GM Yermolinsky - World Rapid Championship 2022 - Video 4

Opening: C18, D31, C27, D02, D78: French; Winawer - Advance Variation, QGD Semi-Slav: Abrahams–Noteboom Variation, Vienna Game: Frankenstein–Dracula Variation

Player(s): Carlsen, Giri, Sarana, Nakamura, Nihal, Dubov, Martirosyan

Video #4 touches the Blitz part of the festivities in Almaty. Again, Magnus Carlsen came on top after two days and 21 rounds of play. Magnus took his chances in a fair number of games, including the suspicious-looking French against Anish Giri, but he got away with an absolute majority of the risks, excluding a couple of losses. One of them came late in the tournament when he met the surging young Russian GM Alexey Sarana, who recovered from a nightmare 3/8 start to defeat a number of opponents, including Nikaru himself in the previous round. The game Sarana-Carlsen was a shockingly easy win for White. I guess even Carlsen can have a bad 10 minutes in the office. Nakamura, who practically sat out the Rapid event, saved a ton of energy for the blitz and stormed to a full-point lead after the first day with an impressive score of 11/12. Unfortunately, Hikaru faded a bit down the stretch. Still, no World title for this generation speed demon. Third place, surprisingly, was claimed by the Armenian youngster Haik Martirosyan, who outlasted most of his opponents in extra-long games. I think we are witnessing the beginning of narrow specialization in chess, which is a sign of times when one can make a nice living by doing well in just one variety, such as blitz or rapid. I expect this trend to grow. You can download the games in PGN format HERE

Teacher's library (718) C18 D31 C27 D02 D78 Carlsen Giri Sarana Nakamura Nihal Dubov Martirosyan game analysis