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Opera Euro Rapid (2021) The Opera Euro Rapid was the third event of the $1.5 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2020-2021. The games were played online from 6-14 February 2021 on the chess24 Playzone. It started with a 16-player round robin on the first three days (time control 15 minutes for all moves with 10 seconds added per move from move one), from which the eight best players qualified for an elimination (knockout) phase on the last six days (9-14 February). The action each day began at 16:00 GMT (17:00 CET, 11:00 ET). Prize fund: $100,000, with $30,000 to the winner. Tournament directors: Arne Horvei and Sotiris Logothetis. Chief arbiter: Panagiotis Nikolopoulos. N games played 120 + 64 = 184. Carlsen, Giri, So, Aronian, Vachier-Lagrave, Duda, Radjabov and Dubov qualified for the knockout stage: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Carlsen * ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 0 9½ 2 Giri ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 9½ 3 So 1 ½ * ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 9 4 Aronian 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 8½ 5 Vachier-Lagrave ½ 0 1 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 8½ 6 Duda ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 8 7 Radjabov ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 8 8 Dubov ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 7½ 9 Nakamura 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7½ 10 Shankland 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 7 11 Nepomniachtchi ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 1 0 ½ 7 12 Vidit 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 0 6½ 13 Dominguez 0 ½ 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 * 1 ½ 0 6½ 14 Grischuk ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 6½ 15 Bluebaum 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 5½ 16 Ding Liren 1 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ * 5 In the knockout each match consisted of two mini-matches of up to four games each (Rapid 15 + 10), and if 1-1 a tiebreak match of two games (Blitz 5 + 3) plus if necessary an Armageddon game (5 vs 4). Wesley So beat Magnus Carlsen 1½-½ in the final. Quarterfinals (9-10 February) Semifinals (11-12 February) Final (13-14 February) So ½011 11-- -- - 2 Duda ½100 00-- -- - 0 So 101½ ½½1- -- - 2 Radjabov 010½ ½v0- -- - 0 Radjabov ½½10 ½½½½ ½1 - 2 Giri ½½01 ½½½½ ½0 - 1 So ½0½1 1½½½ -- - 1½ Carlsen ½1½0 0½½½ -- - ½ Carlsen 1½1- ½00- 10 1 2½ Dubov 0½0- ½11- 01 0 1½ Carlsen 1½1- ½½00 10 1 2½ Vachier-Lagrave 0½0- ½½11 01 0 1½ Vachier-Lagrave ½1½½ 1½0½ -- - 1½ Aronian ½0½½ 0½1½ -- - ½ Match for 3rd place (13-14 February): Radjabov ½101 11-- -- - 2 Vachier-Lagrave ½010 00-- -- - 0 So netted 46 tour points. Carlsen got 35 points, Radjabov 17 and Vachier-Lagrave 14. Standings after three events: So and Radjabov 108 points each, Carlsen 85, Aronian 65, MVL 50. Official site: https://championschesstour.com/oper... Regulations: https://championschesstour.com/regu... Chess-Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr548204.... Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/wes... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/opera... chess24 1: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t... chess24 2: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew... Previous Champions Chess Tour event: Airthings Masters (2020/21). Next: Magnus Carlsen Invitational (2021)  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 91  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Bluebaum vs Radjabov   ½-½ 79 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D05 Queen's Pawn Game 2. L Dominguez Perez vs Nakamura   ½-½ 48 2021 Opera Euro Rapid C70 Ruy Lopez 3. Grischuk vs Giri ½-½ 52 2021 Opera Euro Rapid C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 4. Dubov vs Giri   ½-½ 53 2021 Opera Euro Rapid C56 Two Knights 5. Nakamura vs Duda   ½-½ 38 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 6. Ding Liren vs Bluebaum   ½-½ 77 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 7. L Dominguez Perez vs Radjabov   ½-½ 84 2021 Opera Euro Rapid B33 Sicilian 8. Duda vs V S Gujrathi   ½-½ 110 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 9. Grischuk vs Nakamura   ½-½ 52 2021 Opera Euro Rapid C70 Ruy Lopez 10. Dubov vs Nepomniachtchi ½-½ 81 2021 Opera Euro Rapid B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 11. V S Gujrathi vs Grischuk   ½-½ 45 2021 Opera Euro Rapid E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 12. Radjabov vs Duda   ½-½ 64 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D40 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 13. Vachier-Lagrave vs Bluebaum   ½-½ 67 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D35 