Carlsen vs. The Challengers: 19.5:2.5

by André Schulz
4/21/2021 – Magnus Carlsen loves chess and he loves a challenge. On Monday, after commentating round 8 of the Candidates for several hours live, the World Champion played a 22 game 3+0 Banter Blitz match against the "Challengers", 20 of the world's most promising juniors. Carlsen convincingly won the match with a score of 19.5-2.5. He only lost against Nihal Sarin and Awonder Liang and drew against Vincent Keymer.
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Magnus Carlsen vs Julius Baer Challengers

In the Julius Baer Challenge Tour, 20 juniors, ten male and ten female, compete against each other in a series of tournaments. The idea is to give young talents an opportunity to gain experience against strong opponents, but also to promote female talents by giving them a chance to test their skills against male juniors.

To further fuel the ambition of the young players, on Monday evening World Champion Magnus Carlsen played all 20 Challengers one after the other in a Banter Blitz (3+0) match on Chess24. Anna Muzychuk and Artur Kogan, two of the coaches, who support the talents in the Julius Baer Challenge, also took the opportunity to play blitz against the World's number one.

Carlsen clearly dominated the match and won 19.5-2.5, but he did not win all his games. He lost against Nihal Sarin (India) and Awonder Liang (USA) and drew against Vincent Keymer (Germany).

Carlsen vs Nihal Sarin

Sagar Shah commentated Nihal Sarin's convincing win against the World Champion for ChessBase India.

Awonder Liang was the other player who managed to beat Carlsen – but this game could easily have ended differently.

Carlsen vs Awonder Liang

 
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1.e41,185,00854%2421---
1.d4959,51055%2434---
1.Nf3286,50356%2441---
1.c4184,83456%2442---
1.g319,89256%2427---
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1.d396950%2378---
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1.c343951%2425---
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1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
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1.Na34762%2476---
1.d3 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 c5 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.e4 d6 8.Re1 Qc7 9.a4 b6 10.e5 dxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Bxa8 Bg4 13.Bf3 Nxf3+ 14.Nxf3 Qd7? White is an exchange up but Black has sufficient compensation. However, this tactical oversight allows White to simplify the position favourably. After 14...Nd5 chances are about equal. 15.Ne5! Qf5 16.Nxg4 Nxg4 17.Qe2 Bd4 18.Rf1 Rd8 19.c3 Bf6 20.Kg2 Rxd3 21.f3 Ne5 22.Bf4 Nc6 23.Rad1 c4 24.Rxd3 cxd3 25.Qe4 Qc8 26.Qxd3 Now White is a clear exchange and should be winning. In the match against the juniors Carlsen often had bad positions which he saved through his defensive skills and/or by playing incredibly fast and using the clock to his advantage. But in this game, Carlsen found no way to overcome the stubborn defense of his opponent and even lost in the end. g5 27.Be3 Ne5 28.Qe4 Qd7 29.Bd4 Ng6 30.Bxf6 exf6 31.Rf2 Kg7 32.Qd4 Qe6 33.Rd2 h5 34.Qe4 Qc8 35.Rd6 Qc5 36.Qd4 Qf5 37.b4 Qc2+ 38.Kf1 Qb1+ 39.Ke2 Qc2+ 40.Qd2 Qf5 41.Qd3 Qe5+ 42.Kd2 Qe7 43.Qd5 Ne5 44.Kc2 Qc7 45.f4 Nc4 46.Qc6 Qxd6 47.Qxc4 Qd7 48.fxg5 Qxa4+ 49.Kb2 fxg5 50.Qd4+ f6 51.Qe4 Qd7 52.Qe2 h4 53.gxh4 g4 54.Qe3 Qf5 55.Qg3 Qf3 56.Kb3 Qd1+ 57.Kc4 Qe2+ 58.Kd4 a5 59.bxa5 bxa5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2847Liang,A25920–12021A05Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.19

Only one of the 22 games ended in a draw, and here both players missed chances to win.

