Magnus Carlsen’s inconsistency returned to haunt him before he managed to beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the deciding Armageddon game and move into the final of the $100,000 Opera Euro rapid online chess tournament on Friday.
After two drawn rapid games in the second set, Vachier delivered back-to-back blows to force the tie-breaker. In the blitz games, both won from the white side. In the Armageddon, Carlsen played white and won in 40 moves.
In the final, Carlsen will take on Wesley So.
Having won the first set, So needed only two points from the best-of-four second set to advance. After two drawn games, he won the third to end the contest.
The results (semifinals):
Set Two: Rapid: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor) 3-1; Blitz: Carlsen drew with Vachier 1-1; Armageddon: Carlsen wins and advances to the final.
Wesley So (USA) bt Teimour Radjabov (Aze) 2-1.
