When Magnus Carlsen plays, everything around him becomes immaterial. Every inch of his dashing and imposing personality is reflected in the moves he makes and the way he carries himself. It’s as if the opponent reacts to what he does on the board instead of doing something on his own. The Norwegian maverick has the control. He dictates what happens.
For a long time in the opening-round showdown at Norway Chess between the world No. 1 and the world champion, D Gukesh seemed to be safe with black. His position was never inferior. Rather, the Indian seemed to hold a thin edge at times. A draw was on the cards and even if Carlsen won the ‘armageddon’ tie-breaker and secured 1.5 points, Gukesh would have got one. After the anti-climactic end and the defeat, he returned zero. Carlsen bagged three points.
Carlsen modest in victory
Not provoked when the commentators on Sony LIV asked whether he had come out with the intention of showing who the ‘boss’ was, Carlsen was uncharacteristically modest. “Once you get down to play, it’s normal, like trying to do your best,” said the six-time winner of the event and the defending champion, who hardly plays the classical format these days. In spite of that, he was largely untroubled by Gukesh, although Carlsen said that was not the case.
“Black (Gukesh) attained a favourable position after the opening. It was by no means obvious that I was better. I actually thought I was worse. He was finding the right moves and got the right exchanges. I had a reasonably solid structure, but it was fairly balanced. I was just hoping to get something from somewhere,” said Carlsen after his first classical game against Gukesh after he became the world champion.
The world No. 3 never looked fazed and was quick to defuse the attacks his opponent threatened to build. They were even and there was also a time when the teenager was more proactive. He tried to exchange queens, but the attempt didn’t bear fruit. Instead, the player who dethroned Viswanathan Anand as world champion in 2013 used his queen to mobilise pieces for an attack on the king’s side. At this stage, the commentators reckoned this showed his natural instinct to win.
Fruit of pressing till the end
Displaying the calmness that characterises him, Gukesh neutralised the threat and eventually got the exchanges he wanted. With the players left with a rook and three pawns each and the bar indicating the position of the players staying even, it looked like a draw. But Carlsen started pressing and forced a fatal error from the teenager in the end. Body language intimidating all right, it was his precision under time pressure that proved decisive.
Hailing Gukesh as a “great calculator”, Carlsen said the thought of winning crossed his mind late in the game. “I decided to play a line that I knew more about instead of letting him play something he is comfortable with. Only after realising that I can’t lose, I decided to go for it.” The ‘proving a point’ question popped up again. “Not necessarily. Every win in this tournament is important. I’m happy with that.” Gukesh faces compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the second round on Monday.
Contrasting wins for Erigaisi and Humpy
Erigaisi beat Wei Yi in the ‘armageddon’ tie-breaker after a draw. The Indian is ranked No. 4 and the Chinese No. 8. According to tournament rules, a win in the tie-breaker fetches 1.5 points. The player who loses gets one point. In the women’s section, Koneru Humpy defeated fellow Indian R Vaishali right at the end to secure three points.
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