Wesley So beats Magnus Carlsen to win the Skilling Open

A semi-ruined birthday

Magnus Carlsen became world champion in 2013, eight days before his 23rd birthday, on November 22. Almost exactly one year later, on November 23, 2014, he defeated Vishy Anand for the second time in a row to retain the title. The Norwegian defended his crown in 2016 and 2018, defeating Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana on November 30 and 28 respectively. Playing for the highest stakes around his birthday seemed to do wonders for the champion.

Of course, this is all superstition, and Carlsen has shown that he can beat anyone in the world no matter what time of year. On this occasion, he was defeated by Wesley So in the inaugural tournament of the Champions Chess Tour 2020-21. He politely acknowledged the fact that he did it on his opponent’s birthday:

First of all, I’d like to apologize to Magnus for half-ruining his birthday, but I have to try to win every now and then. You don’t want me to win ten tournaments in a row.

Throughout the event, Carlsen was not his usual dominant self on the (digital) board as he struggled to defeat Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi in the lead-up to the knockout stages. The world champion also mentioned that he didn’t feel like he had played so well during the preliminaries. However, given his strength, he managed to get first place in the round-robin and reach the final in the knockout.

However, for chess professionals, it’s not just about the results, as So noticed that his opponent was not playing at his full potential:

I don’t think Magnus is in his best shape right now, because he missed a lot of chances and made a lot of mistakes here and there that would have sealed the game. […] When he’s having a good day, he’s basically unstoppable.

Speaking to commentators after the loss, Carlsen seemed saddened by the loss and also exhausted after nine days of close chess. Regardless, he clearly stated that his rival was the deserved winner, emphasizing that he would not make excuses for defeat. The world champion joked:

Fortunately, I qualified for the Major (smile).

Carlsen referred to the fact that the top 8 players in this tournament automatically get a qualifying spot in the next event, which in this case will also be the first ‘Major’ of the tour, which will start on December 26.

By the way, the Spanish GM David Antón received the place reserved for the player with the most votes. in an online survey of the eight participants who did not reach the knockout phase in the previous event.

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Game 1

Carlsen played the Caro-Kann all three times he had the black pieces on Monday. He was clearly well prepared given the maneuver he used in move 9 of game 1:

Commenters quickly noted that 9 … Bf8 It can only be played if you have thoroughly checked the following lines with a computer. Of course, that move alone did not give Black a clear advantage; it was So’s imprecision on move 16 that gave Carlsen the advantage:

White wasn’t ready for him 16.c4 pawn break, as black had done 16 … dxc4 17.Qxc4 Nxd4, when So could not capture with 18.Nxd4 due to 18 … Nxe5 19.Qc3 Bb4 with a clear advantage for Black. After the text, the game continued. 18.Qxd4 Qxb3 19.Bxg6 fxg6 20.Qe4 0-0:

Black is already in the driver’s seat, but So is to be congratulated for finding the toughest continuations – he played here 21.Bxh6, to which Carlsen responded with the strong 21 … Rf5. After 22.Be3 Qd5 22.Qxd5 (22.Qc2 was better, keeping the queens on the board) exd5 23.f4 Carlsen had the initiative.

The world champion correctly abandoned a trade and pushed his passed pawn on the d-file to turn his advantage into a victory. It had been a tough fight and Carlsen finished on top, with the black pieces.

Game 2

So he immediately bounced back, winning with Black using the same variation that gave his opponent a win in the first game of Sunday’s mini-match. It was the American’s turn to show a good retreat movement with the black pieces:

At this point, Carlsen considered two bishop moves and chose the wrong one. He later confessed that he could not correctly assess the difference between 17.Bg5 and his choice of 17.Bd4 that was a big mistake. After 17 … Bd6 18.Na4 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 Ke7 20.g3 Rd8 21.Be3 Black was simply a pawn up.

The Philippine-born grandmaster displayed good technique to turn his lead into a pair of knights victory against Carlsen’s bishop pair:

The difference in activity is enormous. Carlsen resigned on play 60.

Games 3 and 4

Clearly, the most dramatic game of the day was the third rapid match. From a sharp Caro-Kann, So was wrong on move 18:

18.Bb5 It is a very tempting move, but also a mistake, since Black could respond with 18 … Nf4, when after the forced sequence 19.Bxd7 Nxh3 + 20.gxh3 Bxd7 21.Rxe7 Bxd7 22.Nxd5 Bd6, Black they are clearly to choose from. However, Carlsen found no rebuttal and went for 18 … Qc8, allowing White to call with 19.Rxf6 Rxf6 20.Qxc8 Rxc8 21.Bd3:

The draw was signed ten movements later.

After the thrilling third match, the players decided to take it easy in the last quick game of the day, with a quiet variation on the already reduced Berlin Defense appearing on the board. The point split after 23 moves.

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Lightning tiebreaker

In another Caro-Kann complex, White emerged slightly better off in an ending with bishops, rooks and pawns on the board:

Carlsen needed to be careful here, as 34.c6 it is a movement that requires precise calculation. However, it’s hard to blame the world champion for not finding the right path in a blitzkrieg: his 34 … d4 it was the losing mistake. After 35.Kf1 The black man is forced to leave 35 … Kh8 + 36.Kg1 Rh1 + 37.Kf2 Rxf1 when white gets a winning position with 38.Bxf1:

38 … Bxc6 39.b5 Bd7 40.a6 bxa6 41.bxa6 d3 42.Bxd3 Ke5 43.a7 Bc6:

So played 44.Bf1 and Carlsen resigned, as there is no way to stop the passer in the a-file after the Bg2 threat.

Wesley So never had a real problem in the last blitzkrieg of the event. A draw was agreed after 46 moves, giving the Philippine-born star tournament victory.

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