Magnus Carlsen on the verge of winning the Charity Cup
Magnus Carlsen needed only three games to win the first set of the Finals of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Charity Cup. The first game was a well-fought draw. However, Jan-Krysztof Duda faltered in the next two games which means the world champion won the set 2.5-0.5. The Poland no.1 now must-win the second set to force tie-breaks. He has already mentioned of trying hard to hide his Candidates preparation, early in the tournament. Will he able to bounce back and force tie-breaks? Or will Carlsen shows his superiority and win second straight tournament of the season? Second set of the Finals start tonight at 10:30 p.m. IST. Photo: chess24 live stream
Can Duda bounce back?
Carlsen - Duda: 2.5-0.5
The first game was a grueling draw which went for 73 moves. Duda lost the second game when he decided to save the wrong pawn.
Duda - Carlsen, Game 2
White had to play 28.Kf2 to defend the e3-pawn and let go of h2. Instead, he opted 28.Be4 which hurriedly worsened his position after Rxe3 29.Bb1 Rxa3. White resigned after five more moves. Carlsen took 1.5-0.5 lead in the first set of the finals.
Duda once again misjudged Carlsen's threat in the third game.
Carlsen - Duda, Game 3
Black's response 32...Qg6 was no good to 31.c5 as 33.cxd6 Nxd5 34.dxc7 needed to be met with Nxf1 to have a fighting chance. 34...a4 35.Rd1 made things quite difficult for Black. Soon Black incorrectly sacrificed the pawn 38...a3 and White won the game eventually, thanks to his passed pawn at c7.
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Replay Final 1 games
Final results
All games will start from 10:30 p.m. IST between 19th and 26th March 2022.
