Magnus Carlsen wins Your Next Move 2017 – Leuven

Magnus Carlsen may have been down by 3 points when the rapid rounds of the tournament concluded against the then leader Wesley So, but after a spectacular performance of 14.5/18 in the blitz rounds, Carlsen came out the runaway winner of the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2017, the Your Next Move 2017, which happened in Leuven, Belgium.

This is a back-to-back tournament wins for Carlsen as he also won the the tour’s Paris leg last month. Remember that the Grand Chess Tour 2017 is composed of 5 tournaments as follows:

Carlsen and So tied for first place before the final Day 2 of blitz games in Your Next Move 2017

Magnus Carlsen was trailing Wesley So right from the start of the Blitz round of Your Next Move 2017, until the final round of the day, Round 9, when they finally faced each other and the former was just a point behind.

Replay Round 9 Blitz game between Magnus Carlsen vs. Wesley So below:[replay]

Your Next Move 2017 Blitz Rounds 1-9 Results

RoundWhiteResultsBlack
1Kramnik, Vladimir1-0Giri, Anish
Anand, Viswanathan0-1Carlsen, Magnus
So, Wesley1-0Jobava, Baadur
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime1-0Aronian, Levon
Ivanchuk, Vassily0-1Nepomniachtchi, Ian
2Carlsen, Magnus½-½Kramnik, Vladimir
Giri, Anish½-½Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
So, Wesley1-0Anand, Viswanathan
Aronian, Levon1-0Ivanchuk, Vassily
Jobava, Baadur0-1Nepomniachtchi, Ian
3Kramnik, Vladimir½-½So, Wesley
Anand, Viswanathan1-0Jobava, Baadur
Nepomniachtchi, Ian½-½Aronian, Levon
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime0-1Carlsen, Magnus
Ivanchuk, Vassily0-1Giri, Anish
4Carlsen, Magnus1-0Ivanchuk, Vassily
Giri, Anish½-½Nepomniachtchi, Ian
Anand, Viswanathan½-½Kramnik, Vladimir
So, Wesley0-1Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Jobava, Baadur0-1Aronian, Levon
5Kramnik, Vladimir1-0Jobava, Baadur
Nepomniachtchi, Ian0-1Carlsen, Magnus
Aronian, Levon1-0Giri, Anish
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime0-1Anand, Viswanathan
Ivanchuk, Vassily½-½So, Wesley
6Carlsen, Magnus1-0Aronian, Levon
Kramnik, Vladimir1-0Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Anand, Viswanathan½-½Ivanchuk, Vassily
So, Wesley1-0Nepomniachtchi, Ian
Jobava, Baadur0-1Giri, Anish
7Giri, Anish1-0Carlsen, Magnus
Nepomniachtchi, Ian½-½Anand, Viswanathan
Aronian, Levon½-½So, Wesley
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime1-0Jobava, Baadur
Ivanchuk, Vassily½-½Kramnik, Vladimir
8Kramnik, Vladimir½-½Nepomniachtchi, Ian
Anand, Viswanathan1-0Aronian, Levon
So, Wesley0-1Giri, Anish
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime1-0Ivanchuk, Vassily
Jobava, Baadur0-1Carlsen, Magnus
9Carlsen, Magnus1-0So, Wesley
Giri, Anish½-½Anand, Viswanathan
Nepomniachtchi, Ian1-0Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Aronian, Levon½-½Kramnik, Vladimir
Ivanchuk, Vassily½-½Jobava, Baadur

Wesley So leads Your Next Move 2017 after Rapid Round 3

Your Next Move 2017 is the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2017, which is currently happening in the city of Leuven in Belgium. Just like the GCT Paris, Your Next Move comprises 9 rounds of rapid games and 18 blitz games. Rapid games are scored 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw, while the Blitz are scored the normal way of 1 point for a win and 1/2 for draw.

On Your Next Move 2017 Day 1, Wesley So defeated Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen to lead the tournament after 3 rapid rounds.[replay]

Grand Chess Tour 2016 Standings (After Paris, Leuven, and St. Louis)

As we have mentioned before, Wesley So now leads the Grand Chess Tour 2016 race with 30 GCT points:

But let’s find out how did the rest of the players fared so far:

Grand Chess Tour 2016 Ranking After Paris, Leuven, and St. Louis

PlayerParisLeuvenSt LouisTotalPrize Money
Wesley So7.0010.0013.0030.00$120,000
Magnus Carlsen*10.0013.00-23.00$67,500
Levon Aronian6.008.007.7521.75$66,250
Hikaru Nakamura13.004.004.5021.50$62,500
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave8.005.004.5017.50$40,000
Fabiano Caruana3.006.007.7516.75$58,750
Viswanathan Anand-7.007.7514.75$51,250
Veselin Topalov 2.001.007.7510.75$51,250
Anish Giri5.002.501.008.50$30,000
Vladimir Kramnik4.002.50-6.50$15,000
Ding Liren*--3.003.00$15,000
Peter Svidler*--2.002.00$15,000
Laurent Fressinet*1.00--1.00$7,500
These are GCT (Grand Chess Tour) points earned by each player from the last three legs and the total GCT points. Prize money is the total prize earned so far from the tour.

* Considered as wildcards for the tour.

Wesley So in great shape so far in Grand Chess Tour 2016

Wesley So finished the first half of the blitz rounds of Your Next Move — Grand Chess Tour 2016 at second place with 5 points out of 9, although, tied with Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, and Hikaru Nakamura. Levon Aronian is slightly ahead at 5.5 points.

Crosstable after nine rounds of blitz games:

gct-your-next-move-2016-blitz-cross

With three-quarters through the tournament, Carlsen is still ahead in the combined score (rapid scores are multiplied by two):