The Champion Strikes Again
Hello, everyone Ryan's Awesome Blogs are back with another spectacular tournament recap! It is the World Blitz 2022 and Magnus Carlsen, otherwise known as the current chess champion, finishes the tournament with an amazing 16/21 score. The World Blitz 2022 is a annually Swiss-styled tournament with 21 rounds. You will get 1 point if you win, 0.5 if you draw, and 0 points if you lose. There will be a playoff match if the both players tie for first place. Here are the results and the prizes.
WORLD BLITZ 2022:
PRIZES:
Magnus has achieved an outstanding score. The wins have been celebrated in Twitter as well since Magnus Carlsen continues to impress us.
Magnus Carlsen is a very strong grandmaster, or chess champion. He have had many many accomplishments and Magnus will continue to impress us. He have gone head to head against Dubov, Fabi, and Giri, just to name a few super GMs. Let's take a look at some games he played and analyze them to get a better understanding of how Magnus crushes his opponent.
Featured games:
- https://www.chess.com/events/2022-fide-world-blitz-chess-championship/07/Giri_Anish-Carlsen_Magnus
Endgame Expert
Key Moments:
On move 7, 7.g6? is a mistake for black since it weakens the dark squares. After white plays 8. Nf3, finishing its developement, white will be able to go 9.Qf4 to target the dark squares. The best move is 7.Kf8 since it defends the pawn, leaving no weaknesses.
On move 11, 11.g4! is the only good move, since it solidifies the position for black. The black queen is protecting all the black squares, so it isn't that big of a problem anymore.
On move 19, 19.Qc5? for white is a mistake because it leaves an outpost for the knight to be active, which is the b5 square. The best move is to go 19.Bxf1, and then trade knights.
On move 25, 25.c4! is probably the most important/critical move of the game for black. It traps the bishop, so that it no longer is active anymore.
Overall, this is a very solid win for Magnus. Furthermore, he is also doing very well in the tournament with a score of 6.5/7. Both side haven't made a single blunder. And according to the engine, Anish played with a rating of about 2900, and Magnus played with a rating of about 3000.
Roller Coaster
This game is on day 2, round 14 against Rapport, Richard, a 2600 GM. The game you are about to see is filled with chaos, excitement, and blunders. You will see the eval bar plummet, and drop immediately. Let's dig in!
KEY MOMENTS:
On move 18 for white, 18.Kf1? is a mistake since the king can no longer castle and 18.g5, for white, is a problem as well. 18.g4 is the best move.
On move 25, 25.Nxd5!! for white is an absolutely brilliant move due to the penetration of the pieces. The black king is no longer safe anymore.
On move 26, 26.e6?? is a huge blunder for white since the black king can just move to 26.a8, and there isn't any attack. The best move is 26.Rxb5, and then take the d5 pawn in order to start an attack.
On move 32, 32.Be4! is a great move for black since you are threathening an eventual checkmate.
On move 35, 35.Qxh1? is a mistake for black due to the oppurtunity to threathen material. 35.Qe6+ is the best move since white have no way to protect the f7 pawn.
On move 37, 37.Rhd8? is a mistake for black since white is having some counterplay after 38.a6+. The best move is 37.g6 to create a checkmate threat.
On move 39, 39.f8=Q?? is a blunder due to the blunder of the queen. The best move is 39.f3 to cut the queen off the center, and then promote.
On move 40, 40.Rxf4+!! is brilliant move since the black queen can create all types of checks, and win the endgame.
On move 65 and 66, 65.Qe8? is a mistake due to the brilliant move 66.g8=Q!!. The loss of material is unstoppable.
A very sharp game huh? Magnus have putted himself in danger so many times, and yet he has the ability to stay calm. This is an overview for the game.
Both teams have made mistakes and have a chance to win immediately, but they didn't. However, this is what makes games exciting, isn't it? After round 14 ended, Magnus's score is 11/14. And as the tournament continues, Magnus eventually finishes with 16/21, and became the winner of the tournament.
Conclusion
And this is it for this blog. No doubt the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship will go down as one of the world's greatest chess competitions in history. Magnus Carlsen has achieved an outstanding score yet again. Not only that, but he won the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship as well, making him a triple World Chess Champion as well as a great inspiration to many young people who wanted to become like this. So yeah this is it. Bye!
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