| Magnus Carlsen Invitational (2020) |
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The Magnus Carlsen Invitational saw eight of the world's best players compete online on the chess24 Playzone for a $250,000 prize fund, with $70,000 for 1st place. It began with a single round robin of matches from 18-30 April, with the top scoring players qualifying for the Final Four knockout. Each match consisted of four 15+10 Rapid games, with the winner earning 3 points, the loser 0. If the players tied 2:2 a single Armageddon game was played, where White had 5 minutes to Black's 4, with a draw counting as a win for Black. The Armageddon winner earned 2 points, the loser 1. No draws offers were allowed before move 40. All rounds and matches began at 16:00 CEST (server time 10:00 am). Tournament director: Sotiris Logothetis. Chief arbiter: Panagiotis Nikolopoulos. Nakamura, Ding Liren, Carlsen and Caruana qualified for the final stage: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Nakamura * 2 1 1 3 3 3 2 15
2 Ding Liren 1 * 3 1 3 3 2 2 15
3 Carlsen 2 0 * 3 2 3 0 3 13
4 Caruana 2 2 0 * 3 3 0 3 13
5 Nepomniachtchi 0 0 1 0 * 2 3 2 8
6 Firouzja 0 0 0 0 1 * 3 3 7
7 Giri 0 1 3 3 0 0 * 0 7
8 Vachier-Lagrave 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 * 6
In the Final Four (on 1-3 May) the top four players competed in a knockout with two semifinals and a final. Each match consisted of four 15+10 Rapid games. If it ended 2:2 then up to two pairs of 5+3 Blitz tiebreak games, and if still tied the match would be decided by an Armageddon game. Magnus Carlsen won his own event by beating Nakamura in the final: Played 1 May
Carlsen ½011 -- -- - 2½
Ding Liren ½100 -- -- - 1½ Played 3 May
Carlsen 101½ -- -- - 2½
Played 2 May Nakamura 010½ -- -- - 1½
Nakamura ½½10 11 -- - 4
Caruana ½½01 00 -- - 2
Official site: https://www.magnuscarlsen.com/en/in...
Regulations: https://cdn.chess24.com/ZPkiiZx1Q3y...
Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/202...
ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/magnu...
chess24 Lineup: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/ma...
chess24 Preliminary: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t...
chess24 Final Four: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t...
TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew...
Wikipedia article: Magnus Carlsen InvitationalThe event eventually became the first of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. Next was Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge (2020)
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| page 1 of 6; games 1-25 of 136 |
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| Game |
| Result | Moves |
Year | Event/Locale | Opening |
| 1. Carlsen vs Nakamura |
  | 1-0 | 67 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 2. Ding Liren vs Firouzja |
| ½-½ | 42 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | E51 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 |
| 3. Nakamura vs Carlsen |
| 1-0 | 40 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C78 Ruy Lopez |
| 4. Firouzja vs Ding Liren |
| 0-1 | 45 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | B90 Sicilian, Najdorf |
| 5. Carlsen vs Nakamura |
| 1-0 | 56 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 6. Ding Liren vs Firouzja |
| ½-½ | 42 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | A06 Reti Opening |
| 7. Nakamura vs Carlsen |
| 1-0 | 31 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | B82 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
| 8. Firouzja vs Ding Liren |
| ½-½ | 47 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense |
| 9. Nakamura vs Carlsen |
| 0-1 | 32 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen |
| 10. Caruana vs Nepomniachtchi |
| ½-½ | 69 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C18 French, Winawer |
| 11. Vachier-Lagrave vs Giri |
| 1-0 | 59 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical |
| 12. Nepomniachtchi vs Caruana |
| ½-½ | 68 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C78 Ruy Lopez |
| 13. Giri vs Vachier-Lagrave |
| 0-1 | 26 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | D43 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav |
| 14. Caruana vs Nepomniachtchi |
| ½-½ | 30 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C01 French, Exchange |
| 15. Vachier-Lagrave vs Giri |
| ½-½ | 92 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | B30 Sicilian |
| 16. Nepomniachtchi vs Caruana |
| 0-1 | 73 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C78 Ruy Lopez |
| 17. Giri vs Vachier-Lagrave |
| ½-½ | 47 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 |
| 18. Carlsen vs Firouzja |
| 1-0 | 34 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation |
| 19. Nakamura vs Giri |
| 1-0 | 42 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | E60 King's Indian Defense |
| 20. Firouzja vs Carlsen |
| 1-0 | 43 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | B30 Sicilian |
| 21. Giri vs Nakamura |
| ½-½ | 67 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |
| 22. Carlsen vs Firouzja |
| 1-0 | 58 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation |
