Wesley So loses to Magnus Carlsen, settles for fourth in Champions Chess Tour Grand Finals

Grandmaster Wesley So succumbed to tournament champion Magnus Carlsen, 2.5-0.5, in the ninth and final round to settle for fourth place in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Grand Finals Monday (Tuesday in Manila).
So forged a draw in their second game to keep things alive after losing the opening match, but he failed to regain that momentum as Carlsen took charge of the third game to seal his championship victory.
The Norwegian world champion already secured the title in the seventh round after putting enough cushion on top. He finished the nine-round event with 31.5 points including 16.5 points that he accumulated from performances in the previous legs.
So, for his part, slid to fourth after getting glued to 23.5 points.
It was still a successful campaign for So, who made it to the finale by topping three legs—the Skilling Open, the Opera Euro Rapid and the Chessable Masters.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov capped off his campaign with a 2.5-0.5 win over France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to take home the runner-up honors with 27 points.
Armenia’s Levon Aronian also ended his campaign with a victory over Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, 2.5-0.5, to finish third with 24 points.
Other Round 9 matches saw United States’ Hikaru Nakamura thumping Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda, 3-1, and Russia’s Vladislav Artemiev besting Netherlands’ Anish Giri, 2.5-1.5.
Nakamura claimed fifth with 21 points, followed by Artemiev (17.5), Giri (14.5), Vachier-Lagrave (13.5), Duda (12) and Mamedyarov (9.5).