The Magnus magic continues!
05/07/2019 - If Magnus's win over Nepomniachtchi yesterday was a display of his sheer on board confidence and creativity, then today's victory over Ding Liren is a proof of his preparation and practice. The World Champion registered his second consecutive win with the black pieces today and continues to lead the Croatia Grand Chess Tour 2019 after eight rounds of the event. Round 8 saw three decisive games in total, Wesley So defeated Hikaru Nakamura to stay at Magnus's heels with 5.5/8, while Anish Giri beat Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to catch up with Karjakin, Anand, and MVL on the leaderboard. Vishy Anand had an edge with the white pieces against Fabiano Caruana but the game somehow fizzled out into a draw. Elsewhere, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian also drew their respective games against Sergey Karjakin and Ian Nepomniachtchi. In this report we bring you photos, analyses, and more.