Queen's Gambit Declined 14. So vs Aronian   ½-½ 53 2021 Opera Euro Rapid E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation 15. Shankland vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ 41 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D97 Grunfeld, Russian 16. Grischuk vs Radjabov   ½-½ 49 2021 Opera Euro Rapid B31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation 17. Dubov vs Nakamura   ½-½ 40 2021 Opera Euro Rapid E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 18. V S Gujrathi vs Nepomniachtchi   ½-½ 87 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D42 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch, 7.Bd3 19. Radjabov vs Giri   ½-½ 40 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 20. Carlsen vs Duda   ½-½ 37 2021 Opera Euro Rapid A18 English, Mikenas-Carls 21. Bluebaum vs Dubov   ½-½ 73 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D04 Queen's Pawn Game 22. Duda vs Vachier-Lagrave   ½-½ 65 2021 Opera Euro Rapid D97 Grunfeld, Russian 23. Grischuk vs Carlsen   ½-½ 65 2021 Opera Euro Rapid B30 Sicilian 24. Nepomniachtchi vs Radjabov   ½-½ 48 2021 Opera Euro Rapid B32 Sicilian 25. Nakamura vs V S Gujrathi   ½-½ 156 2021 Opera Euro Rapid A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 91    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing> Mar-04-21    perfidious: Aronian has undergone extraordinary changes and a grievous tragedy in his personal and professional life; he should do what is best for him. Mar-04-21    Clemens Scheitz: I wish I had the disposition and enthusiasm of <Ayler Kupp> to answer and comment at length every single one of the posts that my original statement generated, the silly generalizations, the false dichotomies, the irrelevancies, the misunderstandings, etc. but I won't bother with all of that. I will, instead, try to rephrase my position: Levon has the right to live where he wants to, and to sharply and openly denounce the Armenian Federation if it's true that they are making huge mistakes and false promises, as he claims. I have no objection regarding him moving to another country to use their superior infrastructure and technical facilities or making money publishing books, giving simuls or what have you, but representing a foreign country is, to me, a different matter altogether. Perhaps I'm an antiquated romantic but a national team or representative should be chosen from the best the country has produced and not from the best their money can buy. I believe there should be limitations for when it is proper to represent a country other than the one of your birth and development, and when it is not, by considering many factors, such as, how old was the person when he moved to the new country, when did he became professional or widely recognized, who were his teachers and mentors, etc. In the case of our dear Levon, I bet his departure doesn't harm as much the few wrongdoers of the Federation as it disappoints and hurts thousands of everyday Armenians, farmers, miners, construcction workers, etc,etc. As Lusine Shahbazyan points out, "the news provoked a big wave of discontent as soon as it was posted and Aronian's intentions sparked sharp criticisms among Armenian Facebook users". A key piece of this puzzle is whether Mr. Sinquefield offered Mr. Aronian all this help and support with an undeclared but implicit condition that he must represent the United States. That, to me, would be censurable from Mr. Sinquefield and regrettable from Mr. Aronian. Mar-05-21    metatron2: <Clemens Scheitz: I have no objection regarding him moving to another country to use their superior infrastructure and technical facilities or making money publishing books, giving simuls or what have you, but representing a foreign country is, to me, a different matter altogether> I agree that it would have been better that way, but unfortunately that is not really possible in chess. You compared Aronian with Messi, and despite your mix-up between FC Barca and a national team, football is a good comparison. Football is a team game, so football clubs are major factors there. When fb player joins a club's team, the club gives him full salary and helps him relocate near by, and his entire daily routine revolves around that club (team trainings etc). The big fb clubs pay many millions for players transfers, and pay multi millions salaries for the best players. So fb players change clubs all the time (either because of their own career considerations, or because the club is no longer interested in them), but they hardly ever leave their national team. So in fb, the national fb association and the national team, doesn't affect the player on daily bases, and are not the source of his income. So in fb, the national team is purely about representing your country and all the pride