Rapid Challenge: Dubov dumps Karjakin, plays Liren in semifinal

Daniil Dubov defeated Sergey Karjakin 3-0 in their third mini-match to seal a place in the semifinals of the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge.

Daniil Dubov will take on Ding Liren in the semifinal of the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge.

In less than 24 hours, Daniil Dubov made amends for letting fellow-Russian Sergey Karjakin off the hook by handing out a 3-0 drubbing in their third mini-match for a place in the semifinals of the $150,000 Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge on Wednesday. Dubov, the 2018 World rapid champion who crushed Karjakin 3-0 in their first mini-match, too, now takes on Ding Liren. The Chinese No. 1 bounced back from 0.5-1.5 to level the match against compatriot Yu Yangyi and eventually won 3-2.

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The other semifinal features World champion Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. Yangyi took the lead by winning the second game of their best-of-four encounter. Undeterred, Liren bounced right back by winning the third. Following the drawn fourth game, Liren played black and denied Yangyi victory with white pieces in the deciding Armageddon game. Quarterfinal results (Third mini-match):

Daniil Dubov (Rus) bt Serjey Karjakin (Rus) 3-0; Ding Liren (Chn) bt Yu Yangyi (Chn) 3-2.