Stavanger, Norway: The disappointment on the face of D Gukesh was apparent as he rushed out of the hall of a commercial bank in downtown Stavanger that plays host to the Norway Chess tournament.
Moments later Magnus Carlsen burst through the same door. Stopping by for a quick chat with Norwegian channel TV2, he afforded a smile and spoke in Norwegian of feeling “a bit random” about the eventual outcome.
Which was that Carlsen had beaten Gukesh in the opening round of the Norway Chess on Monday after a stunning endgame.
Their first meeting in classical chess since the 18-year-old Indian became the world champion last December attracted most eyeballs at the venue. They both showed that they wanted to fight. In the end, though, Carlsen showed why he’s the world No.1, a five-time world champion and, by Gukesh’s own admission after the world championship, the world’s best player.
The game was much in the balance for a large part, until move 46 brought along a shake-up. With the clock ticking, Gukesh delivered a check with his queen (Qh6) instead of his rook. Carlsen sensed an opening and broke in clinically to attack Gukesh’s king, forcing the Indian to offer the resigning handshake soon after.
“I don’t know if you should call it old school, or kind of more new school, because it was like very little theory. I was by no means better. We both wanted to fight,” Carlsen told Take Take Take. “Eventually, I wasn’t too happy to get into the endgame, because there is a little bit of an imbalance there. I think he did great for a while, but then we got into a position where anything can happen.”
The loss extends the reigning world champion’s hunt for a classical win against the world No.1, and an off-colour patch of form since the spark of becoming the world champion. However, the double round-robin format of this tournament featuring a rich six-man field means that Gukesh will have another crack at Carlsen with white pieces on June 1.
Arjun wins Armageddon, Humpy beats Vaishali
Arjun Erigaisi, the second Indian man in fray, played out a draw with China’s Wei Yi in black pieces before the Indian won the Armageddon game. In the women’s tournament that featured an all-India opening round clash, Koneru Humpy defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu as the only winner in classical on the day.
