Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen; born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, No. 1 ranked player in the world and reigning World Chess Champion in classical and rapid. His peak rating is 2882, the highest in history.
Carlsen was regarded as a chess prodigy as a youngster, and became a Grandmaster in 2004, at the age of 13 years, 148 days. This made him the third youngest grandmaster in history. On 1 January 2010, at the age of 19 years, 32 days, he became the youngest chess player to be ranked FIDE world No. 1.
Yes, in case you just came out of a cave after a long while, and didn’t know, the World Chess Championship is ongoing. This time without Magnus Carlsen on either side of the board, after he earlier relinquished his title.
See how the win by Ian Nepomniachtchi over Ding Liren unfolded by playing it out below:
If Magnus Carlsen’s decision not to defend his title in 2023 devalues the world crown, well it’s not really his problem. Watch this video:
We saw a lot of blood drawn in the opening round of the Candidates Tournament 2018, the tournament that will determine who will be this year’s challenger to Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2018.
Shahkriyar Mamedyarov, Vladimir Kramnik, and Fabiano Caruana led the opening round rampage. The victims: Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk, and Wesley So, respectively.
| White | Results | Black |
|---|---|---|
| Kramnik, Vladimir | 1-0 | Grischuk, Alexander |
| Caruana, Fabiano | 1-0 | So, Wesley |
| Aronian, Levon | ½-½ | Ding, Liren |
| Karjakin, Sergey | 0-1 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar |
Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi won 3 games each and tied for first place in the 9-round London Chess Classic 2017, the last and final leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2017.
| # | Name | FED | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2799 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Nepomniachtchi Ian | RUS | 2729 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2837 | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | FRA | 2789 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5 |
| So Wesley | USA | 2788 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5 | |
| 6 | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2781 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 |
| 7 | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2805 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4 |
| 8 | Karjakin Sergey | RUS | 2760 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 3.5 |
| 9 | Anand Viswanathan | IND | 2782 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 3 |
| Adams Michael | ENG | 2715 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 3 |
They headed to the 4-round 10m+5spm tiebreak matches, and Caruana eventually won with 3 draws and the Game 4 win.
From 128 players, now we’re down to just 4: Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So and Ding Liren.
Big names that were not able to make it to the Final Four include Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Vladimir Kramnik, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Grischuk, Viswanathan Anand, Sergey Karjakin and Anish Giri.
Remember, the winners (2) of the Semi-Final round are secured a spot in next year’s Candidates tournament.
With six rounds down and 3 to go, the defending champion of the Sinquefield Cup 2017 as well as the Grand Chess Tour 2017, Wesley So, finds himself solely at the bottom of the standings as he lost his 6th round game against Levon Aronian. [replay]
The rest of the Round 6 games were draws.
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[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/sinqcup17-ranking-r6.csv”]
Replay all Sinquefield Cup 2017 games.
Photo credit: Grand Chess Tour Flickr
Magnus Carlsen defeated Wesley So in the fifth round of Sinquefield Cup 2017 to remain within striking distance of the leader, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. [replay]
[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/sinqcup17-results-r5.csv”]
[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/sinqcup17-ranking-r5.csv”]
Replay all games here.
Photo credit: Grand Chess Tour Flickr
Another action-packed Round 2 in Sinquefield Cup 2017 as 60% of the games are once again decisive. The top 3 players in the world in terms of FIDE ratings won their games in this round.
Wesley So bounced back from his Round 1 loss by defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in Round 2. Magnus Carlsen displayed his dominance against his former challenger Sergey Karjakin in the world chess crown. Fabiano Caruana delivered a fine win against Levon Aronian after a rook+bishop vs. rook ending.[replay]
[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/sinqcup17-results-r2.csv”]
Thus at the end of Round 2, Carlsen, Caruana and MVL lead the tournament with 1.5 points apiece.
