Banter Blitz Cup quarterfinals begin

Magnus Carlsen takes on Nils Grandelius on Thursday as the Banter Blitz Cup quarterfinals begin. In the semi-finals the winner of that match will take on the winner of Saturday’s Ray Robson vs. Sanan Sjugirov. On the other side of the draw is 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja, who’s conceded no more than 2 points in any match so far. He’s likely to be tested harder by Georg Meier, who’s crushed the dreams of Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Parham Maghsoodloo, while Eduardo Iturrizaga takes on S.L. Narayanan.

Here’s the schedule so far – click on a name to watch the player’s stream:

• April 2 | 19:00 CEST | GM Magnus Carlsen (ENG) vs. GM Nils Grandelius (ENG) (QF)
• April 4 | 19:00 CEST | GM Ray Robson (ENG) vs. GM Sanan Sjugirov (RUS) (QF)
• April 5 | 20:00 CEST | GM Alireza Firouzja (ENG) vs. Georg Meier (ENG) QF)

Let’s take a look at the matches ahead:

1. Magnus Carlsen vs. Nils Grandelius | Thursday April 2nd, 19:00 CEST

See also:

• All the Banter Blitz Cup games
• Banter Blitz Cup pairings tree
• Scheduled matches
• Carlsen in 1/4-finals, tips Caruana for Candidates