Hikaru Nakamura will play Daniil Dubov in the final of the $150,000 Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge after a thrilling final day of his semifinal against Magnus Carlsen was decided by a blunder in Armageddon. It completed an amazing comeback for Hikaru, who had lost 3:0 on the first day and was close to starting the second with another loss. He commented, “It still hasn’t completely sunk in yet but it’s great to beat Magnus - at least one time I found a way, so I’m pretty happy!”
Magnus Carlsen began the day by playing the Scotch Four Knights, against which Hikaru Nakamura played the system with 9…Bg4 that Jan Gustafsson recommended in his chess24 series. Jan had commented that Black had “not much to know or worry about here” of the position after 13…Qxc3, and it was only the World Champion’s 15.h3 that was a new move:
