FEDERICO MARÍN BELLÓN

Updated Friday, January 19, 2024-11:51

Let's not fool ourselves.

Women are still far behind men on the boards, but what happened this Thursday in the small town of Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands) may explain a good part of the problem.

One of the great tournaments on the calendar is held there, a classic that was born in 1938 and is known as Wimbledon or the Roland Garros of chess.

A small miracle occurred on its slopes on Thursday, which in the end there were two.

The world number 6 was defeated by a woman.

It's been 22 years since

Judit Polgar

beat

Garry Kasparov

in 2002 and we've hardly seen anything like it since then.

In this edition, among the participants in the main Tata Steel tournament (the Indian business group behind it, dedicated to steel, is another sign of which way the winds are blowing) a rarity stands out.

The Chinese

Ju Wenjun

, world champion, absolute grandmaster and until Thursday number 3 in the women's classification, 'only' has 2549 Elo points.

Only in Spain there are 15 players with the highest score.

It seems that he has crashed a party in which 10 of the 14 chess players have more than 2700 points and another three more than 2600. Wenjun is clearly the expert in sweet, the point that, except for setbacks in the form of a draw, everyone tries to ensure .

Sharks smell blood and the Chinese woman started by losing against the winner from the previous year.

The Dutch

Anish Giri

is one of the best on the planet.

Nothing to object.

Later, he alternated his two draws with another defeat, on a path that was already known to be difficult.

That is why there are not so many players willing to expose themselves like this in top-level tournaments.

Or they may never be invited.

Wenjun is almost a sociological experiment, to see what would happen if...

What happened is that in the fifth round the world champion brilliantly defeated the number 6 in the absolute rankings (now 7), the Frenchman

Alireza Firouzja

.

Everyone considers the Iranian-born player a genius of incomparable talent.

Magnus Carlsen

himself

pointed him out as his probable and even desired successor.

The boy qualified at the last minute for the Candidates tournament to be played in April, which could make the prediction come true.

The game was a story we have seen a thousand times: the weaker player gained the advantage and the star suffered in search of a saving escape.

The movie always ends with a happy ending for the elite grandmaster and from move 40 onwards, Wenjun's little face conformed to the script.

He had had Him so close!

Another story to tell the grandchildren.

In this situation, the most common thing is to collapse and even lose, but the 32-year-old player also knows what it means to hold on to the board and continued to push, until the Frenchman gave up on move 64. Surely she heard Judit Polgar's little voice congratulating her for the achievement achieved.

Who did encourage her in public was her older sister,

Susan Polgar

, another former world champion who wrote happily: "Good job, girls!"

Hans Niemann, second victim

The use of the plural alluded to another unusual victory.

In the Wijk aan Zee B tournament, a modest international master with only 2381 Elo points, the Dutch

Eline Roebers

, finished the job and defeated the grandmaster

Hans Moke Niemann

(2692), a guy who seems capable of anything to win. headlines.

Many readers will remember his disputes, legal and on the board, with Magnus Carlsen, who once accused him of cheating and then made peace with the fine print when the American sued him for 100 million dollars.

That story is almost forgotten, but surely Magnus and more than one colleague also celebrated yesterday the defeat of Niemann, who coincidentally never writes on social networks when he suffers a setback.

When he wins, his favorite phrase is: "Chess spoke for itself."

This Thursday chess spoke in the Netherlands, with a woman's voice.