OSLO: Magnus Carlsen came for the fifth round of his home tournament clean shaven. But the cobwebs remained in his play. Wesley So outplayed the Norwegian world No. 1 to hand him his third classical defeat of the meet on Saturday.
Though three defeats in a classical tournament are almost unheard of in Carlsen's stellar career, it has not sent shockwaves. A combination of factors — Carlsen settling into his new role as a father, classical chess not being his priority and his recent good results — have contributed to this absorption. He also lost to Alireza Firouzja and D Gukesh here but defeated R Praggnanandhaa.
Viswanathan Anand had suffered three defeats in his home city Chennai in the world title match 2013 against Carlsen. That was also in a span of five games like in the title match vs Garry Kasparov in 1995. The Norwegian is tasting a similar setback in his home elite tournament though the stakes are lower.
Veteran Spanish chess journalist Leontxo Gracia wondered: “The question is whether becoming a father has hampered Carlsen’s famed killer instinct.” On the other hand, in a span of less than six months, Carlsen has won five big events — Freestyle, Speed, Rapid, Blitz and Malmo classical. Still, three defeats in five classical games cannot be brushed under the carpet.
Elsewhere, the Carlsen-Wesley was the only game in which the initiative did not change hands. In almost all other games, the pendulum swung wildly. At the end of it all, Divya Deshmukh (8.5 points) took a sole half-point lead over Bibisara Assaubayeva. Divya punished Zhu Jiner (5.5) in the classical game as the Chinese failed to take her chances. Bibisara blundered against Anna Muzhychuk (7) in the Armageddon.
In a game between veterans who were without defeat in the classical phase but winless in the Armageddon in four rounds, K Humpy won the Armageddon with black pieces against Ju Wenjun.
Divya is a deserving leader of the tournament at the halfway stage. And now, the bigger test. She must remain on the right side of nerves, preparation and exuberance of youth. D Gukesh (6.5 points) escaped with victory again — this time against R Praggnanandhaa (6). But the world champion, who turned 20 on Saturday, may not have attained ‘growth’ in Carlsen’s eyes going by the quality of play in this game.
