Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge 2024 - A Breath of Fresh Air
It finally is here and it did not disappoint!
Round 1 - Feb 9, 2024
Gukesh Dommaraju (2649) 0 - 1 Alireza Firouzja (2724)
Magnus Carlsen (2823) 1/2 - 1/2 Vincent Keymer (2627)
Levon Aronian (2746) 1/2 - 1/2 Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2733)
Ding Liren (2818) 0 - 1 Fabiano Caruana (2729)
In round one the game between Levon Aronian and Nodirbek Abdusatorov proved to be a rollercoaster, which ended in a draw leaving the two players on the board discussing the missed positions.
The current World Classical Champion Ding Liren lost in only 26 moves to Fabiano Caruana with plenty of remaining time on the clock for both players! The game was a real pleasure to follow up perhaps because for a player at my level it is fascinating to see the best Grand Masters in the world to play a game which completely excludes the deep opening theory and reminds me of the games that I could potentially have against a random opponent of mine. I would never be even remotely close to the level of proficiency these players posses but I definitely can relate to Ding Liren’s blunder at move 26 and resign the game after a rook fork leading to a loss of the black squared bishop for the World Champion.
Round 2
Nodirbek Abdusattorov 1 - 0 Ding Liren
Alireza Firouzja 1/2 - 1/2 Fabiano Caruana
Vincent Keymer 1 - 0 Levon Aronian
Gukesh Dommaraju 1 - 0 Magnus Carlsen
Round two continued with the awkward situations, which was another thrill to follow. The big surprise in the round was Magnus letting significant positional advantage to slip away and not only didn’t draw but lost to the young prodigy Gukesh.
Round 3
Levon Aronian 0 - 1 Gukesh Dommaraju
Ding Liren 0 - 1 Vincent Keymer
Magnus Carlsen 1/2 - 1/2 Alireza Firouzja
Fabiano Caruana 1/2 - 1/2 Nodirbek Abdusattorov
In the third round Vincent Keymer sacrificed a passive rook and through some very untypical moves marched for the win against Ding Liren who apparently is out of shape and this tournament won’t be an experience that he will enjoy if his game doesn’t improve sooner rather later. Another brilliancy was the game between Aronian and Gukesh. Sacrifices were not absent and the game was so positionally rich that I will be reviewing it further trying to understand it better and draw some ideas for my own games.
Round 4
Vincent Keymer 1 - 0 Fabiano Caruana
Alireza Firouzja 0 - 1 Nodirbek Abdusatorov
Gukesh Dommaraju 1 - 0 Ding Liren
Magnus Carlsen 1 - 0 Levon Aronian
That was the first round without a single draw, something that we should be expecting to happen often in random chess. Ding Liren unfortunately kept struggling playing with his passive rooks. Perhaps getting rid of at least one of them could actually be beneficial in some random positions. Magnus had seemingly easy game against Aronian and finished it with another brilliant move. Keymer extended his streak while adapted his position to something very similar to the London System which I enjoy playing. I am curious how many more positions and ideas from standard opening theory were so obviously applied by the players. If you, reading this blog recognise any such positions, which set-ups did you spot and in which games did they appear?
Day one concluded with surprising results, having the youngest players occupying the top of the ladder board:
#1 Vincent Keymer 3.5 Pts.
#2 Gukesh Dommaraju 3 Pts.
#3 Nodirbek Abdusatorov 3 Pts.
#4 Alireza Firouzja 2 Pts.
#5 Magnus Carlsen 2 Pts.
#6 Fabiano Caruana 2 Pts.
#7 Levon Aronian 0.5 Pts.
#8 Ding Liren 0 Pts.
Day two promises to be a worthy one and my intention is to follow it closely. I have recently started playing Random Chess so this tournament comes at the best possible time.
For every player enjoying the variety of starting positions in Freestyle Chess and loves going deep in calculations on your own, you are welcome to join the daily tournaments that I am hosting here in chess.com!
https://www.chess.com/events/2024-freestyle-chess-goat-challenge-round-robin
