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Magnus Carlsen is in a form crisis (archive image)
Photo:
Maria Emelianova / AP
Chess world champion Magnus Carlsen also missed the tournament victory in the fourth online tournament of the Champions Chess Tour he initiated.
In the semifinals of the $ 220,000 Magnus Carlsen Invitational, the Norwegian failed on Friday in the semifinals against Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi.
In the final, Nepomniachtchi will face Dutch Anish Giri, who won his semi-final against Wesley So on Saturday and Sunday.
As in the previous three tournaments, Carlsen was the first to finish the preliminary round with 16 players.
Against Nepomniachtchi, he initially caught up a two-point deficit.
However, the world champion made a mistake in the tie-break.
In the first game of the tie-break he apparently slipped his mouse and thus lost a rook, but was able to hold a draw.
However, Carlsen lost the second game and was eliminated.
The Norwegian is currently in a form crisis.
In 2020 he won four out of five tournaments in his digital tournament series, the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour.
In the new edition, the Champions Chess Tour 2021, he did not win any of the first four tournaments.
A total of nine tournaments and an additional tour final are planned.
"I'm very, very disappointed with my performance today," said Carlsen after his defeat.
The 30-year-old is not only surprisingly unsuccessful in online chess, most recently he also showed unexpected weaknesses in classical chess at the prestigious tournament in Wijk aan Zee.
This form crisis follows the best phase of his career so far.
Between 2018 and October 2020, Carlsen had not lost 125 classic games in a row: a world record on the level.
Carlsen still has time to overcome his weak phase.
In December he wants to defend his world title in Dubai.
The challenger will be determined when the Candidates Tournament continues in April.
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ptz / dpa
