World number-one Magnus Carlsen confessed he was "completely crushed" by 23-year-old Kazakh GM Alisher Suleymenov in round two of the 2023 Qatar Masters, but afterward blamed a failure to concentrate on his opponent wearing a watch in contravention of the usual anti-cheating rules.
Fellow super-GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri took advantage of Carlsen's slip to move to 2/2, while the day's surprises included IM Vaishali Rameshbabu defeating GM S P Sethuraman.
Round three starts on October 13 at 8 a.m. ET/14:00 CEST/5:30 p.m. IST.
How to watch?
You can watch the 2023 Qatar Masters on the Qatar Chess Association YouTube: YouTube.com/QatarChessqa and on Hikaru Nakamura's Kick channel: kick.com/gmhikaru. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by IM Irine Sukandar, IM Jovanka Houska, and GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko.
Sometimes it's hard to pick out a clear storyline from a round of an open tournament, but this time one game dominated the rest. Carlsen's shock defeat to 327-point-lower-rated Suleymenov, the world number-one's worst loss in rating terms in 15 years, would have reverberated around the chess world even if Carlsen hadn't immediately taken to social media afterward. Controversy ensued, with the day's other results grabbing far less attention.
- Suleymenov Shocks Carlsen, Controversy Follows
- Nakamura, Giri Among The Leaders on 2/2
- More Upsets, Including A Fedoseev Nightmare
Suleymenov Shocks Carlsen, Controversy Follows
"Before the game honestly I was dreaming about drawing," said Suleymenov after winning the game of a lifetime against five-time classical world champion Carlsen. It wasn't just the result, but the manner in which Carlsen found himself all but busted by move 18.
After 17...Ne8!? 18.Ng5! it seems Magnus is in real trouble! https://t.co/ouyN2dewZ2 #QatarMasters2023 pic.twitter.com/XWg2ZaVnhx
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 12, 2023
The knight on g5 is attacking the weak h7 and f7-squares, and there is nothing Black can do about it. For instance, 18...h6? would provoke an instant sacrifice on f7, while in the game there wasn't long to wait until that blow fell.
Alisher plays the killer 21.Nxf7! and Magnus is objectively lost! https://t.co/ouyN2dewZ2 #QatarMasters2023 pic.twitter.com/frhEL45r0b
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 12, 2023
That was just the first of more sacrifices, as arguably the greatest player of all time was powerless against a little-known opponent who classed his playing style as "calculative."
GM Dejan Bojkov takes us through a game that would have made Paul Morphy proud.
Carlsen then took to Twitter/X and noted his opponent "played an amazing game and deserved to win," but what will be remembered is his attack on the lax anti-cheating measures in effect at the venue.
2/2 I obviously take responsibility for my inability to deal with those thoughts properly, but it’s also incredibly frustrating to see organisers still not taking anti-cheating seriously at all (no transmission delay, spectators walking around the playing hall with smartphones)
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) October 12, 2023
Carlsen received support from French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who recently complained about the lack of a delay in the move transmission of the FIDE World Cup 2023, and also noted he should have lost a game and potentially been disqualified after accidentally wearing a watch at the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2022.
Absolutely agree with this take. Players need to unite to get anti-cheating measures in place at every tournament. To hinder cheaters, obviously, and to avoid people doubting every great performance, as I already saw a few bad tweets throwing shade at Alisher’s brilliancy today. https://t.co/NDrOHdPHQy
— MVL (@Vachier_Lagrave) October 12, 2023
Carlsen responded to some criticism that he hadn't taken his concerns to an arbiter during the game by explaining that he did, while international arbiter Chris Bird chimed in to confirm that watches aren't allowed, whether analog or digital.
FIDE Laws "11.3.2 During a game, a player is forbidden to have any electronic device not specifically approved by the arbiter in the playing venue." The FIDE Anti-Cheating Regs also list "wallets, smart glasses, pens, watches" as 'forbidden gadgets'. https://t.co/0SbS9rRR5I
— Chris Bird (@ChrisBirdIA) October 12, 2023
One strong voice against Carlsen's approach, however, came from the tournament's number-two seed, Nakamura, who spoke out on his Kick channel. He criticised addressing the issue after a loss, and thereby turning the topic to anti-cheating instead of chess. The U.S. star also felt it was a sign of "cracks" appearing in the world number-one's previously formidable mental armor.
