New In Chess Classic: Carlsen, Nakamura Top Seeds
Undefeated GM Magnus Carlsen finished the preliminaries of the New In Chess Classic in first place with 10.5/15. GMs Hikaru Nakamura (who also went undefeated) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov finished with 9.5/15 each, taking seeds two and three.
The games of the New in Chess Classic preliminaries can be found here as part of our live events platform. IM Levy Rozman and IM Anna Rudolf are providing daily commentary on GM Hikaru Nakamura's Twitch channel starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe.
GMs Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja, Le Quang Liem, and Teimour Radjabov finished in 4th-8th place, respectively, and advance to the quarterfinals. GM Leinier Dominguez Perez almost made it to the top eight, ending the day only half a point behind Radjabov.
New in Chess Classic 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 | Carlsen | 2881 | 2845 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 10.5/15 | ||
| 2 | Nakamura | 2829 | 2792 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 9.5/15 | ||
| 3 | Mamedyarov | 2761 | 2798 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 9.5/15 | ||
| 4 | So | 2741 | 2772 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9/15 | ||
| 5 | Aronian | 2778 | 2769 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 9/15 | ||
| 6 | Firouzja | 2703 | 2747 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8.5/15 | ||
| 7 | Le | 2744 | 2744 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8.5/15 | ||
| 8 | Radjabov | 2758 | 2743 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8.5 | ||
| 9 | Dominguez | 2786 | 2714 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 8/15 | ||
| 10 | Tari | 2531 | 2679 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7/15 | ||
| 11 | Vidit | 2636 | 2671 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7/15 | ||
| 12 | Praggnanandhaa | 1781 | 2694 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7/15 | ||
| 13 | Duda | 2774 | 2661 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7/15 | ||
| 14 | Karjakin | 2709 | 2638 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6.5/15 | ||
| 15 | Jones | 2615 | 2407 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 3 | ||
| 16 | Christiansen | 2521 | 2213 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1.5/15 |
Carlsen hit the ground running after defeating Firouzja. Both players delayed castling and entered a tactical middle game, with the world champion taking better advantage of the opponent's imprecise play. Carlsen eventually managed to exchange queens and enter a better endgame, building a dominant position. After winning one of Firouzja's pawns and eliminating any possibility of counterplay, Carlsen sat back and watched his opponent's clock run out.
The Norwegian went on to win the next game against GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, virtually guaranteeing him the top seed. Carlsen drew the remaining games and kept his lead. He'll be facing Radjabov in the quarterfinals.
"I'm starting to perfect the art of getting the first seed without too much hassle," said Carlsen, who has won the preliminaries in all five events of the Champions Chess Tour but is still looking for his first tournament victory.
Nakamura also started the day with a positive result. The fast chess legend defeated GM Gawain Jones after entering a good position in the endgame. The American won a pawn and demonstrated his impressive technique to convert for the full point.
Nakamura drew his other four games and finished in second place. However, he made sure to keep his followers entertained. To the excitement of commentator IM Levy Rozman and his fans, Nakamura once more went for the infamous Double Bongcloud draw, which he achieved earlier with So.
IT HAPPENED AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/4TraWVeNNm
— GothamChess (@GothamChess) April 26, 2021
Our game of the day is a nice win by So vs. GM Aryan Tari:
Despite not qualifying for the quarterfinals, the young GM Praggnanandhaa turned heads as he went for Carlsen's throat in round 13. After playing a nearly perfect game, the Indian prodigy went up a pawn and refused to repeat moves on two separate occasions. However, Carlsen successfully held the position and forced a draw.
All Games Day 3
The New in Chess Classic runs April 24-May 2 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 with $30,000 for first place.
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Pedro Pinhata is the Writing Lead for Chess.com. He writes articles, feature announcements, event pages, and more. He has been playing chess since 2019 and lives in Brazil.