Carlsen vs Vincent Keymer

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.f3 d6 7.e4 Nc6 8.Ne2 h6 9.Ng3 e5 10.dxc5 dxc5 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.Be2 Carlsen wound up in a somewhat dubious line of the Nimzo-Indian. White's pawn on the c-file are permanent weaknesses and it is hard to see how White can drum up counterplay. b6 13.Nf1 Ba6 14.Ne3 Na5 15.Kf2 Kc7 16.Nd5+ Kb7 17.Rd1 Rad8 After 17...Bxc4 18.Bxc4 Nxc4 19.Nxf6 gxf6 20.Rd7+ White has counterplay. 18.Nxf6 18.Ne3 Rxd1 19.Bxd1 also loses the pawn on c4. 18...Rxd1 19.Bxd1 gxf6 20.f4 Bxc4 Black finally won the pawn on c4 and is clearly better but in the game he found no way to convert. 21.fxe5 fxe5 22.Be3 Be6 Or 22...Bd3!? 23.Bf3 Kc6 24.Rd1 Bc2 25.Rd2 Bb3 with a dominant position for Black. 23.Bh5 Nc4 24.Bc1 a5 25.a4 Kc7 26.h4 Nd6 27.Bf3 Bb3 28.g4 Bc2 29.Ke3 Nc4+ 30.Kf2 f6 31.h5 Nd6 32.Ke3 Nf7 33.Ra2 Bb3 34.Rf2 Ng5 35.Be2 Rf8 36.Bb5 Be6 37.Rg2 Bc8 37...c4!? with the idea 38.-- Rd8 39.Rd2 Rxd2 40.Bxd2 might have been a good alternative. After Bxg4 41.Bxc4 Bxh5 Black is two pawns up and should win. 38.Rg1 Bb7 Black is better and a pawn up but fails to find a win. 39.Bd3 Bc6 40.Bc2 Rf7 41.Rf1 Bd7 42.Rg1 Nh3 43.Rg3 Nf4 44.Rg1 Rg7 45.Kf3 Nh3 46.Rg3 Ng5+ 47.Ke2 Be6 48.Ke3 Bc4 49.Rg1 b5 A last attempt to make progress but it does not yield anything. 50.axb5 Bxb5 51.Ba3 Kc6 52.Rd1 Rd7? With only seconds on the clock Black commits a serious tactical error that might have led to a loss. 53.Rxd7? Carlsen, who was probably happy to cash in on c5, also fails to see the unexpected chance to win the game. After 53.c4! after Rxd1 or 53...Ba6 54.Ba4+ 54.cxb5+ White takes on b5 with check and wins a piece. 53...Kxd7 54.Bxc5 Ne6 55.Ba3 a4 56.Kf3 Ng5+ 57.Ke3 Ne6 58.Bc1 Kc6 59.Ba3 Kd7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2847Keymer,V2591½–½2021E24Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.15

All in all a fantastic performance by Magnus Carlsen – after all, despite their young age, a lot of his opponents are experienced Grandmasters and exceptionally strong blitz players.

Results

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.f4 Qc7 10.Kh1 b5 11.a3 Bb7 12.Bf3 Nbd7 B85: Sicilian Scheveningen: 6 Be2 a6, lines with early Be3. 13.Re1 13.Qe1= 13...Rac8
14.Qd2N Predecessor: 14.Bf2 Rfe8 15.Bg3 e5 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 Bd6 19.Nf5 g6 20.Nh6+ 1-0 (37) Massoni,M (2373)-Burg,T (2479) La Massana 2013 14...Nb6 Black is better. 15.Qf2 Nc4 16.Bc1 Rfd8 17.Nd1 d5 18.e5 Ne4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.c3 Bc5       Keeping White busy. 21.b3
21.Be3 is a better defense. 21...Na5!-+ 22.Be3 Bxd4 23.Bxd4 Nxb3 24.Bb6
24...e3!       25.Qxe3 Qc6 26.Qf2 26.Ra2 Rd7 27.Rc2 26...Rd2 Black took control after the opening. Weighted Error Value: White=0.58/ Black=0.11 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Zhu,J2459Carlsen,M28470–12021B85Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.1
Praggnanandhaa R2608Carlsen,M28470–12021A45Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.2
Carlsen,M2847Abdumalik,Z24721–02021C84Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.3
Carlsen,M2847Mendonca,L25491–02021A50Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.4
Gukesh D2578Carlsen,M28470–12021A58Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.5
Lei,T2505Carlsen,M28470–12021A32Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.6
Carlsen,M2847Nihal Sarin26200–12021C77Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.7
Carlsen,M2847Vaishali R23931–02021E24Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.8
Khademalsharieh,S2494Carlsen,M28470–12021A43Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.9
Sokolovsky,Y2442Carlsen,M28470–12021B41Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.10
Carlsen,M2847Shuvalova,P24761–02021A14Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.11
Carlsen,M2847Bjerre,J25501–02021B92Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.12
Murzin,V2478Carlsen,M28470–12021A07Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.13
Badelka,O2433Carlsen,M28470–12021C42Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.14
Carlsen,M2847Keymer,V2591½–½2021E24Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.15
Carlsen,M2847Yip,C24301–02021C77Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.16
Mammadzada,G2443Carlsen,M28470–12021B01Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.17
Yoo,C2455Carlsen,M28470–12021B70Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.18
Carlsen,M2847Liang,A25920–12021A05Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.19
Carlsen,M2847Muzychuk,A25351–02021C77Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.20
Ganguly,S2625Carlsen,M28470–12021B06Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.21
Kogan,A2501Carlsen,M28470–12021A57Magnus Carlsen vs Challengers1.22

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Translation from German: Johannes Fischer

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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