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Skilling Open (2020) The Skilling Open was the first event of the $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour 2020-2021. The games were played online from 22-30 November 2020 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 (25-30 November) and an invitation for the next Tour event. The action each day began at 17:00 GMT (18:00 CET, 12:00 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, Nakamura, So, Nepomniachtchi, Aronian, Radjabov, Vachier-Lagrave, and Giri qualified for the knockout stage: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Carlsen * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 9 2 Nakamura ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 9 3 So ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 8½ 4 Nepomniachtchi 1 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 8½ 5 Aronian ½ ½ 0 ½ * 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 8½ 6 Radjabov 0 ½ ½ 0 1 * 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 8 7 Vachier-Lagrave ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 8 8 Giri ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 8 9 Firouzja 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 * 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 8 10 Le Quang Liem ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 * ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 8 11 Ding Liren ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 7½ 12 Vidit 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 1 0 ½ 6½ 13 Anton 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 6½ 14 Svidler ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 * ½ ½ 6 15 Karjakin 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ * 1 5½ 16 Duda 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 * 4½ 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 needed an Armageddon game (5 vs 4). Wesley So won the event by beating Magnus Carlsen 2-1 in the final: Quarterfinals (25-26 November) Semifinals (27-28 November) Final (29-30 November) So 0½0- ½1½½ ½½ 1 2½ Radjabov 1½1- ½0½½ ½½ 0 1½ So ½1½½ ½½½½ -- - 1½ Nakamura ½0½½ ½½½½ -- - ½ Nakamura 0½½½ 1½1- 01 1 2½ Vachier-Lagrave 1½½½ 0½0- 10 0 1½ So 0101 01½½ 1½ - 2 Carlsen 1010 10½½ 0½ - 1 Carlsen ½½½1 ½½½½ -- - 1½ Giri ½½½0 ½½½½ -- - ½ Carlsen 1½½½ 01½½ -- - 1½ Nepomniachtchi 0½½½ 10½½ -- - ½ Nepomniachtchi ½100 1½½1 11 - 2 Aronian ½011 0½½0 00 - 1 So netted 46 tour points, and qualified for playing in the first Major (12-player) event of the tour. Carlsen got 30 points, Nakamura 18 and Nepomniachtchi 15. Official site: https://championschesstour.com/skil... Regulations: https://championschesstour.com/regu... Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/wes... Chess-Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr541412... ChessBase 1: https://en.chessbase.com/post/champ... ChessBase 2: https://en.chessbase.com/post/skill... ChessBase 3: https://en.chessbase.com/post/skill... chess24 1: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t... chess24 2: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/we... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew... Wikipedia article: Skilling Open Next Champions Chess Tour event: Airthings Masters (2020/21)  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 184  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Giri vs Vachier-Lagrave   ½-½ 26 2020 Skilling Open B62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer 2. Karjakin vs Ding Liren   ½-½ 24 2020 Skilling Open B54 Sicilian 3. Nakamura vs Duda   ½-½ 34 2020 Skilling Open C43 Petrov, Modern Attack 4. Le Quang Liem vs Aronian 0-1 53 2020 Skilling Open D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 5. V S Gujrathi vs Firouzja   ½-½ 49 2020 Skilling Open E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 6. So vs D Anton Guijarro   ½-½ 51 2020 Skilling Open E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 7. Svidler vs Radjabov   ½-½ 88 2020 Skilling Open C53 Giuoco Piano 8. Nepomniachtchi vs Carlsen 1-0 38 2020 Skilling Open C60 Ruy Lopez 9. Vachier-Lagrave vs Carlsen   ½-½ 71 2020 Skilling Open C67 Ruy Lopez 10. Radjabov vs Nepomniachtchi   0-1 41 2020 Skilling Open D93 Grunfeld, with Bf4 & e3 11. D Anton Guijarro vs Svidler   1-0 32 2020 Skilling Open D85 Grunfeld 12. Firouzja vs So 1-0 35 2020 Skilling Open D04 Queen's Pawn Game 13. Aronian vs V S Gujrathi 1-0 53 2020 Skilling Open D40 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 14. Duda vs Le Quang Liem   ½-½ 52 2020 Skilling Open D40 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 15. Ding Liren vs Nakamura   ½-½ 37 2020 Skilling Open C53 Giuoco Piano 16. Giri vs Karjakin   1-0 43 2020 Skilling Open D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 17. Karjakin vs Vachier-Lagrave   ½-½ 37 2020 Skilling Open B69 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 11.Bxf6 18. Nakamura vs Giri   ½-½ 45 2020 Skilling Open B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 19. Le Quang Liem vs Ding Liren   ½-½ 32 2020 Skilling Open E15 Queen's Indian 20. V S Gujrathi vs Duda   ½-½ 79 2020 Skilling Open D85 Grunfeld 21. So vs Aronian 1-0 46 2020 Skilling Open E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 22. Svidler vs Firouzja   ½-½ 47 2020 Skilling Open B10 Caro-Kann 23. Nepomniachtchi vs D Anton Guijarro 0-1 32 2020 Skilling Open A01 Nimzovich-Larsen Attack 24. Carlsen vs Radjabov   1-0 28 2020 Skilling Open