Magnus Carlsen needs more than ever to get closer to his (very ambitious) goal of reaching 2,900 Elo points - comparable to exceeding 9 meters in the long jump -, to compensate for the disrepute for giving up the world title defense next April.
The Olympiad being played in Chennai (India) is a good opportunity to get closer (from its current 2,864).
But the first attempt was not missed by a bit: the position with the Uruguayan George Meier in the 2nd round was a draw after 77 moves and more than five hours but the German-Uruguayan missed and gave up.
Spain is among the leaders after beating Belgium (3.5-0.5);
and also in the women's competition (4-0 to Malaysia).
The Norwegian's body language, with advertisements for his sponsors on the black shirt and jacket he was wearing along with jeans and brown shoes, already indicated that something was not right from the 2nd hour of the fight.
The still champion got up and took a look at the games of the USA match, top seed, which could only beat Paraguay 2.5-1.5 thanks to Leinier Domínguez's victory over Cubas (draw in Caruana- Bachmann, Delgado-So and Shankland-Zacarías).
But only a minute later he was back in his chair, even though it wasn't his turn to play yet, and fully focused on his game.
Georg Meier, today at CheenaiFIDE/ Stev Bonhage
Meier, a German by origin, has been playing with the Uruguayan flag for eight months.
He is a mid-level grandmaster (2,613 points), but an opponent whom Carlsen should win at least half of the games between them.
However, the Scandinavian failed to take the fight to the type of position where he usually ends up winning by exhausting his opponents.
Despite the fact that he was a pawn up, the German-Uruguayan resisted tenaciously until, due to exhaustion and the overwhelm of the clock, he could not be precise.
In any case, Norway, 3rd in the initial ranking after the USA and India (which beat Moldova 3.5-0.5), won the match (4-0) without suffering much, thanks to the early victories of Tari and Christiansen on Hoffman and Roselli.
Spain also did not suffer to meet the forecast (3.5-0.5) against Belgium, with victories by Shirov, Vallejo and Iturrizaga (Jaime Santos rested) and draws by Antón.
The girls also won (4-0), against Malaysia.
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