Levon Aronian pounced on a mouse-slip by Wesley So to snatch game 1 and proceeded to win the opener, 3-1, of their two quarterfinal matches in the New In Chess Classic on Tuesday, April 27 (Wednesday, April 28, Philippine time).
Speed chess specialist Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also took the lead over Le Quang Liem and Alireza Firouzja even as world champion Magnus Carlsen was held to a standoff by Teimour Radjabov in the other playoffs.
Handling white in a London System encounter, So was about to launch a strong attack on Aronian’s king when the mishap happened.
Instead of the rook landing on e3, it fell on e2 where it was available for a bishop exchange and a decisive material edge for Aronian, the longtime Armenian No. 1 and newest member of the powerhouse Team USA which includes So and Nakamura.
Flashing the form that made him the world rapid champion in 2009, Aronian dominated So in game 2 to go up, 2-0.
So, the overall leader of the Champions Chess Tour, eked out a victory in game 3 but Aronian proved his mettle in game 4 to move closer toward the semifinals with Nakamura and Mamedyarov, who both won game 1.
Aware of what happened to So, Aronian said he “got lucky” in the post-match interview.
Nakamura drew the next 3 games for a 2.5-1.5 score over Le while Mamedyarov drew the next 2 and prevailed in game 4 to subdue Alireza, 3-1.
The favored Carlsen, the top qualifier, met stiff resistance from Airthings Masters champion Radjabov and was forced to 4 straight draws for the first time in the 10-leg $1.5 million Tour.
The truth is, Carlsen needed to summon his defensive prowess to escape in game 2.
Aronian, Nakamura, and Mamedyarov only need to draw with their opponents in the second set of 4 games on Thursday to advance to the semifinals with the winner of the Carlsen-Radjabov tussle. – Rappler.com
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