Magnus Carlsen’s decision to abdicate the world crown he had held for a decade is looking like an inspired choice as the Norwegian, 32, has hit a rich vein of form in the past two weeks.
Maximum tournament scores are rare, but Carlsen achieved 11/11 in chess.com’s Titled Tuesday, only the second time this has been done in the notoriously competitive event, then a few days later notched up 9/9 against stronger opposition at the Zagreb Rapid and Blitz, part of the St Louis-organised Grand Tour. Carlsen said: “That achievement feels sweeter than almost any tournament win because it’s something I’ve never done before and won’t do again.”
The legend’s Zagreb total included a 20-move miniature with Black against his 2021 title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi.
The historic gold standard for any blitz achievement is Bobby Fischer’s 19/22 at Herceg Novi 1970 in what was an unofficial world blitz championship and the strongest speed tournament of the 20th century. Apart from his single loss to Viktor Korchnoi, Fischer’s play was extremely accurate, whereas in a few games Carlsen rode his luck from dubious positions – but judge for yourself.
On to this week’s Aimchess Masters, where Carlsen first overcame his aide Jorden van Foreest in a knight ending where the world No 1 sacrificed his knight for unstoppable pawns, then retreated all his king’s flank pieces to the back row before they emerged to defeat his old rival and US champion Fabiano Caruana, before defeating the rising star Nodirbek Abdusattorov to qualify for Friday’s final against Wesley So. Carlsen won the best-of-four games match 3-1, including checkmate finishes to both his games as Black.
Next week Carlsen plays in the chess.com Bullet Championship (all your moves in one minute) and from 30 July he will be in Baku for the 206-player World Cup, an event he has never won.
In a wide-ranging interview last year with the podcaster Lex Fridman, Carlsen discussed his motivation, whether Fischer, Garry Kasparov or himself should be reckoned the all-time No 1, his ideas for a new world championship format, and even love.
The €500,000 all-Chinese match for the Women’s World Championship continues. After four nondescript draws, the challenger Lei Tingjie took the lead over the holder Ju Wenjun by winning a 65-move Italian Game. Lei is ahead 3-5-2.5 as the series transfers at halfway from Shanghai to Chongqing.
ChessFest, the annual family-friendly celebration of the game in London’s Trafalgar Square, returns tomorrowon Sunday from 11am-6pm. All events are free of charge. They include lessons for beginners and novices, simultaneous displays and blitz games with the top England internationals Michael Adams, David Howell, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, Stuart Conquest, Harriet Hunt and others, a puzzle competition for children, living chess on a giant board, an England v US prodigy match, “Challenge the Chess Master”, and boards and pieces where people can play with their friends.
Last year more than 10,000 people attended the event, which is organised by Chess in Schools and Communities and supported by XTX Markets.
3876 1...Rxg2+! 2 Kxg2 Qxe4+ 3 Rf3 Qe2+! 4 Rf2 Qxf2+! 5 Kxf2 Ne4+ and 6...Nxd6 wins.
