In search of his peak form, Magnus Carlsen brushed aside his Russian nemesis Daniil Dubov 2.5-0.5 by winning twice with white pieces and led 1-0 in their quarterfinal showdown of the $100,000 Opera Euro rapid online chess tournament on Tuesday.
Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s victory in the second game of the best-of-games set proved decisive in his 2.5-1.5 victory over Levon Aronian.
Wesley So bounced back from the loss of the second game to win the next two for a 2.5-1.5 victory over Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
Anish Giri rallied from a surprise loss in the third game to win the fourth and force a 2-2 deadlock against Teimour Radjabov.
The results:
Quarterfinals: Set One: Magnus Carlsen (Nor) bt Daniil Dubov (Rus) 2.5-0.5; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) bt Levon Aronian (Arm) 2.5-1.5; Wesley So (USA) bt Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol) 2.5-1.5; Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Teimour Radjabov (Aze) 2-2.
