Carlsen vs Vachier-Lagrave (Photo Grand Chess Tour)
It is all even as the semi-finals of 2019 Grand Chess Tour Finals kicked off in Hammersmith London. Reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen drew his semi-final match against Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
China’s Ding Liren, the two time World Cup runners-up, finished all square in his match against Levon Aronian, the Armenian who had defeated him at the 2017 World Cup final.
The first round of the semi-finals saw the four players playing classical games. They will meet again with opposite colors before moving on to the rapid and blitz portion of the semi-final stage.
Magnus Carlsen vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: ½ – ½
The fascinating Sicilian Najdorf ended in a hard-fought draw in 32 moves for the duo. Carlsen deviated in the opening with an unusual combination of ideas, taking the game into unknown territory from move 7.
With the kings castled on the opposite sides, Carlsen was attempting to build an attack on the kingside, while Vachier-Lagrave was mobilizing his pieces on the queenside. During his interview with Maurice Ashley, Levon Aronian predicted that “feathers would fly” and they did when the center opened up and Vachier-Lagrave sacrificed a piece for an attack.
But as is the case with all perfectly played games, this battle ended in a draw after Carlsen realized that avoiding a repetition would result in a disaster. After the game, Vachier-Lagrave, a former world junior champion and the seventh highest rated player of all time (Elo rating 2819) promised another fighting encounter in the second classical match tomorrow.
It is not going to be an easy task against his Norwegian opponent, who is the undisputed World Champion since 2013 and is also a two time World Rapid Chess and four time World Blitz Chess champion.
Levon Aronian vs Ding Liren: ½ – ½
Aronian explained that he had a poor night of sleep due to jet lag following the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz and simply wanted a quiet game. He is a two time World Cup winner and was also world champion in Chess960 in 2006 and 2007, Rapid Chess in 2009, and Blitz Chess in 2010.
He essayed a sideline with 6.g3 in the Semi Tarrasch variation, which his opponent was well prepared for.
Once Aronian spotted a tactical sequence where he sacrificed his rook for a perpetual, the game ended in a draw.
Liren was satisfied with the draw with Blacks, while Aronian was not disappointed wasting his white pieces, reasoning that as in the World Cup, he will get his chances.
However, Liren is a dangerous opponent and was was undefeated in classical chess from August 2017 to November 2018, recording 29 victories and 71 draws. The 100-game unbeaten streak was the longest in top-level chess history, until Carlsen surpassed it in 2019.
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