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Dream final as Carlsen faces arch-rival Giri in $150,000 Chessable Masters
Dutch star Anish Giri beat Russian no. 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi to set up a Chessable Masters final against Magnus Carlsen.
World Champion Carlsen said “see you in the final!” a week ago after both he and Giri won their preliminary groups, and he did his job with a day to spare.
Giri’s match went to a decider and he fell behind after his opponent went for the jugular in the first game of the day.
He pounced on a mistake to level in game two, and then, after a war of attrition, crashed home in style in the 6th and final game.
Giri has been much improved on the chessboard since lockdowns began, but was always a social media star, fighting a trash-talk war against Magnus.
He commented after his win:
“He’s the favourite always and he’s shown good chess in this tournament. He beat (world no. 2) Fabi and (world no. 3) Ding like they’re babies, but they don’t have active Twitter accounts and they don’t have the social media skills I possess!”
The final starts Friday and continues Saturday and Sunday, with a huge online audience guaranteed.
The event, broadcast live on chess24, is the next stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize pot of $1 million, a record for the online game.
About the tournament
The Chessable Masters, which runs until July 5, is being put on in association with Chessable and the tour’s Education Partner, leading Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer.
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