Football, Cricket and Chess - Magnus impresses one and all at the day 2 of Tata Steel India Rapid 2019
Magnus Carlsen does not cease to impress. This time it was not just on the chess board! He was called as the guest of honour along with Vishy Anand to open the day two of the cricket test match between India and Bangladesh. In between rounds four and five, he entertained one and all with his Football skills. Last but not the least, he was an absolute monster on the board as he completely outplayed Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri. His last game for the day was a draw against Vidit Gujrathi. Magnus now has a lead of three points with 10.0/12. He is followed by Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. In this report we bring to you detailed analysis, pictures, videos from the National Library in Kolkata.
At the end of day 2 of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid, we have Magnus Carlsen as the leader with 10.0/12 ( a win in rapid counts for two points). From the six rounds he has played, he has won four (against Nepomniachtchi, Aronian, Nakamur and Giri) and drew two (against Wesley So and Vidit). Carlsen is now three points ahead of his nearest rivals - the Americans Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura. One begins to wonder, how does Carlsen manage to do it? How is he able to show such a consistent performance, when all other players suffer from ups and downs?
Of course, Magnus is a tremendous player and his chess knowledge is unparalleled. However, he has also mastered the art of keeping himself in the best frame of mind for the game. After his fourth round win over Hikaru Nakamura, Magnus had around 30 minutes before the fifth round was about to begin. He would be facing his arch-rival Anish Giri. There is a player's resting area provided by the organizers and it is situated behind the playing hall. However, the place is small and stuffed. Besides Magnus always likes to get some air and exercise before the game.
It wouldn't have been wise to go for a walk on the busy streets of Kolkata. The National library, where the tournament is being held, has clean and green premises where Magnus could have got some fresh air. However, he needed something more energetic. Something which gets him pumped up for his game against Anish Giri. So, what does Magnus do?
For the football session Magnus did not wear his shoes nor his socks! It was one of those instances where you could feel that the World Champion is ready to wander out of his comfort zone to get himself in the best possible frame of mind. Maybe we shouldn't read too much into this small football playing session. After all Magnus loves to play the sport. However, as I stood there recording my video of Magnus dribbling the ball, all I could see was a man who felt that he was different from the rest. He didn't have to adhere to the set norms. He was free to do whatever he felt was right. Which other chess player do you think would have gone out on the balcony of the Bhasha Bhawan, which wasn't particularly clean, removed his footwear and started playing football with himself and the wall, as the fans stood in the distance shouting for autographs and journalists busy clicking away pictures! It's only Magnus who has the audacity as well as the courage to do this!
Sure enough, Magnus managed to outplay Giri from the black side of the Sicilian Rossolimo. The game was quite unique. It was quite difficult to understand where Anish had gone wrong. The pawn on e6 which looked a picture of strength, actually turned out to be a weakness and led to Giri's downfall.
Anand has been a tough opponent for Anish recently. As Giri mentioned after the game, it felt to pull one back. The game was a very high class encounter with both sides trying to play the waiting game. Anand was the first one to blink. Giri took advantage of it and managed to win a fine game. The entire analysis of the game can be seen in the video interview of Giri. We would like to show you a variation that was pointed out by Anish in his analysis.
Anand vs Giri, round 6
Anish wanted to win in a simple manner. He went Nh4 and after Nde3 Nxg2 Nxg2 Nf5! Either the knight is coming to h4 or the rook will take on g2 and Ne3+ would finish off the game. Vishy resigned after ...Nf5. After the game Anish said that he was tempted to play ...Rb1 in the above position. Anand would then have to go Rf2. But in case he took the rook, then the mate is very pretty after Nf3+ Kh1 and Ng3#
Earlier in the day Magnus had played a fine game to beat Hikaru Nakamura. From a well-known English position, Nakamura decided to play something off beat, something which Magnus may not have prepared before. It wasn't particularly a great idea as Carlsen got a pleasant opening position, kept on building his edge and finished off the game with his customary precision.
In the last round for the day Magnus was up against the wildcard entrant Vidit Gujrathi. The Tarrasch Defence chosen by the World Champion, was the perfect opening for Vidit to get a risk-free edge from White. Very soon, the Indian GM also won a pawn. It seemed like he would be able to put Carlsen under some strong pressure. But the World Champion made his moves quickly and confidently, putting Vidit under pressure. The game was eventually drawn.
In round 5, Vidit Gujrathi played a solid game against Wesley So with the black pieces and interestingly in this encounter they reached an ending after 32 moves where both sides had eight pawns intact on the board. It seemed quite obviously drawish at first but the subsequent pawn breaks revealed to be quite tricky as both players lost their way in the mutual complications.
Wesley So - Vidit Gujrathi, Round 10
The correct move in the above position would have been 51...Qe6 (instead of Qf7-d7) which intends to keep an eye on the strong central pawns from the critical d5 square. But 51...Qd7 allowed 52.Qd3 b2 53.Qb3 Qc6 54.Qxb2 after which clearly the white pawns on c and d-files were looking like monsters.
The only player who could match Carlsen's speed on day two was Wesley So. He had a slow start on day one, losing to Vishy Anand, but he came back strongly on the second day by beating Ding Liren first, and then Vidit Gujrathi. Even in the final round for the day he was better against Ian Nepomniachtchi, but couldn't convert it into a win. Here's a nice position from his game against Ding Liren.
Ding Liren vs Wesley So, Round 4
Ding Liren is not in the best form and played Rc8+ Kh7 Re8. He completely missed that Wesley could simply take on e5 - Rxe5 Rxe5 f6! when Black wins a piece and the game. But then how do you save yourself in the above position. Isn't your knight on e5 pinned? Well, the solution is the elegant g6! The subtle point being that after fxg6 Kxe4 Rxe5+ Kd4 Re6 Kd5! White is winning. The point of g6 becomes clear. The rook on e6 is no longer defended!