D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 25. Vachier-Lagrave vs Radjabov   0-1 57 2020 Skilling Open B30 Sicilian  page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 184    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-06-20    Tabanus: <Miss> About 405 games. Mostly from 1999-2004, and some after 2004 (mostly rapid & blitz). Of his classical games, only 9 are missing: Magnus Carlsen (kibitz #81997) Dec-06-20    MissScarlett: When money talks, few are deaf. Dec-06-20    AylerKupp: <<tuttifrutty> Mt Wesovious just buried the weak Viking. The explosion was heard all over the world. > Welcome back yet again after 2 months of inactivity <tuttifrutty>. We all missed your words of "wisdom" and the chuckles that they elicit. Yes, congratulations to So, he deserves it To win an event with so many top players participating is a great accomplishment. But to say that he "buried the weak Viking" when he was able to achieve the win by only ½ point after 41+ games, and in an irrelevant Blitz time control tiebreaker in a tournament conducted at Rapid time control hardly qualifies as a result indicating a burial. Dec-07-20    Pedro Fernandez: Why congratulate So? Are we blind? C'mon! Dec-07-20    Pedro Fernandez: Cheap Chess! Dec-07-20    Tabanus: CG at https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... says <Classical games: Teimour Radjabov beat Wesley So 3 to 1, with 10 draws>. But eight of those 14 games are Rapid, two are Blitz, and one is Armageddon. The correct would be (based on CG games): <Classical games: Teimour Radjabov beat Wesley So 1 to 0, with 2 draws>. Dec-07-20    Sokrates: <AylerKupp: Welcome back yet again after 2 months of inactivity <tuttifrutty>. We all missed your words of "wisdom" and the chuckles that they elicit.> Unless you are using a sarcastic <We>, I kindly request to be excluded from that plural. Dec-07-20    AylerKupp: <<Pedro Fernandez> Why congratulate So?> Well, he did win a tournament against top opposition, including Carlsen and that's quite an achievement. Why shouldn't he be congratulated? Any player that does that should be congratulated. I would do that by posting on GM So's page but I am unable to do that because I have been banned from posting on his page because of my apparent anti-So bias. Dec-07-20    AylerKupp: <<Sokrates> Unless you are using a sarcastic <We>, I kindly request to be excluded from that plural.> Yes, I was being sarcastic. And I was using the royal "we", although that is in itself sarcastic. But you're right, I shouldn't give even the impression that I am speaking for all the visitors and posters of this site. Perhaps I should add a line to my posts along the lines of "This post represents the views of the author and does not represent the views of this site or the posters on this site." I will either do that in the future or refrain from posts of this nature. And, no, I'm not being sarcastic this time. Dec-07-20    Sokrates: <AylerKupp> I abstain from further comments on this. Dec-08-20    Tabanus: All the games should now have correct game type. 174 Rapid games, 8 Blitz, and 2 Armageddon. Dec-08-20    Pedro Fernandez: I understand your point my great <AK>. It was that Carlsen's move ...Kf8?? He is tired, very tired, probably much more than when he finished to play the World Championship. The champion is committing horrible errors not proper of him. Honestly, I wouldn't want under estimate So, but with Carlsen playing on this way... Dec-08-20    Pedro Fernandez: Did you know <Tata Steel > is going to be played physically? Dec-08-20    AylerKupp: <Pedro Fernandez> No, I did not know. I hope that they can pull it off. The only player that has been announced in participating is Giri, and he would announce the participants later. The tournament is scheduled to start on Jan-21-2021. The tournament's official site (https://tatasteelchess.com/) indicates that the tournament will adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines in effect at the time the tournament starts. Unfortunately this is over a month away and the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Holland has exploded in the previous 3 months, from about 40,000 on Sep-01-2020 to about 560,000, more than a 14X increase in the last 3 months after the count being relatively constant since May-01-20. Equally ominous, perhaps more so, is the increase in the total number of deaths in the last 2 months, from about 6,500 on Oct-01-2020 to about 9,700; about a 47% increase. The good news is that both the number of new cases/day and the number of new deaths/day seems to have begun to stabilize, although at much higher levels than they were 3 months earlier. And as of Dec-05-2020, Holland ranks 23rd in the world in the total number of cases and 32nd in the world in the total number of deaths, both as a percentage of the country's population. The best that could be said about that is that it could be worse. So, given the unstable situation in Holland in the number of cases, new cases, deaths, and new deaths in the last few months, I'm not sure what their COVID-19 guidelines will be a month from now. And it may very well be that they could be so strict as to make it inadvisable to hold an in-person tournament. FIDE just needs to come up with appropriate guidelines for holding virtual tournaments at Classic time controls, perhaps with at least one arbiter for each participant which could be tested quarantined along with the participants for the appropriate amount of time before the