| 23. Nakamura vs Giri |
| ½-½ | 41 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | D10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav |
| 24. Firouzja vs Carlsen |
| ½-½ | 64 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense |
| 25. Giri vs Nakamura |
| ½-½ | 52 | 2020 | Magnus Carlsen Invitational | C53 Giuoco Piano |
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| page 1 of 6; games 1-25 of 136 |
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 14 OF 15 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| May-02-20 | | Knightcarver: <dehanne> I would prefer Trent and Gustafsson were gone. Svidler is a good commentator, but many of these other guys are simply clowns. |
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May-02-20
 | | saffuna: Svidler is good, but he goes way, way too fast for me. A person has to be a far better player than I am to keep up. ...
When Seirawan and Ashley do analysis they move at a slower pace and I can more or less keep up. Of course I am comparing Svidler analyzing rapid games and Seirawan and Ashley analyzing classic games, so it's natural Svidler goes very fast. At one point today he suggested a move than said, "Oops, that's a blunder." Then he suggested another and in a few seconds said, "Oops, that's a blunder, too." He did it a third time, and Trent and Gustafson began to tease him. |
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May-02-20
 | | moronovich: <At one point today he suggested a move than said, "Oops, that's a blunder." Then he suggested another and in a few seconds said, "Oops, that's a blunder, too."> This just shows how good he is. |
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May-02-20
| | saffuna: I agree. He was tossing out interesting ideas. Makes it fun. However it seems when lower-rated players, often women, do this (toss out ideas that don't work), they often get called incompetent or worse. |
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| May-02-20 | | Sokrates: I admit that I haven't always got the patience to follow the commentators. Svidler is quick on the trigger and he sometimes forgets that we aren't GMs, we spectators. I feel privileged to pick his brain, though. He is a formidable player and analyst, and even if I don't always follow his quickest reasonings, there is always gold in his bag. - - -
Jan Gustafsson is a peculiar person with an odd body language. His diction is strange and his thoughts often go adrift. He rarely takes part in the analysis - sometimes he just sits and and stares. Seirawan is, of course, very likable, and I particularly like him next to a woman commentator. Contrary to the Short next to Hou constellation, which was a disaster because Short is so fascinated by himself. |
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| May-02-20 | | Pedro Fernandez: Still my 200 bookies I bet to Carlsen are in play. Just I lost 10 bookies I bet to Caruana. BTW, Fabi Was excellent in this Invitational as he does not know play at those times. |
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| May-03-20 | | Gypsy: <I would prefer Trent and Gustafsson were gone. Svidler is a good commentator, but many of these other guys are simply clowns.> The problem with that idea is that somebody like Swidler needs those other guys around so that he has a pretty competent in-place response. Its like a stage actor that needs the crowd in the theater, even if a TV is doing a live broadcast. |
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| May-03-20 | | SirChrislov: Finals: Exciting stuff! Carlsen won the first game as white, Naka tied up winning the second as white in an interesting knight endgame. MC's choice of opening heavily being criticised by the announcers in that 2nd game. 3rd game starts shortly on the live stream. |
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| May-03-20 | | metatron2: <Knightcarver: <dehanne> I would prefer Trent and Gustafsson were gone. Svidler is a good commentator, but many of these other guys are simply clowns>
Trent is cool and always add spice to the commentary and he is also good enough to discuss relevant lines. When he is around the discussions never get boring or monotonic. Gustafsson is like the host of the commentary. He doesn't really adds much other than keep things in order, but I guess you need such a guy. Svidler is indeed a great chess player and analyst, and it is always great to have him around. But you were all ignoring Grischuk for some reason. He is also a great player, and always gives interesting lines that others fail to see. He sees a lot very quickly. He did win the blitz world championship twice after all.. |
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| May-03-20 | | SirChrislov: Finals game 3: Hikaru "Nak'd-down" in a lost bishop endgame against white's 3 passed pawns. He needs to go all out in game 4 to stay alive. Game 4 starts shortly on the live stream.with Peter Svidler. |
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| May-03-20 | | Pedro Fernandez: Just he needs a draw, but sometimes it does not happen. It will see. |
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| May-03-20 | | SirChrislov: MC leads 2 - 1.
