Chess World Cup: Fall Over, I Don't!
Mistakes in a game sometimes have nothing to do with a player's skill level, with their understanding of chess, but with something completely different, and the eighth round of the World Cup in Dubai is an almost eerie example of this.
World champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Jan Nepomnjaschtschi fought at eye level for five rounds , five times they were drawn. Their equality was so obvious that in the foyer in front of the gaming room people were worried that one would see an endless series of draws here.
Then came the sixth game. At first it was changeable, sometimes one person, sometimes the other, had opportunities. In addition, it was evenly balanced hour after hour, but the fans from all over the world in the Expo exhibition center watched with fascination as Magnus Carlsen mobilized all will and physical strength to oppose another draw. After 7 hours and 46 minutes he had reached his destination and Nepo, as everyone here calls him, crushed him on the edge of the board.
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The fight was a challenge also for the referees, the commentators, the chess reporters, the audience; the new day had already dawned, the last metro had passed. Nobody could go to sleep straight away, especially not the two duelists. So they played a draw in the seventh round, later on Saturday, to calm their nerves.
How would you approach the eighth round on Sunday? Magnus Carlsen opens with the king's pawn, as does Nepo, he plays the Russian defense, which is known for its high percentage of draws. Ah, another draw to spare your nerves?
After eight moves there is an absolutely symmetrical position on the board, with an aesthetic brilliance that even laypeople can enjoy: the black and white stones are gathered in pairs in the brimmed d-line, as if they had lined up for a synchronized swimming competition. The e-line, on the other hand, is a long, empty path with the kings standing lonely at the ends.
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Symmetrical positions indicate a perfect balance. At the same time, they are tricky. Continuing to imitate the features of the other person leads to ruin. You get checkmated one move earlier.
Does Magnus Carlsen want to use his suit advantage to generate the second victory? He casts, and if Nepo casts too, the white queen can threaten mate on the next move and win a pawn.
Nepo doesn't castle. Instead, he prefers an edge pawn two squares towards the white king. Carlsen thinks for 40 minutes. What is he thinking about? Has he overlooked this position in his months of preparation?
Then he makes a queen move that nobody expected. Queen to e1, chess! In a sense, it is an offer of a draw on move 10. Because Nepo could now protect his queen in front of his own king and swap queens. When the queens are off the board, all threats disappear in this position.
Carlsen has white and wants a draw right away? How should we understand this? His peacefulness disturbs the bloodthirsty among the observers. Let him make things clear here!
Nepo's right and left do not want as usual
What is even more disturbing: Nepo does not accept the offer. He doesn't pull the lady. He makes a sidestep with his king to avoid the chess bid and the queens exchange. The ex-world champion Viswanathan Anand, who is commenting on the game live in the lobby, cannot believe it. What does Nepo want? First he plays a draw opening, then he evades the draw in favor of a position with which no more than a draw can be achieved!
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And that is the sore point. Nepo and Carlsen have a deep understanding of chess. Nepo may be better in the opening, Carlsen in the endgame. There are no big differences. The only difference is in the punch Carlsen Nepo gave. Nepo staggered through the eighth lap like a boxer who was hit in the head in the sixth lap and only believes that he has all his senses together. He believes it because his target has taken possession of him.
Nepo sees Carlsen's mildness as an invitation to strike back. But his right and left do not want as usual. He pursues his goal not with the will and physical strength that Carlsen showed in the sixth round, but with the dream-driven determination of someone counted. Fall over, I don't!
His king stands strangely, soon his royal tower too, the harmony in his game disappears. Everything is not bad, everything is still in balance, but, yes, the sense of balance is disturbed.
On move 21, Nepo attacked Carlsen's bishop with a pawn move. The train is so bad it hurts. Every better club player sees the following combination with the side chess and pawn loss. There are more inadequate moves.
"Carlsen cracks Nepo" , we have overwritten our result report for the game. It would have been more accurate: Nepo cracks himself. He serves himself to Carlsen, who only has to clear away.
On move 28, only the queens remained on the board, whom Nepo did not want to exchange, and a few pawns. Nepo's farmers are scattered, ready to collect, Carlsen already has one more. The game is lost. How done Nepo is, he shows by playing another 18 moves. Just don't fall over.
Chess World Cup: Back And Forth And Back And Forth, Back And Forth
Every club player knows that. You have screwed up a game, had high hopes, failed because of your own inability, and now the moment has come to give up. But you don't give up. There is no strength to give up.
Will there be some furious games?
The handshake comes on train 46. Afterwards, Nepo sits at the press conference and is very relaxed. He smiles off the most devastating defeat of his chess career. Can happen. Half as bad. The chess press praises him for his willingness to provide information after defeats. It hurts to see him like that. Half as bad? He's the only one who thinks that. If he thinks so.
Carlsen is asked about the exchange of women he has offered. Yes, he decided to do it because he still felt exhausted after the mammoth game and could not think clearly. What irony: he felt like Nepo. The eighth game fell into his lap because he didn't want to win it.
Five to three. Five more draws and Carlsen has defended his title. Will Nepo make a brilliant comeback? There is nothing to suggest. Will there be some furious games? Hopefully. But even if there is already a lot of speculation in the World Cup press center as to how things could go on, the course of this fight shows one thing: Nothing is certain.
At the end, Omikron comes to visit us.
At the World Chess Championship in Dubai the score is 5: 3. Monday is the day of rest. The ninth round begins on Tuesday. The title fight will take place on the grounds of the World Exhibition Expo. It could last until mid-December.
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