I closely followed the major tournament in Qatar, which ended a few days ago. Many elite grandmasters participated, including former world champion Carlsen. I was particularly curious about his performance and – I must admit – as I fully expected, there was no sensation. The 16th world champion basically burned out and did not even try to find suitable excuses for his unusually poor play. (Nevertheless, it is perhaps necessary to mention that quite a few elite grandmasters expressed – euphemistically speaking – strong dissatisfaction bordering on ignoring the organisers regarding possible computer assistance. The case of Vladimir Fedoseev and the first 2 rounds of the tournament is a topic for another article.)
However, I am not writing this contribution because of various interviews with the greatest chess player of all time and countries, as many less knowledgeable chess players still believe (having succumbed to the opinion that, for example, online blitz or bullet is as important a discipline as serious chess), but because of the huge sporting tragedy that took place in the last round!
After the penultimate 8th round, the tournament table looked like this: ResultsList after 8
The likeable current Indian number six, the twenty-year-old super-grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, was leading with a half-point advantage, and in case of a draw he would at least share first place.
However, in the last round he still faced a very difficult opponent with the black pieces: former rapid world champion, the one-year younger Uzbek star (today not the only one) Nodirbek Abdusattorov! It is clear that the player with the white pieces, who was half a point behind, was only interested in a win and accordingly chose his opening. Against the Slav triangle 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 (the opponents reached the position by a different move order) Abdusattorov chose the Slav gambit 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4
An expected fierce storm broke out on the board, but Black withstood everything and steered the game into an endgame in which it became increasingly clear that he would achieve his goal.
Well, now let us see what happened:
If I did not have almost a 30-year career as a fully professional coach and analyst behind me, one might say that I belong among Nodirbek's fans. But seeing the end of the video broadcast, I could not help but be moved. Such a sporting tragedy! But also: „What nerves can do“! A reader who has at least a pinch of empathy (which is probably excluded only in psychopathic personalities, although today we find plenty even among chess players) must feel moved at the moment when Erigaisi saw 49.Bf6+! on the board.
Despite the tragic end of the game, I recommend readers to replay the endgame of the game more slowly and calmly. The fight of two bishops against a rook and two pawns, as well as Black's subsequent defensive possibilities, deserve attention and can provide lessons for the future!
Ethics, stupidity and Aronian's lesson
All credit, however, goes to Nodirbek, who kept a poker face and behaved exactly as a well-mannered and empathetic person should.
In this context, I cannot help but add a few words of advice, mainly intended for young chess players. Another of my favourites, though this time truly from the distant past, and probably one of the most intelligent chess players I have ever met, is Levon Aronian. Even before he was driven out of his homeland by one of the dullest politicians of our time, namely the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (according to the Armenian government, Levon is no longer an asset to Armenia; he is old and does not deserve any support, just like the chess youth; Aronian's statement was, of course, phrased more gently), Aronian expressed the following thought in an interview (I paraphrase): „If you win a game, never be the first to address your opponent. If they want to talk about the game, they will start themselves. When you initiate a conversation with your opponent and start showing them variations, it gives the impression that you want to beat them a second time!“
I cannot resist sharing one of Levon's spicy and truly brilliant replies to Elon Musk at this point. The story was that the billionaire stated in an interview that chess is an outdated and somewhat primitive game with simple rules, which computers can handle with ease.. (Apparently Musk never got the memo about Botvinnik's still valid definition of chess: from a scientific point of view, chess is an unsolvable – imprecise mathematical equation.)
Levon Grigoryevich responded roughly as follows: „Fine, so if chess is a primitive game, then music must be even more simplistic. After all, it is based on only 12 semitones!“…
A third member of the party?
As the final table shows, Arjun eventually finished the tournament in a very respectable sixth place, or tied for third to eighth place. ResultsList final
Let us now look at his fantastic calculation in the game of round 8. A great performance in it catapulted him to sole first place before the final round. As I mention in the notes, the combination strike and subsequent calculation is not difficult by mathematical calculation! The hardest part was to evaluate the position at its end. It is precisely this (and then the subsequent realisation of the advantage in the position after the so-called non-equivalent exchange) that makes this fragment of the game valuable.
A bit of light relief and a lesson: the free pawns ‚a‘ and ‚b‘ – Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell – have passed the relay baton! An analogy of variations from a game with the advance of distant passed pawns.
With such a performance – I believe – Arjun did not lag behind his two very young Indian rivals, whom I have already mentioned in previous posts… and certainly not for the last time!
A successful or unfortunate year?
The end of the year is approaching and surely Erigaisi and his coach Narayanan will be evaluating it. What went well? What did not? Despite at least two unlucky and sad experiences (the first occurred at the World Cup in Baku, where Arjun lost in a dramatic quarterfinal to Praggnanandha only in the blitz) I think he will complement the Indian duo of the recently miraculous children Gukesh and Praggnanandha brilliantly in the future!
Of course, there are always at the very top money. In the middle of the year Erigaisi managed to conclude one of the most spectacular sponsorship deals in India with the company QuantBox: 1,500,000$ for 5 years, so his coach Srinath Narayanan will not be left out either…
