Magnus Carlsen is known for being a slow starter and for improving his form as tournaments develop. In Zagreb, the Norwegian won twice and lost twice in the first two days of action, as he stood two points behind the co-leaders entering the last three rounds of rapid. On Friday, though, he got himself in position to fight for tournament victory in the blitz.
Carlsen beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Constantin Lupulescu in rounds 8 and 9 to become the only player standing a point behind co-leaders Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi.
His round-8 victory over Duda was surely impressive, as he found a stunning move in the following position — crucially, all other moves lose for White here!
Black is attacking the rook on c1, while in case of 20.Rc8+ Kd7 21.Rxh8, he counts with 21...Qe1+ 22.Kg2 Qxf2 23.Kh3 Qf1+ 24.Kg4 Qf5#.
But White is winning. And Carlsen, after thinking for a bit under two minutes, found the stunning reply that leaves him with a clearly superior position — he was double-checking his previous calculations surely, as he would not have entered this line otherwise.
There followed 20.Bg5, defending the rook on c1 from a square under attack from two sides! After 20...Nxg5, White can safely play 21.Rc8+ Ke7 22.Rxh8, gaining the exchange.
More precise manoeuvres were required for White to win the game, but Carlsen did not falter. Ten moves later, Duda resigned.
Many spectators at the playing hall in Zagreb | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Analysis by GM Karsten Müller
Another incredible tactical idea appeared in Carlsen’s next game, except that it was his opponent, Lupulescu, who had the chance to impress — and the Romanian, in fact, failed to find the move that would have saved the draw in a rook v knight endgame. Carlsen thus scored his second consecutive victory.
Gukesh defeated Vishy Anand in their first-ever official confrontation | Photo: Lennart Ootes
