Magnus Carlsen wins Grand Chess Tour Zagreb: My B-game is enough
Carlsen had earlier complained about not enjoying his chess during the Rapid round. Even after his win in Zagreb, Magnus sounded unconvinced, stating that it did not feel like he had won.'It doesn't feel like I've won, really. It feels like I just came here, played alright, and nobody really did anything special in the end, and then I usually end up winning!' Magnus told Take Take Take app in an interview.After his poor outing in Rapid, the Blitz portion brought a complete reversal of fortunes. Gukesh lost five of his first six Blitz games on Day 1, drawing one and winning just one. His rhythm was off, nerves visible, and the crisp precision of his Rapid games was nowhere to be found. A final-round loss to compatriot R. Praggnanandhaa capped a disappointing Blitz performance that saw him lose six games on the first day alone.In stark contrast, Carlsen unleashed what he later called a 'decisive' run, scoring 7.5/9 on the opening Blitz day to erase Gukesh's lead and seize control of the leaderboard.'I felt that I struggled most of the event. Partly because it was a very strong field this year. There weren't a lot of weaker players at all. It wasn't obvious who was going to score poorly and who was going to score well against the others. It felt like, especially in Rapid, chances were kind of hard to come by. I had one good day yesterday (the first day of the Blitz section on Saturday) and that turned out to be enough,' Carlsen told the broadcaster in an interview on the final day.He went on to add: 'It speaks to the fact that it was a fairly even tournament overall. Nobody could really break away from the pack. It doesn't feel like I won. It feels like I just came here and played alright. Nobody really did anything special in the end. Then I usually end up winning,' he concluded.- EndsTrending Reel
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
18 minutes ago
- Indian Express
When Magnus Carlsen and his second clashed, pushed each other in heated training camp moment before world championship
There is no doubt about the competitive fire that burns within Magnus Carlsen. He might have opted not to compete in the World Chess Championship any more, but opponents and friends always talk of the Norwegian as a man who gives no quarter, whatever the sport. Russian grandmaster Daniil Dubov, who was part of Magnus Carlsen's team for the world championship battles against Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi, recently spoke about how competitive the Norwegian can get. Dubov, in a Russian podcast with Ilya Levitov, opened up about his experiences with Carlsen at the world no 1's training camps ahead of the world championship fights in 2018 (against Caruana) and 2021 (vs Nepomniachtchi). Dubov revealed that he was invited to join the Team Carlsen after playing a spontaneous blitz match at a Chess World Cup. Dubov sets the scene of the training camp. He said he had flown to Oslo after a series of stopovers, and at the airport he was picked up by members of Team Carlsen who then picked up Carlsen before the team headed to a suburbs near Oslo for the camp. But things started off rocky for the duo. Dubov said he had a clash with Carlsen on the first day itself at a training camp, not during a chess game, but while playing a football match. 'We even had a clash on the first day, that was fun. We went to play football on the first day and we just got emotional. We did clash, I remember thinking 'How stupid is that!' I dribbled him a couple of times or something, and he started calling me names. I asked him to repeat. We did push each other, and the funny part is that we got separated quickly,' Dubov told Levitov before adding: 'We stopped playing football quickly after that.' Dubov spoke about the initial awkwardness in the team after his clash with Carlsen. 'At that point, I didn't know him at all! He froze, we were now in a deafening silence, riding a golf cart as we were leaving the football pitch. I remember sitting there thinking 'How stupid.' Not that I cared! I wasn't obsessed with the idea of working with Magnus or thinking about the fact that I wouldn't work with him anymore. But I had this thought like, 'Jeez, the journey there was such a pain that I don't want to leave today! How stupid!'' Dubov explained how he had diffused the tension during that golf cart ride. 'I looked at him at some point, and he was there, calmly sitting. I patted his shoulder, I said, 'That was silly!' He said, 'Yes, no worries!' He's great in that respect. He can get upset, but so can you. You can say something rude to him, he's not a prima donna. You can go hard at him playing football. In that respect, he doesn't have double standards. His jokes can be over-the-top at times, but I could tell him whatever I wanted. It was never a problem. He has a thick skin, and so do I,' Dubov told Levitov. Dubov also revealed how he had started to work with Carlsen after playing impromptu blitz games against the Norwegian during the FIDE World Cup. 'It happened in a rather unexpected way for me. They (Carlsen's team) reached out to me when I barely knew him, we had just played a few games together. He later explained to me he has this thing that when there's someone even minimally annoying to play against, that triggers interest in him. It's not that he starts fearing that person, but he tries to grasp what that's all is about. And considering that the financial resources are more or less unlimited, an enormous amount of top players have done training camps with Magnus. Those camps really take place under Magnus's aegis, we're not talking about those camps where there are sparring partners all working on their side. These are real Magnus camps, and those people – and that has a psychological say, no doubt – you've just reached 2700, he calls you, and suddenly you're kind of part of his crew so to speak, that does something to you psychologically,' Dubov added.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Sam Shankland after beating Gukesh: ‘To demolish the world champion is a good way to turn (the tournament) around'
