Magnus Carlsen during the press conference after winning the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & on Friday in Kolkata. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
“I like to play chess. It’s my favourite hobby in the world,” grinned Magnus Carlsen minutes after he had claimed the rapid title at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz Tournament on Friday, winning the crown over a field of nine other top players including five Indians.
Praggnanandhaa ended up two full points behind Carlsen but was second in the rapid portion of the event. Pragg was the best placed Indian in the standings, with Nihal Sarin (sixth place with four points), Arjun Erigaisi (eighth with 3.5 points), Vidit Gujrathi (ninth with three points) and SL Narayanan (10th with three points) following him at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata. The blitz section of the event will start on Saturday.
“It’s very satisfying when I can still be quite good at chess, especially while facing the younger generations. For me, that’s motivation in itself. I go to each event like I have never won anything before,” Carlsen added at the press conference on Friday after his victory.
With the world chess championship looming on the horizon and the prospect of 18-year-old Gukesh becoming the youngest ever world chess champion in history looking realistic, Carlsen was asked if he would be motivated to play in the world championship in the next cycle, particularly if the man with the crown on his head is a teenager.
“A long-form classical match really doesn’t interest me against anybody. Whoever wins the title it will be tremendous, But I will not be seeking to challenge for that,” Carlsen said before reiterating that on current form he thought Gukesh was the favourite against the current world champion Ding Liren.
Recovering from a slow start
Carlsen had a slow start to the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz tournament, being held to two draws in the first two rounds by Praggnanandhaa and Nihal. But Thursday saw him win all three games, including against Arjun Erigaisi. On his way to the title, Carlsen was undefeated and was held to draws by Praggnanandhaa, Nihal and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Carlsen picked his victory over Arjun, who is currently ranked No.2 in the world in the live ratings, as his favorite at the Kolkata event.
“I think the game against Arjun was certainly my favorite of the ones here. He’s an extremely dangerous player when he has the initiative, when he gets to attack, and I sort of willingly got into a position where he had the initiative. So I’m very happy that even though my play was obviously far from perfect, that I managed to handle the resulting complicated position better than he did and to get the win there. Apart from that, I think my other wins were either my opponent didn’t play in the best way or they were mainly sort of technical,” said Carlsen.
Carlsen was so dominant in the tournament that his title was secured in the penultimate round itself with him defeating his one-time second Daniil Dubov, who had helped him defeat Ian Nepomniachtchi at the World Chess Championship in 2021.
“The first and the last games were most difficult for me here. I played well yesterday. But my level dropped a bit today. In the last game, Nodirbek outplayed me quite badly and I should have lost that one for sure. So I am not thrilled about that,” he admitted on Friday.
Elsewhere, the young Vantika Agrawal ended up a commendable third place in the women’s section with five points behind Aleksandra Goryachkina (7.5 points) and Nana Dzagnidze (5.5 points). Vantika was ahead of more vaunted compatriots like Harika Dronavalli (fifth place with 4.5 points), Divya Deshmukh (7th place with 3.5 points), Vaishali Rameshbabu (8th with 3.5 points) and Koneru Humpy (10th with three points).
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