Champions Chess Tour Skilling Open R6-10: Anish Giri maintains his sole lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 24/11/2020

Anish Giri maintains his sole lead with 6.5/10 at the conclusion of Day 2 at Champions Chess Tour Skilling Open. The Dutch no.1 drew all five of his games on the second day including the game against Carlsen. Carlsen, So and Ding Liren are at shared second spot with 6.0/10. Karjakin spoiled Carlsen's day as he trapped the world champion's queen and handed him his second defeat of the tournament. So drew four and beat Liem. Ding Liren scored a fantastic win against Radjabov, ending his winning streak. Vidit had a better day as he drew four games after losing against Karjakin. Round 11 continues tonight Tuesday 24th November from 10:30 p.m. IST with live commentary by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and IM Soumya Swaminathan on ChessBase India youtube channel. Photo: ChessBase India live stream

Karjakin traps Carlsen's queen

Anish Giri is still the sole leader with 6.5/10 at the end of Champions Chess Tour Skilling Open - Day 2. He drew all five of his games including the highly anticipated game of the day against the world champion. Carlsen along with So and Ding Liren finished the day at the shared second spot with 6.0/10. Carlsen managed to win only one game in the day against Duda. So beat Liem in Round 9 and drew rest of his games. After making three consecutive draws, Ding Liren beat Radjabov with a fantastic finish, ending the Azeri's three-game win-streak.

Carlsen-Giri highly anticipated match turned out to be a draw | Photo: ChessBase India live stream

Round 6: Radjabov crushes Firouzja

Vachier-Lagrave halted Anton's momentum from the previous day by handing him his second defeat of the event.

Vachier-Lagrave - Anton

Position after 25...Qg6

The game continued with 26.e6 but what was the better move?

Firouzja self-destructed in just 22 moves after he misplayed the opening completely.

Firouzja - Radjabov

Position after 19.Bxf7+

In a difficult position white made a tactical error with 19.Bxf7+. Find out why the sacrifice doesn't work.

Firouzja couldn't get out of the gate early in the game | Photo: chess24 live stream

Aronian-Carlsen had a rather calm draw.

Aronian-Carlsen encounter lacked fireworks | Photo: chess24 live stream

Duda's bold play by keeping his king in the center backfired as Nepomniachtchi capitalized on his error in judgment.

Duda - Nepomniachtchi

Position after 20.f5

20.d5 is a big mistake. Find out why and what white should have played instead.

Duda's bravado went in vain | Photo: chess24 stream

Ding Liren-Svidler game was heading towards a draw. However, the Chinese misplayed the same color bishop ending which put Svidler in a position.

Ding Liren - Svidler

Position after 46.Bd2

The game continued with 46...b3. What was the better continuation for black here?

Position after 49.Kc3

Black can still win this. How? The game went on with 49...Bd8 which is not the best move and it led to a draw.

Giri maintained his lead after making a solid draw with So.

Vidit lost to Karjakin as he did not make the correct decision at the critical moment.

Karjakin - Vidit

Position after 36.Nf4

White is obviously aiming to bring his knight to e6. The game continued with 36...Bf5 which could not stop white's Ne6 threat. What should have black played instead?

Position after 38...Kh7

Black's next big mistake was 38...Kh7 which allowed white to gain a complete upper hand.

Despite getting a fantastic position, Nakamura played uncharacteristically and lost against Liem.

Nakamura - Liem

Position after 23...h6

The game continued with 24.Nf3 and white's attack diminished. What was the better continuation instead?

Round 7: Vidit saves his game from previous day's learning

Liem misjudged Vachier-Lagrave's sacrifice and assumed it to be more dangerous than it actually is.

Liem - Vachier-Lagrave

Position after 20...Rb8

The position might look absolutely dangerous for white but he can still save the game after 20...Rb8. How?

Vidit managed to hold Rook vs Rook-Bishop endgame to a draw against Nakamura, after losing in the same endgame against Giri on the previous day.

Vidit - Nakamura

Position after 86.Rd8

It is not easy to hold this endgame for 50-moves especially when you are down on time.

Duda made a positional mistake which Carlsen had no difficulty on capitalizing.

Duda - Carlsen

Position after 21...Be4

Find out why 21...Be4 allows something which white would have wanted all along.

Aronian made some bold decisions about Radjabov's attack on his kingside. Things very quickly went sideways for the Armenian.

Radjabov - Aronian

Position after 17...f5

17...f5 only hastens things in white's favor.

Firouzja won from a completely lost position against Anton.