game 4 has started... Magnus played the Cambridge Springs!? |
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May-03-20
 | | JointheArmy: Nakamura missed significant chances to win in Game 4 with 43. h4! Congrats to Magnus for winning his own tournament. |
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| May-03-20 | | SirChrislov: Magnus neatly stabilized in game 4 against Hikaru's passed a-pawn in a rook endgame. Final: 2½ - 1½ Magnus wins the MC Invitational. |
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| May-03-20 | | SirChrislov: -Maguns, how does rate in victories in your career? "Certainly winning this tournament is one of a kind so I suppose that's a very good thing." --MC |
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May-03-20
 | | chancho: User: another User: easy User: beat User: ing |
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| May-03-20 | | 0ZeR0: Congratulations, Magnus! I thought game 3 in particular was quite interesting and impressive. |
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| May-03-20 | | chuparinov: Carlsen made this tournament more exciting by trolling some of his games.if he keeps on winning or drawing games,it is kind of boring.add some drama and you have a blockbuster tournament. |
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May-03-20
| | chancho: <Hikaru Nakamura
@GMHikaru
·
22m
While the outcome was not what I wanted today, I feel that chess has been a big winner over the last couple of weeks. Congrats to
@MagnusCarlsen
on his deserved victory in the #MagnusInvite> |
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| May-03-20 | | SirChrislov: Magnus Carlsen
@MagnusCarlsen
·
5h
Had a very enjoyable two weeks, as a player, commentator, and spectator. Especially happy to have played some of my best chess in the final against
@GMHikaru
, who impressed me greatly with his performance. Can't wait to go again!
@chess24com
#MagnusInvite |
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| May-04-20 | | Sokrates: A great match in this final. Nakamura can be very proud of his performance both in the match and in this tournament. His win in the second game was brilliant. Nakamura has had his ups and downs in recent years - I hope this will boost his self-confidence. I'd rather see him in the elite than, say Giri. - - -
Congratulations to Carlsen, of course. He impressed me the most when he beat Ding Liren in their second match after having suffered another defeat to the Chinese. That's the stamina and fighting spirit world champions are made of. The third match game vs. Nakamura was a wonderful game rich of contents and ideas. In these sinister times this tournament came as a light in the dark, and I hope further such tournaments will keep chess afloat while we all wait for a cure and vaccination. |
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| May-04-20 | | MrMelad: Nice to see Carlsen is maintaining a good relationship with one of his regular clients, that's good business strategy :) Jokes aside, great spirit by both players and a very enjoyable tournament overall. |
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| May-04-20 | | PhilFeeley: <Can't wait to go again! @chess24com
#MagnusInvite>
So make another one already! I'm sure the others would love to try again. coronavirus isolation is still in effect, right? Let's have another online tournament. |
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May-05-20
 | | Sally Simpson: ***
A report of the tournament in The Guardian.
' Fast and furious: Carlsen and Nakamura transform chess into an adrenaline sport' https://www.theguardian.com/sport/b... Nakamura's seven year old throw away joke about Carlsen being Sauron still being quoted and Fischer was 'obviously a gargantuan outlier.' But on the whole a good piece to spark an interest in the game for the sport starved none players. *** |
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| May-05-20 | | ajile: Naka had the misfortune to be born in the same time frame as Carlsen. He's just not in the same class and probably never will be. |
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