FIDE
Ehe Azerbaijani Teymur Radjabov, 33, 10 in the world, won the final of the Airthings Master Online, the second round of the Chess Champions Tour circuit, after defeating Armenian Levon Aronian, 38, 6, 2-0 ( 2.5-1.5 and 2-1). A prestigious triumph for the last winner of the World Cup in person, who resigned from the Candidates Tournament for the world title of the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen for not being in accordance with the sanitary protocols for the test -contested and postponed in its first round in Yekaterinburg (Russia), in March 2020-, approved by the International Federation (FIDE).
In the second heat of the final, Aronian, who had to win imperatively after losing the first, put Radjabov in some trouble. In the opening game, after delivering a rook, he had a winning position, but did not see the maneuver with the advance of the pawn ‘h’ that forced Azerbaijan to sign the abandonment. A lack of success that almost cost him the point since Radjabov, with a bishop advantage in a final with two rooks against queen, preferred a draw in hand than risk losing for wanting to win.
A wise decision as the second game passed. Aronian, with the black pieces, was inferior to the defense Grunfeld. Starting on move 23, Radjabov demonstrated his good technique by achieving victory in an ending of rooks and bishops of different colors, culminating in a nice tactical delivery. In the third, despite the Armenian’s attempts to unlevel the contest, he had to settle for the draw, with only the kings on the board, after showing his fighting spirit for 59 movements. A disputed match in which Radjabov has been, in general, far superior.
A final triumph that began to take shape in the first phase of the tournament, contested by a one-lap league system between 12 players in the mode of 15 minutes plus 10 additional seconds per movement, in which Radjabov drew 10 games and won 1, the Spaniard David Antn, with whom he had curiously lost in the previous event on the circuit, the Skilling Open. In the quarterfinals he had to go to sudden death against the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi after equalizing the two rounds (2-2 and 2-2) and the tiebreaker blitz games (1-1). An exciting duel, unlike the semi-final where he knocked out Russian Danil Dubov, Carlsen’s executioner, by a resounding 3-1 and 2-0.
Radjabov is a very solid chess player, with good nerves, a short repertoire of openings, but who dominates 100%, who calculates very well and plays at a high level when the clock tightens. If he is successful, few, very few, players can defeat him. And in the Airthings Master Online, except for Nepomniachtchi, nobody has given him headaches. A victory that has earned Radjabov a check for $ 60,000 ($ 50,000).
The third tournament of the Chess Champions Tour, which from now on will put the name of the media intelligence and social analysis company Melwater, will take place from February 6 to 14 And like everyone else on the circuit, it can be followed live on the MARCA channel on Youtube with images and comments from Chess24.com, organizer of the event, and from Grand Master Jos Cuenca and International Master David Martnez.
ARONIAN-RADJABOV
Airthings Masters. Final. 2 sleeve. 1 match
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 a5 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nbd2 Ba7 12.Nf1 Be6 13.Bb5 Bd7 14.Ce3 Ne7 15.a4 c6 16.Bc4 Ng6 17.Qc2 Nf4 18.Rad1 Qe7 19.d4 exd4 20.Bxf4 gxf4 21.e5 dxe3 22.Qg6 + Kh8 23.Qxh6 + Ch7 24.Bd3 exf2 + 25. Kf1 fxe1D + 26.Rxe1 Bf5 27.Bxf5 f6 28.exf6 Qf7 29.Re6 ?? (he was winning 29.Rx8 Rxe8 30.b3 !!, followed by h4 and h5 with the threat Bg6) 29 … Rxe6 30.Ng5 Rxf6 31.Nxf7 + Rxf7 32.Bxh7 Rxh7 33.Qf6 + Kg8 34.Qg6 + Rg7 35.Qe6 + Rf7 36.Qg6 + Kf8 37.Qxd6 + Kg7 38.Qe5 + Kg6 39.Qe6 + Kg7 40.Qe5 + Kg6 41.Qe6 + Kg7 42.Qe5 +, draw. (0.5-0.5).
RADJABOV-ARONIAN
Airthings Masters. Final. 2 sleeve. 2 match
1.d4 Cf6 2.c4 g6 3.Cc3 d5 4.Ag5 Ce4 5.Af4 Cxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.e3 Cc6 8.cxd5 Dxd5 9.Df3 Dd7 10.Ab5 a6 11.Axc6 Dxc6 12.Dxc6 + bxc6 13. Cf3 Ag7 14.Ce5 Af5 15.f3 Axe5 16.Axe5 f6 17.Ag3 Ad3 18.Td1 c4 19.Td2 Rf7 20.Tb2 Thd8 21.e4 c5 22.dxc5 Tac8 23.Af2 f5 24.exf5 gxf5 25.Ae3 f4 26.Axf4 Txc5 27.Rf2 Tb5 28.Txb5 axb5 29.a3 Ta8 30.Ta1 Ta6 31.g4 Re6 32.h4 Rd5 33.h5 e5 34.Ae3 Ta8 35.Ag5 Re6 36.Ah4 Rd5 37.Re3 Re6 38. Ta2 Rd5 39.Ae7 Re6 40.Ab4 h6 41.Tb2 Ah7 42.Rf2 Ad3 43.Ac5 Rd5 44.Ae3 Rc6 45.Ta2 e4 46.Axh6 exf3 47.Rxf3 b4 48.cxb4 c3 49.Re3 Ab1 50.Ta1 c2 51.Rf3 Rb5 52.a4 + Rxb4 53.a5 Ta6 54.Ac1 Tf6 + 55.Rg2 Td6 56.a6 Td1 57.Ae3 Td3 58.Ac1 Td1 59.Ah6 Td6 60.a7 Txh6 61.a8D c1D 62.Txb1 +, rind (1-0).
Final position. If 62 … Qxb1, it would follow 63.Qb8 +, winning,
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