So tackles Giri; Carlsen faces Nepomniachtchi in semis

Wesley So hatched a brilliant win in game 2 then fended off Alireza Firouzja’s assault in game 3 early Thursday, March 18, to cruise into the semifinals of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, the fourth leg of the Champions Chess Tour.

With the position uncertain in their Caro-Kann Advance Variation encounter, So pondered for 6 minutes and then started an onslaught with bd3 that left Firouzja’s defenses in shambles and led to a checkmate.

Handling black precisely, So deflected Firouzja’s Barry Attack in the third game and eventually forced the teen sensation to resign for another 2.5-0.5 victory in their quarterfinals match. So also needed only 3 games in their first 4-game match on Wednesday.

The Filipino-born So, the reigning United States champion, faces Anish Giri, who after being held to a 2-2 draw in the first set defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 3-1, in another quarterfinals tussle.

World champion Magnus Carlsen trounced new Team USA member Levon Aronian, 2-1, to advance to the semifinals against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who trounced Hikaru Nakamura, 2.5-0.5, also of the US.

Carlsen dominated Aronian, 2.5-0.5, in the first set while Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura split their match 2-2.

So, the winner of the first leg (Skilling Open) as well as the third (Opera Euro Rapid), is raring to avenge his loss to Giri in the fifth round of the preliminary phase in their semifinals battle starting on Friday.

Carlsen is favored over Nepomniachtchi in the other pairing, making another title duel with So possible.

Although Carlsen topped the eliminations of the first 3 legs of the $1.5 million (P72 million) tour, he has yet to clinch a crown. Carlsen bowed to So in both the Skilling and Opera Euro finals while the ousted Teimour Radjabov won the second leg (Airthings Masters). – Rappler.com