Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the $300,000 CrunchLabs Masters, part of the £1.7m online Champions Tour, when the Lyon 33-year-old defeated his French compatriot Alireza Firouzja in the final after previously eliminating the world No 1, Magnus Carlsen. He actually beat Firouzja twice, the first time by 2.5-0.5 and then by 3-2 after the former Iranian qualified for a rematch.
Carlsen, whose mother, Sigrun Øen, died at 61 earlier this month, lost 2.5-1.5 in the semi-final to Vachier-Lagrave, who has now eliminated the Norwegian three times in two Champions Tour seasons. Vachier-Lagrave said his style may be a problem for the former world champion: “I can see all those ingenious small tactics, while Magnus misses one or two in a game, and that can prove costly … in that sense, I may be a worse matchup for him than other players.”
