MANILA, Philippines – It will be Wesley So against Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen against Levon Aronian in the semifinals of the $265,000 (P13.25 million) Clutch Chess International on Thursday, June 11 (Friday, June 12, Philippine time).Caruana beat fellow United States bet Leinier Dominguez, 10.5-7.5, while Armenian star Aronian bested Russian Alexander Grischuk, 10-8, in their quarterfinal tussles that started Monday and ended Tuesday.
Their carryover leads in the first 6 games proved pivotal as Caruana and Aronian held their rivals to 5-5 standoffs in the second set of 6 games.
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Seeded second behind Carlsen in the eight-man field of super Grandmasters, Caruana traded wins with Dominguez from games 7 to 10 worth a point each before settling for draws in the clutch 11th and 12 games worth 3 each.
Caruana gets a chance to avenge his finals loss to Filipino-born So in the inaugural Clutch Chess Champions Showdown featuring Team USA's top 4 players. (READ: Wesley So clinches Clutch Chess title, P1.5M)
So advanced earlier following a 13-5 trouncing of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
In a must-win situation following a loss in game 11, Aronian responded with a fierce king attack to prevail and reverse the outcome and arrange a semifinal clash with Carlsen, the long reigning world champion who downed US teen sensation Jeffery Xiong, 11.5-6.5 in the round of 8.
The online rapid knockout tournament among 8 super Grandmasters takes a break on Wednesday. – Rappler.com