Champion Carlsen relegates So to 4th behind Radjabov, Aronian

The overall title secured two days ago, Magnus Carlsen handed Wesley So a 2.5-0.5 thrashing, relegating the Filipino-American to fourth place behind Teimour Radjabov and Levon Aronian in the 2021 Champions Chess Tour (CCT) Finals on Monday, October 4 (Tuesday, October 5, Manila time).

Completing his resurgence, Radjabov subdued Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 2.5-0.5, while Aronian trounced Shakhriyar Mamedyarov by the same score to overtake So for third place at the finish line.

Counting a whopping 16.5 points in bonuses from the previous nine events of the CCT, Carlsen pooled 31.5 points, well ahead of Radjabov, who won his last six matches for an event-best 21 points.

With only 6 bonus points, however, Radjabov wound up with 27, a full win ahead of Aronian with 24.

So, the 2021 Grand Chess Tour (GCT) overall champion, ran out of steam and dropped three of his last four matches to finish with 23.5, including 12.5 in bonuses.

For So, however, placing fourth after hounding world champion Carlsen at the top was good enough.

The grueling season, which saw So take part in all 10 CCT events this year, four of five events of the GCT, as well as several online tournaments took its toll.

“I’m glad to finish it. I couldn’t complain [about] the result. I feel like I’m getting tired in the end,” said So, who is slated to defend his US Chess Championship crown starting this week.

In other ninth-round matches, Hikaru Nakamura tamed Jan-Krzysztof Duda, 3-1, and Vladislav Artemiev bested Anish Giri, 2.5-1.5.

Nakamura ended up fifth with 21 points, followed by Artemiev (17.5), Giri (14.5), Vachier-Lagrave (13.5), Duda (12), and Mamedyarov (9.5).

Carlsen, a three-event winner like So in this year’s CCT, bagged $100,000 (P5 million), Radjabov $60,000, Aronian $40,000, and So $30,000. – Rappler.com