Carlsen Prize Winner – Historical – VG

(Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen 0-1) Magnus Carlsen (31) is the eighth Wijk aan Zee tournament winner. It is a historic achievement.

The decision at the prestigious 2022 Tata Steel Chess Championship was poignant on Saturday. He won with black pieces over his former World Cup opponent Fabiano Caruana, who surrendered after 49 moves.

– It’s great to end in victory – and to a certain extent also in style, says Carlsen on TV 2’s Fin Gnatt.

Although Caruana has had better days than that, wins like these don’t come every day. Plus five in 12 games is good, although I didn’t use all the games it stood out well.

After the match between Richard Report and Andrei Espenko ended in a draw, Carlsen could accept a draw to determine the championship. But the Norwegian really wanted to show strength and win.

Carlsen was originally supposed to meet Daniel Dubov on Sunday, but the party was canceled and Carlsen was given a tour because Russian tests had tested positive for the virus. Dubov claimed on Saturday he had a negative test – but the organizer insists Daniel Dubov is out of the tournament.

Wijk aan Zee has been in place since 1938 and most of the big stars have won in the windswept Dutch city – but Carlsen has the most wins so far with only eight wins. Viswanathan Anand is second with five wins, three of which are shared. Four men had four victories: Levon Aronian, Max Ewe, Victor Korchnoy, and Laius Bortich. However, Garry Kasparov managed something Carlsen couldn’t: three straight wins (1999, 2000 and 2001).

Carlsen’s winning streak at Wijk aan Zee is impressive:

2008: A joint victory with Levon Aronian.

2010: Victory Alone.

2013: Victory Alone.

2015: Victory Alone.

2016: Victory Alone.

2018: Victory Alone (beating Jerry in the tiebreak).

2019: Victory Alone.

2022: Victory alone.

The Wijk aan Zee Championship is very special for Magnus Carlsen, because in many ways it was where the adventure began in 2004 when he was 13 years old with 10.5 out of a possible 13 points in the tournament’s third set. After the victory over Dutchman Ernst Sebeki, who was twice his age at the time, Lebomore Kavalik in the Washington Post first used the term “Mozart’s Chess” for Magnus Carlsen.

Thus Magnus Carlsen won Group C in 2004, in 2005 he finished eleventh in Group B, and in 2006 he qualified for Group A by sharing first place in Group B. Since then he has not looked back.

It gets good starter money for participating, while there are more modest cash prizes. How much is unknown.

With one day left in the championship, the Norwegian is already the winner after meeting Daniel Dubov on Sunday. But the Russian is out of the tournament after it was confirmed that he was infected with Corona.

“It’s not fun to get points that way, I’d rather play,” Magnus Carlsen told TV2 on Friday.

On Friday, it became clear that Dubuff’s test results are positive, and therefore the last three competitors will win without playing. Saturday’s alleged negative test, according to the regulator, doesn’t change that.

Fabiano Caruana frantically tried to defend himself with a draw on Saturday, but Carlsen wore it all.

– Caruana is being tortured, stated by Maud Rodsmoen as an expert on TV 2 broadcast. Her colleague Jon Ludwig Hammer has repeatedly expressed how much he liked Carlsen’s game against Caruana.

Tata Steel Chess in Wijk an Zee is very special, because up to 14 participants meet at once, a total of 13 rounds. Magnus Carlsen may not play any physical tournament in classic chess before Norwegian Chess 2022 (May 30 – June 11). Prior to that, he played several tournaments in the Digital Chess Tour organized by Magnus.