The annual World Rapid and Blitz Championship is behind us. The winners who stood on the podium took home 60,000, 50,000 and 40,000 respectively, and the spectators surely enjoyed themselves. However, this time I would like to look back not only at interesting games, consistent performances and, of course, inevitable blunders, but also at the prospects for the development of chess. Where are we actually heading? Is the current situation, for example creating special conditions for the \u201achosen\u2018 chess players, still acceptable and ethical? Well, and as a coach, I naturally also noticed the new young, even child faces that appeared at the World Championship... and I was shocked!<\/p>\n
The poor organisation of the entire tournament is, as always, quickly forgotten. The online chess community in American style<\/em> focuses on the \u201agreatest chess player of all time and countries\u2018, Magnus Carlsen, who became the winner of both tournaments. At the time of writing this article, the \u201aCarlsen madness\u2018 is somewhat subsiding, but on the evening of 30th December and the following days, one almost fears to see the former classical world champion even in a dream or to meet him at night on the way to the bathroom \ud83d\ude42. .<\/p>\n In my opinion, when evaluating Magnus Carlsen (just like G. Kasparov), we must strictly separate the chess and human sides<\/strong>.<\/p>\n O<\/strong> of the chess<\/strong> side I have already written a lot on these pages, most notably in the article \u201aThe Phenomenon of the Phenomenon Carlsen\u2018, comparing the then world champion to the reincarnation of J. R. Capablanca himself. Since then, however, I have also accepted the opinion of another world champion, Vladimir Kramnik. In one video evaluating the best chess players in specific fields<\/em>, he said something like this (paraphrasing): \u201eCarlsen's orientation in simplified endgame positions is on the edge of instinct!\u201c Vladimir Borisovich certainly meant that in some types of positions Carlsen finds the solution without having to... think! Simply somehow by hand<\/em>. Others, even very strong players, come up with the correct continuation within a few minutes, Carlsen makes the best move in a matter of seconds. His instinct also does not allow him to play, for example, a positional mistake that is not obvious at first glance. Like a small child, he will not touch a hot stove twice; Magnus apparently does not even consider some of the available moves. Technically: his move selection algorithm is qualitatively, even by orders of magnitude, at a higher level than all his contemporaries.<\/strong> Kasparov called this gift general intuition<\/strong> and cited the Cuban genius as one of the first examples.<\/p>\n Somewhat with an added effect<\/em>, apart from almost flawless play in simple positions, more or less ignored by dynamics, is<\/em> then excessive caution of opponents<\/em>. Imagine, for example, that there is a completely obvious move in the position, which a strong grandmaster would play within seconds in a game against another opponent! Carlsen will also play it, but\u2026 after a minute and a half of thinking! This then inevitably (and it must be said, almost regularly) leads especially in rapid to situations where in an objectively equal and heavily simplified endgame such a player has only seconds left on the clock, but Magnus almost always has several minutes! After all, rapid is Carlsen\u2019s royal discipline. If we looked at his so-called average error coefficient, we would conclude that it does not differ much from serious games. An intuitive player of his calibre does not need time to think, unless\u2026 precise calculation is required! And precise calculation in sharp positions (for example) with unsecured kings is not needed, because the former world champion does not allow opponents into such situations, avoids them, and certainly did not allow them at the World Championship in Samarkand. Why?<\/p>\n Unlike approximately two hundred other participants, Carlsen was assigned a special room guarded by a security agency, where he could not only rest and refresh himself during breaks between rounds, but also had a computer at his disposal! Knowing his opponent in the next round, he could very easily decide (listen to online advice from his collaborators) which opening or variation to choose. The former world champion is also an excellent psychologist. Why wouldn\u2019t he be, given his colossal experience? We even learned that securing a rest room was his (traditional) demand since 2016 (sic).<\/p>\n Certainly, starting with the organisers (which of course includes FIDE itself) and ending with ordinary internet fans, the opinion that this is a necessary measure for the popularisation of chess no longer stands out. Apparently, if Carlsen had not come to Uzbekistan, many sponsors would have boycotted<\/em>. Would he really not have come? Considering that just the appearance fee paid to Magnus surely exceeds the first prize in both tournaments several times, I am not so sure! A heretical thought occurs to me: what if Magnus Carlsen demanded next year that he would enter the tournament only with\u2026 a points lead?! Do you think, dear readers, that this differs too much from the situation in Samarkand 2023? Write your opinion<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n After Carlsen became the owner of the platforms Chess24, Chessable and especially Chess.com (for the less knowledgeable, this is a platform with over 10 million chess players visiting daily), FIDE no longer treats him with just sacred respect, but apparently listens to him attentively at least. With a puppet at the head of FIDE (entrepreneur, former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and assistant to the President of the Russian Federation from 2008 to 2012 Dmitry Medvedev) Arkady Dvorkovich, we cannot be surprised by such development.<\/p>\n The reader can learn a lot about \u201achess politics\u2018 in the interview with Sergey Karjakin.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nA chess genius, but also...<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\u2026an equally clever businessman<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n