Magnus Carlsen fell asleep, but won a thrilling final

(Magnus Carlsen-Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2-2, Carlsen wins Armageddon) Magnus Carlsen continues his success on the Champions Chess Tour – thanks to being King of Armageddon.

On Wednesday, he won the final match in the “Final A” against Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

“I missed the start of the match because I fell asleep on the couch,” Carlsen tells Chess24.

He obviously came to the computer feeling sleepy when the final was about to start.

– Maxim gave me a good game, and he continues to be the best chess player in the world.

– It was a choice between both to play sharp openings and variations where it would be impossible, so to speak, to play almost perfectly. “It was a fun day for chess,” he told TV Two.

After drawing the first two games, Carlsen scored with white pieces and won after 50 moves in the third game.

This means that the Norwegian tied the fourth match. But it got very dramatic when Carlsen had to sacrifice the queen – and he ended up abandoning the party. 2-2 full time!

And so it was The disasterThe disasterIn chess, Armageddon is a method of deciding a chess match if it is tied. In Armageddon, white will be given more time than black, but if black can tie, black will win.. There, Carlsen – as always – chose the black pieces and was thus able to manage the match in a draw – but he had a shorter thinking time than Vacher-Lagrave (8.28 minutes versus 15 minutes).

Magnus Carlsen played with great speed and accuracy and had the upper hand in the match. In the end, it was a draw, but the Norwegian was never threatened, as long as a draw was the same as a Lions win at Armageddon.

– In Armageddon, Magnus is always much better than he is in the fourth game, says Jon Ludvig Hammer in the TV 2 broadcast.

Here you can play through games (external link)

– I played well, Carlsen himself tells TV2.

This means that Carlsen will play the ‘Grand Final’ on Friday against the winner of ‘Playoff B’, which will be ready on Thursday. Carlsen’s opponent on Friday will be either Jan Nebomnjacic, Anish Giri or Vacher-Lagrave – and the Frenchman will get a second chance according to the rules of the Chess Champions Tour.

– Maxim is a little favourite, says the Norwegian.

Magnus Carlsen won three of the four Chess Champions Tour tournaments he participated in earlier this year. He has achieved great success and recently won the World Cup in Baku – a physical tournament in long chess.