Chess: Vachier-Lagrave wins $300,000 event while Firouzja loses in nine moves | Chess

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave emerged victorious in the $300,000 CrunchLabs Masters, which is a part of the £1.7m online Champions Tour, by defeating fellow French player Alireza Firouzja in the final. Previously, he had eliminated world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. Vachier-Lagrave managed to defeat Firouzja twice; first with a score of 2.5-0.5, and then again in a rematch with a score of 3-2.

Carlsen, who recently lost his mother, Sigrun Øen, at the age of 61, was defeated by Vachier-Lagrave in the semi-finals with a score of 2.5-1.5. In two seasons of the Champions Tour, Vachier-Lagrave has eliminated the Norwegian champion three times. He remarked on their match-up, saying, “I can see all those ingenious small tactics, while Magnus misses one or two in a game, and that can prove costly… in that sense, I may be a worse matchup for him than other players.”

These results mark a significant comeback for Vachier-Lagrave, who was nearly Carlsen’s challenger in 2021 but has since experienced a drop in the FIDE world rankings and currently sits outside the top 20 in over-the-board play.

Earlier in the tournament, Firouzja lost in just nine moves during his quarter-final, falling into an opening trap set by Fabiano Caruana, which allowed the US champion to execute a brilliant double rook sacrifice.

Caruana v Firouzja

1 c4 c6 2 Nf3 d5 3 g3 Bg4 4 Ne5 Bf5 5 Qb3 Qb6 6 cxd5 Qxb3 7 axb3 Be4? This move falls into White’s trap. 7…Bxb1 8 Rxb1 cxd5 would lead to an equal position. 8 dxc6 Bxh1?? Black should have opted for Nxc6 to lose just a pawn. 9 Rxa7! 1-0 This marks the second rook sacrifice. If Black plays 9…Rxa7 10 c7, the pawn queens at cxb8=Q+ or by c8=Q+, while otherwise 10 Rxa8 wins. However, Firouzja showed resilience by returning to defeat Caruana 3-2 before reaching the final.

The online Champions Tour features four events open to all grandmasters, alongside a qualification tournament for other titled players, culminating in an in-person final scheduled for mid-December. The substantial prizes available make the Tour a high priority for many grandmasters, leading to fiercely contested qualifiers, with fast time limits of 10 minutes per player per game and a two-second increment per move, adding to the excitement.

It serves as an excellent spectator sport, providing continual action, insightful commentaries, and engaging visuals on the chess.com platform, where the $175,000 Speed Chess Championship has just commenced.

Carlsen is set to compete this afternoon (3 PM Friday, July 26) against GM Tuan Minh Le from Vietnam in the round of 16. Their match will last three hours and consist of 90 minutes of 5 minutes+1 second blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet.

On July 20, over 7 million games were played both online and over-the-board as FIDE marked its centenary with a Guinness World Record for the most games in a 24-hour period. The time limit was a minimum of three minutes per game with a two-second increment. Chess.com hosted 6 million of these games, followed by Lichess. Although organizing numerous over-the-board games is more complex, the total still exceeded 75,000.

The 2024 British Championship kicks off in Hull on Saturday, featuring an intriguing mix of 82 players. This includes four of the five grandmasters who will represent England in the upcoming 190-nation chess Olympiad in Budapest this September. This group — David Howell, Michael Adams, Gawain Jones, and Luke McShane — boasts a combined total of 13 British titles and are anticipated to start as frontrunners.

Fifteen-year-old Shreyas Royal has the potential to qualify as a grandmaster with a strong performance in Hull and is also eyeing the championship age record held by Adams since 1989, when Adams won his first title at age 17.

Several players are in contention for GM and IM norms, particularly Alex Golding. The 20-year-old from Surrey is on a winning streak, having achieved IM norms recently in South Wales, where he tied for first with IM Harry Grieve, as well as at MindSports. A solid showing in Hull or next month’s Kingston Invitation could make him England’s newest IM.

Current titleholder Lan Yao and former Russian champion Elmira Mirzoeva, who recently secured the English title, are the favorites for the women’s championship.

The Hull event will hold historical significance for two nine-year-olds. Ethan Pang, already the youngest chess player to attain a master level 2200 rating, will become the youngest ever competitor in the British Championship, surpassing Howell’s age record set in 2000 by roughly three months.

Bodhana Sivanandan, the youngest selections for the England national team in any sport, will also make history as the youngest participant in the British Women’s Championship, which is held alongside the open event. Both Pang and Sivanandan are capable of winning games, aiming for respectable debut scores, and targeting the traditional “master third” total of three out of nine.

The franchise-based Global Chess League, initiated last year in Dubai, will launch its second season from October 3-12 at Friends House, Euston. Six teams of six will be led by icons whose names have recently been revealed. Each team will include two male and two female grandmasters, along with a junior player.

As in the previous year, Carlsen will captain the Alpine Warriors team, marking the world No. 1’s first competitive appearance in London since the 2019 Classic at Olympia. Vachier-Lagrave will lead the Mumba Masters, while India’s former world champion Vishy Anand will head the Ganges Grandmasters, continuing their roles from last year.

New top boards include world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura for the league newcomers American Gambits, Anish Giri from the Netherlands for Alaskan Knights, and two-time world finalist Ian Nepomniachtchi for the Triveni Continental Kings, who were champions in the inaugural season.

The matches will be played at rapid chess time limits, with a minimum of three games a day featuring the icon players. The inaugural league season concluded dramatically with a missed checkmate in one.

3930: 1…f3! 2 Rf2 Qe7+! 3 Kh5 Qe8+! 4 Kg5 Qxe5 mate. This victory propelled Vaishali into the women’s world top 10.