Highlights From The TATA Steel Tournament 2021!
Hey guys, this is @Phantom_Beast23, and today I wanted to cover some highlights from the TATA Steel Masters tournament that recently ended. It was pretty cool, with unexpected moments, and it was really fun to watch.
I was actually really bored and after hours of thinking about what I should blog about, I decided that it would be pretty cool if I took the time to go over some moments and talk about some events and moments from the TATA Steel Masters. There were many unexpected and overall cool moments I wanted to share and discuss.
First, here is the ultimate standings for all the winners and what place people got.
Yup, Jorden Van Foreest winning. This honestly came out of nowhere whatsoever, but it just goes to show how just because one is winning a tournament, doesn't mean, they're fully guaranteed to win.
Anyways, let's start.
1. Firouzja Gets Mad
This was the main topic of the TATA Steel Masters even more than van Foreest winning. It all started when Firouzja and his opponent, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, were asked to leave the table they were playing in by Chief Arbiter Pavel Votruba, and move on to a different one as the game between Giri and van Foreest was about to start.
Firouzja, being stubborn, declined to leave the table, and so did Wojtaszek. This discussion between the Arbiters and Firouzja took a good two minutes-ish, but they ultimately agreed to stay put. It also was said that the clock hadn't stopped.
After thinking for some time, Firouzja blundered his move after the discussion and spoiled a winning position, thus, he ended up drawing the game. Firouzja was furious afterward, cursing at the staff and the arbiters. Even Giri came out of the room to see the commotion.
A while later, after hearing what had happened, Social Media blew up, making many accusations at the arbiters, while people also called Firouzja childish about his actions and called him unprofessional. There were many responses to this, and here's one from his brother, Mohammedreza Firouzja, here is the link for anyone that wants it:
After all the arbiters apologized for a couple of times, Alireza went on to say how it was a great tournament, and he respects the staff for apologizing and saying that it was a great mistake.
In my opinion, I can definitely understand why Alireza would be mad, as being told to move to a different place, where your all deep and focused is definitely annoying and so with 2 minutes not even held, and blundering right after, it's understandable to be mad.
I didn't like the way that Alireza handled it at first, as shouting out words may have not been the way to go, but the way the arbiters and staff handled it was great, being gentle and not also raging back, and apologizing was great. Alireza also accepted the apology and went on to compliment TATA Steel Masters on organizing the tournament, so all's well end's well.
2. Andrey Esipenko Beating Magnus Carlsen
This was a nice way to start off the TATA Steel Masters. Andrey Esipenko beating Magnus Carlsen was probably the MOST unexpected thing that happened in the tournament. To be honest, I didn't even know who he was until I saw the article on Espienko beating Carlsen.
Here is Esipenko after beating Carlsen.
"Before the game, I wanted to play solid. I think it was his choice to beat me with this opening probably, and I just played very logically. After the opening, I thought maybe I'd have some chances because it's really an initiative position. After I sacrificed my piece, I felt like I could do something in this game."
You could understand, that after he beat Magnus Carlsen he was just happy as he went on to say "One of the best days of my life!".
Obviously, it's hard to make a quick judgment of people based on 1 amazing win, but, if he keeps working hard, and studying a ton, I could totally see him becoming a Super-GM!
Now we look at the other side of this moment. What does this say about Magnus Carlsen? I personally think his days of being "unbeatable" are declining. There was once a time, where he was the undefeated champion that no one could beat. Now we see people such as MVL and others beat him much more than before.
Now, I'm not saying he isn't a super-GM anymore. He's still top 10 and maybe even Top 5 in the world right now, not based on rating. It's just that people are beating him much more than before, so we should definitely start looking closely at young talents, such as Firouzja, Xiong, Nihal Sarin, and more.
For anyone interested, here is the game.
3. Van Foreest's King Walk to Victory
Jorden van Foreest winning the TATA Steel Masters was unexpected to the next level. It's honestly really sad how the Firouzja feud overshadowed Foreest's victory. While most of his games were cool and all, his last game was definitely amazing, especially with the king walk at the end.
A king walk is when you make a set of moves that involve the king, that give tempo, positional advantage, or win material, in case you didn't know.
It's honestly a shame people don't talk about this too much as it literally showed how bold he was to pull off this insane king walk
Game:
4. Giri draws Firouzja
Probably the reason Giri didn't win the TATA Steel Masters, his game against Firouzja was an unexpected draw. A miracle, as Firouzja calls it.
This was especially costly for Giri as the win would have basically secured Giri first place in the TATA Steel Masters. The reason was for a tactic that would have easily converted as a dub for Giri which he obviously missed and therefore lost. He went on to say how incredible it was to have missed it.
Here is the game if anyone wants to view it.
He went on to say how he got stuck with the pawn on a4, which was the main turning point, and there was also 60. Na4, and etc. Ultimately with Giri missing some important endgame tactics, Alireza ended up being able to draw. Anish Giri ended up finishing the tournament with 8.5/13, getting 2nd place.
It was a pretty crazy tournament with many surprises and feuds, but I think it was overall very interesting, with ups and downs here and there.Thank you,
@Phantom_Beast23
