Chess World Cup: Carlsen’s brilliance on display

by Carlos Alberto Colodro

8/4/2021 – A brilliant victory with the black pieces gave Magnus Carlsen the lead in the match for third place against Vladimir Fedoseev at the FIDE World Cup in Sochi. Meanwhile, Sergey Karjakin was surprised in the opening by Jan-Krzysztof Duda, which prompted him to agree to a quick draw in his game with the white pieces. 

| Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

A model exchange sacrifice

While most of the elite players fight to become the challenger for the World Championship, the reigning champion only waits and prepares for his next match. Some of the past champions decided to keep their cards close to their chests, barely playing classical elite tournaments while waiting for the next match. The reigning champion, on the other hand, cannot keep himself from competing in serious events against his potential opponents.

Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.

After losing his semifinal match against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Magnus Carlen tweeted:

Losing today certainly hurts, but I am nevertheless happy with my progress in the tournament, and also getting great practice for later this year.

This is, in fact, the second time Carlsen plays in the World Cup since he became world champion (in 2017, he was knocked out by Bu Xiangzhi in the third round). Talking to Michael Rahal after his win over Vladimir Fedoseev, Carlsen noted that game 2 of the playoffs against Duda was the first time he was in real trouble at the lengthy tournament, and that he could not adjust properly to the circumstances, failing to save a draw from a defensible position.

The Norwegian is yet to win a World Cup and, given how competitive he has proven to be over the years, we expect him to continue participating in next editions, looking to get one of the few trophies missing in his cabinet — he was certainly close to getting it this year!

Magnus Carlsen beat Vladimir Fedoseev on Wednesday. Photo: David Llada/FIDE.

FIDE World Cup Finals: Carlsen Wins Masterpiece

PeterDoggers
Updated: Aug 5, 2021, 1:43 AM|
51|Chess Event Coverage

GM Magnus Carlsen bounced back strongly from his lost FIDE World Cup semifinal. The world champion played a masterpiece with the black pieces on Wednesday and defeated GM Vladimir Fedoseev in the first game of the match for third place. The final of the World Cup started with a very quick draw between GM Sergey Karjakin and GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

How to watch?
The games of the FIDE World Cup can be found here: Open | Women. Chess.com provides daily commentary on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/chess with GM Hou Yifan, GM Ben Finegold, IM Danny Rensch, GM Robert Hess, GM Viswanathan Anand, and other guests.