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju's woes in the faster time control events continued as he lost his fourth round clash at the St Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament to bottom-of-the-table Sam Shankland, before holding on to two draws against French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Uzbek rival Nodirbek Abdusattorov. After six round of rapid, the reigning world champion has two wins, two defeats and two draws at the tournament in St Louis which is part of the Grand Chess Tour. Gukesh had started the tournament in the USA with a loss to the veteran Levon Aronian, who said he had won by playing 'grandpa style' of slow chess. The Indian teenager, who became the youngest world champion in chess history last year after defeating Ding Liren, had topped the tournament standings after the rapid portion at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia tournament in Zagreb in June-July, raising hopes that he was starting to ace the faster time controls as well. The defeat to Shankland came in 62 moves, after Gukesh was left with just a rook and pawn on the board and the American GM up a knight. Shankland had started the first day of the event with a 0-3 record, losing all three of his games on day 1. Then he bounced back after handing Gukesh a defeat. After giving away a slight edge to his opponent early on in the game, Gukesh, in fact, was in a worse position on the board from the 17th move itself when he pushed his queen to a5 ( Gukesh was a knight down from the 19th move itself. 'To start 0-3 (in the tournament) is really tough. But then to come in and demolish the world champion is a good way to turn it around,' Shankland said after the win over Gukesh. 'It's a good relief after yesterday when I looked like I am going to lose every single game. I'm still not happy with my score at all, but hopefully the next rounds will be better. I'm old enough to not get super emotional after getting punched in the face, I guess.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
3 hours ago
- First Post
'Demolishing the world champion is pretty good': Shankland celebrates as Gukesh suffers a shocking defeat at Saint Louis
It was a poor day for world champion D Gukesh in the second of Rapid section at the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2025 as he suffered a shocking defeat to Sam Shankland, which is the American Grandmaster's only win in the tournament so far. Sam Shankland's only in at Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2025 so far has come against D Gukesh. Images: Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2025 American chess Grandmaster Sam Shankland enjoyed 'demolishing' world champion D Gukesh of India on the second day of the Rapid section at Grand Chess Tour's Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2025 on Tuesday, as the Chennai Grandmaster slipped to sixth spot in the standings. The 19-year-old Gukesh finished the first day with two wins in three matches, but suffered a defeat against lowly ranked Shankland with White pieces in his first game of the second day. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Gukesh finished the day with two draws against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. He is currently sixth in the standings with six points from six games, four behind Fabiano Caruana, who holds the sole lead. Levon Aronian is second with eight points, the same as Wesley So at the third spot. Shankland clinches his only win against world champion Gukesh Shankland took 62 moves to beat Gukesh in a balanced game where both players made the right moves almost every time, except for Gukesh getting a few of them wrong. While he did not commit any massive blunder during the match, a few inaccuracies under pressure, like playing 9…exd4 when Be7 was the best, followed by 12…Rb8, when Be6 would have been the right move, put him on the back foot. 17…Qa5 was a major mistake in the match by the Indian Grandmaster, while 18…Rxb2 was also an inaccuracy, as he was forced to resign after 62 moves. Shankland had a Knight advantage over Gukesh when the world champion resigned. The 33-year-old American Grandmaster was relieved after beating Gukesh, as he had lost all three games on Day 1. Celebrating the victory, Shankland said 'demolishing the world champion' was a good way to turn things around. 'It's a good relief after yesterday, when I looked like I was going to lose every single game. Starting 0-3 is tough, but coming in and demolishing the world champion is a pretty good way to turn it around,' Shankland said. How Shankland 'demolished' Gukesh: Shankland, however, remains at the bottom of the standings with two points from six matches, with his only win coming against Gukesh. He lost to Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave in the remaining matches of the day. Gukesh will be back in action on Wednesday for the remaining three Rapid games, including a match against world No. 3 Caruana. However, a Rapid title in Saint Louis, like in Zagreb, looks unlikely.
