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Airthings Masters 2020/21 The Airthings Masters was the 2nd event of the $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour 2020-2021, and also the first Major event of the Tour. The games were played online from 26 December 2020 - 3 January 2021 on the chess24 Playzone. It started with a 12-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 (29 December - 3 January). The action each day began at 17:00 GMT (18:00 CET, 12:00 ET). Prize fund: $200,000, with $60,000 to the winner, who also qualified directly to the Grand Final in September 2021. Tournament directors: Arne Horvei and Sotiris Logothetis. Chief arbiter: Panagiotis Nikolopoulos. N games played: 66 + 63 = 129. Carlsen, So, Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi, Radjabov, Aronian, Vachier-Lagrave, and Dubov qualified for the knockout stage: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 1 Carlsen * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 6½ 2 So ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6½ 3 Nakamura 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 6½ 4 Nepomniachtchi ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 6 5 Radjabov ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6 6 Aronian ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 5½ 7 Vachier-Lagrave ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 5 8 Dubov 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 5 9 Harikrishna ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 5 10 Grischuk ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 5 11 Giri ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 1 ½ * ½ 4½ 12 Anton ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 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 3 + 2) plus if needed an Armageddon game (5 vs 4). Teimour Radjabov won the event by beating Levon Aronian 2-0 in the final: Quarterfinals (29-30 December) Semifinals (31 Dec - 1 Jan) Final (2-3 January) Radjabov ½½½½ 1½½0 01 1 2½ Nepomniachtchi ½½½½ 0½½1 10 0 1½ Radjabov ½½11 11-- -- - 2 Dubov ½½00 00-- -- - 0 Dubov 0½1½ 1½1- -- - 1½ Carlsen 1½0½ 0½0- -- - ½ Radjabov ½½½1 ½1½- -- - 2 Aronian ½½½0 ½0½- -- - 0 Aronian ½1½½ 11-- -- - 2 Nakamura ½0½½ 00-- -- - 0 Aronian 1½½1 ½½1- -- - 2 Vachier-Lagrave 0½½0 ½½0- -- - 0 Vachier-Lagrave ½1½1 0½½½ 10 1 2½ So ½0½0 1½½½ 01 0 1½ Match for 3rd place (2-3 January): Vachier-Lagrave 0011 1½01 -- - 1½ Dubov 1100 0½10 -- - ½ Radjabov netted 88 tour points. Aronian got 56 points, Vachier-Lagrave 34 and Dubov 22. Official site: https://championschesstour.com/ Regulations: https://championschesstour.com/regu... Chess-Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr544530... Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/rad... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/airth... chess24 1: https://chess24.com/no/watch/live-t... chess24 2: https://chess24.com/no/watch/live-t... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew... Wikipedia article: Airthings Masters Previous (and first) Champions Chess Tour event: Skilling Open (2020)  page 1 of 6; games 1-25 of 129  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Harikrishna vs Vachier-Lagrave   ½-½ 27 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 2. Carlsen vs Radjabov   ½-½ 47 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 3. A Giri vs W So 0-1 25 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 A14 English 4. Grischuk vs Aronian   ½-½ 18 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 C53 Giuoco Piano 5. Nakamura vs Nepomniachtchi   ½-½ 40 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 6. Vachier-Lagrave vs Nepomniachtchi   0-1 69 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 7. Aronian vs Nakamura   ½-½ 35 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 C70 Ruy Lopez 8. W So vs Grischuk   ½-½ 38 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 C42 Petrov Defense 9. Radjabov vs A Giri   ½-½ 38 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 10. Harikrishna vs Carlsen   ½-½ 24 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 B33 Sicilian 11. D Dubov vs D Anton Guijarro   1-0 44 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 E04 Catalan, Open, 5.Nf3 12. D Anton Guijarro vs Harikrishna   ½-½ 45 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 13. D Dubov vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ 69 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 A33 English, Symmetrical 14. Harikrishna vs D Dubov   ½-½ 39 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 B32 Sicilian 15. D Dubov vs Radjabov   ½-½ 36 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 16. D Anton Guijarro vs W So   ½-½ 64 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 C67 Ruy Lopez 17. Carlsen