tournament starts and for the duration of the tournament. Dec-08-20    Pedro Fernandez: <Aylerkupp> my last question it was not directed just to you, but to all our Community. but nice you take it as I learnt from you a lot of information and opinions. Indeed I don't remember, at this moment, whether I read about Tata in an Dec-08-20    Pedro Fernandez: English or Spanish site. But I think, my friend, that, after Tata, if celebrated, Candidates continuation it will be around the corner. Who will win this? I close my mouth since afterwards everyonene it will say: "well, even the dog of the corner knew that." Greetings, and don't forget to send my respects to your wife. Pedro Dec-10-20    Pedro Fernandez: My great <Sokrates>, I want to talk with you, but I suspect this page is done. However, if you hear about me, just reply me, and we talk. Lot of loves! Pedro Dec-11-20    Sokrates: Dear <Pedro>, Thanks for your kind note to me. You are right that the vivid diskussions on this page have expired, but I am always there for you. I think we all wait for a kind of normalty, not inly in chess, but in the world as a whole. Unfortunately, the Covid19 has returned more malicious than ever. During summer and early autumn the number of infected was very low, now it has increased shortly by the factor of 6. The government now locks down more and more, acting quite rapidly and with consequence in order to stop the exponential growth. Meanwhile, for an old oak like me, the proscription is isolation and mingle with other people as little as possible. As for chess, my wife was inspired by the series "Queen's Gambit" and wanted me to teach her some chess. It has been fun so far, since it is decades since I taught chess to anyone. What about your wife and family, Pedro? Are you the only chessplayer in the lot? Dec-11-20    Pedro Fernandez: That's great you replied me, my dear bro. There are some persons here I consider as my major brothers, like you, <AylerKupp>, <perfidious> (unfairly attacked in a no-reason way y yo), <Tabanus>, <WinKing>, <Marmot PFL>, <cro777>, and some other more guys, don't recall at this moment. That was to begin with. And now, let me tell you something: I don't mind that stupid thing so-called Off-He-Topic (OTP), whenever my contribution be in a good thing for our Community. Dec-11-20    Pedro Fernandez: And this is our today's case. Díd you know Niels Bohr Institute from University of Copenhague is developing, with success, a quantum nano-CPU chip? I hope the Denmark Parliament altogether the Goverment approve the money to finish this hard but transcendent Project. Indeed 5G Technology it would be a baby compared with this . Applications are so essential for our evolution, yes, evolution! Hope you hear about me soon. Love you! Dec-12-20    Sokrates: <Pedro> I knew that. Incidentally, I have had some connection to the Niels Bohr Institute. In the mid 90s I worked with some of their researchers on a book called (in translation from Danish) "Science and God". Well, it was primarily science articles by scientists from the Institute. God was only "represented" by a wise old Chief Rabbi in one article. The book was great - I still have a first edition on my shelf with the personal signature of all, circa ten contributors. A press meeting about the book was held in Niels Bohr's original auditorium, which looks pretty much the same as in the prewar times, when he had his main lectures there. While we made the book, his brother Aage, who also won the Nobel price, still worked there. As said the young scientist, who was my co-editor (on the scientific contents): "One half of the scientists here don't understand Aage - the other half disagree with him!" Hilarious, right? Later, in my retirement I went there as a part of our public university arrangement. During five lessons from five different international top scientists - all attached to the Institute - we were updated on the latest science in astro physics, nuclear research etc. Some of it I understood to 80%, other to 60%, but it was an amazing, truly inspirering experience, never to forget. I am sure you would have been thrilled, Pedro. Dec-12-20    AylerKupp: <Pedro Fernandez>, <Socrates> Since we can all use a laugh at this time, I posted what I think is a cute story about learning chess in my forum, AylerKupp chessforum (kibitz #1684). Dec-12-20    Sokrates: Sweet story, <AK>, thanks. I just wonder, why you only have one chess set. Besides the set designed by Man Ray, which is only a decorative piece, I can muster three sets. I have to admit, though, that many years have passed since I had five chess-friends visiting. Now the three sets are stored in the basement while the beautiful Man Ray shines on a cupboard. I also have to admit that I very rarely use a physical chess set for playing through games and analyzing. I have become lazy (third and last admittance!). Dec-19-20    Pedro Fernandez: What a great experience and achievement you had <Sokrates>. I congratulate you! Still I have not read <AylerKupp's> article. Also I need discuss with him another transcendental theme. Dec-19-20    Pedro Fernandez: Again I must clarify when we are in any chess activity, I absolutely respect the OFF-THE-TOPIC clause. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 6) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 6 ·  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. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. 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