Following a tight semifinal first set, No. 1 seed Magnus Carlsen pulled away from 38-year-old Armenian Levon Aronian, 5.0-3-0, to reach the finals of the $100,000 online AimChess US Rapid, the final leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
The 30-year-old Norwegian world champion won in convincing fashion, and now faces Russian wildcard Vladislav Artemiev, winner over 18-year-old Alireza Firouzja of France, 6.0-5.0, in Armageddon tie-break.
Having fallen behind, 0.5-1.5 in the second set, Artemiev, 23, rallied in fine fashion to tie the count, sending the match into a best of three tie-break playoff.
The 16-player rapid (15 + 10), is the last qualification event in the year-long $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour series, which chooses the top 10 players for the tour’s grand finals slated on Sept. 25 in the city of San Francisco, USA.
AimChess US finals is underway and can be followed live with commentaries at various websites starting at 11 a.m. EST.