Hilarious blunder as Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura study wrong opening position for 5 minutes
ChessBase India caught Hikaru looking at the position on the screen just before the start of his game and asking Carlsen, 'Did we look at the wrong position?' Carlsen, too, looked surprised at this. Then, he let out a short laugh as he looked at the board itself.
Remarkably, despite the hilarious error, Magnus beat Arjun in that game while Nakamura drew with Caruana. Both Nakamura and Carlsen were playing with white pieces. Carlsen and Nakamura will be fighting for third place today while Arjun and Caruana will battle for fifth place. Praggnanandhaa will take on Wesley So for seventh spot.
In scenes captured before the match, Arjun and Caruana had opted to analyse the game for the full 10 minutes. Cameras caught both of them sitting on the communal table and sitting on their knees to evaluate what their best response should be. Nakamura meanwhile opted to analyse the position by himself on one of the playing boards. Then, Carlsen walked up to him and joined him to analyse the game. Carlsen, with his white jacket worn only on one shoulder, did plenty of analysing.
'Wait a second, breaking news! Magnus and Hikaru are teaming up. For the first time in this event,' said grandmaster Peter Leko on the Freestyle Chess' Pro Stream.
As the camera focussed on the analysis of the world no 1 and no 2, in the pro commentary stream, grandmasters like Leko, Judit Polgar and Vincent Keymer sounded confused by the moves the players seemed to be making.
When Carlsen played 1.c4 as his opening move against Arjun, that caused even more surprise, as Leko said: 'Wait a second, after analysing d4 for so long, he's played c4. Is he fooling everyone?'
Soon enough, Nakamura too played 1.c4.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
3 hours ago
- First Post
FIDE CEO responds to Nakamura's claim of Candidates rating spot serving to benefit Carlsen: 'Completely illogical'
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky refuted American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura's statement suggesting the rating spot in the Candidates qualification process was essentially to lure world No 1 Magnus Carlsen into challenging for the world title once again. read more International chess federation (FIDE) CEO Emil Sutovsky refuted American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura's statement suggesting the Candidates qualification spot reserved for the top-ranked player was primarily in hope of having Magnus Carlsen challenging for the world title again. In a chat with Chessbase India on the sidelines of the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, world No 2 Nakamura had stated that he wasn't a fan of the ratings spot as far as Candidates qualification was concerned. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'It maybe is not politically correct to say this, but my view about the rating spot, it's simply, you know, 'we're sorry, Magnus. Here's here's your chance to play the Candidates and become world champion again if you're really interested'. And I don't think there's any other reason that FIDE have the rating spot,' Nakamura had said. Israeli GM Sutovsky, however, described Nakamura's claim as 'factually incorrect', stating that the rule had existed before Carlsen rose to the top of the chess world. 'Hikaru often makes statements in good faith, but without knowing all the facts and that's a problem. Of course, he has a larger platform, which makes it difficult to refute him from a smaller one. But that's… well, acceptable,' Sutovsky told Chessbase India. Hikaru could also be a beneficiary of ratings spot, Sutovsky adds Sutovsky took another potshot at the 37-year-old GM by adding that he could also be a beneficiary of the rating spot, as it's not limited to the world No 1 alone. 'He (Hikaru) claims we designed the rating spot for Magnus, but that's completely illogical. This rating qualification has existed for years – there was always a rating spot (in fact, there used to be two). If it were specifically for Magnus, we would have limited it to only the world No. 1. 'Instead, the regulation states either No. 1 or No. 2 can qualify by rating. Ironically, one could argue we actually designed it for Hikaru in this case – why else would we leave it open to the top two?' the 37-year-old added. Norwegian chess icon Carlsen, who has been the world's top-ranked player continuously since 2011, had won the World Championship in his first attempt in 2013, defeating Indian legend Viswanathan Anand in Chennai, and would go on to defend it successfully in the next four editions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Carlsen, however, voluntarily vacated the world title ahead of the 2023 edition, citing declining interest in the Classical format, leading to a face-off between Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi and China's Ding Liren, winner and runner-up respectively at the 2022 Candidates Tournament. Ding would go on to win the event in Astana, only to lose to Indian GM D Gukesh – who became the – in December the following year.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
