Scoring 29 out of a possible 45 points, GM Anish Giri finished first while remaining undefeated in the preliminaries of the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour’s Chessable Masters. The Dutchman qualified for the knockout phase together with GMs Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Praggnanandhaa R., Wei Yi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, David Anton, and Aryan Tari.

Three more rounds were played on Sunday to determine the top eight. Giri, Carlsen, and Ding were already certain of qualifying and probably Wei as well. The two players who needed to work especially hard for their money were Spain’s Anton and Norway’s Tari, who finished in seventh and eight place respectively. 

Anton, who entered the last day in sixth place, started with a loss against GM Eric Hansen but managed to reach the desired 20 points anyway with draws against Mamedyarov and GM Jorden van Foreest. The latter game was crucial as Van Foreest—who was winning positionally  at some point and at a later moment tactically—seemed to be on his way to qualifying instead.

Tari started with a win against GM Vidit Gujrathi in an all-or-nothing game (see below) after which draws with Wei and Giri were just good enough—also because GM Pentala Harikrishna lost a crucial final round game.

Chessable Masters Prelimiaries Final Standings

All Games Day 4

Chessable Masters Knockout Pairings

The 2022 Champions Chess Tour’s fourth event, the Chessable Masters, runs May 19-26, 2022 on chess24. The preliminaries are a 16-player round-robin from which the top eight qualify for the knockout stage. The time control is 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment; the scoring system is three points for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. The prize fund is $150,000.

Previous reports: