End of an Era?

John B. Henderson • Mar 07, 2023

It’s not exactly the last dance quite just yet - that comes with April’s Chessable Masters - but some did hype it up to be officially the end of an era, with the culmination of the Norwegian Team League - the "Eliteserien" - season over the weekend seeing the last classical outing for Magnus Carlsen as the reigning world champion, ahead of next month’s FIDE World Championship match in Astana, Kazakhstan, between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren.


The game's undisputed top dog ended his classical reign on a high though, fittingly in Norway’s national football stadium Ullevål in Oslo, as Carlsen scored an undefeated 2.5/3 to lead his team, Offerspill Chess Club to its first national title on Sunday with a perfect match-point score of 18/18 in the ten-team, year-long contest.  

Carlsen beat Norwegian’s FM Levi Andre Tallaksen in Round 7, and also his long-time friend and Norway’s #3, GM Jon Ludvig Hammer in the penultimate round, before ceding a draw in the final round to his one-time junior rival and foe, English GM David Howell, now better known in the chess world for being the Champions Chess Tour commentator. 


After his game with Howell, Norwegian journalist and Tour host Kaja Snare asked Carlsen if this was a special day for him. Typical for Carlsen, his reply was: “Not really. Well, in terms of [the] league, yes, but in terms of [the] world championship, I've sort of mentally been finished with that a while ago.”


Further quizzed about how the Norwegian felt about the prospect of no longer holding the world title in classical chess, he replied, somewhat wryly: “I still have two titles,” referring to the fact that he still holds - and looks likely to continue to defend and fight for - the world championship blitz and rapid titles he won in Almaty, Kazakhstan late last year. 

The victorious Offerspill lineup also includes: Carlsen's second from his previous World Championship match, Dutch star Jorden van Foreest, and Indian teenage star Praggnanandhaa, with Norway’s #2 Aryan Tari bringing up the rear on board 4.


Photo: Norwegian duo of Aryan Tari and Magnus Carlsen take Offerspill Chess Club to victory | Norwegian Chess Federation


GM Magnus Carlsen - GM Jon Ludvig Hammer

Norwegian Team League, (8)

Queen’s Gambit Accepted

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.d4 dxc4 6.Bxc4 Although we started off with a Reti, it has now transposed into a Queens' Gambit Accepted. 6...a6 7.e4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bd6 9.Qe2 Qc7 10.Bg5 Bd7 A natural developing move - but also possible was 10...Be5 11.Rd1 (The point is that, as in the game, 11.Nf3 loses to 11...Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 b5! and the hit on c3 proves to be a game-winner.) 11...b5 12.Bb3 O-O and Black is doing more than OK. Faced with that, White may instead have to opt for 11.Nb3 0-0 with total equality. 11.Nf3 With the not-too-subtle threat of e5 winning a piece. 11...Nc6 12.Bb3 Ng4 Hammer puts his faith in his control of e5. 13.Rd1 Nge5 14.Bh4 Nxf3+ 