FIDE Women's World Cup: Divya Deshmukh creates history, qualifies for Candidates tournament
Divya Deshmukh is the first-ever Indian woman to advance to a FIDE Women's World Cup Final (Image via X/@ChessbaseIndia) International Master (IM) Divya Deshmukh scripted history on Wednesday by storming into the final of the FIDE Women's World Chess Cup, defeating former world champion Zhongyi Tan of China. With this win, Divya also became the first Indian ever to qualify for the Women's Candidates tournament, which will decide the next challenger for world champion Wenjun Ju. Divya won the second game of the semi-final to seal the mini-match 1.5-0.5. It was another stunning performance from the 19-year-old, who has already knocked out second seed Zoner Jhu of China and compatriot Grandmaster D Harika in earlier rounds. Playing with white pieces against Tan, Divya opted for the Alapin variation in the Sicilian Defence and showed her sharp positional understanding. A well-timed exchange of bishops for knights led to a favourable endgame with an extra pawn. Although Tan had chances in the middle game, the former world champion lost her grip on the position. As the game progressed, Divya emerged with two extra pawns and an outside passed pawn. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like These Are The Most Beautiful Women In The World Undo However, the match saw several twists before she eventually clinched it after a 101-move battle. Poll What do you think was the key factor in Divya's semi-final victory? Strong positional understanding Mental resilience during the match Zhongyi Tan's mistakes In the other semi-final, Koneru Humpy played out a draw against top seed Tingjie Lei of China. Playing white against the Slav Defence, Humpy went for the exchange variation. The game saw early queen exchanges and Humpy managed to get a bishop pair against Lei's knights. Despite having an extra pawn in a rook and pawn endgame, the position remained balanced, and the game ended in a draw after 75 moves. Humpy will now face Lei in a tie-break to decide the second finalist. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
a day ago
- First Post
‘Only reason to do this is to get on social media': Vishy Anand slams Magnus Carlsen for heated reaction after Gukesh loss
Magnus Carlsen's shocking loss to World Champion D Gukesh at Norway Chess 2025 went viral after his dramatic table-slam reaction. Viswanathan Anand has finally reacted to the incident, which took the chess world by storm. read more Five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen's shocking defeat to Indian teenage Grandmaster D Gukesh at the 2025 Norway Chess created a huge storm online. It wasn't just the loss that went viral, but Carlsen's dramatic reaction. Carlsen, who was completely dominating the game, made a huge blunder near the end and gifted Gukesh a comeback win. In frustration, the Norwegian legend slammed the table, and that clip went viral on social media. Indian legend Viswanathan Anand, who is the current Deputy President of FIDE, shared his thoughts on Carlsen's reaction while speaking to Anand said the loss was tough for the World No. 1 because he had the game fully under control. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I would not call this totally undeserved (win for Gukesh). Magnus is famous for converting things perfectly. So he of all people should know (how to win this). But of course Gukesh was lucky that he could even survive this far. Magnus was basically 99% of the way. It's like falling and injuring yourself 2 metres before the finish line. That's what happened to him,' Anand said. Anand said he understood why Carlsen was so angry and that the table slam showed fans the emotions chess players go through. 'He was so angry that he hit the table. Quite understandable and even in a sporting sense he just produced a moment where everyone could see what what chess players are going through. People have this fixed image of chess players being very serious and suddenly they see emotions and enjoy it. So also it helps us break some stereotypes,' he added. Anand slams Carlsen's reaction However, Anand also questioned Carlsen's motive for such an over-the-top reaction. 'There was no point doing it. There weren't 20 cameras pointed at you. So what's the point? The only reason to do this is to get on social media now.' 'Even many non-Indians have seen this. So clearly they enjoy seeing chess players do that. I enjoyed it as well because you know it's drama. From Magnus's perspective also I understand it very well. He was winning the game. He wanted to beat Gukesh in a sporting sense. He wanted to really show and he had the opportunity in the palm of his hands. He was going to beat him twice at Norway Chess in two games and make a point.' Carlsen had beaten Gukesh in the opening round of Norway Chess but then suffered this dramatic loss in Round 6. Despite the heartbreak, Carlsen went on to win the event, while Gukesh finished third. It is important to note that Gukesh is the current World Champion but still hasn't been able to overcome the Carlsen challenge. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
