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Carlsen Inv Prelim · chess24.com INT · 22 April 2020

Caruana, Fabiano vs Carlsen, Magnus, Carlsen Inv Prelim

Caruana, Fabiano ½–½ Carlsen, Magnus
Caruana, Fabiano vs Carlsen, Magnus
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White queen
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Black king
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White king
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Carlsen Inv Prelim, 22 April 2020

Round 3.3 of the 2020 Carlsen Invitational Preliminaries (April 22) saw Caruana and Carlsen draw. The Magnus Carlsen Invitational was the first major online tournament of the pandemic period, organised by Carlsen’s own Play Magnus Group. The preliminaries used a Swiss-like format to qualify for the knockout finals.

The draw was a Closed Catalan, a structure both players had played many times. Caruana as White accepted the small structural edge; the middlegame produced no concrete winning chances; the endgame was balanced. Both players knew they were qualifying for the next round regardless of this individual result.

The Magnus Carlsen Invitational became the prototype for online elite chess events. Format: 5+3 rapid, two games per day-match, double round-robin preliminaries followed by knockout. Prize fund $250,000 — at the time among the highest in any online chess event. The success of the format led to subsequent Magnus Carlsen Tour events through 2020 and the formation of the Champions Chess Tour in 2021.

Carlsen won his own Invitational title; Hikaru Nakamura finished second. Caruana, while strong in classical format, was less effective in pure rapid where Carlsen’s intuitive advantages were most pronounced. The pattern of Carlsen winning his own events would continue through 2020-2022.