Photo by Fred Lucas
In the biggest shocker of the day, Magnus Carlsen, with the White pieces against Anish Giri, dropped a piece on move 20 and resigned on move 22!
Carlsen, Magnus – Giri, Anish [D71]
2011 Tata Steel, Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 17.01.2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nf3 Nb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e3 0–0 9.0–0 Re8 10.Re1 a5 11.Qd2 e5 12.d5 Nb4 13.e4 c6 14.a3 cxd5 15.axb4 axb4 16.Rxa8 bxc3 17.bxc3 Nxa8 18.exd5 Nb6 19.Rd1 e4 20.Ng5 e3 21.Qb2 Qxg5 22.Bxe3 Qg4 0–1
Click here to replay the game.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Tough going, but Kasparov said Carlsen’s lifestyle and lack of practice would finally catch up to him. I guess we are seeing the results.
Carlsen won’t need to worry about being champion if he doesn’t bear down and work at the game.
The kid is simply not taking it seriously ..native ability is only 50 percent of the deal. He’s going to get ripped apart in this tourney…whatch.
Carlsen thought he could play 23. f3, but then he realized Giri could play 23. Nc4. Is that right Susan…? 😛
Peop;e ;pve tp build up heros….and they love tearing them down. Mr Carlsen is simply not dedicated enough to be a world champ. I certainly has the talent..but not the drive…hope he looks nice in his fashion underwear…because thats about all he’ll be doing.
Its about time people realize that Carlsen is a kid….and makes mistakes. But his play clearly demonstrates that he his having problems. He (To me) seems to be the Larsen of our time..Brilliant at times but clearly not steady enough to be anything but an interesting novelty to tournaments. I hope his modelling career works out better….despite his critics..he’s outdone every single one of you….He’s just not a Chess Champion…not the end of the world.
Yah I have to agree with the anonymous commenter that “native ability is only 50 percent of the deal”. Indeed it is. Fischer, Kasparov and Anand are all natural talents but they studied a LOT and worked HARD.
@Mr. Zed: Not only Giri was up a piece but he had a lot more to “aim” at. For eg, Magnus’d need to play Qc1 (or something) first; black can play Nc4 to drive the bishop away and then it can attack the Queen with Bh6. Then, at some point, the b-pawn will become unstoppable. White is a mess.
Would love to see a comment from Susan about the fastest path to victory though…
I would advise you:
Wait a minute; nobody knows the way life will go with Carlsen. He is very talented, no doubt.
– Who will coach him and which way?
– How will all the other young talents in the world develop?
– Who knows if Giri himself is not the one?
In the meantime we enjoy Anand and Aronian.
okay
okay
Is he also gaining weight or this is just a bad picture?
I like a chubby Carlsen. More to love.
Do not forget Hammer’s terrible performance in B-group. I am saddened by his results.
The most significant thing about how Carlsen has been blundering in the past year is that few players that ever eventually went on to become world champion blundered the way Carlsen has been in the past several months!
to MR ZED
not nc4 but qa4 with the same thread of q takes rook,,, immediately winning
“to MR ZED
not nc4 but qa4 with the same thread of q takes rook,,, immediately winning”
umm… I don’t know about that. Qa4 can be met with Ra1 and the queen doesn’t have any good place to go and can’t defend the knight.