Magnus Carlsen began his second decade of being top on every published rating list with a loss to Levon Aronian, but he hit back immediately to grind out an endgame win in the next game. He took the lead in their semi-final by winning the last game of the day, though not without a scare at the end. In the other semi-final Ding Liren credited playing basketball with an improvement in form that saw him power to victory with a game to spare. Vladislav Artemiev, like Levon Aronian, will have to win on demand on Saturday to force a playoff.
Magnus Carlsen began his second decade of being top on every published rating list with a loss to Levon Aronian, but he hit back immediately to grind out an endgame win in the next game. He took the lead in their semi-final by winning the last game of the day, though not without a scare at the end. In the other semi-final Ding Liren credited playing basketball with an improvement in form that saw him power to victory with a game to spare. Vladislav Artemiev, like Levon Aronian, will have to win on demand on Saturday to force a playoff.