Magnus Carlsen emulates Boris Spassky and reaps reward at Qatar Open
Leonard Barden
Friday 1 January 2016 15.19 EST
Magnus Carlsen’s bold decision to play in an open tournament, the first reigning world champion to do so since Boris Spassky in 1971, paid off handsomely this week at Qatar when the 25-year-old Norwegian won first prize unbeaten on 7/9 with one of his best performances. He tied with Yu Yangyi, then crushed his Chinese rival 2-0 in the speed tie-break.
Carlsen’s first-round draw with the lowly ranked Georgian woman champion Nino Batsiashvili looked ominous but then he took off with some fine tactical and strategic chess, notably with a brilliancy against Li Chao and a fast win against the dangerous Shak Mamedyarov. A tougher test awaits Carlsen when the elite Tata Steel Wijk tournament starts on 15 January but, with victories at London and Qatar under his belt, he looks to be overcoming the erratic form which dogged him for much of 2015.
Several potential Carlsen rivals competed in Qatar. The former world champion Vlad Kramnik tied for third half a point behind Carlsen and advanced to world No2 but Kramnik is not qualified for the Moscow candidates in March which will decide the next title challenger. Holland’s current world No3, Anish Giri, and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, both candidates, halved too often.
Full article here.