When asked who he thought would win the 1993 Candidates match between Nigel Short and Jan Timman, and how his World Championship match with the winner would go, Garry Kasparov famously said, “It will be Short, and it will be short.” Today, it was short, with all four matches finishing ahead of schedule, in the minimum possible three games. I was initially going to say that the round was as violent as a Roadrunner/Coyote cartoon, but it went way beyond that. Today’s action reached Itchy & Scratchy levels of sheer, unadulterated violence.
Ahh, delightful entertainment for the whole family. Now where was I? Oh, right, the Meltwater Tour Finals. All four matches were massacres, with just two draws in twelve games. Magnus Carlsen and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa shut out Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Le Quang Liem, respectively, while Wesley So and Jan-Krzysztof Duda generously bequeathed a single half point to Arjun Erigaisi and Anish Giri, respectively. (Any “generosity” on Duda’s part was more than made up for by the spectacular finish of game three. Make sure you have a look at that one.)
Since there was no drama in the matches, let’s go straight to the games - here - and tomorrow’s pairings:
Praggnanandhaa (4) - So (3)
Le (4) - Duda (9)
Giri (4) - Carlsen (9)
Mamedyarov (3) - Erigaisi (0)
A final remark: Carlsen and Duda aren’t scheduled to play until the final round. There are still three rounds before then, but for now it looks like that match will determine the winner of the tournament.