Recaps

2020 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz - Day 2 Recap

Day two of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz kicked off with an all-decisive bloody round. Magnus Carlsen came back powerfully, winning all three games today after finishing day one with a fifty percent score. While the World Champion called his games from rounds four and six “gifts”, he particularly enjoyed his round five win against Leinier Dominguez. Carlsen now sits on top of the leaderboard, a full point ahead of his closest rivals. Tomorrow is the last day of the rapid portion of the tournament, where each win is worth double the points.

2020 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz - Day 1 Recap

The Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz has been one of the stops of the Grand Chess Tour since 2017. This year, it’s a stand-alone online tournament with 9 rapid and 18 blitz games over five days and a $250,000 prize fund, attracting some of the top players of the world, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen and the two previous winners, Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian. After three rapid games, Levon Aronian and Pentala Harikrishna emerged as the co-leaders. While Aronian has won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz in 2017 and 2019, this marks Harikrishna’s first appearance in the event.

2020 Champions Showdown:Chess 9LX - Day 3 Recap

The big rivalry of the summer between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura was reignited in the final day of Champions Showdown: Chess9LX. The duo famously played a marathon match in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational in August, which came down to the wire and was decided in an Armageddon game in favor of the World Champion. This time, there was no tiebreaker and the two giants were declared co-champions of the 2020 edition of Chess9LX, collecting $31,250 each for their efforts. World Number Two Fabiano Caruana and former World Rapid Champion Levon Aronian finished half a point behind the winners, tying for third place and collecting $17,500 each.

2020 Champions Showdown:Chess 9LX - Day 2 Recap

Day two of Champions Showdown: Chess9LX was action packed. After winning all three games, Levon Aronian emerged as the new leader, half a point ahead of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. In the postgame interview, Aronian remarked that he spent more time preparing and doing tactics before the games today and felt that he was playing “with more passion.” He still has his work cut out for him as he faces Garry Kasparov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Magnus Carlsen on the final day. With $37,500 and the title on the line, tomorrow promises to be a thriller.

2020 Champions Showdown:Chess 9LX - Day 1 Recap

The 2020 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX set the stage for a long anticipated event in the chess world. For the first time since their only encounter in 2004, World Champions Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen were set to face off again, this time in Fischer Random. Fans weren’t left waiting, as the two were paired in the second round of the Champions Showdown. The epic battle drew the attention of the entire chess world, who were delighted to see two of the best chess players in history square off.

2020 Clutch Chess International - Day 8 Recap

Woman Grandmaster Tatev Abrahamyan recaps the finals of Clutch Chess International online knockout between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana.

2020 Clutch Chess International - Day 7 Recap

Day one of the Clutch Chess International finals was an absolute thriller from start to finish. The two highest-ranked players, World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana faced off in an echo of their 2018 World Championship match. This time around both players left blood on the battlefield; the commentators were enthralled and fans were left on the edge of their seats during the back-and-forth affair.

2020 Clutch Chess International - Day 6 Recap

Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana qualified to the Clutch Chess International finals after defeating Levon Aronian and Wesley So in their respective matches. Carlsen’s four point lead at the beginning of the day allowed for smooth sailing to the finals, whereas Caruana had the titanic task of overcoming a four point deficit in his own match. The world’s number one and two will face off in a 12-game match, reminiscent of their 2018 World Championship match.

2020 Clutch Chess International - Day 5 Recap

The semifinalists returned to action after the rest day ready to fight, as Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So took a commanding four point lead over Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana respectively. The matches mirrored each other in results, as neither Caruana nor Aronian were able to find their footing and score a single win. Even with a big score discrepancy, neither match is in the bag as wins in games 11 and 12 will be worth three points each, leaving room for big comebacks. Tomorrow, the two Clutch Chess International finalists will be decided.

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