Indeed, since October, Carlsen has already won three elite events on top of the world blitz championship. IM Jack Peters says the kid’s latest success will boost his 2810 rating to around 2814, the second highest in history.
More ominous for the reigning champ and the other contenders is the fact that Carlsen has been training with the living legend himself, Gary Kasparov, a.k.a. “The Greatest.”
In an interview last November, Gary noted that before he was hired by Carlsen, Magnus “had a problem of not having a real coach, someone who could organize things in the most efficient way. He also needed the extra teeth to play at the highest level. I mean he is already quite good in beating the average GMs and even the strong GMs. But to become number one, you need more than just a talent, and I was quite interested.”
In the summer of 2009, the two had “quite a good training session in Croatia. And then we had another training session in Oslo.”
Kasparov is obviously very proud of his student.
“He has showed tremendous progress and resistance recently. He was very sick in Moscow and even considered withdrawing after round two…. He had a very high temperature and throughout rounds three and four he played on while feeling really sick. He was seriously sick, and he only gradually recovered before round six, after the game with Anand. But he was still far from good. I mean, even in the last round, he still had some complications and it was very tough. I was very proud that he had a +2 in a tournament even with such horrible conditions. This showed that he is getting stronger. It is a demonstration of your character, to do well, not only in tournaments like Nanjing, but also when you are down and out. I think he is getting tougher and I have high hopes for the future of this cooperation.”
Kasparov said it is important for chess to have someone like Carlsen — “to give it a new ‘face’ to excite the world. He is a young man with no prejudices of the ‘old’ world of chess. He is a representative of the new generation, with an open approach and he can attract the following for the game of chess from the public. The current leaders of the chess world are not very active in promoting the game of chess, and they are not encouraging the new generations to join in. I hope that things can change with Magnus.”
According to Gary, “If you work with a player like Magnus, you can’t work with anybody else. I also have no interest for it as I am very satisfied working with Magnus. Working with the kids through the Kasparov Chess Foundation as well as with Magnus keeps my chess playing skills alive. And it is a refreshing change, thanks to the advice of my mother, to keep your mind working and not get bored or tired by switching from one area of work to another.… Doing actual work with Magnus is also very refreshing. And I am very happy. It’s not that I am playing the moves in the games myself, but sometimes I feel that I am personally preparing for Kramnik or for Anand. And, it’s nice. It feels good. Working with kids at the 2300-2400 level with the Kasparov Chess Foundation is one story. Now working with a 2800 player is another story.”
Game of the week. The Chess Informant will soon publish a new book, “The Greatest Tournaments 2001-2009,” and each event will be represented by the winning game, the best game played at the tourney, and the game with the most important theoretical novelty.
Bilbao 2008, a Category 21 event, is one of the strongest tournaments in the book, and its most beautiful game, says the Informant, is our featured partie. GM Jan Timman annotates.
Here, Carlsen squares off with another rising star, Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov, who will be 23 this March. The European U-18 champion at 12 and a GM at 14, Teimour was 15 when he defeated the mighty Kasparov with the black pieces in Linares. The last time Gary lost with the white pieces to a human rival in a classical game was May 1996. “He was so angry he did not shake hands with the winner and had a very late dinner, thumping his fist on the table while having chicken.”
White: M. Carlsen (2787)
Black: T. Radjabov (2752)
Sicilian, Dragon
Bilbao 2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rb8 11.Bb3 Na5 12.Kb1 b5 13.h4 [13.Bh6 see Informant 99/(153)] Nc4 14.Bc4 bc4 15.Ka1 h5 16.Rb1 Qa5 [a novelty; 16…Re8] 17.Bh6 Bh6 18.Qh6 Rb6 19.g4 [19.Qg5 Ra6 20.Qa5 Ra5 equal] hg4 20.Qe3 [20.h5 g5! with the idea 21.Nf5 Bf5 22.Qg5 Kh7 with initiative] Rfb8 [20…Qh5!?] 21.h5 g5 [21…Nh5 22.fg4 (22.Nd5 Ra6 23.a3 c3!) Bg4 23.Rh4 Bd7 unclear] 22.fg4 Ng4 23.Qd2 f6 24.Nf3! [with the idea e5] Ra6?! [24…Kh8!] 25.Rhg1 [25.e5!? Bc6 26.ef6 Bf3 27.Rhf1 with the idea 27…Nf6 28.Rf3 Ne4 29.Qe3 Nc3 30.Qe6 Kh8 31.Qh6] Rb4 [25…Rbb6!? 26.a3 Qc5 unclear] 26.a3 Be6? [26…Qc5 27.e5! (27.Qd5 Qd5 28.Nd5 Rb8 29.Ne7 Kg7 and Black is slightly better) Qe3 28.Qd5 Kg7 29.ef6 ef6 30.Rbe1 Qc3 31.Re7 Kh6 32.Rh7! equal] 27.e5! de5 28.Ng5 Bf5 [28…Ra4 29.Qc1] 29.Nge4 Kh7 [better is 29…Kf7 30.Rg3 and White is superior] 30.Qe2 Nh6 31.Rg3 Be6 [better is 31…Rb8] 32.Rg6 [32.Qg2! Nf5 33.Rg7!! Ng7 34.Qg6 Kh8 35.Qh6 Kg8 36.Rg1 Kf7 37.Rg7 Ke8 38.Nf6 and White is winning] Nf5 [32…Bf5 33.Qg2 Be4 34.Qe4 Qa3!! 35.ba3 Ra3 36.Na2 Ra2! 37.Ka2 Ra4 38.Kb2 c3 39.Kc3 Re4 40.Rb7 Ng8 41.Ra7 Rh4 42.Rg1 Rh5 43.Kb4 and White is superior] 33.Qg4 Nh4 34.Ng5! fg5 35.Qg5 Ng6 36.Qg6 Kh8 37.Rg1 and 1-0.
Puzzler.
White — Ka4, Ba6, Nb8, Nc6, Qc1, pawns on e3 and h4
Black — Kd5, Nd6, Rf7, Bh7, Rh3, pawns on b3, c4, c7, d4, e6 and f3
White to play and mate in four.
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