The immediate 14...Na5 is no better, as after 15.Bg3 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 just goes back into the game. 15.Qxf3 Na5 16.Bg3 Bxg3 17.hxg3 Nxb3 18.axb3 Carlsen's pawn structure may well be shot on both wings - but he has more than enough compensation in the form of two very dominant rooks baring down on the h- and d-files, and Black can't castle queenside as f7 is under attack. 18...O-O Hammer could try to keep the queens on the board with 18...Bc6 19.Qf4 Qb6 but after 20.g4!? you start to worry about the power of White's major pieces. And you know it is all a bit “awkward” when the engine starts to favour the artificial-looking 20...f6 21.Qh2 Qc5 (Looking to answer any Qc7 incursion with ...Qe7) 22.Ke2!? Kf7!? 23.Qc7+ Qe7 24.Qxe7+ Kxe7 25.Ke3 and another endgame on a theme similar to the game - but this one looks easier for Black than happens in the game. 19.Qf4! Qxf4 Maybe Hammer feared that 19...Rac8 20.Qxc7 (White looks good after 20.Qh4 but looks can often be deceptive, as after 20...h6 21.Qe7 White's queen incursion does look a little problematic, but the simple 21...Bc6! 22.Qxc7 Rxc7 23.f3 f6 24.Kf2 Kf7 looks fine for Black.) 20...Rxc7 21.f3 Bc6 22.e5!? and Carlsen following up with Ke2 and Rh4! looking to swing over to d4 and d6; or even after Rh4 following up with Rh1, and after ...h6, g4!? Whatever the reasons, something certainly seems to have spooked Mr Hammer. 20.gxf4 Bc6 21.f3 f5 22.e5 Carlsen has a space advantage with his funny-looking kingside pawn set-up, and his knight dominates the bishop with an ideal outpost on d4 - but the reality is that the game is equal and somewhere Hammer lost the plot. 22...Rad8 23.Ke2 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Kf7 25.Ke3 Ke7 26.Ne2 Bd5 Another try was 26...Rc8 looking to answer 27.Nd4 with 27...Bd7 but after 28.g4!? you kind of get the feeling that this is the sort of grind-a-rama that has been Carlsen's trademark over his career in the game, whether that be classical, rapid and blitz. 27.Nd4! Suddenly Carlsen has a little "something" to nibble on - and boy, does that man know how to nibble! 27...g6 28.Rh1 Rf7?! After this little inaccuracy, Hammer's rook is out of commission, and his position begins to go downhill with all the velocity of Franz Klammer. The best was 28...Rh8 with the idea of ...Kd7 and ...Rc8 if White plays Rc1; and if 29.Rh6 Kf7 and ...Kg7 to kick the rook. 29.b4 Kd8?!Another little inaccuracy, and they all now begin to add up. Better was 29...b6 looking to answer 30.b5 with 30...a5 31.Rc1 Kd7 and Black can regroup with ...Rf8 to either challenge the c-file with ...Rc8 or ...Rh8 if Rh1. 30.b5! Kc7 It may well be that Hammer simply missed that if he now plays 30...a5? 31.b6! and suddenly Black's a-pawn is very vulnerable and picked off, as 31...a4? 32.Nb5! Rg7 (looking to break free with ...g5) 33.Nd6 with a decisive advantage with major threats of Rh1-c1-c8+, where now 33...Bc6 34.Rd1 Rd7 35.Rc1! and Black is powerless against the manoeuvre Rc1-c5-a5-a8-h8 and carnage as Black's kingside pawns on h7 and g6 falls. And also not a pleasant defence is 30...axb5 31.Nxb5 Re7 32.b4 with White having a better version of the ending than in the game. 31.Rc1+ Kb6 32.bxa6 bxa6 33.Rc8 It is amazing just how quickly Hammer's position falls apart - he just has too many endgame weaknesses on both sides of the board. 

33...a5 34.Kd3 Rg7 The move to hold was 34...Rd7 but after 35.Rb8+ Ka7 36.Re8, although the engine claims it to be "dicimal sterility" by showing "0.00", you still got to favour Carlsen relentlessly keeping up the pressure. 35.Rd8 Kc5??
[see diagram] Hammer finally succumbs to Carlsen's relentless pressure with a game-ending blunder. He could have tried to hang on with his last-gasp try of 35...Rb7! 36.b3 (Much better than 36.Re8 Rd7 37.Kc2 Rc7+ 38.Kd2 Rd7 39.Ke3 Rb7! and Black has more than excellent holding chances.) 36...Ka7 37.Kc3 but you got to fancy Carlsen squeezing yet more blood from a stone here. 36.Rb8! The major threat of Rb5 mate is, not to be too blunt here, just more than a tad awkward! 36...Rb7 37.Nxe6+! And with it, total capitulation now for Hammer. 37...Kb4 38.Rxb7+ Bxb7 39.Kd4! A nice endgame finesse from Carlsen, as he finds a tactical way to stop ...Kb3 due to the Nc5+ fork. The rest is a mere formality now for the soon-to-be ex-world champion. 39...Bc6 40.Nc5 h5 Alternatively, there's 40...a4 41.e6 Bb5 42.e7 Bc6 43.Ne6 Kb3 44.Nc7 Kxb2 45.Kc5! a3 46.Kxc6 a2 47.e8=Q a1=Q 48.Qh8+! and after the trade of queens, the king and knight will soon pick off all of Black's remaining pawns. 41.b3 h4 42.e6 Ba8 43.Nd3+! A nice final touch from Carlsen, as sacrificing the b-pawn sees Ne5 clearing the way for the e-pawn to queen unchallenged. 43...Kxb3 44.Ne5 1-0 

The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • 02 Oct, 2023
Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • 29 Sep, 2023
The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • 27 Sep, 2023
Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • 25 Sep, 2023
Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • 22 Sep, 2023
With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • 19 Sep, 2023
India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • 14 Sep, 2023
“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • 11 Sep, 2023
With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • 08 Sep, 2023
The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • 04 Sep, 2023
The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.
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