A stunning turn of events transpired in the chess world before 2020 came to an end as Grandmaster Wesley So, world champion Magnus Carlsen and fellow big names crashed out of the Airthings Masters early Thursday (Manila time)
So, 27, staged a furious comeback against French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second four-game set of their quarterfinal match but fell short in the tiebreak, resulting in an early exit in the second leg of the $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour.
After terribly losing 3-1 in the first day, the reigning World Fischer Random Chess titlist got off to a strong start behind the Reti Opening then took three draws for a 2.5-1.5 scoreline over Vachier-Lagrave, forcing a tiebreak showdown.
The second-seeded So dropped the first blitz game following a rook blunder in the endgame but managed to keep his tournament life with yet another Reti Opening in the second blitz clash.
However, in the must-win Armageddon playoff, the former Filipino champion and now the current US chess king was not able to break through with the same opening as Vachier-Lagrave forced a draw to advance to the semifinals.
So failed to replicate his victory in the Skilling Open, the first leg of the Tour, where he stunned birthday boy Carlsen in the finals to claim the $30,000 prize last November 30.
Top seed Carlsen, the reigning world classical, rapid and blitz champion, suffered a shocking defeat to his former aide Daniil Dubov of Russia, 2.5-0.5 in the second set following a 2-2 draw in the first half.
Levon Aronian of Armenia thrashed another heavy favorite in Hikaru Nakakura of US, 2-0 in the second set (2.5-1.5 in the first).
Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan shocked Russia's No. 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi after securing the Armageddon game.
Dubov was taking on Radjabov while Vachier-Lagrave was squaring off against Aronian in the first half of the semifinals at press time.