{"id":3827,"date":"2026-02-15T02:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T01:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skolasachu.com\/?p=3827"},"modified":"2026-02-15T21:59:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T20:59:30","slug":"wijk-aan-zee-cerna-bere-cognitive-radiation-and-another-nodirbeks-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skolasachu.com\/en\/wijk-aan-zee-cerna-bere-kognitivni-zareni-a-dalsi-nodirbekuv-triumf\/","title":{"rendered":"Wijk aan Zee: Black wins, cognitive radiation and another Nodirbek triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are countless titles one could invent for what happened this year at the Wijk aan Zee tournament, yet none can encompass everything we witnessed. I admit, in all my years of following elite tournaments, I have never seen anything quite like this. Where to start? The unbelievably low average age? The incomprehensible statistical data? The fact that almost every one of the 14 participants in both tournaments suffered several lapses? Or the record number of blunders outside of time trouble, including one-move blunders?<\/p>\n

I often respect Occam's razor principle, that the most probable explanation is the simplest one. Alright, let's try: \u201eBecause of computers and engines, players have forgotten how to calculate variations!\u201c Or: \u201eTests of mind-influencing weapons were conducted at the venue.\u201c Or is there a more down-to-earth explanation? In that case, I offer: coincidence, fluctuation.<\/p>\n

Still, we have two certainties. First: Nodirbek Abdusattorov won another tournament with a clear margin. Second: more interesting and exciting battles are hard to find.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Results<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Besides one of the most extensive tournaments of recent times, the Masters tournament, spectators, readers and of course fans could also enjoy the Challengers tournament. To avoid \u201ediscussing emptiness,\u201c let's look straight at the final results.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The average age of the Masters tournament is only 23,62<\/strong> years, while the Challengers tournament is 24,57<\/strong>. Some may pause when they see the names Faustino Ora (12 years) or the winner Andy Woodward (15 years) in the second table, wondering why the average age in the \u201eyounger tournament\u201c was higher. Well yes, the average is \u201espoiled\u201c by Vasily Mikhailovich...<\/p>\n

For comparison: excluding Vasily Ivanchuk, the average age of the Challengers tournament was about 22 years, the age at which Paul Morphy had already completed his only European tour (1858\u20131859), during which at twenty-one he defeated practically all the European chess stars of the time. But Morphy was one, and here we have a whole tournament...<\/p>\n

Statistics or black wins... almost<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201eAnnoying opening theory is ruining the classics! Players play 35 moves according to preparation, and if both are well prepared, the game inevitably ends in a thoroughly analysed draw. If this continues, we will see tables similar to draughts tournaments!\u201c<\/p>\n

Such \u201eoutbursts of imagination\u201c are heard more and more often. The latest, which one can only shake their head at, came in a recent interview from the fairly well-known patron Oleg Skvorcov. He even suggests \u201epunishing\u201c players with zero points for a draw! Never mind that for five centuries our beautiful game managed with... mere logic. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The never-ending fight against classical time controls naturally has its most prominent supporter in Magnus Carlsen. But in reality, he does not want to play serious games, let alone matches, because among other things he is simply too lazy to prepare for several months.<\/p>\n

Perhaps after the Wijk tournaments end, these voices will at least quiet down for a few months.<\/p>\n

Let's look at some hard statistical data.<\/p>\n

Masters tournament<\/strong> (91 games): number of decisive games 41, number of draws 50. Decisiveness = 45.1\u00a0%<\/strong> (for interest, last year it was 40.66\u00a0%). On average, in each round we saw a little more than three defeated kings.<\/p>\n

White wins: 22; Black wins: 19.<\/p>\n

To avoid overwhelming the reader with statistics, I will provide just one more figure. Why Black<\/strong> (almost) wins<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

The group of the first and second winners of both tournaments, namely Abdusattorov, Sindarov, Woodward and Ivan\u010duk, won the same number of games with White and Black. Match score<\/strong> Black versus White ended 13:13!<\/strong>\u00a0That would have been almost unthinkable in earlier times.<\/p>\n

What does this indicate? Why do colours and the advantage of the first move hardly matter, similar to children's categories of all kinds, when the \u201echess grind\u201c stops working? Because there is an unprecedented number of blunders in the games, including one-move or two-move mistakes.<\/p>\n

Blunders of the first round<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Let us move on to the examples and see what happened in the game Keymer vs. Giri<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

White has just played 22.Na5<\/span> and thanks to Anish's inaccuracy in the previous move (passive 21...Rb8) White holds a certain, though not large, advantage. After 41 seconds came 22...Bxd4??<\/strong><\/span>, after which Giri immediately resigned following a trivial double strike 23.Rc4 <\/strong><\/span>!<\/p>\n

However, an earlier game had already finished Niemann vs. Fedosejev<\/strong>. The first miniature of the tournament was thus on the board! Since it was already the 88th edition, it turned out that this was not the shortest decisive game (the eight-move miniature Petrosian,T vs. Ree,H from 1971 is hardly ever beaten), but\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Niemann has just played 14.g3<\/span> and again threatens 15.Qxb7. Vladimir Fedosejev may have confused the variations, but more likely he made a typical blunder by not calculating the complications properly. After more than 8 minutes of thinking, he struck with 14...Nxc5??<\/strong><\/span>, so after 15.dxc5 Bxd3<\/strong> 16.Qxb7<\/strong><\/span> he resigned! Only now did he see that after the planned 16...Na6<\/strong><\/span> the spectacular 17.Ne5!!<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n