[ad_1]
GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda achieved a tremendous surprise in the fifth round of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament. The Polish grandmaster, who had yet to win a game, defeated GM Magnus Carlsen, ending the world champion’s 125 classic games undefeated streak.
GM Levon Aronian and GM Alireza Firouzja defeated GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Aryan Tari respectively. Midway through the tournament, Aronian takes first place.
You can follow the games here as part of our live platform. In addition to the official broadcast, daily commentary is provided on GM Hikaru Nakamura’s Twitch channel starting at 8am Pacific / 5pm Central Europe.
Norwegian Chess 2020 | Round 5 Ranking
# | fed | Name | bone scan | one | two | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts |
one | Aronian, Levon | 2767 | one | one | 3 | 3 | 3 | eleven | ||
two | Firouzja, Alireza | 2728 | 1.5 | one | 1.5 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||
3 | Carlsen, Magnus | 2863 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
4 | Caruana, Fabiano | 2828 | 0 | one | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | ||
5 | Doubt, Jan-Krzysztof | 2757 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | one | 4 | ||
6 | Tari, Aryan | 2633 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Overcoming GM Mikhail Tal’s 95-game losing streak was a milestone for Carlsen. He then surpassed GM Ding Liren’s number of exactly 100 and even GM Sergei Tiviakov’s (somewhat debated) 110. By the time the world was locked in due to the pandemic, Carlsen had set the number at 121 at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in January. past. .
Reaching 125 (42 wins and 83 draws) is a great achievement that may never be repeated. Carlsen himself considers the number to be 122, as he is reluctant to count the three games he played in the Norwegian league against rather weak opponents.
A record that is probably impossible to break in modern chess is that of the longest victorious streak. It is in the hands of the first world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, who won 25 games in a row between 1873 and 1882. Also famous is Bobby Fischer’s 20-game winning streak in the 1970s.
It’s ironic, but not completely illogical, that Carlsen lost his game to the tailender. A loss like this can come when you least expect it.
The following quote, from a Chess.com interview with Duda in early 2020, is surprising:
You read about guys like Magnus who crossed 2880s, won so many tournaments in a row and you see him as this type of god. It doesn’t help because then you have to face him, and he creates pressure with every move. I’ve never won a match against him, but I think I need to play more against him. When I beat him, I’ll feel like, ‘Ok, I’m on top.’
So how did Duda do it? Well, reacting strongly to a Carlsen trade sacrifice, getting the upper hand, then making a mistake on something in time trouble, but being lucky that the position kept winning.
“Approaching the pressure of time [time pressure]We started playing in a somewhat random way, at least I did, “said Duda.” I’m still not used to this format, there is no increment. I’m thinking a lot, and then I wonder what I spent my time on! “
Here Duda played 30.Qe4 and thought it was a “stupid move”. Only after 30 … Qg2 appeared on the board if he discovered that there is a small problem with 31.Qxf4: square b1 is no longer protected. “I almost missed checkmate in one move!”
Then after 31.Rhe1 Carlsen played the dangerous look 31 … Qxa2? White needs to be able to return with 32.Qc2! when 32 … Qxc4 33.Re8 + Following.
Here Carlsen must have noticed 33 … Rxe8 34.Rxe8 + Kh7 35.Rh8 +! Kxh8 36.Bxg7 + winning the queen. He chose 33 … Kh7 34.Rxb8 Qxd5 + instead, but ultimately failed to save himself.
Although it couldn’t be seen from their faces, both players must have had strong and completely opposite emotions inside. When Carlsen quit, the two of them completely forgot about anything else and shook hands.
Doubt thought he didn’t play that well and was also disappointed that he didn’t check the 4 … Nf6 Caro-Kann played by Carlsen. “I wasn’t very happy with my game, so I thought losing to Magnus wasn’t terrible at all. That was kind of relaxing. [for] me, “said Duda.
Carlsen did not join the official chess broadcast. In the TV2 studio, He said: “It had to happen at some point. But in any case, it’s very, very disappointing.”
A Carlsen loss is rare, but Caruana losing on the same day is even rarer. According to Chess.com IM Rakesh Kulkarni, the last time it happened was in the first round of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup, but at the time the American GM was not number two in the world.
Linares 2005, last round: both Kasparov and Anand lost to Topalov and Adams respectively.
Tilburg 1991, round 12: both Kasparov and Karpov lost, to Anand and Kamsky respectively.
Do you remember any other cases? https://t.co/SH0SLjQjNY
– David Llada ♞ (@davidllada) October 11, 2020
Interestingly, Caruana was following in Aronian’s footsteps in what was a Nimzo-Indian 4.f3. The two followed a recent online game between Aronian as White against Grischuk and eventually Caruana’s 10th move deviated from Aronian-Carlsen, Isle of Man 2019.
When he castled the queenside, Caruana sharpened the game even more, but Aronian responded well and even after the queens were exchanged, White was still struggling to develop his kingside. He did it with a trade sacrifice for a pawn, which was not a bad thing in itself, since White also got the bishop pair. However, when Aronian was able to change rooks and one of those bishops, Caruana started to go downhill.
For the first time, no Armageddon game was played in Stavanger. Thanks to the three points awarded for a victory in the standard game, Aronian is the new leader. In second place we find Firouzja, who defeated Tari in an excellent game:
The Norway Chess tournament is a six-player double round-robin that will take place October 5-16, 2020 at the Clarion Hotel in Stavanger, Norway. The time control is two hours for all movements with an increment of 10 seconds per movement after movement 40.
In the event of a tie, players play a game of armageddon approximately 20 minutes after drawing their standard game. The colors remain the same and the time control is 10 minutes for White versus seven minutes for Black (who have a draw probability) with an increase of one second per move from move 41.
The point system is as follows:
- Main game winning: 3 points
- Main game lost: 0 points
- Draw the main game and victory armageddon: 1.5 points
- Draw main game and losses armageddon: 1 point
See also:
[ad_2]