Magnus makes a Houdini escape
"Yeah it's really tough and I think it sort of speaks to how challenging the format is. There was a really tough first game. Then you like immediately have to go sit down and play a tough second game. I made it very difficult for myself with a poor opening choice. He was playing brilliantly. Somehow managed to save it, feels very good now." - Magnus Carlsen on the Playoff games. "No, I think it's fair enough. I think Rapport played a really good tournament. So it's fair that I had to beat him again." - The three-time GRENKE Chess Classic winner on the format of this edition.
Carlsen - Rapport, Playoff Game 1
27...Rg8? allowed Magnus Carlsen (NOR) to go for a tactical shot 28.Nxf4! Black cannot take it with the knight due to Bxg5. Defending d5-pawn by Bc6 is also pointless as Nxe6 will be followed by Rxg5. Thus, 28...Rxf6 is the only choice 29.exf6 Nxf4 30.h6 here 30.Qxf4 would have been a quicker and apt for the position. White won the game after a prolonged battle.
Rapport - Carlsen, Playoff Game 2
After 48...c6 49.Rg4+ Kf7 50.Rf4+ Ke7 51.Rfe4 is how Richard Rapport (ROU) needed to continue. Instead, he played 51.Rf4. 20 moves later, he got his final opportunity.
White needed to push his g-pawn and follow the old adage of passed pawns must be pushed. Instead, he went for checks with his rooks and the game ended in a draw. Thus, Magnus won the tournament. Rapport finished second.
Anish Giri, one of the official commentators, congratulated both GRENKE Chess Classic and Open A winners
twitter.com/i/status/1774880937580388583
Replay Playoff games
Playoff results
Magnus Carlsen - Richard Rapport: 1.5-0.5
Vincent Keymer - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: 1.5-2.5
Ding Liren - Daniel Fridman: 1.5-0.5
Final Standings
1st Magnus Carlsen
2nd Richard Rapport
3rd Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
4th Vincent Keymer
5th Ding Liren
6th Daniel Fridman
Format
6 players, double round robin (two games with reversed colors against each player)
Time control: 45 minutes per game, with a 10 sec increment from move 1
No draw offers before move 40
Places 1, 3 and 5 will be decided in 2 games with reversed colors. In the case of a score of 1-1, a tiebreaker decides: 2 games 10+2 (10 minutes + 2 sec increment per move), if necessary 2 more games 5+2, if then necessary: Armageddon (6 minutes for White, 5 minutes for Black, in case of a draw the Black player wins).
