Magnus Carlsen Invitational chess: Caruana jumps to second spot

Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi bounced from one-point deficits to complete 3-2 wins over Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the third round.

In the tie-break Armageddon game, Caruana played black and was declared the winner for denying his rival a win with white pieces.

Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi bounced from one-point deficits to complete 3-2 wins over Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the third round of Magnus Carlsen Invitational online chess tournament on Tuesday.

After the first two games ended in draws, Liren took the third to move within a draw of winning the best-of-four game encounter. But Caruana, who now shares the second spot, drew level by winning the fourth. In the tie-break Armageddon game, Caruana played black and was declared the winner for denying his rival a win with white pieces.

READ: Carlsen tames Firouzja in online chess tournament

Nepomniachtchi lost the first game with white and was staring at a must-win situation after the second and third games ended in draws. But the Russian came back strongly with black to make it 2-2. The Armageddon game ended in draw and left Nepomniachtchi, playing black, as the winner.

The results Third round: Fabiano Caruana (USA) bt Ding Liren 3-2; Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) bt Maxime Vachier Lagrave (Fra) 3-2. Standings (after three rounds): 1-2. Magnus Carlsen (Nor), Fabiano Caruana (USA) (5 points), 3-5. Maxime Vachier Lagrave (Fra), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Ding Liren (Chn) (4 each); 6. Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) (2), 7-8. Alireza Firouzja (Iri) and Anish Giri (Ned) (0 each).