# Magnus Carlsen Invitational

The Magnus Carlsen Invitational 2020 was an online chess tournament that ran from 18 April to 3 May 2020 as the first round of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour.

## History

In addition to the world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, who organized the tournament, Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave took part in the event. The tournament received media attention as one of the few sports events during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament was structured as a series of mini-matches, consisting of four games of rapid chess, if needed followed by two rounds of blitz chess (semi-finals and final only), if needed followed by an Armageddon tie-break. The winner after rapid games received 3 points, the loser 0 points; if a tie-break was necessary, the winner received 2 points and the loser 1 point. The eight players played a round robin with the top four advancing to the semi-finals. Carlsen beat Nakamura in the final to win the tournament.
The tournament was broadcast by Chess24.com with Jan Gustafsson, Peter Svidler, Tania Sachdev and Lawrence Trent providing most of the commentary.

## Group stage results

| Player 1 | Player 2 | Score |
| Round 1. 18 April 2020 |||
| Magnus Carlsen | Hikaru Nakamura | 3 – 2 |
| Ding Liren | Alireza Firouzja | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Round 1. 19 April 2020 |||
| Fabiano Caruana | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Anish Giri | 3 – 1 |
| Round 2. 20 April 2020 |||
| Magnus Carlsen | Alireza Firouzja | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Anish Giri | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Round 2. 21 April 2020 |||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 3 – 2 |
| Fabiano Caruana | Ding Liren | 3 – 2 |
| Round 3. 22 April 2020 |||
| Magnus Carlsen | Fabiano Caruana | 3 – 1 |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Alireza Firouzja | 3.5 – 0.5 |
| Round 3. 23 April 2020 |||
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Ding Liren | 2 – 3 |
| Anish Giri | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 1.5 – 2.5 |
| Round 4. 24 April 2020 |||
| Magnus Carlsen | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Alireza Firouzja | Fabiano Caruana | 1 – 3 |
| Round 4. 25 April 2020 |||
| Hikaru Nakamura | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Ding Liren | Anish Giri | 3 – 2 |
| Round 5. 26 April 2020 |||
| Anish Giri | Magnus Carlsen | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Alireza Firouzja | 1.5 – 2.5 |
| Round 5. 27 April 2020 |||
| Fabiano Caruana | Hikaru Nakamura | 3 – 2 |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Ding Liren | 1.5 – 2.5 |
| Round 6. 28 April 2020 |||
| Magnus Carlsen | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3 – 2 |
| Alireza Firouzja | Anish Giri | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Round 6. 29 April 2020 |||
| Hikaru Nakamura | Ding Liren | 3 – 2 |
| Fabiano Caruana | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2.5 – 1.5 |
| Round 7. 30 April 2020 |||
| Ding Liren | Magnus Carlsen | 3 – 1 |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | Alireza Firouzja | 3 – 2 |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Hikaru Nakamura | 2 – 3 |
| Anish Giri | Fabiano Caruana | 2.5 – 1.5 |

## Group stage standings

| Pl. | Player | M. | W | AW | AL | L | Points |
| 1 | Hikaru Nakamura | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Ding Liren | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| 3 | Magnus Carlsen | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 4 | Fabiano Caruana | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 5 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 6 | Alireza Firouzja | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 7 | Anish Giri | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 8 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |

## Play-offs

| Semifinals (1 and 2 May 2020) | Semifinals (1 and 2 May 2020) | Semifinals (1 and 2 May 2020) | Final (3 May 2020) | Final (3 May 2020) | Final (3 May 2020) |
| 1 | Hikaru Nakamura | 4 | | | |
| 4 | Fabiano Caruana | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Fabiano Caruana | 2 | 1 | Hikaru Nakamura | 1.5 |
| | | | 3 | Magnus Carlsen | 2.5 |
| 2 | Ding Liren | 1.5 | 3 | Magnus Carlsen | 2.5 |
| 3 | Magnus Carlsen | 2.5 | | | |