around that. However in chess that is not the case. For professional chess players a chess-club is somewhere they play league games once in a while, and they usually play in 2 or even 3 teams from different countries concurrently, because they get payed per game there. So in case a pro chess player decides to relocate to a different country, chess club is a factor for him, since it doesn't pay his salary (he gets his income from tournaments and other individual activities). However the chess federation of that country is a factor, since the player needs to join that federation in order to get their rating (that is important for local tournaments), to get their support in case he is competing internationally, maybe to let him train special teams, etc. And so when Mr. Sinquefield asks Aronian to join, he doesn't ask him to join his chess club, he asks him to join the US chess federation. That's the way it is with individual sports. BTW, as I mentioned, last season, Messi really wanted to leave FC Barca. It was really an hot issue back then: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal... But obviously he never considered switching from Argentina national team (he did retire from it once (for a short time) though..). Mar-05-21    thelegendisback: <metatron2> you claim that "football is a good comparison". ok are you aware that in football once you play for one national team you cannot ever play for any other national team? Mar-05-21    metatron2: <thelegendisback> If you read my entire post, you probably saw that I wrote that fb players <hardly ever leave their national team>. I said that football is a good comparison because it emphasize the <difference> between team sports and individual sports. With team sports the transfers are usually done between clubs and not between the national teams. I didn't know the exact rules of switching between national teams, but I assumed that they are pretty strict (also because we hardly ever see such switches..). According to Wikipedia, until 2004 the only limitation for switching fb national teams was to hold citizenship in the target nation, and since 2004, players can only switch prior to age 21 (with some further limitations, that changed just lately): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_... Mar-05-21    thelegendisback: <metatron2> it's not that they hardly ever change, it's they can't change even if they wanted to. In chess the situation is completely the opposite, I heard that you don't even need to hold citizenship to play for a national team. Mar-05-21    metatron2: <thelegendisback: it's they can't change even if they wanted to> Football players can change national teams before turning 21, and that is a mature enough age in football. And before 2004 they could change nations without that age limitation. The point is that they don't have real motivation to make such a drastic change, especially not the elite players (which should be the ones compared to Aronian of course). Because fb players make all their money in their club team. And they switch clubs like they switch socks, when they think it will give them any improvement. Why should Messy ever switch from Argentina national fb team (even if he could)? what motivation can he have for doing something like that? Or C. Ronaldo switching from Portugal national fb team? how can that help his career? So if you want to compare elite chess players to elite football players, compare chess players switching federations to fb players switching fb clubs (even though its not 1 to 1 comparison, it is still a better comparison to switching fb national teams). Mar-05-21    Clemens Scheitz: Hi <metatron2>, Thanks for trying to show me about world soccer, but it wasn't necessary since I know as much about soccer as the next guy, and like most aficionados I'm eager to find out what "la pulga" is going to do at the end of the season. My analogy was only to show how perverse and mishandled would be to see Messi playing for the British national team. FCBarcelona ( by being now so untidy and careless ) represents the Armenian Federation or the evildoers that our world-renowned sportsman wants to leave behind, the Premier league represents a good option for Leo to continue his playing days ( I hope he goes to Manchester city as opposed to PSG, if he moves) just as the States represent a good option to be Levon's base of operations or headquarters if you will, but once again ,to me, seeing Aronian representing USA is just as moronic and asinine as imagining Messi playing for England. Mar-05-21    thelegendisback: <metatron2> a possible motivation could be to win the world cup of course. but anyway i think we are going off topic now. and why is this discussed in the page Opera Euro Rapid anyway? Mar-05-21    LameJokes: CG creates new event page for Candidates or resumes on old? Mar-05-21    thelegendisback: when are the Candidates resuming? i need to study the games. Mar-05-21    Sokrates: <Clemens Scheitz> <As Lusine Shahbazyan points out, "the news provoked a big wave of discontent as soon as it was posted and Aronian's intentions sparked sharp criticisms among Armenian Facebook users".