Anton - Firouzja

Position after 25...Bg8

How do you evaluate this position? White is better or in danger? How should white continue after 25...Bg8 ?

Round 8: Radjabov scores the sole win

Both Aronian and Anton had their fare share of opportunities in the game.

Aronian - Anton

Position after 22...Ng7

What is the best plan for white after 22...Ng7 ?

Position after 35.bxc4

How can black push for a win here?

Duda had a very volatile position against Radjabov. He didn't defend the position properly and had to pay the price for it.

Duda - Radjabov

Position after 28...Bxg4 | Photo: ChessBase India live stream

How would you save the queen? Duda went for the natural 29.Qe1 which was not the best defence, in fact it caused the demise for the white king.

Giri-Nepomniachtchi turned out to be an uneventful draw. However, Giri could have spiced things up if he sacrificed his bishop on the previous move than he did in the game.

Giri - Nepomniachtchi

Position after 15...Re8

Find out if 16.Bxh6 is playable here.

Vidit held former World Blitz champion Liem to a solid draw.

Vidit had a solid draw against Liem | Photo: ChessBase India live stream

Round 9: Vidit misses a good opportunity against MVL

Vidit had a decent chance to stir up trouble in the endgame in an already advantageous position for him.

Vidit - Vachier-Lagrave

Position after 38...Kg7

The game continued with 39.Kf3. What was the better continuation for white?

Vidit's insane bit of opening preparation vs MVL's Grunfeld | Video: Sagar Shah

So picked up a fine victory over Liem.

The most highly anticipated game of Round 9 between the tournament leaders Carlsen and Giri had a lackluster draw.

Perhaps we will see fireworks in the knockout stage | Photo: ChessBase India live stream

Arguably Ding Liren scored the best win of the round against Radjabov ending his three-game win streak.

Radjabov - Ding Liren

Position after 34...Ng4

Black might be down by an exchange, but the knights are absolutely menacing. White made a mistake here with 35.Rd8+? Kf7 36.Rb7+? Kg6 37.Be4+ Kh5 and now black is completely winning.

Duda got into a difficult position out of the opening and couldn't recover for the rest of the game against Anton.

Anton - Duda

Position after 15.d6

The d6-pawn makes black's position look bleak.

Aronian's position got demolished after he erred tactically against Firouzja.

Firouzja - Aronian

Position after 20...Qf6

Find out the best continuation for white here.

Round 10: Karjakin beats Carlsen, five wins for white

After losing four consecutive games, Duda ended his losing streak by beating Firouzja in his final game of the day.

Duda - Firouzja

Position after 39...Rd7

In a seemingly equal position, black played 39...Rd7. Find out why it loses valuable time for black.

Anton tried to lock the position down but it didn't work against Ding Liren.

Ding Liren - Anton

Position after 27...f4

How should white respond here - should white take on f4? Anton overstretched after a few moves and created a weakness on his own.

Position after 31...f3

31...f3 doesn't help black, if anything, it only helps white to have a target. Eventually Anton blundered the f3-pawn and everything fell apart like a house of cards.

Carlsen got his queen trapped and it all went downhill from there against Karjakin.

Karjakin - Carlsen

Position after 29...dxe3 | Photo: chess24 live stream

Black has almost no compensation after 29...dxe3. What should white play to get the queen?

Nepomniachtchi played incorrectly early in the middlegame which allowed Nakamura to seize the advantage.

Nakamura - Nepomniachtchi

Position after 15.b4

Well the position obviously tells you the story that black has gone wrong quite early in the game.

Liem beat Svidler after he misjudged white's potentiality in the position.

Liem - Svidler

Position after 30...Bf8

Find out the best continuation for white after 30...Bf8.

Vidit held So to a solid draw.

Vidit made a solid draw against So | Photo: ChessBase India live stream

Replay all Round 6-10 games from Day 2

Replay the live stream

Live commentary by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal, and IM Soumya Swaminathan | Video: ChessBase India

Standings after Round 10

Anish Giri maintains his sole lead 6.5/10, Carlsen, So and Ding Liren are at shared second 6.0/10 | Photo: chess24

Schedule

Everyday game starts at 10:30 p.m. IST

Prizes

Prelim result	Tour Points	Prize
1st	10
2nd	8
3rd	6
4th	5
5th	4
6th	3
7th	2
8th	1
9-16th	0	$2,500
Knockout result	Tour Points	Prize
Quarterfinal loser	0	$5,000
Semifinal loser	10	$7,500
Runner-up	20	$15,000
Winner	40	$30,000