GM Wesley So managed to level the score but then lost the playoff to GM Alireza Firouzja in a thrilling quarterfinal of the online Aimchess U.S. Rapid tournament. The other semifinalists are GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Levon Aronian, and GM Vladislav Artemiev, who beat GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and GM Leinier Dominguez respectively.

Firouzja-So 2-2 | 1.5-0.5

For the first time in the Tour, Firouzja went into the second day of the quarterfinal with a match lead. So’s task became even harder when he allowed a quick move repetition in his first white game and then lost as Black. The American GM needed to win two games in a row on demand (as he needed to win the second match!) but delivered.

With a 1.5-1.5 score, So had to win with the black pieces in game four. He chose the French defense and Firouzja traded on move three, reminiscent of the famous 1990 Gurevich-Short game. Also here, Black ended up winning deep in the endgame:

That forced a playoff, as both players had won one match. Firouzja held the first 5|3 game by the skin of his teeth (calling it “crazy”) and then struck in the second:

Carlsen-Duda 2.5-0.5

Beating Duda twice without losing was Carlsen’s answer to his lost FIDE World Cup semifinal against the Polish grandmaster. The World Cup winner seemed to be getting a chance in the first game on Wednesday when the world champion blundered a pawn, but as it turned out, Carlsen’s position was so much better that even a pawn down he had all the play:

That …g5 pawn push was the only mistake in an otherwise impressive game. Carlsen said: “I had a fairly decent day today. In general, I have been outplaying him. Generally, my level of play has been very decent.”

Artemiev-Dominguez 3-1

After a tied first match, things remained level with two draws until Artemiev struck with the black pieces. Dominguez tried his best in a wild game four but luck was not on his side:

This result had wider implications as it meant Artemiev leapfrogged GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the overall Tour standings and has booked himself a place in next month’s Finals.

Aronian-Mamedyarov 2-1

Just like in the previous leg, Aronian eliminated Mamedyarov with a 2-0 double-match score. Starting with a win made things quite comfortable, after which Aronian sailed to the semifinals with two draws. He could even repeat moves in a winning position in game three.

Here’s that win in the first game, which saw a remarkably quick turnaround. Black looked somewhat passive and just a few moves later he controlled the position:

All Games Day 5

The Aimchess U.S. Rapid runs August 28-September 5, 2021 on chess24. The preliminary phase was a 16-player rapid (15|10) round-robin. The top eight players have advanced to a six-day knockout that consists of two days of four-game rapid matches, which advance to blitz (5|3) and armageddon (White has five minutes, Black four with no increment) tiebreaks only if a knockout match is tied after the second day. The prize fund is $100,000, including a $30,000 first prize.

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