The Sportspedia
Anish Giri (NED) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) will meet in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour: Magnus Invitational Final, starting tomorrow.
After having tied the series yesterday, today Ian Nepomniachtchi lost the first two games against Magnus Carlsen (NOR) and the series was tied, so they went to two Blitz.
The first of the Blitz games lasted 142 moves, the vast majority of them with a Magnus (black) that had the knight, rook and king, and a Nepomniachtchi with rook and king.
Carlsen refused to take the tie after a repetition of movements, kept looking for victory with those pieces. The chase was almost too expensive for him as white captured his tower in an error. They would eventually tie.
In the second the two got to have some unconventional plays that didn’t change the game much. For example, when Magnus (white) put the knight in the corner.
Nepomniachtchi ended up rescuing the victory. They both had a queen and three pawns but Ian closed the gaps while leaving them free to crown a pawn but it was not necessary as Magnus’s king was trapped behind another pawn. Magnus missed by losing a queen and a checkmate was made.
