The paramount news items in chess this week are Taffin Khan’s unsullied victory of the Guyana National Championship, and Magnus Carlsen’s win on his home turf in Norway Chess.
Only Ethan Lee was able to draw a game with Khan in his nine-round encounter. Obviously, Khan will be playing Board One for Guyana at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary. At each Olympiad which is held biennially, approximately 160 to 170 countries are participants. Each country fields a team of four players numbering from board one to four. Champions traditionally play Board One.
In the contest Khan vs Lee, the game lasted for 67 moves. Bishops of opposite colours were reached, with an equal number of connected pawns plus one rook each on opposite sides of the board. Inevitably a draw was called.
The Greenidge-Khan game lasted for a record 99 moves with neither side giving an inch. Khan was almost out of time with only seconds remaining on his clock at one stage of the game. But he collected himself remarkably and rectified the situation. I have the impression that Greenidge was hoping that his opponent would run out of time, as he refused to exchange queens on a few occasions. Khan won.
In international chess, Carlsen, the world’s number one, won the Norway Chess super-tournament for the sixth time. Carlsen participated in each one of the 12 editions of the tournament which began in 2013 and where ten of the top global players competed. This year there were six participants. Carlsen outscored the world’s No 2, American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, and Indian grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa to take first.
Alongside the Norway Chess this year, the organizers created an inaugural edition for the women featuring the identical format and the same prize money. World chess champion Ju Wenjun of China won the tournament, beating out Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine and Lei Tingjie of China. Happy Father’s Day!
