Kramnik's Incredible Return
Magnus Carlsen scored a double at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Moscow. Following fast chess, the Norwegian grandmaster conquered the lightning-fast tournament. Along the way, he set several records for these types of chess. Carlsen was the first in history who not only won five world blitz championships, but also did it three times in a row. Also for the second time in his career, the Norwegian won one year in both types of programs. This was the first time that the FIDE ranking leader in 2014 succeeded.
Magnus Carlsen ends 2019 as a champion in all three formats of chess (classical, rapid, blitz). First time he did it in 2014.
📷 by @ LennartOotes # rapidblitz # chess # Carlsenpic.twitter.com / VD4ZUhZKCj
After the first day of the game, Carlsen was half a point ahead of the Russian Maxim Matlakov in the standings. From the in-person meeting, they began the Monday program. First of all, this party was to determine the prospects of the Russian grandmaster. He surprised with a high result on Sunday, but at the same time he played only with two opponents with a rating above 2700. Against the Norwegian Matlakov acted as white pieces and in the middle game had opportunities for a favorable development of the situation. So, the Russian managed to block with two bishops and on the 25th move to pick up the black rook. However, Carlsen gave it away without much resistance. In exchange, he defeated the bishop and, in addition, arranged the passage of the pawn to the queens on its right flank.
Matlakov belatedly tried to eliminate this maneuver, but he himself gave the boat. White has no chance of a positive outcome after this. On move 36, the Russian admitted defeat. In the following games, he lost to the American Hikar Nakamura and his compatriot Vladimir Kramnik (white) and dropped out of the struggle for high places. With 13.5 points, Matlakov was ranked ninth.
And the three chess players who beat him won the prize places. After the “warm-up” on Sunday, Kramnik gained a high tempo and dropped out of the race for the championship title only in the 18th round. His game against Carlsen by black was very tense. However, the Norwegian in his best traditions felt for a weak spot in the enemy’s defense and put pressure on him with all his might. In one sector of the board, Carlsen concentrated his queen, rook and horse against King Kramnik.
The Russian capitulated, but then turned out to be stronger than the Chinese Yu Yanji and Alireza Firuji, flying the FIDE flag. Kramnik’s 15 points are an impressive result for the 44-year-old chess player, who announced his retirement in January. He was a whole point ahead of three-time world champion in blitz Alexander Grischuk, not to mention other strong opponents.
“To be honest, I did not expect that I could perform so well at the World Cup and take third place. This is a surprise for me. In general, I spoke well and would have rated myself “good,” Kramnik quotes TASS.
As the 14th world champion in classical chess emphasized, he came to Moscow “just to play blitz for pleasure” and had no ambitions.
“When you haven’t been playing for a long time, especially blitz, it’s not very useful for the result. Therefore, I am satisfied and surprised. Since I won so many games, I probably played well, and it turned out, at least not worse than the others, ”Kramnik summed up.
According to the president of the Russian Chess Federation (FSHR) Andrei Filatov, Kramnik’s result at the World Blitz Championship proves that he is a great chess player.
And the overall World Blitz Championship podium!
1. Magnus Carlsen
2. Hikaru Nakamura
3. Vladimir Kramnik https://t.co/4XRDAqjsWK#c24live#rapidblitzpic.twitter.com/MYkJPKptqh
“Kramnik continues to bring medals to his homeland, although he is on a chess pension. The bronze award at the World Cup is Vladimir's outstanding achievement. After all, before this, he interrupted his career, did not play and did not train, ”Filatov summed up.
Carlsen's Triumph
The champion as a result decided on a tie-break. After the first 12 games, Carlsen had one point advantage over Nakamura, but in the next nine he squandered the handicap. The Norwegian did not lose: the defeat from the Russian Dmitry Andreikin on the first day of blitz remained the only one for him in two forms. But in the last rounds, the leader drew too many games. On the contrary, Nakamura stamped victory. As a result, their performance in the 21st round turned out to be equal: 16.5 points and one loss each.
In the first extra game, Carlsen had to play black. Opponents moved the showdown to the endgame. At move 62, it was decided to conclude a truce. In the next move, Nakamura had to take Carlsen's rook with his rook. He would beat this rook with the king, but the white king managed to overtake the black pawn. As a result, two kings would inevitably remain on the board.
In the next meeting, everything ended already on the 30th move. Carlsen spent this game in a super-aggressive manner. The offensive through the center with two horses came as a surprise to Nakamura. With the support of the queen and the rook, the "white cavalry" crushed the defenses of blacks and in the near future threatened their king. After the exchange, the position of the attackers only improved. With the help of the queen and the rook, the Norwegian forced the American to surrender. Otherwise, the mate would have happened over the next few moves.
“It was a very difficult day, and the tie-break was incredibly nervous. It's great that I managed to finish with a victory, so I'm very happy now. I am pleased with my performance in Moscow. It didn’t turn out smooth, but in the end I won, there’s nothing to complain about, ”Carlsen said.
Third Lagno Championship
In the women's tournament, a landslide victory was won by Catherine Lagno. The Russian woman was in the lead after the first day with an advantage over the nearest pursuer by one point. The most important moment for her tactically was the game with Alexandra Kosteniuk in the first round of Monday. Lagno succeeded with black and escaped persecution.
The Russian woman suffered the only defeat from the 47-year-old Alisa Gallyamova. Unlucky for Lagno was the 13th round. After a series of mistakes, she fell on the “fork” played by the white knight and after the 50th move she would have remained with one pawn against the knight and four pawns at Gallyamova.
However, the tournament position gave Lagno the right to misfire. In 17 games, she scored 13 points. Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk turned out to be 12.5, and Tan Zhongyi, who took third place, 12. 12. Another Russian woman, Valentina Gunina, scored the same number of points, but lost to the Chinese woman by additional indicators.
“It's great that we managed to finish the year this way. It was probably better not to come up with. I win the second time in a row, but this does not mean that it was easy - the competition is huge, all the rivals are strong. Plus, I must admit that this year I was lucky during the tournament. In any case, I am very pleased that I was able to win, ”admitted three-time world champion in blitz Lagno.