World number one Magnus Carlsen beat Ian Nepomniachtchi 20.5-9.5 in the quarter-finals of the Speed Chess Championship, despite losing a game without a queen.
Carlsen dominated Nepomniachtchi in the match on the evening of September 15, as he secured victory with 15 minutes left to play. The Norwegian won 5.5-3.5 in 5+1 blitz (5 minutes for each side, with an extra second added after each move), 6-3 in 3+1 blitz, and 9-3 in 1+1 super blitz.
The position after 19...Rf7. Carlsen holds white, has the winning position, and could have captured the c6-pawn. However, he captures the c6-pawn, the knight.
However, Carlsen made a move that was considered silly in game 25 against the Russian player. He used the white queen to capture the black pawn on a6, not realizing that the black knight was holding it on c7. Nepomniachtchi did not miss the opportunity, capturing the queen and forcing his opponent to concede the game immediately.
Carlsen raised his hand in confusion, then smiled after this mistake. Nepomniachtchi just looked down, looked up, and was also somewhat surprised. Although it was just a formality, this loss still cost Carlsen some prize money. Because according to the tournament rules, a prize money will be given based on the difference in score between the two players.
Carlsen's mistake attracted hundreds of thousands of views on social media. The Chess platform commented: "Sometimes the greatest players in history lose their queens. So it's okay if you make the same mistake."
Carlsen lost the queen to Nepomniachtchi.
Carlsen will face Wesley So in the semi-finals, while Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will meet in the other semi-final. The number one said that if he reaches the final, he will likely face Nakamura again. The Japanese-American has reached the final in all seven editions of the tournament, losing the first two to Carlsen and winning the last five.
The semi-finals are scheduled to take place on the evenings of September 19 and 20, Hanoi time.
Xuan Binh
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