2023 Norwegian Chess Competition: Carlsen fatigue, Nakamura light flexible employment, is the traditional chess has reached the end of the road?

Norway Chesst has been held since 2013. As the annual event of the host country of Magnus Carlsen, who dominates the world chess world and currently ranks first in the history of human chess, this super tournament has attracted worldwide attention with its high prize money (2.5 million Norwegian krone, about 1.64 million yuan) and ultra-high standard of competition standards since its inception.
This year's contest runs from May 30 to June 9. As one of the top chess events in the world, Norwegian Chess Competition invites nine players from the first Carlsen down according to the ranking of chess players every year, and the players who cannot be arranged can refuse to participate, and the organizers will extend the list and invite the next players to participate. The tenth place is reserved for the second best player from Norway after Carlsen, out of respect for the host. Due to the limited number of outstanding Norwegian supermasters, this spot has been occupied for the past few years by a young Iranian-Norwegian man named Aryan Tari.

Aryan Tari, pictured on the official website of the competition, has a peak rating of 2653 and is currently ranked 100 in the world.
The rank of a chess master can be roughly viewed as the force value of a game character, based on the rank of the opponent at the time the player entered the match and the result of the match. Specifically, if a player with a lower rank beats or draws a player with a higher rank in a match, a lot of rank points are awarded, while the opponent loses some rank points. Carlsen, who is currently ranked number one in the world rankings, gained 1,000 points a year when he became famous as a teenager.
Tari, whose parents are both from Iran, was awarded the title of FIDE Grandmaster in 2016 and celebrated his 24th birthday during this year's tournament. Although he has won the title of lifetime master of the highest level of the FIDE, the strength gap between the grandmaster and the grandmaster is also a huge difference, just like the same university professors, some can break the limits of the discipline to win the Nobel Prize, some can only teach the introduction of calculus for a lifetime - of course, the latter is not bad.

 

Tari had a birthday during the competition. Photo courtesy of the competition officials.
Tari gained a large number of female chess fans because of her young age and good image. However, in the face of a group of super masters ranked in the top 20 in the world and graded above 2700, Tari's competition is difficult every year. Half of this year's race, the little brother was the super masters of the blood abuse, all lost. There are a few chess clearly have the advantage of the situation can not be maintained, more than half of the game completely overturned, the overall feeling can be summarized as: people are very beautiful, chess is very crisp.
Some might argue that Tarry is only 24 years old and still has plenty of opportunities. But the world of chess is so cruel. Other players competing with Tari this year include a number of young people, from India Gukesh (Gukesh) is only 17 years old this year, the world number 17; Firouzja, 19, from France, is seen by Carlsen as his successor and is currently ranked No. 2 in the world.

Carlson is 32 years old, with a rating of 2853, first in the human race. Photo courtesy of competition official.
Right after the Ding and Nebo match, Carlsen, who officially became the former chess champion - though still far ahead in the ranking - accepted an invitation from sjakksnakk, a local Norwegian chess podcast. In the program, he said that in the last round of defending the title, he had already begun to quit and did not intend to continue to defend the title.
The main reason why he is tired of slow chess is that the preparation work before the game is too complicated. The game of chess is divided into three stages, the opening, the middle and the end. Due to the limited number of chess pieces, the end game theory does not change much, and the limited time used in actual combat is the most lasting after learning and mastering. The middle game mainly tests the tactics and calculation ability of chess players, and tests the reaction ability of facing the situation.
The problem lies in the opening part. As computer engines become more and more developed, opening theory has developed rapidly, and many opening methods can calculate more and more reliable changes and lines of attack. As a result, for professional players, the test of memory and team preparation is increasingly severe. Carlsen bluntly said that his prepared start to the title defense two years ago has been nullified. In many cases, both players struggle for a long time to get to a position where they can move on. For the most part, a lot of people can rely on being prepared to play very boring draws.
He said in the program that he tried to negotiate with the FIDE to change the tournament system, increase the number of games in the total match (currently 14 games to speed up the game, Ding Lirenn is in the overtime part of the defeat of Nirbo), shorten the rest time (some players can supplement their opening preparations through the team during the rest, more foolproof), but it seems to be ineffective. Carlson said he now prefers to play fast chess over slow chess. At the same time, he also admitted that he had not played in slow chess for a long time and needed to test his current strength.
His current depressed state of slow chess competition, the most direct performance in this Norwegian chess competition is - can not win chess. The Norwegian chess Tournament, known as fight chess, has a very interesting format: ten players play in pairs on wheels for a total of nine official rounds. If there is a draw, the tie is broken by a quick death game (Armageddon), in which White plays 10 minutes and black 7 minutes, and since black has less time, black wins the draw. The player who can win the slow part directly scores 3 points, and the losing side scores 0 points. The player who plays a draw and then wins in a death decider earns 1.5 points and the losing team 1 point. After nine official rounds, the player with the most points wins.
Carlsen has been the Norwegian Chess champion for the past four years. However, until the eighth round this year, Carlson lost the first game of slow chess, and then failed to win any opponent in the slow part, and all the games were won by relying on the death tiebreaker, which was called "the king of death tiebreaker" by interpretation experts. However, due to the competition system, relying on the death decider to win can only score 1.5 points, Carlsen's total score has been in the middle of the game, there is no possibility of defending the title.

