Magnus Carlsen was in imperious form at last week’s Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a virtuoso performance both on and off the board. On it, the world No 1 won the group stage, the quarter and semi-finals, and the final, all in dominant style while seeing off the world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura and one of the leading young contenders, Alireza Firouzja. Offboard, Carlsen exuded enthusiasm for the event, and delivered upbeat and articulate responses to interviewers.
The limit of 10 minutes per player per game, without the usual per move increment, was designed for tight TV schedules, and also led to frantic time scrambles and games decided by fractions of a second.
A new chess phrase was coined, “dirty flagging”, to describe playing to win on the clock in a totally lost or drawn position before the opponent with less time can force checkmate. Carlsen himself declined his first two opportunities to use this technique, but accepted a third when the match situation became critical.
In general, the time control favoured Carlsen, Nakamura and Firouzja, who between them have played tens of thousands of blitz and bullet (all the moves in one minute) games on chess.com and lichess.org.
Carlsen made a seemingly conscious effort to present chess in the best possible light. The overall event featured enormous queues to watch every day and the obvious enjoyment of the audiences showed the potential for a new market.
The tournament was slickly organised, with fast-moving interviews, game analyses, reviews and tactical highlights all following in quick succession. The online audience on chess.com for the final exceeded 30,000 viewers, more than five times the usual number for a grandmaster tournament.
There was over-hype, but not enough to jar. The lead commentator, England’s David Howell, enhanced his reputation as he continually provided calm and objective analysis. Gradually, Howell is becoming the first choice commentator for major chess events.
In short, all the signs were that the Esports World Cup can become a permanent and welcome addition to the annual chess calendar.
There is a new candidate to become the next super-talent after Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov and Carlsen. At barely 14, Turkey’s Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has broken numerous age records. He is the youngest ever to achieve a 2600 rating, a record previously held by Judit Polgar, and the second youngest after Polgar to reach Fide’s world top 100.
Last week Erdogmus defeated the eight-time Russian champion Peter Svidler by 4-2 in a classical match, the highlight being a 22-move win against his opponent’s favourite Grunfeld Defence with a double rook sacrifice, one rook in the game and the other in the notes.
Erdogmus now has a fleeting opportunity to beat Fischer’s achievement of qualifying for the world title candidates at age 15. The Turkish youngster will have two chances to do it, at the Fide World Cup and Grand Swiss later this year.
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The nine-round British Championship at Liverpool has its final round on Sunday morning. Live coverage (2.30pm BST start, 10am on Sunday) is available at lichess.org.
After five rounds, the eight-time title winner Michael Adams, 53, led with 4/5 by half a point from a group of eight, who included the top-seeded former Russian champion Nikita Vitiugov. Victory would enable the Taunton, Somerset-based grandmaster to equal Henry Atkins’s nine championships from the first half of the 20th century and leave him just one short of Jonathan Penrose’s total of 10 from the second half. Adams’s subtle fourth round rook endgame against GM Nigel Davies was a classic, while in round five he exploited Shreyas Royal’s hesitant opening to establish early dominance.
Adams retained his slender half point over a 10-player peloton in Thursday’s sixth round with a solid draw against Vitiugov, but the two eye-catching results were by Royal, as the 16-year-old won an truly elegant 27-mover against IM Marcus Harvey, and 11-year-old Supratit Banerjee, who showcased his burgeoning talent by defeating GM Simon Williams.
Leaders after six of the nine rounds: GM Adams 5; GM Vitiugov, IM Siva Mahadevan (India), GM Ameet Ghasi, GM Daniel Fernandez. IM Yichen Han (Netherlands), IM Maciej Czopor (Poland), GM Matthew Wadsworth, GM Royal, FM Banerjee, and GM Gawain Maroroa Jones all 4.5.
IM Lan Yao and WGM Elmira Mirzoeva lead the women’s championship with 4/6. Under the rules, players with non-UK nationalities are eligible to compete after 12 months of British residence.
