Carlsen wins his third event of the season

"It feels great. It's the first time in like ever that I have won one of these tournaments and it's been fairly smooth ride, so that feels really good... Yeah I would say so for sure. There were some shaky moments here and there but overall yeah I think this is clearly my best." - Carlsen on his triumph and performance in the Aimchess US Rapid. "I am not sure about that to be honest, but maybe the World Cup helped a bit gaining me some confidence. In terms of world championship prep, I am not so sure." - The world champion on how much the preparation for world championship helped him to win this event.

Magnus Carlsen is the winner of Aimchess US Rapid | Photo: Champions Chess Tour
Magnus Carlsen: "I think this is clearly my best" | Video: chess24

Runner-up Vladislav Artemiev | Photo: Champions Chess Tour

Artemiev - Carlsen: 1.5-2.5

Carlsen made his intentions very clear early in the game.

Carlsen - Artemiev, Game 1

Position after 18.a6

Generally we are used to seeing the h-pawn go to h6 and become a pawn wedge on a castled kingside, however this time we can see the a-pawn being a wedge on the castled queenside. Carlsen's coach and arguably the greatest coach of all time, shared his thoughts on the pawn wedge in a tweet:

Position after 40...Kd6

Black tried to run away with his king, 40...Kd6 which backfired badly. 40...Qd6 would have continued the fight a bit longer. 41.Qd7+ Ke5 and soon White gained the a7-pawn after which the a6-pawn became the deciding factor for White to score a win. Carlsen once again gained a 1-0 lead.

Artemiev opted for a very dubious line in the second game.

Artemiev - Carlsen, Game 2

Position after 5...Qe6+

It was not the best choice for White to go for this opening, especially since he lost the first game and first set too. Carlsen had no trouble making a draw and maintaining his lead 1.5-0.5

Artemiev, desperately needing two consecutive wins to force tie-breaks, tried to do everything but unfortunately for him things did not go his way.

Carlsen - Artemiev, Game 3

Position after 33...Ng4

White is completely winning here but what is the best way to continue here? Carlsen won the game and the set 2.5-0.5 to win Aimchess US Rapid, his third event of the season.

Carlsen tweeted on his triumph

Replay Final 2 games

Replay the live stream

Aimchess US Rapid Day 9 - Live commentary by GM Simon Williams and GM Daniel King | Video: chess24

Final 2 results

Artemiev could not get out of the gate in the second set | Photo: Champions Chess Tour

Brackets

Carlsen scored a dominant victory in the Finals | Photo: Champions Chess Tour

Schedule

All games will start from 8:30 p.m. IST between 28th August and 5th September 2021.

Links

Champions Chess Tour official site

Tournament regulations