> Everyone knows that <Facebook users> and discussions on FB are very often nothing but extreme, vitriolic garbage placed by angry, chauvinistic people who contribute with nothing but hate and division. No doubt, some of his many fans in Armenia are disappointed, but I am also sure he shall find an equally number of positive Armenian immigrants in the U.S. No people or nation owns Mr. Aronian. He is free to do what he finds right. As so precisely expressed by <perfidious>: <Aronian has undergone extraordinary changes and a grievous tragedy in his personal and professional life; he should do what is best for him.> Thanks, <moro>, dear friend. Mar-05-21    Clemens Scheitz: dear <Sokrates>, of course he is free to do what he finds right, we all do what we find right, but every action could be evaluated by outsiders and that's all we are doing here, and I'm sure you agree that many times a neutral view from the outside reveals more truth than what you feel and see when you are immerse in a situation. In many cases <extraordinary changes and a grievous tragedy in a personal and professional life> could cloud someone's best resolutions and judgement, as your phychology trained wife would say. And I'm not impliying that Levon is not thinking straigth, I love the guy but I still consider that it would be indiscreet and ill-advised to start playing for the US. I imagine the next chess Olympiads and it is USA against Armenia and we find Levon sitting across a promising young talent from Yerevan trying to beat him ( or maybe trying not to beat him ? ), wierd, isn't it ? Mar-05-21    LameJokes: I just checked. Candidates resumes in April. I had seen chessbomb start event page. So I mistakenly thought it starts now. Mar-05-21    metatron2: <Clemens Scheitz: Thanks for trying to show me about world soccer, but it wasn't necessary since I know as much about soccer as the next guy> It wasn't an introduction to soccer, I was making a point about the comparison between elite soccer players and elite chess players regarding them switching nationalities. <Clemens Scheitz: My analogy was only to show how perverse and mishandled would be to see Messi playing for the British national team. FCBarcelona ( by being now so untidy and careless ) represents the Armenian Federation or the evildoers that our world-renowned sportsman wants to leave behind, the Premier league represents a good option for Leo to continue his playing days ( I hope he goes to Manchester city as opposed to PSG, if he moves)> And that just shows why such comparison is so problematic. Because Messi doesn't need to play in the premier league in order to play in England national fb team. Many of the international fb players don't play in the country they represent, and there is no problem with that (unlike chess..), And FC Barca is not a good representation for the Armenian chess federation since it is a FC club, not a nation, and that's a big difference (because you don't have all that national obligation that you just talked about..). <thelegendisback: a possible motivation could be to win the world cup of course> That's a very weak motivation. Elite fb player won't go all that trouble just to increase his chances to win the world cup with a foreign nation. "money talks bs walks" is their main consideration, not to mention the fact that there is no guaranty for winning the world cup (not even close..), and all the explanations and apologies he will have to give for that slim chance.. I don't think so.. Mar-06-21    Clemens Scheitz: <metatron2's "...Messi doesn't need to play in the premier league in order to play in England national team> No one is saying that he does ! <FCBarcelona is a club, not a nation..> You probably should have said " FCBarcelona is a club not a chess federation" to make your point "stronger", but in any case, you are expecting an absolute and unambiguous correlation between parts of my analogy and you fail to consider that an analogy is nothing more than a correspondence or partial similarity, a device to make connections to create imagery and encouraging deeper thoughts. Mar-06-21    metatron2: <Clemens Scheitz> You said that you had no problem with Aronian moving to the US, enjoying all its benefits, but you expect him to still play for Armenia. My point was that in chess, that is not a practical option, because of the nature of individual sports in general, and the way chess is managed in specific. If a chess player relocates to another country and wants to be part of its chess scene, then it will