Magnus Carlsen PHOTO: FRChess/Nick Barton
Norway’s reigning world champion in chess, Magnus Carlsen, has cancelled his membership in the Norwegian chess federation (Norges Sjakkforbund). His withdrawal follows a lengthy conflict over strategy and sponsorships.
— Read on www.newsinenglish.no/2019/11/08/carlsen-checks-out-of-norways-chess-federation/
Photo by Maria Emelianova.
America’s third-ranked player wins the first official world championship for this variant over classical world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
— Read on www.fide.com/
Magnus Carlsen shaking hands with Wesley So (photo: Lennart Ootes)
Magnus losing two games in a row to the same opponent has happened as recently as the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis (in the tiebreaks against Ding Liren), but losing three in a row may be unique. It wasn’t just the losses but the way it happened, with Wesley completely dominant.
— Read on chess24.com/en/read/news/wesley-so-inflicts-3rd-loss-in-a-row-on-magnus-carlsen
Chess: Carlsen and Caruana set for $430,000 Isle of Man showdown | Magnus Carlsen | The Guardian
“After Friday’s eighth round Carlsen’s unbeaten streak reached 98 games, surpassing Mikhail Tal’s 95 in 1973-74 and closing in on Ding Liren’s record of 100 against high-level opponents. The record could fall in the 11th and final Isle of Man round on Monday if he continues to avoid defeat.”
The simplest way to silence your critics is to do what they claim you can’t do. They may mock your process loudly but never allow their words to cause you to take unnecessary risks.
[Event “Carlsen – Caruana World Championship Match”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2018.11.28”]
[Round “Tiebreaker 1“]
[White “Magnus Carlsen”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[Black “Fabiano Caruana”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[Result “1-0”]
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.e4 O-O 5.Nge2 c6 6.Bg2 a6 7.O-O b5 8.d4 d6 9.a3
Bxc3 10.Nxc3 bxc4 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Na4 Be6 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Be3 Nbd7 15.f3 Rab8
16.Rac1 Rb3 17.Rfe1 Ne8 18.Bf1 Nd6 19.Rcd1 Nb5 20.Nc5 Rxb2 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Bxc4
Nd4 23.Bxd4 exd4 24.Bxe6+ Kf8 25.Rxd4 Ke7 26.Rxd7+ Rxd7 27.Bxd7 Kxd7 28.Rd1+
Ke6 29.f4 c5 30.Rd5 Rc2 31.h4 c4 32.f5+ Kf6 33.Rc5 h5 34.Kf1 Rc3 35.Kg2 Rxa3
36.Rxc4 Ke5 37.Rc7 Kxe4 38.Re7+ Kxf5 39.Rxg7 Kf6 40.Rg5 a5 41.Rxh5 a4 42.Ra5
Ra1 43.Kf3 a3 44.Ra6+ Kg7 45.Kg2 Ra2+ 46.Kh3 Ra1 47.h5 Kh7 48.g4 Kg7 49.Kh4 a2
50.Kg5 Kf7 51.h6 Rb1 52.Ra7+ Kg8 53.Rxa2 Rb5+ 54.Kg6 Rb6+ 55.Kh5
1-0
[Event “Carlsen – Caruana World Championship Match”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2018.11.28”]
[Round “Tiebreaker 2“]
[White “Fabiano Caruana”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[Black “Magnus Carlsen”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[Result “0-1”]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7
9.c4 Ng6 10.Qa4 Bd7 11.Qb4 Qb8 12.h4 h5 13.Be3 a6 14.Nc3 a5 15.Qb3 a4 16.Qd1
Be7 17.g3 Qc8 18.Be2 Bg4 19.Rc1 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 Qf5 21.c5 O-O 22.c6 bxc6 23.dxc6
Rfc8 24.Qc4 Bd8 25.Nd5 e4 26.c7 Bxc7 27.Nxc7 Ne5 28.Nd5 Kh7
0-1
There’s more to being the world champion in chess than playing great moves and controlling your nerves. After eleven successful draws against Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen chose to abandon his advantageous position in game 12 in favor of a draw offer. Why would the World Champion do so such a thing? Perhaps as Kasparov put it, “he seems to be losing his (nerves.)” Or perhaps Magnus Carlsen knows that the least dangerous path to remaining the World Chess Champion is exploiting the loopholes in FIDE’s tiebreak system.
Experience in this format has taught Magnus Carlsen to favor a cautious approach. And why wouldn’t he? If the classical portion of the match remains even after 12 games the combatants break the tie by battling in rapid play and then blitz if necessary. Magnus Carlsen classical rating (2835) is just three points better than Fabiano Caruana’s (2832.) Where as, Carlsen’s rapid rating is 2880, and his blitz rating is 2939; vs. Caruana’s rapid rating of 2789, and his blitz rating of 2767. In short, by being overly cautious in classical time controls, Magnus has a much better probability of remaining champion. One could argue that rapid and blitz games shouldn’t determine the classical chess world champion, but as long as they do, The Magnus Carlsen Doctrine of winning by not losing makes sense.
One of my favorite jazz artists, Charles Mingus once said, “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” In chess, it is quite common for the more confident player to add complications to the position in order to allow him/her more opportunities to prove superior skill. In general, this is a good strategy and oftentimes the resulting victories are praised by chess aficionados. Of course, another result is also quite possible.
In the 2017 FIDE World Cup match between Bu Xiangzhi and World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Magnus’ over complicated style with the white pieces was dealt a devastating blow by Bu’s straight forward approach as black. Magnus chose a slow developing line of the Giuoco Piano which included several slow pawn moves and piece redeployments. Bu Xiangzhi on the other hand played a fairly straight forward opening with only one cryptic move (9… Rab8.) The result of the game clearly demonstrated the dangers of being too fancy as Magnus’ 11. h3 was severely punished by a common bishop sacrifice and a very creative early advancement of the h-pawn.
As a fan of Magnus Carlsen this game was painful to watch. As a chess educator, this game is a golden opportunity to demonstrate important lessons. For this reason I am sharing my lesson plans on this game. Try pairing the moves with Charles Mingus’ “Music Written for Monterey.”
Carlsen – Xiangzhi page 1
Carlsen – Xiangzhi page 2
Carlsen – Xiangzhi page 3
Carlsen – Xiangzhi page 4
Carlsen – Xiangzhi page 5
What is black’s best move?
What is black’s best move? (Magnus Carlsen – Bu Xiangzhi, 2017 FIDE World Cup)
What is white’s best move?
What is white’s best move? (Magnus Carlsen – Alexey Dreev, 2017 FIDE World Cup)
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