1/25/2014 – Reuters reports that the world's best chess player took just nine moves to beat the world's second richest man. World Champion Magnus Carlsen got 30 seconds to Bill Gates's two minutes on the clock. Magnus baited the hook in a fashion one might expect at these time controls when taking the disparity in strength into account. Here is video and the moves of the game.
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The program was recorded on Wednesday in London.
You can watch it here:
It took the world's best chess player one minute
and 19 seconds to beat the world's second richest man
[Event "London, Blitz - 2 min vs 30 sec"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.01.22"]
[Round "?"] [White "Gates, Bill"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B00"] [Annotator "Keitz,M"] [PlyCount "18"] [SourceDate "2014.01.24"]
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bd3 {This move isn't totally without merit, but
its low frequency - with a total of zero grandmasters having played it
- is not a shock.} Nf6 4. exd5 Qxd5 {Surprisingly, according to our database
this position had been reached twice before - in 2006 and 2011.} 5. Nc3
Qh5 6. O-O Bg4 7. h3 Ne5 $6 {Of course, Let's Check heavily favours White
after the bishop sacrifice. But the strain of a lightning pace for someone
who probably doesn't play much took its toll.} 8. hxg4 Nfxg4 9. Nxe5 $4
{White lets mate slip in the pursuit of further material gains.} Qh2#
0-1
Although commentators were assessing the Microsoft founder as a pure beginner,
it seems more reasonable to conclude that Gates is a decent class player
that fumbled under strain. Carlsen, for his part, baited the hook in a fashion
one might expect at these time controls when taking the disparity in strength
into account.
"When you are not smart?" Fredrik Skavlan asked Bill Gates. "When
I play chess against him," responded the Microsoft founder, nodding
towards Carlsen. "Want to try?" asks Skavlan. "The outcome
is a foregone conclusion, responded Gates.
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