be very difficult for him not switch federations as well (and playing temporally under fide like Firouzja does, is no better of course). You gave an example from the soccer world, and my point was that soccer, being a team sports, is a different story all together, where players have motivation to switch clubs, but have no motivation to switch their national team (and as of 2004 they can't do it even if they wanted to, after turning 21). So I don't know what you want to show with your analogy, because you mix clubs and nations in that analogy. If you want to compare Aronian's move to the US, to Messi leaving FC Barca for lets say Man. City, then that is a valid analogy, but as I said, Messi wanted to do that switch real bad by the end of the last season (rejoining Pep, his legendary manager..), so such an analogy gives more legitimacy for Aronian's move. Mar-06-21    Clemens Scheitz: I think I've had enough of all this <metatron2>, thanks for responding, just one minor clarification though, I never said that I <expect Levon to still play for Armenia>, I don't care if he does or if he doesn't, I just believe firmly and resolutely that he shouldn't represent the United States. Mar-08-21    Sokrates: Quote from ChessBase: "3/8/2021 – Wesley So has represented the United States since the end of 2014 and has collected a number of major successes since his transfer. A couple of weeks ago, the Filipino-born star officially became a United States citizen. So declared, “From the moment I landed here I was encouraged and enabled to become better than I was”. " Dear Clemens. What is your take on that? So is also a sort of Sinquefield supported immigrant, so I reckon <that he shouldn't represent the United States> either? Mar-08-21    thelegendisback: <My point was that in chess, that is not a practical option, because of the nature of individual sports in general, and the way chess is managed in specific.> That's debatable, there are in fact numerous examples of strong players who moved to another country but still continued for their country. Mar-08-21    metatron2: <thelegendisback: there are in fact numerous examples of strong players who moved to another country but still continued for their country> Well I am not familiar with those numerous examples. Can you give say 8-10 examples of strong players, who relocated, and did not change federations, and kept playing for their original nation (they need to be strong enough to represent their nation of course)? But we are talking about modern times here, so it should be from the 90s and afterwards, and we are talking about pro chess players, so I guess they should have an IM title at the very least. Mar-08-21    Clemens Scheitz: Exactly my dear <Sokrates >, in my view, Wesley doesn't belong in the group of "the best chess players the United States has produced " due to a combination of several components; he was too old (19) when he moved to the States, his parents were not American ( no bonus points there ) and when he relocated, he was already a monster at the board and a champion in the making, characteristics that were with him even if the United States as a country never existed... Mar-09-21    thelegendisback: <Well I am not familiar with those numerous examples.> <metatron2> I don't have time now but for example Anand and Topalov both lived in Spain and continued to play for their respective countries (India and Bulgaria). Mar-09-21    metatron2: <thelegendisback> Well, two chess players is not exactly "numerous examples", but Anand and Topa are interesting: Anand indeed moved to the Spain in the 90s, because all the elite tourneys were in Europe at the time, but it wasn't a full relocation. Each year he spent a few months in India and contributed a lot to chess development there. I guess only few players can afford maintaining two homes, and keep traveling between them. As for Topalov, I'm not sure when he moved to Spain and whether it was a full relocation. Do you have the dates? was that during Topa most active and successful years (until 2010)? Because I remember that during those years he was very close to Danailov, and as far as I know, Danailov lived in Bulgaria (right?). Also the Bulgarian chess federation helped Topa a lot, including providing him access to the famous super computer during his match vs Anand. So I would be very surprised if Topa actually lived in Spain during those years (I mean if he fully relocated to Spain, and not just spent there a few months each year). So if you have a source that says when and how Topa lived in Spain when he was fully active, then I'll be interested to see that. Mar-09-21    nok: Kramnik, Kasimdjanov, Short, Kosteniuk... Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 5) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. 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