vs Aronian ½-½ 61 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 18. A Giri vs Nepomniachtchi   ½-½ 42 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 D90 Grunfeld 19. Grischuk vs Nakamura 0-1 64 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 C53 Giuoco Piano 20. Vachier-Lagrave vs Nakamura   ½-½ 48 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 C50 Giuoco Piano 21. Nepomniachtchi vs Grischuk   0-1 59 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 C53 Giuoco Piano 22. Aronian vs A Giri 1-0 40 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 23. W So vs Carlsen   ½-½ 32 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 E92 King's Indian 24. Radjabov vs D Anton Guijarro   1-0 51 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 25. Nepomniachtchi vs Radjabov   ½-½ 75 2020 Airthings Masters 2020/21 B30 Sicilian  page 1 of 6; games 1-25 of 129    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-02-21    metatron2: After completely dominating all the top (covid) online rapid tourneys, there seems to be a change of trend in the last 3 tourneys. Not only that he didn't win any of one of those, he seems to be doing worse from tourney to tourney. Did Carlsen get tired/bored from those kind tourneys, or maybe his opponents got better in that format and also studied him well? Or maybe he just got into bad form lately? Who knows.. Jan-02-21    Messiah: <metatron2: After completely dominating all the top (covid) online rapid tourneys, there seems to be a change of trend in the last 3 tourneys. Not only that he didn't win any of one of those, he seems to be doing worse from tourney to tourney. Did Carlsen get tired/bored from those kind tourneys, or maybe his opponents got better in that format and also studied him well? Or maybe he just got into bad form lately? Who knows..> Probably his mysterious girlfriend demands too much time and energy. Jan-02-21    Messiah: Donald will lead the white pieces in the first game. On the losers' spot MVL - Dubov was drawn to be the initial clash. Jan-02-21    Sokrates: Hi, <metatron2>, This is also my observation. I don't know why Carlsen's form has decreased of late, but I know that I would get tired of playing online in so many events for such a long time. There is a huge difference of motivation between sitting at home in a chair playing chess on a screen and participating in a live tournament with all the socialisation over the board confrontation in a game. For me the distance, the artificial cyber reality would become demotivating in the long run. When I listen to old colleagues, who still work, they have - during these corona lock-downs - grown immensely tired of online-meetings. At first, in spring, it had the fun of a novelty and the comfort of being at home, but now it's just surreal and tiresome. I can easily imagine that. Nothing beats the reality of meeting people face to face. We humans are social animals after all. Jan-02-21    Tabanus: Done for today, the last 17 games now missing. Jan-02-21    Messiah: Donald edged out Aronian, and MVL magically reached equality against Dubov in mutual craziness. All of my sympathies with these two great warriors. Tomorrow's gonna be interesting, despite this is not a classical OTB tourney. Jan-02-21    Williebob: Okay, you got me: Why call Radjabov "Donald"? I watched a bit of an online roundtable type thing the other day, with GMs So and Radjabov, plus two other masters whose names I forget right now. Radjabov was acting quite rascally, making light of the whole production. He seems like somebody I'd enjoy getting drunk with. Jan-02-21    perfidious: One might equally ask why the omniscient superior being takes such joy in styling Carlsen <Justin>. Seems to me if he were truly superior, he would have no need of such temporal nonsense. Jan-03-21    fabelhaft: <Done for today, the last 17 games now missing> The Airthings event not being up to date is one thing, at least some games are there and more will probably be added when it’s over. But many classical OTB events were never included at all, making the database incomplete: German league games with Aronian, MVL, Mamedyarov and Caruana, with the latter losing to l’Ami, the Chinese Championships with Wei Yi in third place, the tournament Cheparinov won etc. In online rapid Rapport won a 14 rounder in a field with Grischuk, Ding Liren, Giri, Wei Yi, Topalov, Wang Hao etc but maybe such events are less interesting than classical OTB. Still interesting to have a look at for example Topalov’s rare games nowadays and I’d rather see such events included than not. Jan-03-21    Messiah: <fabelhaft: <Done for today, the last 17 games now missing> The Airthings event not being up to date is one thing, at least some games are there and more will probably be added when it’s over. But many classical OTB events were never included at all, making the database incomplete: German league games with Aronian, MVL, Mamedyarov and Caruana, with the latter losing to l’Ami, the Chinese Championships with Wei Yi in third place, the tournament Cheparinov won etc. In online rapid Rapport won a 14 rounder in a field with Grischuk, Ding Liren, Giri, Wei Yi, Topalov, Wang Hao etc but maybe such events are less interesting than classical OTB. Still interesting to have a look at for example Topalov’s rare games nowadays and I’d rather see such events included than not.