Skilling Open 3: 17-year-old Alireza Firouzja stunning three wins in a row

Magnus Carlsen survived a blunder against Hikaru Nakamura in the first round of the day to win the Skilling Open prelims, but the main drama was elsewhere. 17-year-old Alireza Firouzja seemed to have wrapped up a quarterfinal spot with a stunning three wins in a row, but losses in the last two rounds meant heartbreak. After leading for two days, Anish Giri only scraped into the quarterfinals in 8th place and now faces Carlsen, while world no. 2 Ding Liren, who went into the round in 2nd place, is also out.

Carlsen-Giri in particular is sure to be intense, while Carlsen and Nakamura finishing in 1st and 2nd places in the prelims means we’re potentially headed for another Magnus vs. Hikaru final. There’s a long way to go before that, however. Tune in to all the action from 18:00 CET on Wednesday!