Carlson in the competition. Photo from the official competition. His unruly hairstyle caused an uproar when he made his debut.
In the seventh round against 19-year-old Filoja, Carlsen's own hand-picked "successor", he started from the start, the situation is going well, everyone almost thinks he is certain to win. But not only did he not win, he was almost upset by Filoja at the end of the set. At step 38, the two sides arrive at the following situation:

Carlson is in white, the black figure in d6 is firmly entrenched in the center of black, and the channel pawn in c5 is ready to rush to the bottom line. At the same time, due to the excessive pressure of the early situation, Firoja sacrificed the black side of the black image for two white soldiers, from the child force and the situation of the white side have overwhelming advantages. The move recommended by the computer is 39.Ne7 +, keep the pressure on, and then the attack forces rise, and White is almost sure to win.
Just then, Carlson made a bad move: 39. Taking the initiative to give up the advantages of the force, it seems to have become a bamboo chest for the promotion of c soldiers. Black response: 39.dxe4. The situation is as follows:

But the computer engine shows that after this step, the advantage of the white side has disappeared, the black side e4 soldiers have set foot on the road to change, and because the black car occupies the h open line, the white king faces the efg comprehensive border of the soldier chain, at any time there is the risk of being killed.
The two sides then carried out a series of particle force exchanges and situation simplification. The games are as follows: 40. Nd4 Rh3 41. c6 Kf7 42. c7 Reh8 43. Nc6 Rh2+ 44. Kg3 Rxc2 45. Nd8+ Kg6 46. Nxe6 Rh3+ 47. Kf4 Rf3+ 48. Rxf3 exf3 49.  Kg3 …… The following situation emerged:

By this time, Filoja had run out of time, so he responded: 49.... Rg2+? . Then both sides situation three repeat and do. The computer gives the winning move as 49... f2! If White chooses 50.c8Q at this time? ... Ascending Queen, Black has a series of tactical strikes: 50.... f1N+! General Ascending Horse, the White king has only f4 and h4 to escape, and will be killed by Rf2# or Rh2#.
For a player of Carlsen's level, it is unacceptable not to win when he has recovered his mind and body, not to mention being nearly upset by an opponent when the situation is so good, and finally suing because the opponent is pressed for time, is simply humiliating. Such an outcome can have a serious effect on a player's mental state, although after a 15-minute break, Carlsen defeated Filoja in a death tiebreaker. The next day after the match was the rest day of the match, it is said that Carlsen played fast chess on the Internet during the rest day, and let out his hatred.
Why did Carlson make this mistake? My impression is that there has been a marked decline in his computing skills. Carlsen in the peak period can reach more than 90% of the accuracy of the move, but in the course of this game, there were many such low-level mistakes, in the eighth game after the end of the game to the studio interview, in the face of several questions from the expert, Carlsen then found that he did not calculate several moves clearly. Carlson himself was already in a palpable mood of impatience, and at one point the atmosphere in the studio was subtly awkward.
I think according to Carlsen's current competitive state, whether it is the effort of preparation or the adjustment of mentality, he is no longer the dominant force in traditional slow chess for ten years. Many players, he said in a podcast from Norway, chose the safest move when faced with him, refusing to take a risk for fear that he would gain any subtle advantage in the situation.
This is also the result of the development of computers, situation theory is developing faster and faster, there are more and more parts that can be prepared, and the physical and mental pressure of top players is increasing, and the peak of their careers will only become shorter and shorter. At the same time, due to the popularity of the Internet, many young people have access to more information at a younger age, and the competition from upstarts will become more and more fierce. Carlsen, as the world's number one chess player, is in the prime of his life, and if he adjusts his form in time, he still has a chance to return to the top. But imagine if you were one of the top players who had spent your career in Carlsen's shadow, but also realized that your peak was coming to an end. Nakamura's choice seems even more intriguing.
Nakamura Hikaru flexible employment

Hikaru Nakamura, photo courtesy of competition official.
Hikaru Nakamura, 35, Japanese-American, photo courtesy of the official competition. At the age of 15, he won the title of Grand Master and ranked second in the world for a long time. After FIDE began calculating separate ratings for fast chess in 2014, he held the title of world No. 1 in fast chess for a while until he met Carlsen.

In 2013, the ranking of Nakamura rose to second in the world, and will confront Carlsen. Before the game, he tweeted, "It looks like I'm the only one who can stop Sauron."

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