Airthings Masters: Rock-solid Teimour Radjabov fires opening salvo

CHENNAI: The $200,000

Airthings Masters

is set for a thrilling conclusion on Sunday after Azerbaijan star

Teimour Radjabov

edged a tight Day 1 to lead overnight. Radjabov put in a rock-solid performance against Armenia's top star

Levon Aronian

that paid dividends in the last game of the set.

Aronian appeared to over-extend himself when pressing for the win and faltered. It followed three tight draws in which Radjabov, a former World Cup winner, kept in-form Aronian's imaginative attacking play at bay. Both players had shown off their deep preparation for the final in games 1 and 2 with Aronian playing a new move in the first and pushing hardest in the second.

But the tension was released in the last game as Radjabov took advantage of a slight inaccuracy from Aronian to force a win. Radjabov said afterward: "It was a tough match. All of these games are very tense." He added: "I have my strategy which still works, but let's see if it works to the very end." A deflated Aronian said he was "upset" following the loss.

In the third-place play-off,

Daniil Dubov

stormed into a 2-0 lead before Maxime Vachier-Lagrave hit back twice to level the score 2-2 overnight. Both Champions

Chess

Tour matches will be decided on Sunday with a second set and tiebreaks if needed. Day 2 of the Airthings Masters final, organised by the Play Magnus Group, starts at 15:00 CET tomorrow. If the scores are locked at 1-1, tiebreaks will be played to decide who wins.