Bibisara Assaubayeva personified joy; Magnus Carlsen, failure. The 22-year-old Kazakh secured first prize in the women’s Norway Chess in Oslo in the penultimate round. The Norwegian is second to last, in one of the worst performances of his career, after losing the lightning tie-break to the leader, American Wesley So, followed by Franco-Iranian Alireza Firouzja and Indian Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
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Carlsen is the only one of the twelve participants (including the six women) who is not staying in the hotel adjacent to the splendid five-story Deichman library, home of Norway Chess. He bids farewell to his wife and eight-month-old baby at home every day, and immediately exchanges the family atmosphere for the tension of the playing room. Perhaps for this reason, and because another defeat this Thursday would imply a great failure for him, he arrived five minutes early (very rare for him) and even had time to pour himself a coffee.
He needed the coffee more than on a normal day because his opponent was one of the most conservative and boring members of the elite in terms of style, but endowed with as much talent as encyclopedic knowledge and exquisite technique. Toppling So is usually a very tough and long task.
Indeed, the Filipino-American adopted a very conservative approach despite having the initiative with the white pieces, and exchanged queens as soon as he could. Carlsen put his mind in 2015 mode, when, as world champion, he exhausted his rivals in very long strategic battles. Meanwhile, and in stark contrast, the fight between the two young Indian stars, Dommaraju Gukesh (reigning world champion) and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (Carlsen’s executioner in the previous round) was a wild affair, more typical of computers than humans. On the other board of the men’s tournament, Franco-Iranian Alireza Firouzja risked as much as usual and was at a clear disadvantage against German Vincent Keymer. And, in just an hour, Assaubayeva secured the point she needed to clinch first prize.
So’s play was as boring as almost always, making it very clear that he had not the slightest intention of attacking. Carlsen massaged the position as much as he could, hoping for some imprecision from his opponent, but the draw was eventually signed after four hours. The antithesis of So was Gukesh, who first sacrificed a rook wildly but then was not as vigorous as the position required, confirming his poor form since winning the world title. Praggnanandhaa thus became a clear candidate for first prize.
Keymer’s fight with Firouzja requires a separate paragraph. The Franco-Iranian possesses unparalleled virtuosity when walking on the edge of the abyss. His position was objectively lost for almost the entire afternoon, but he was able to entangle the German until both got into a vibrant skirmish, with only a few seconds on the clock, watched by Carlsen a few meters away while waiting for his turn for the tie-break. The brawl ended in a draw after five hours and 15 minutes, and 91 moves. And then Firouzja was relentless in an electrifying tie-break.
The sudden death of Carlsen and So was a clear demonstration of a star in poor form and another who is in a sweet spot, although despite this he only takes risks when he sees it very clearly. This time he had to win with the white pieces, but Carlsen also desperately needed it with black, to feel good, and the American took advantage of that psychological situation impeccably.
Assaubayeva and Carlsen also symbolize two opposite ways of combining their romantic and professional lives. The Kazakh is accompanied in Oslo by her boyfriend, Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov, recent winner of the Candidates Tournament. Both claim – and the results show they are right – that their sporting performance has improved since they have been together. On the contrary, Carlsen says he feels very happy about his fatherhood, and his public attitude in recent months confirms it. But one wonders how he will feel on Sunday, when he begins to ruminate on his failure in the toughest tournament of the year, a few kilometers from his home.
Results of the 9th round: Keymer – Firouzja, draw, black wins; So – Carlsen, draw, white wins; Gukesh – Praggnanandhaa, black wins. Women’s: Desmukh – Jiner Zhu, black wins; Assaubayeva – Anna Muzychuk, draw, draw; Koneru – Wenjun Ju, draw, black wins.
Standings: 1st So 15.5 points; 2nd Praggnanandhaa 15; 3rd Firouzja 14.5; 4th Keymer 11; 5th Carlsen 10; 6th Gukesh 8. Women’s: 1st Assaubayeva 16.5; 2nd Jiner Zhu 13; 3rd Anna Muzychuk 12; 4th Wenjun Ju 10.5; 5th Desmukh 10; 6th Koneru 8.
10th round (LAST, Friday, 17:00): Firouzja – So; Carlsen – Gukesh; Praggnanandhaa – Keymer. Women’s: Jiner Zhu – Koneru; Wenjun Ju – Assaubayeva; Anna Muzychuk – Desmukh.
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