Carlsen Wins 1st Classical Game Versus Nepomniachtchi, Leads Grand Chess Tour
Which top-10 players has Magnus Carlsen never beaten in classical chess?
Until today, the answer was Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren. Now only Ding Liren is unscathed.
Even as the round was just beginning, fans on Twitter were anticipating the historic nature of the opportunity.
Magnus has never defeated a man bun in classical chess. Could be a big day! #GrandChessTour
— MrDodgy (@ChessProblem) July 3, 2019
Carlsen's victory against the current Russian number one came surprisingly quickly. On move 27 of a seemingly locked position, Carlsen played the aggressive break ...f5!?, offering a pawn sacrifice and giving "Nepo" two options. The correct choice proved to be ...exf5! when the infiltration with ...Qe3+! could be tolerated. Instead, Nepo played ...gxf5? and lost nearly on the spot.
GOTD analysis from GM Robert Hess
Carlsen's win puts him within five Elo points of his all-time rating high (2882) and vaults him into clear first place in the Grand Chess Tour.
What an amazing game by Magnus. He's widened his style so much it's like he's possessed. The final phase today against Nepo made me think how different game 1 in London would have been with this Magnus. #grandchesstour
— Jonathan Tisdall (@GMjtis) July 3, 2019
The second most exciting game of the round could on quick perusal be interpreted as a fairly simple draw. However, on move 21, Sergey Karjakin was gifted a unique opportunity. Can you see what he should have played?
In a classic case of chess blindness, neither Wesley So nor Sergey Karjakin saw the puzzle solution that the chess world was screaming, and the game soon reached a draw by perpetual.
This author has sometimes been in trouble for pushing some drawn games to a footnote, but when all four of the remaining games were drawn without the evaluation ever being higher than 0.5 (and rarely close to it) after move 15, it seems fair to say that the games might be considered a tad soporific. Caruana vs. Giri did feature a slight imbalance, but neither player was ever in position to win.
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The games start at 4:30 p.m. local time (CEST), which is 10:30 a.m. Eastern and 7:30 a.m. Pacific. You can follow the games here as part of our live portal with daily commentary by GM Robert Hess.
Watch GCT Croatia Round 7 Commentary | My last day of coverage from GMHess on www.twitch.tv
Round seven coverage by GM Robert Hess.
I'm the VP of Chess and Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2014, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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