Magnus Carlsen, Norway’s world No 1, edged into the last 16 at the $1.8m World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday with a 3.5-2.5 margin over Germany’s Vincent Keymer, 18, who scored a shock win in the opening game. Their tiebreak took four hours to resolve, as Keymer put up tough resistance, while Carlsen missed wins in three epic endgames.
The format of the 206-player knockout is brutal and unforgiving, as lower ranked grandmasters seized one of their few opportunities to upstage the elite who monopolise the richly rewarded invitation tournaments.
