Yoo overpowers Liang
IM Christopher Yoo defeated countryman GM Awonder Liang in all three games to secure his spot in the Finals.
Keymer - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-2.5
Praggnanandhaa scored an emphatic victory in the first game after Keymer made a strange decision in the endgame.
Keymer - Praggnanandhaa, Game 1
White needed to play 27.bxa5 to make sure things do not go out of hand. 27.Bh5 was a phantom threat as nothing is happening on f7. After 27...axb4 28.axb4 Rd4 29.Rb1 Bd5 30.b5 c5 31.b6+ Kc6 Black gained complete advantage.
Praggnanandhaa once again played endgame beautifully in the second game against Keymer.
Praggnanandhaa - Keymer, Game 2
31...Rxb3 would have kept things balanced for Black. 31...a4 exchange only helps White as Black has no more threats left and White's knights are relatively better placed and menacing. A couple of more inaccuracies later, Keymer arrived at a completely lost position. Pragg gained a 0-2 lead.
Being in a must-win situation, Keymer tried too hard and arrived at a lost position in the final moments of the double rook endgame. Praggnanandhaa decided to repeat moves and make a draw as it was enough for him to win the Semifinals and advance to the Finals.
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Brackets
Schedule
Every day between 14th and 17th October, game starts at 7:30 p.m. IST.
Format
The format for the final eight-player knockout will be four rapid games with 10 minutes per player for each game, plus a 5-second increment added each move. If the score is level at 2:2 a playoff will feature two 5+3 blitz games. If needed, there will be Armageddon to decide the winner of the match.