> Please keep pinpointing the missing tourneys - eventually they will get added, I am certain. Jan-03-21    WorstPlayerEver: I presume 'Airbag Masters' sounded too humiliating. Jan-03-21    Messiah: Donald won, then Aronian, MVL, and Dubov are the finishers. Jan-03-21    Sokrates: <fabelhaft> You know what you have to do: 1. Post the requests for these events repeatedly on the members' forum. Keep doing it until ... 2. <Susan Freeman> notices it and promises to wake up ... 3. <Sargon>, who, after a random number of days decides it's time to update half of what you have requested, and ... 4. after having done that, leaves the front page for other more important tasks. 5. New tournaments not shown on CG? Start all over again with 1. Make no mistake. I love this entertaining circle of communication - keeps the members alert, active, and participating. Jan-03-21    offramp: MVL has finished third, That isn't such a rare thing. He never said a stupid word Or ever did an Airthing. Jan-03-21    Tabanus: Now if only CG added the 24 missing games (the very least they should do), I could edit game type. Jan-03-21    Z4all: <Tab> did you submit the games, and they just haven't been published yet? (Just wondering) Jan-03-21    AdolfoAugusto: I believe that my friend Messiah is referencing an old inside joke from a kibitz (around the time of the match with Karjakin), someone (I don't remember if it was even I -when I was not yet a Carlsen fan-) mentioned that Carlsen looked a little bit like Justin Bieber. And his Donald reference must be in the same line -I suppose- somehow I can also imagine Radjabov (hairstyle) resembling a little Donald Trump. Jan-04-21    fabelhaft: Radjabov was very impressive in this event, surprisingly easy wins against Dubov and Aronian. He was very close to be eliminated by Nepomniachtchi, but after that he looked different class than the opposition. Jan-04-21    Tabanus: <Z4all> No, I consider it CG's job. If they don't I may do it one last time, since the tournament started in 2020. Jan-04-21    Tabanus: 129 games now, it's a miracle. All the games should have right game type now too, please check. Jan-04-21    0ZeR0: Congratulations, Radjabov. Indeed, he was very impressive and solid throughout, especially the final two matches. I'd also be remiss not to mention the third place match between Dubov and MVL, which was for me, the most exciting of all the matches in this tournament with Dubov only needing a draw after two wins on the first day but still attacking like a madman. Great stuff! Jan-04-21    Williebob: < perfidious: One might equally ask why the omniscient superior being takes such joy in styling Carlsen <Justin>. Seems to me if he were truly superior, he would have no need of such temporal nonsense.> We should hope so. Although it is written that God made Man in his own image - I wonder what other attributes the great one shares with us lumpy mortals? <Messiah>, what if it turned out that your heavenly father looks like Magnus Carlsen? Bwahahahh! Theological kidding aside: It sure is looking like Rapid time control is being nudged towards becoming the main competitive realm of 'serious chess'. Carlsen said as much last year, though I also think he's dodging a little; hopefully we will see a WC match this year - face to face, ideally - and this will further test his idea. Jan-05-21    Sokrates: Just a note of information to those of you who have seen "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix. The series AND the games in it are comprehensively covered, analyzed and commented in the latest issue of New in Chess. Jan-14-21    tonsillolith: <Messiah: I shall return calling GM Mamedyarov Resultfixer, leaving the name Donald for Teimour Radjabov.> It's hard to overstate how little I care. But if it makes you happy. Jan-14-21    Messiah: <tonsillolith: <Messiah: I shall return calling GM Mamedyarov Resultfixer, leaving the name Donald for Teimour Radjabov.> It's hard to overstate how little I care. But if it makes you happy.> Thank you my friend. search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  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. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. 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