The legendary matches between Fischer and Spassky or even between Kasparov and Karpov, a metaphor for ideological wars, which saw the best masters in the world clash for long weeks on a wooden chessboard are now, coronavirus crisis obliges, to be stored in the history books.
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Today, the virtual replaces the games of yesteryear and that is why at the invitation of the reigning world champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the first major international online tournament has just united the aces with digital magic. chess aces who clashed via their personal computers from the beginning of April to May 3.
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A digital chess Wimbledon
Broadcast live on YouTube, organized by the Chess24 site, this Wimbledon internet chess, played at the rapid rate of fifteen minutes per player to make all the shots, saw the victory of the reigning world champion, the prodigious Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, who defeated one of his biggest rivals in the final, the American Hikaru Nakamura, a dreaded specialist in “bullet” cadences - sometimes less than a minute to play a whole game! -, online.
As it should be today, all chess matches were commented live in English, but also in French by the great master Laurent Fressinet, who has already been crowned twice champion of France. The tournament was richly endowed since the winner won the trifle of $ 70,000 and the finalist some $ 45,000.
Although this is a world first, the rounds took place without any major notable problem except for the confrontation between the Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouza (who lives in France in Chartres) and Hikaru Nakamura who experienced an untimely disconnection. After long discussions, the referees, who could check via cameras if the players were not cheating, decided to cancel the game. A decision that did not suit Firouza who had obtained a very superior position ...
Despite this incident, the players, the organizers and especially the many online spectators on specialized sites and on YouTube appreciated this new form of play. Magnus Carlsen, the initiator of this tournament declared, visibly very satisfied: "It is, I think one of the best chess shows we've had in a very, very long time. ”
Le Figaro has chosen to publish, below, the most interesting part of the final which sees Carlsen sacrificing a madman in e6 in order to obtain a favorable final. A little strategic gem.
Carlsen - Nakamura, 3rd fast-paced part of the MC Invitational tournament
1. d4 Cf6 2. c4 e6 3. Cf3 d5 4. Cc3 Fe7 5. Ff4 OO 6. e3 Cfd7 7. Fe2 dxc4 8. OO c5 9. dxc5 Fxc5 10. Fxc4 a6 11. Cg5!? b5 12. Fxe6! fxe6 13.Cxe6 De7 14. Cxf8 Dxf8 15. Ce4 Fb7 16. Cxc5 Dxc5 17. Rc1 Dd5 18. f3 Dxa2 19.e4 Cf8 20. Tf2 Tc8 21. Txc8 Fxc8 22. Dd8 De6 23. Fd6 De8 24. Dxe8 Cxe8 25 Fb4 Ce6 26. Td2 Rf7 27. Rf2 Cf6 28. Re3 g5 29. Td6 Cd7 30. g3 Ce5
31. b3 h5 32. h4 gxh4 33. gxh4 Cg6 34. Fe1 a5 35. Td5! a4 36. Txh5 Cef4
37. Tg5 axb3 38. h5 Cf8 39. Fc3 b4 40. Fb2 C8e6 41. Tf5 + Rg8 42. Txf4 Cxf4 43. Rxf4 Fa6 44. Rg5 Fd3 45. Rg6! Ff5 46. f4 Fe8 + 47. Rg5 Fc6 48. e5 Fd5 49. f5 Rh7 50. e6 Fc4 51. Rf6 Fe2 52. Re7! 1-0
The parts of the Carlsen-Nakamura final of the first major international online tournament commented by Laurent Fressinet, Pascal Charbonneau and Jean-Baptiste Mullon
