Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, has been in commanding form at Zagreb, setting new achievement peaks with impressive victories against his main rivals. Yet the Norwegian still faces a serious test of his current streak of seven consecutive tournament victories and 77 games without defeat this weekend when the elite event reaches its final rounds.
At the end of round nine on Friday, in which Carlsen and Wesley So both drew, the leaders were Carlsen 6.5/9, So (US) 6/9, Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia), Ding Liren (China), Fabiano Caruana (US) and Levon Aronian (Armenia) all 5/9. Saturday’s 10th round pairs Carlsen with his closest rival So, who will have the favourable white pieces. The final three rounds are free and live to view (3.30pm BST start) with grandmaster and computer commentaries at the Grand Chess Tour website.
Only Aronian of this leading group is outside the current global top five in an event whose high quality could place it among the historically great contests like Avro 1938 and Linares 1994.
Carlsen had never previously beaten Nepomniachtchi or Ding in classical play but defeated them both in rounds seven and eight in widely different styles – Russia’s No 1 in a complex middle game, China’s world No3 in a filigree ending based on two bishops against bishop and knight.
Carlsen had seemed under pressure early after Nepo’s knight regroup Nf3-h2-g4-e3 seemed to control key light squares but, as he explained later: “It looks worse for Black than it is. There’s something nice about being positionally worse out of the opening – that at least in this case all the holes are already there, so you don’t have to worry about concessions because you already made concessions. It’s about me trying to get counterplay.”
The winning tactic 27...f5!? was “an accidental bluff” as Carlsen assumed that 28 exf5! Bd4+ won, missing 28 Kg2 Qe2+ 29 Kh3 when the king is safe. Instead, Nepo blundered into rapid defeat.
Ding v Carlsen was a Catalan 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 g3, where the well prepared champion innovated with a sharp plan. Ding missed chances to stay level until an impressive endgame where Carlsen’s bishop pair dominated the board and his king invaded the white camp
After round eight Carlsen’s live rating was up to 2881. He needed 2/3 to equal his official world record of 2882, 2.5/3 to surpass 2882, and 3/3 to beat his unofficial daily record of 2889. That last figure, plus the ultimate target of a round 2900, which Carlsen recently called “a half-attainable goal” will have to wait until his next classical tournament in August.
David Howell’s tied second prize at St Louis last week has made the Sussex 28-year-old the new England No1, although his rating is below the elite 2700 level which Nigel Short and Michael Adams easily surpassed in their best years.
Gawain Jones lost his last three games in the US, while Luke McShane was beaten in his last two at Netanya, where the former world title challenger, Boris Gelfand, won on tie-break at age 51 and showed his strategic skills.
Next up, the £5,000 British Chess Championships at Torquay from 26 July to 4 August, where Howell and Adams are the clear top seeds, rated more than 100 points higher than the No 3 Nick Pert. Adams has won six British titles and Howell three, mostly in the last decade. The Cornishman, 47, who has rested since his setbacks earlier this year, won the 2016 British with a co-record 10/11 score and is the current holder, so Torquay will be his opportunity to recover his former status.
3626 (by Nicolo Belli) 1 Rh8! If 1...g5 2 Qh1 g4 3 Ra8 g3 4 Qh8 mate. If 1...Bxc2 2 Rh1+! (not 2 Qh1+? when Bd1! delays mate beyond move four) Bb1 3 Qg2 and 4 Qb2 mate.
