Magnus Carlsen Invitational

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The Magnus Carlsen Invitational 2020 [1] [2] [3] was an online chess tournament that ran from 18 April to 3 May 2020 as the first round of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour.

Contents

History

In addition to the world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, who organized the tournament, Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave took part in the event. The tournament received media attention as one of the few sports events during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament was structured as a series of mini-matches, consisting of four games of rapid chess, if needed followed by two rounds of blitz chess (semi-finals and final only), if needed followed by an Armageddon tie-break. The winner after rapid games received 3 points, the loser 0 points; if a tie-break was necessary, the winner received 2 points and the loser 1 point. The eight players played a round robin with the top four advancing to the semi-finals. Carlsen beat Nakamura in the final to win the tournament.

The tournament was broadcast by Chess24.com with Jan Gustafsson, Peter Svidler, Tania Sachdev and Lawrence Trent providing most of the commentary.

Group stage results

Player 1Player 2Score
Round 1. 18 April 2020
Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura 3 – 2
Ding Liren Alireza Firouzja 2.5 – 1.5
Round 1. 19 April 2020
Fabiano Caruana Ian Nepomniachtchi 2.5 – 1.5
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Anish Giri 3 – 1
Round 2. 20 April 2020
Magnus Carlsen Alireza Firouzja 2.5 – 1.5
Hikaru Nakamura Anish Giri 2.5 – 1.5
Round 2. 21 April 2020
Ian Nepomniachtchi Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 3 – 2
Fabiano Caruana Ding Liren 3 – 2
Round 3. 22 April 2020
Magnus Carlsen Fabiano Caruana 3 – 1
Hikaru Nakamura Alireza Firouzja 3.5 – 0.5
Round 3. 23 April 2020
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Ding Liren 2 – 3
Anish Giri Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.5 – 2.5
Round 4. 24 April 2020
Magnus Carlsen Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2.5 – 1.5
Alireza Firouzja Fabiano Caruana 1 – 3
Round 4. 25 April 2020
Hikaru Nakamura Ian Nepomniachtchi 2.5 – 1.5
Ding Liren Anish Giri 3 – 2
Round 5. 26 April 2020
Anish Giri Magnus Carlsen 2.5 – 1.5
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Alireza Firouzja 1.5 – 2.5
Round 5. 27 April 2020
Fabiano Caruana Hikaru Nakamura 3 – 2
Ian Nepomniachtchi Ding Liren 1.5 – 2.5
Round 6. 28 April 2020
Magnus Carlsen Ian Nepomniachtchi 3 – 2
Alireza Firouzja Anish Giri 2.5 – 1.5
Round 6. 29 April 2020
Hikaru Nakamura Ding Liren 3 – 2
Fabiano Caruana Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2.5 – 1.5
Round 7. 30 April 2020
Ding Liren Magnus Carlsen 3 – 1
Ian Nepomniachtchi Alireza Firouzja 3 – 2
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Hikaru Nakamura 2 – 3
Anish Giri Fabiano Caruana 2.5 – 1.5

Group stage standings

Pl.PlayerM.WAWALLPoints
1 Hikaru Nakamura 7322015
2 Ding Liren 7322015
3 Magnus Carlsen 7320213
4 Fabiano Caruana 7320213
5 Ian Nepomniachtchi 712138
6 Alireza Firouzja 720147
7 Anish Giri 720147
8 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 710336

Play-offs

Semifinals (1 and 2 May 2020) Final (3 May 2020)
      
1 Hikaru Nakamura 4
4 Fabiano Caruana 2
1 Hikaru Nakamura 1.5
3 Magnus Carlsen 2.5
2 Ding Liren 1.5
3 Magnus Carlsen 2.5

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References

  1. Geiger, Klaus (3 May 2020). "Magnus Carlsen Invitational: In der Krise wird Schach zum Weltsport". DIE WELT. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  2. Rao, Rakesh (13 April 2020). "Chess | Top players for Magnus Carlsen Invitational". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. "Carlsen se medirá a Nakamura en la final del torneo Invitational". Marca.com (in Spanish). 2 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.