachtchi 5pts, Giri 1pt, Firouzja 0pts.

Round 5 Day 1 pairings Sun 26th April 2020 15:00 BST: Giri-Carlsen and MVL-Firouzja

Round 5 Day 2 pairings Mon 27th April 2020 15:00 BST: Caruana-Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi-Ding

[LawrenceCooper]

TWIC

Round 4 Standings: Carlsen 11pts, Nakamura 10pts, Caruana, Ding 8pts, MVL, Nepomniachtchi 5pts, Giri 1pt, Firouzja 0pts.

Round 5 Day 1 pairings Sun 26th April 2020 15:00 BST: Giri-Carlsen and MVL-Firouzja

Round 5 Day 2 pairings Mon 27th April 2020 15:00 BST: Caruana-Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi-Ding

Firouzja & Giri both 1 up after 3 games

[Chris Rice]

Giri 2.5 - Carlsen 1.5

[LawrenceCooper]

Giri 2.5 - Carlsen 1.5

Firouzja also made it to 2.5 against MVL.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Giri 2.5 - Carlsen 1.5

That should cause some "banter".

[Chris Rice]

Giri 2.5 - Carlsen 1.5

That should cause some "banter".

Indeed Giri has not held back with this immediate reaction

[Mick Norris]

TWIC

Round 5 Standings: Carlsen (5 matches) 11pts, Nakamura (4) 10pts, Caruana, Ding (4) 8pts, MVL (5) 5pts, Nepomniachtchi (4) 5pts, Giri (5) 4pts, Firouzja (5) 3pts.

Round 5 Day 2 pairings Mon 27th April 2020 15:00 BST: Caruana-Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi-Ding