Vishy Anand managed to clinch a strong victory in the fourth round of the event against Levon Aronian when the latter lost the thread of his play after making a powerful start initially.
Vishy Anand - Levon Aronian, Round 4
Well, obviously the knight on g6 is en prise but merely moving it away from the threat doesn't solve Black's problems. For instance, after 34...Ne7 35.Qg4 Rg8 36.Re5 White only piles up more pressure. Levon therefore decided here to part away with his knight on g6 in order to win two pawns. To this end, 34..hxg3 35.Qxf6 Rxf6 36.fxg6 Rxg6 was played but this only led to another undesirable position on board.
The best move in this position would have been 34...c3 and now the same idea with fxg6 doesn't work as the c-pawn has started to roll down the board. After 35.Qc5 Rf7, Black starts to put up a decent fight in the game taking advantage of his well advanced c-pawn.
In the final round of the day, Harikrishna Pentala started off with a dynamic Catalan against Hikaru Nakamura with the white pieces. But as the game progressed the Indian Grandmaster ended up overestimating his position and went completely on the offensive without paying much heed to his opponent's counter chances. The ever alert Hikaru took this in his stride and turned the tables with some sparkling tactical fireworks after move 32.
Harikrishna Pentala - Hikaru Nakamura, Round 6
Simply exchanging off the queens with 32.Qxc7 would have offered better resistance but the game continuation allowed Black to arrange a devious attack. Hikaru played 32... Qf7 33. h5 Rc2 and now his pieces were much faster which became very apparent in the next two moves with 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. Bf8 Rxg2+. You can count on Hikaru finishing off his opponents cleanly in such positions.
Harikrishna vs Nepomniachtchi, Round 4
Results of rounds 4
Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 10 | IND | 2674 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Giri Anish | NED | 2705 | 7 |
2 | 8 | NOR | 2849 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | 1 - 0 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2812 | 6 |
3 | 9 | IND | 2757 | GM | Anand Viswanathan | 1 - 0 | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2768 | 5 |
4 | 1 | IND | 2667 | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | 1 - 0 | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | RUS | 2765 | 4 |
5 | 2 | CHN | 2832 | GM | Ding Liren | 0 - 1 | GM | So Wesley | USA | 2802 | 3 |
Results of round 5
Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 3 | USA | 2802 | GM | So Wesley | 1 - 0 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2674 | 10 |
2 | 4 | RUS | 2765 | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | 0 - 1 | GM | Ding Liren | CHN | 2832 | 2 |
3 | 5 | ARM | 2768 | GM | Aronian Levon | 1 - 0 | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | IND | 2667 | 1 |
4 | 6 | USA | 2812 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | ½ - ½ | GM | Anand Viswanathan | IND | 2757 | 9 |
5 | 7 | NED | 2705 | GM | Giri Anish | 0 - 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2849 | 8 |
Results of round 6
Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 10 | IND | 2674 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2849 | 8 |
2 | 9 | IND | 2757 | GM | Anand Viswanathan | 0 - 1 | GM | Giri Anish | NED | 2705 | 7 |
3 | 1 | IND | 2667 | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | 0 - 1 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2812 | 6 |
4 | 2 | CHN | 2832 | GM | Ding Liren | ½ - ½ | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2768 | 5 |
5 | 3 | USA | 2802 | GM | So Wesley | ½ - ½ | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | RUS | 2765 | 4 |
Photo Gallery:
At the Eden Gardens, one of the most famous cricket stadiums in India, the first day and night test match for India is being held. The Indian team is taking on Bangladesh. Now cricket in India is a big deal! You have millions of people following the match. It was a fine moment for chess fans to see two of the greatest players ever - Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen ring the opening bell for day two of the test match. On day one, this task had been done by Mamta Banerjee, CM of West Bengal and Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh.
Special thanks to Shahid Ahmed and Satanick Mukhuty for contributing to this article.
Pairings for upcoming rounds
Round 7 on 2019/11/24 at 02.00 P.M. | |||||||||||
Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 4 | RUS | 2765 | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2674 | 10 | |
2 | 5 | ARM | 2768 | GM | Aronian Levon | GM | So Wesley | USA | 2802 | 3 | |
3 | 6 | USA | 2812 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | GM | Ding Liren | CHN | 2832 | 2 | |
4 | 7 | NED | 2705 | GM | Giri Anish | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | IND | 2667 | 1 | |
5 | 8 | NOR | 2849 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | GM | Anand Viswanathan | IND | 2757 | 9 | |
Round 8 on 2019/11/24 at 03.30 P.M. | |||||||||||
Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 10 | IND | 2674 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | GM | Anand Viswanathan | IND | 2757 | 9 | |
2 | 1 | IND | 2667 | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2849 | 8 | |
3 | 2 | CHN | 2832 | GM | Ding Liren | GM | Giri Anish | NED | 2705 | 7 | |
4 | 3 | USA | 2802 | GM | So Wesley | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2812 | 6 | |
5 | 4 | RUS | 2765 | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2768 | 5 | |
Round 9 on 2019/11/24 at 05.00 P.M. | |||||||||||
Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 5 | ARM | 2768 | GM | Aronian Levon | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2674 | 10 | |
2 | 6 | USA | 2812 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | GM | Nepomniachtchi Ian | RUS | 2765 | 4 | |
3 | 7 | NED | 2705 | GM | Giri Anish | GM | So Wesley | USA | 2802 | 3 | |
4 | 8 | NOR | 2849 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | GM | Ding Liren | CHN | 2832 | 2 | |
5 | 9 | IND | 2757 | GM | Anand Viswanathan | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | IND | 2667 | 1 |