Bengaluru: Selling a ticket for a live sporting event slated for 6.30 PM on a Monday evening can be a challenge and a half. But the organisers of the Global Chess League (GCL) had no such problems as soon as the fixtures were out. On Board 1 of the match between Fyers American Gambits and APL Alpine Pipers, it was going to be Magnus Carlsen vs. Javokhir Sindarov.
Even if the pair do not have a rivalry as such — be it off and on the board — it's a clash of generations. On one corner, you had the five-time champion and the undisputed GOAT of the modern era. Sitting opposite him within handshaking distance, you had the challenger to the world champion, D Gukesh. And Sindarov, the 20-year-old World No. 4, is somebody who Carlsen rates very highly. "He has no obvious weaknesses," the Norwegian repeated time and again. It was why this clash was one of the most marquee group-stage Board 1 clashes of the fourth season of the league.
It lived up to its billing in a way not many would have predicted. There was no winner — the players drew their game after 57 moves — but it again showed why both players contribute an awful lot to the chess world. The 35-year-old Carlsen, who likes the shorter time controls because of the creativity and pace it offers, went for a lesser spotted 3. f6. On air, the commentator 'hadn't seen anything like it'. In fact, Carlsen, playing with the black pieces, hadn't finished. In chess, you always want to start developing your pieces in the opening. Yet, he decided to move his pawns in six out of the first seven moves.
The engines were liking Sindarov's position a bit too much but with Carlsen, there's always this sense of intrigue. What magic was he about to conjure? In the endgame, he did have one chance where he managed to catch the Uzbek phenom on the backfoot but he held firm with his defences.
So, how did he get the idea of 3. f6. "It was originally from my coach (Peter Heine Nielsen)," he would later say in the mixed zone. "It was a mis-click. And then he started looking at it. I kind of like the idea of making a random move in the opening... and with computer analysis, you can pretty much make anything work. The main idea is that after castles, it's actually already not terrible."
After surviving a knight-fight on the board for close to half-an-hour, the World No. 1, whose speciality is squeezing wine out of stone, slowly started turning the screws. And before long, he had managed to eke out a small advantage (-1.1). But his decision to trade the rooks off the board cost him dearly in the endgame as the Uzbek found the continuation to ensure this was going to be a draw.
In the end, it didn't matter as Carlsen's team had won. It continues their good start to the tournament. A few hours earlier, Carlsen actually took down Viswanathan Anand in a big win for Alpine Pipers over PBG Alaskan Knights. It means Pipers top the standings with nine points after the third day.
Results: Alpine APL Pipers bt American Gambits, CheQ Mumba Masters bt Ganges Grandmasters, Alpine Pipers bt PBG Alaskan Knights, Triveni Continental Kings bt Alaskan Knights
