Magnus Carlsen crushed China's number 1 Ding Liren in just three games to seal his place in the Chessable Masters final.

The World Champion and hot favorite to win the $150,000 tournament hit top form at just the right time to qualify in an ominous fashion.

Carlsen won the first encounter, drew the second, and then finished Ding off in the third to go through with a game - and a day - to spare.

It was "breathtaking", French Grandmaster Romain Édouard said on Twitter.

Ding's only win of the match was one gifted to him by Carlsen yesterday after he felt bad for winning the previous game when his opponent disconnected in a drawish position and ran out of time.

"It would be special to face Anish in the final!" Carlsen said, but his dream of facing his Twitter rival Anish Giri hangs in the balance after the Dutch number 1 was defeated 2.5-1.5 by Russia's top player Ian Nepomniachtchi.

That means Anish and Ian return on Thursday for a high-stakes decider before the final starts on Friday.

About the tournament 

The event, broadcast live on chess24, is the next stage of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour which carries a total prize pot of $1 million, a record for the online game. 

The Chessable Masters, which runs until July 5, is being put on in association with Chessable and the tour's Education Partner, leading Swiss private banking group, Julius Baer.

Players were split into two groups (A and B) of six for the preliminary stage before eight progressed to the knockouts. 

The final winner will take home the top prize of $45,000 and a ticket to the $300,000 tour Grand Final. 

Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST.

You can watch it live here: 
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/chessable-masters-2020-group-a#live  

Highlights English:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dpG2c-dmqs58tSDSZvxzGNqzgquJyO0g?usp=sharing

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Leon Watson
leon@chessable.com
+447786 078770