Chessable Masters Days 2-3: So Tops Preliminaries
GM Wesley So has finished in sole first place in the Chessable Masters preliminaries, just ahead of GM Alireza Firouzja, Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Levon Aronian. GM Le Quang Liem and GM Jorden van Foreest just made the cut and have qualified for the knockout.
The games of the Chessable Masters knockout can be found here as part of our live events platform. Daily commentary is provided on GM Hikaru Nakamura's Twitch channel starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific / 17:00 Central Europe.
Just like in many earlier online events, So played very solid chess in the first three days of the Chessable Masters. The American GM scored an undefeated 11/15. Nakamura also went through the preliminaries without a loss but scored half a point less than his compatriot.
So said he was "inspired" by the absence of the world champion in this tournament: "I figured I should try and score as many points when he is not here."
His biggest win was against one of the finalists of the previous Champions Chess Tour event, GM Vladislav Artemiev, who tried the Alekhine. The Russian GM later tricked his opponent (on move 30) but then spoiled the win in time trouble:
France's new top GM Firouzja did well as one of the players to finish half a point behind So. His only loss was in round seven against GM Pentala Harikrishna:
We are treating you with a second Game of the Day as we're covering two days of play. Nakamura won a good game in round 13:
The 12-year-old GM Abhimanyu Mishra had a tough event but did manage to avoid finishing in last place, mostly thanks to beating Harikrishna in the penultimate round. The final phase in time trouble was interesting and not flawless by either player.
"It was a dream come true to play in this event, against these players," Mishra said afterward. "It was amazing, it was full of ups and downs and at the end, I was able to win."
Chessable Masters Preliminaries | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts |
| 1 | So | 2772 | 2850 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 11.0 | ||
| 2 | Aronian | 2782 | 2821 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10.5 | ||
| 3 | Firouzja | 2759 | 2822 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10.5 | ||
| 4 | Nakamura | 2736 | 2824 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 10.5 | ||
| 5 | Artemiev | 2704 | 2774 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 9.5 | ||
| 6 | Le | 2709 | 2749 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9.0 | ||
| 7 | Mamedyarov | 2782 | 2745 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 9.0 | ||
| 8 | Van Foreest | 2688 | 2726 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8.5 | ||
| 9 | Adhiban | 2660 | 2659 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 7.0 | ||
| 10 | Iturrizaga | 2607 | 2662 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.0 | ||
| 11 | Tari | 2639 | 2637 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6.5 | ||
| 12 | Harikrishna | 2730 | 2607 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.0 | ||
| 13 | Anton | 2673 | 2587 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | ||
| 14 | Ju | 2560 | 2568 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | ||
| 15 | Mishra | 2504 | 2413 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 2.5 | ||
| 16 | Koneru | 2586 | 2362 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 2.0 |
All Games Days 2-3
The Chessable Masters runs July 31-August 8, 2021 on chess24. The preliminary phase is a 16-player rapid (15|10) round-robin. The top eight players advance to a six-day knockout that consists of two days of four-game rapid matches, which advance to blitz (5|3) and armageddon (White has five minutes, Black four with no increment) tiebreaks only if a knockout match is tied after the second day. The prize fund is $100,000, including a $30,000 first prize.
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