Carlsen in Action
After taking a few days off at the end of the FIDE Grand Swiss, it's time for some more blogging. Before I begin, however, a reminder to please express any interest you may have in signing up for my World Championship match coverage. (If there isn't much interest, there's little point in my doing any extra coverage.) Please have a look at this post for more info.
Now to the post proper: I only noticed yesterday that Magnus Carlsen was in action a couple of weeks ago in the Norwegian League. It was just one game, against Benjamin Arvola Notkevich (or maybe just Benjamin Arvola; I've seen both given), and while Carlsen ground out a win against his considerably lower-rated opponent (2471), he was in some trouble. His opponent's opening choice was very clever, and he played well for quite a while as well. To his misfortune, his desire to (seemingly) play it safe with a queen trade on move 27 gave away almost the entirety of his advantage (which had been decisive), and then a while later he unwisely declined the opportunity to immediately draw by threefold repetition. He definitely had his chances, but at the end of the day, it's another tale of "the one that got away", a lament shared by just about every chess player.
Here's the game, with my notes.
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