2019 Cote d’Ivoire Rapid & Blitz Recap

Magnus Carlsen dominated the first leg of Grand Chess Tour, scoring a total of 26.5 points out of 36 possible and clinching the title with two rounds to spare. He collected $37,500 and 13 GCT points for his efforts. Côte d’Ivoire is his fifth consecutive tournament win of the year. There was a tie for second place between Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who will share the prize money and the GCT points, earning $22,000 and 9 points each. The next stop will be a classical event in Zagreb, Croatia beginning June 26.

There was a shake up in the standings after day one of the blitz. Magnus Carlsen is still the sole leader, 2.5 points ahead his closest rival, Maxime Lachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman was unstoppable today, winning all his games in the first half of the tournament. This result allowed him to leapfrog Hikaru Nakamura and inch closer to the tournament leader. Tomorrow, at the end of the nine more blitz games, the winner of the tournament will be determined.

Magnus Carlsen had another successful day scoring 2.5/3 and thus winning the rapid portion of Abidjan. With this result, he extended his lead to three points ahead of the field and crossed 2900 in rapid. Hikaru Nakamura remains in second place. Today was also the comeback day for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So, both of whom are tied for third place, four points behind Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen has no intention of slowing his pace this tournament and repeated his dominant performance today. The World Champion now sits on top of the standings with 10/12, a two point lead over the rest of the field.

The first leg of 2019 Grand Chess Tour kicked off in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire today. After three rounds of rapid, Magnus Carlsen and Wei Yi are leading with 5/6, while Hikaru Nakamura is in third place with 4/6. The World Champion continues to show the excellent form he has displayed since the beginning of the year by continuing to play enterprising chess. While the World Champion continues to shine, he does not have first all to himself, as Wei Yi also racked up a couple impressive wins in the first few rounds.The young Chinese grandmaster joined Carlsen in the lead with a last round win over his compatriot Ding Liren.