"The whole notion of not being able to concentrate when someone is wearing an analogue watch. It's a sign Magnus is not as mentally strong as he once was. The Magnus of 2014 would be, who cares if he was wearing a watch, I'm still going to beat him!"
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 12, 2023
Carlsen will get to show his resilience as he now plays catch-up (both in the tournament and after losing 8.7 rating points in a single game), starting with facing Indian IM Muthaiah AL (born 1999) in round three.
Magnus Carlsen will face Indian IM Muthaiah AL in Round 3 tomorrow as the fightback begins! (Carlsen is fixed on Board 1, Nakamura on Board 2) https://t.co/4shscFoNN9 #QatarMasters2023 pic.twitter.com/ZbhXM3SI1B
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 12, 2023
Nakamura, Giri Among The Leaders on 2/2
21 players are still on a perfect 2/2, including favorites Nakamura and Giri, who won smooth games while the drama unfolded on the top board. Nakamura admitted to some trepidation at facing the relatively unknown Chinese GM Dai Changren, but said he got some help in playing a quiet Italian Opening from Giri's Chessable course: "It’s great that Anish is giving away all his secrets to try and make money!"
Nakamura got a big advantage when he was able to push d5 and found the most precise follow-ups, including 32.Nf5!
Nakamura finds the key intermezzo 32.Nf5! and is now completely winning! #QatarMasters2023 pic.twitter.com/krkxRaQ7wf
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 12, 2023
That in-between move pushed the black queen away from the defense of the b7-pawn so that when the black knight later came to f6 Nakamura could capture the pawn. The U.S. star recapped the game and the day's other events in a video whose title was changed after the world number-one objected.
Giri meanwhile won slowly, but very surely, after playing the Caro-Kann against 15-year-old Indian GM Bharath Subramaniyam.
More Upsets, Including A Fedoseev Nightmare
Another player on 2/2 is Vaishali, who is making a habit of beating Sethuraman, as she did for a second time in a topsy-turvy game where her opponent survived the first wave of an attack but then collapsed in a mutual time scramble.
Damn, these new captchas are harsh! 😅#chess https://t.co/rJrFShJluJ pic.twitter.com/nPIAJT4lKX
— Women's Chess Coverage (@OnTheQueenside) October 12, 2023
The top seed to fall after Carlsen was number-seven-seed GM Parham Maghsoodloo, who suddenly found his rook trapped against Uzbek teenage IM Mukhiddin Madaminov.
Maghsoodloo perhaps held out decent hopes of survival when he reached a queen endgame, but his opponent was ruthless.
If there was one player on a mission to make Carlsen feel better about his life choices it was GM Vladimir Fedoseev, who suffered a second bitter loss in a row, this time to Indian FM Senthil Maran K.
The game was as painful as the result, with Fedoseev gradually ground down rather than making any glaring blunder. Will the tenth seed finally catch a break in round three after losing 17 rating points in two games? Well, he faces a kid, Uzbek FM Khumoyun Begmuratov. What could possibly go wrong?
Sometimes the World Rapid and Blitz Championship provides incredible drama where no-one expected it! 12-year-old Khumoyun Begmuratov pulls off a great escape at move 132: https://t.co/zUBT4iBUD6 #c24live #RapidBlitz pic.twitter.com/UVb6YrhpoW
— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 27, 2022
Qatar Masters | All Games Round 2
The 2023 Qatar Masters is a nine-round open tournament for players rated 2300+. It takes place in Lusail, Qatar on October 11-20, and boasts a $108,250 prize fund with $25,000 for first place, as well as a $5,000 prize for the top female player.
Previous Coverage:
- Round 1: Carlsen, Nakamura Start Fast, Fedoseev Falls
- Qatar Masters 2023 - All The Information
