Jon Speelman: Anybody can have an off day

by Jonathan Speelman
10/22/2023 – Magnus Carlsen’s disastrous loss to Alisher Suleymenov in Qatar has gone round the world, partly because it was an excellent game but mainly because it was so unusual: Carlsen’s first defeat by such a relatively “weak” opponent since the Norwegian Championship of 2006! Unusual but not really that shocking. Anybody can have an off day, and the truly shocking thing is that Carlsen has managed for nearly two decades to avoid losing at classical chess to such an opponent. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
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Small, sharp-toothed predators

[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

Magnus Carlsen’s disastrous loss to Alisher Suleymenov in Qatar has gone round the world, partly because it was an excellent game but mainly because it was so unusual: Carlsen’s first defeat by such a relatively “weak” opponent since he lost to Berge Ostenstad in the Norwegian Championship of 2006!

Unusual but not really that shocking. Anybody can have an off day, and the truly shocking thing is that Carlsen has managed for nearly two decades to avoid losing at classical chess to such an opponent (obviously he must have lost plenty of games at blitz and bullet).

There’s a certain temptation towards schadenfreude and I thought of entitling this “How are the mighty fallen”, but then I thought of all my numerous blunders and worse really awful complete games against opponents purportedly as much weaker than me as I am than Magnus, and my keyboard froze...

Andor LilienthalWhat I am going to do is to look at the game itself — my take is that Suleymenov did play very well, but any really strong attacking player could have done the same if only (and it’s a massive if only) he kept his nerve — and then look at some other instances of giant beasts being snagged by much smaller but sharp-toothed predators.

The first one of these that came to mind was Lilienthal (pictured) vs Capablanca (though in my addled brain I initially thought it was Ilyin-Zheneysky who was White). I mentioned this in passing to ChessBase editor-in-chief Johannes Fischer and he was very helpful, suggesting a number of other games off the top of his head (without first consulting a database). I’ve used several and kept some in reserve too for a future column perhaps.

I’m a week later than usual because I was on holiday (being pummelled by the sun in Tenerife). The next will be in a fortnight on November 5th — Guy Fawkes Day in the UK. Please feel free to send me any incendiary games or moments in games with suitable fireworks. You can do so either through the ChessBase editors or direct to jonathan@jspeelman.co.uk.

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Topics: Jon Speelman's Agony Column
Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.