Carlsen sweeps to 3 titles in Asia

The Tata Steel India Rapid saw Carlsen off to a slow start with two draws against GMs Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin. Then followed a beautiful sixer, where the Norwegian won six games in a row. A final round draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov saw Carlsen finishing with 7.5 points, clear two points ahead of Praggnanandhaa and So Wesley.

In the 18 round Blitz tournament Carlsen suffered a lone defeat, a miniature in the hands of India No. 1 Erigaisi Arjun. Spurred by defeat Carlsen reared back to his usual self winning the final three rounds and clinching the title by a handsome margin. One loss in 27 games of speed chess spells the dominance of Magnus Carlsen in all forms of chess.

The Norwegian G.O.A.T would be the man to beat in the year end bonanza, the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship scheduled at Wall Street, New York, USA from 26-31, December, 2024. Carlsen had triumphed in the world rapid and blitz championships in 2023 at Samarkand, Uzbekistan and is confirmed to defend his title this year.

Proceeding from his golden double at Tata Steel Chess India, Carlsen set up a mouth watering match in Singapore with World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana (USA), this time in exciting chess variant, the Freestyle Chess. In an exciting two game Freestyle Summit match, Carlsen came out the winner with 1.5-0.5 score against Caruana.

The first game of the Freestyle Chess Summit was held aboard yacht SILENTWORLD in Singapore, while the second game was played in a high security underground vault, Le Freeport. Sponsored by German entrepreneur Jan-Henric Buettner, the event oozed opulence showcasing a US$44 million golden chess set.

Earlier this year, the ever enterprising Carlsen joined hands with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, (known as the man behind Weissenhaus) promoting the Freestyle Chess a.k.a. Chess960 and Fischer Random chess in a big way.

A new addition in the chess circuit will be the elite Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025, with huge prize money events being held in Germany, USA and South Africa in 2025. Initial three events hold a prize money of US$ 750000 will the subsequent ones promise US$ 1 million. A day prior to the Freestyle Summit Match in Singapore, Carlsen teamed with IM Tania Sachdev (India) in a “Head & Hand” promo exhibition match against American duo GMs Fabiano Caruana and Maurice Ashley. The Norwegian Indian dream team swept to a 2-0 win over Caruana & Ashley.

Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Final Standings: 1. Carlsen, M 7.5, 2-3 Praggnanandhaa R, So Wesley 5.5, 4. Abdusattorov Nodirbek 5.0, 5. Keymer Vincent 4.5, 6. Nihal Sarin 4.0, 7-8 Dubov Daniil, Erigaisi Arjun 3.5, 9-10 Narayanan S L, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 3.0ptsup

Tata Steel Chess India Blitz Final Standings: 1. Carlsen, M 13, 2. So Wesley 11.5, 3. Erigaisi Arjun 10.5, 4. Praggnanandhaa R 9.5, 5-6 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Dubov Daniil 9.0, 7. Abdusattorov Nodirbek 8.0, 8. Nihal Sarin 7.0, 9. Narayanan S L 6.5, 10. Keymer Vincent 6.0 pts

Photo courtesy: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess India

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