On Friday, 21 October, Jan-Krzysztof Duda (JKD) triumphed at the AimChess Rapid tournament for the second time in his career.
JKD is one of the few chess players who defeated the leader of the general classification, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen. The Pole won 3:1 in the Aimchess Rapid semi-final. This victory qualified him for the last stage of the competition, where the Azeri Shakhriyar Mamedyarov awaited him.
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The decisive clash started on Thursday. After the first day, the Pole was on top, beating his rival 3:1. However, on Friday, Mamedyarov made à comeback with 2.5-0.5. As a result, both competitors clashed in overtime/
With an unexpectedly bold move, Duda took his rival by surprise, trapping him in a cleverly-designed net. Distracted by the Pole’s unorthodox play, the Azeri made a mistake and surrendered, sealing the fate of the competition in favour of the Cracovian.
Aimchess Rapid is the eighth of nine Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournaments, with $1.6 million in prize money. The whole cycle will end on 20 November with a tournament in San Francisco, where eight of the world’s top chess players, including Duda, will compete for the title of the best grandmaster of the season in an online competition.
JKD is now second in the general classification, thanks to his Friday victory. He was also awarded $32.000.
Image: Instagram (gm_jkduda)
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
