Motivating Magnus Carlsen, the undisputed number one in chess, is not easy at all, as his father, Henrik, acknowledged many years ago. But the Norwegian finds it a very stimulating challenge to face the very talented Alireza Firouzja, who also defeated him in the opening round of Norway Chess, a double round-robin league among six players held in Oslo. At a moment of great crisis (three losses in five rounds), Carlsen defeated the Franco-Iranian this Sunday, and the tournament remains very open with four rounds to go, as does the women’s event.
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It was an important day for the Norwegian, at the second worst moment of his career. And with an important nuance compared to the first (Norway Chess 2015, four losses in the first five rounds). Carlsen was then under tremendous pressure because, for two years prior, he had become one of the most revered idols in his country (and therefore with great media attention). The difference now is that he seems unmotivated, which could even have a hormonal explanation (loss of testosterone and increase in oxytocin) derived from his recent fatherhood.
In a way, he was lucky again regarding the opponent, as happened on Thursday, when, after his second loss, he faced the reigning world champion, the Indian Dommaraju Gukesh, 20 years old, who had inflicted a very painful defeat on him a year earlier; and Carlsen won clearly. This Sunday, with the white pieces, he faced the tournament leader, Firouzja, 22, whose immense talent has been highly praised by the Scandinavian since 2021 (when he was the world champion): “I will only defend the title if the winner of the Candidates Tournament in Madrid in 2022 is Firouzja, because he is the only rival who motivates me as a great challenge, and would justify me dedicating several months to preparing only against him,” he explained then.
Firouzja did not triumph in Madrid – he was only 18 years old – and Carlsen gave up the crown. Since then, the Frenchman trained in Iran has stumbled, both in his chess career and outside of it; but he shows greater stability since he started dating a Slovenian volleyball player, Zana, who accompanies him in Oslo.
Instead of arriving early to the game, as he had done on days when he did not seem motivated, Carlsen arrived at the table, after passing through the mandatory metal detector at the door, at exactly 17:00. Firouzja was there, with his right leg horizontal, resting on a chair, because his injured ankle will take several weeks to heal. After the honorary serve by the president of the European Chess Federation, the Georgian Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the Norwegian chose the opening created in the 16th century by the Spaniard Ruy López de Segura, the first unofficial world champion, sponsored by King Philip II. And within it, one of the less popular and analyzed variations.
It was soon confirmed that Carlsen felt great motivation this Sunday. Half an hour after the start of the battle, he went to the confessional, and this time he did not talk about football or the NBA as on previous occasions. He addressed the live internet viewers as follows: “I am playing a variation that I analyzed thoroughly before Alireza seriously played chess, when I was preparing for the 2016 World Championship against [the Russian Sergey] Karjakin. White does not gain an advantage against an appropriate defense, but I trust that Alireza has not analyzed it.”
Everything indicates that the Scandinavian was right because, indeed, Firouzja did not play the finest moves to equalize quickly, and came out of the opening at a slight disadvantage. That said, there was no doubt about his great motivation either because, suddenly, he lowered his horizontal leg from the chair and adopted the normal posture for a while, with both legs under the table, despite having said a few days earlier that his ankle hurt a lot if he did not elevate it. Then he returned to the horizontal position.
Carlsen took a dangerous initiative after a mistake by Firouzja, and returned to the confessional to state, with some arrogance, that he had a big advantage. The computers did not say the same, as long as the Franco-Iranian found the correct defense.
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He did, but then another factor that could be decisive arose. Firouzja had to spend a lot of time finding the narrow path of counterattack: he had 15 minutes left for 14 moves, compared to almost an hour for his rival. Although the Franco-Iranian is very strong in rapid formats and time trouble, Carlsen is usually even better.
Indeed, the clock took its toll, in the form of a mistake by Firouzja when he had a continuation that gave him a lot of play. As usual when he is in form or on a very motivating day, Carlsen was relentless in converting his advantage into a win.
After being congratulated by Firouzja and a brief exchange of ideas between them, Carlsen went up to the press room: “I feel like I have a thick sauce in my head. Also, in this tournament, I am playing aggressively, which increases the chances that something will go wrong. I didn’t even feel today that I was at my best level. However, even so, I see myself capable of winning.” Then he spent a good while chatting with some friends. He was radiant, and perhaps ready to come back and win a tournament that 24 hours earlier seemed a source of disappointments for him.
Results of the 6th round: So – Praggnanandhaa, white wins; Carlsen – Firouzja, white wins; Keymer – Gukesh, white wins. Women’s: Jiner Zhu – Anna Muzychuk, draw, white wins Desmukh – Wenjun Ju, black wins; Assaubáyeva – Koneru, draw, white wins.
Standings: 1st So 11.5 points; 2nd Firouzja 10; 3rd Keymer 8; 4th Carlsen 7.5 5th Gukesh 6.5; 6th Praggnanandhaa 6. Women’s: 1st Assaubáyeva 9.5; 2nd Desmukh 8.5; 2nd; 3rd-4th Anna Muzychuk and Wenjun Ju 8; 5th Jiner Zhu 7; 6th Koneru 5.5.
7th round (Monday, 17:00): Praggnanandhaa – Firouzja; Keymer – Carlsen; Gukesh – So. Women’s: Assaubáyeva – Jiner Zhu; Koneru – Desmukh; Wenjun Jun – Anna Muzychuk.
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