The
second important tournament of the year, the Linares‑Morelia
Chess Tournament, has already given us a surprise in
the first round. The 16‑year‑old grand master
Magnus Carlsen, beat the 29‑year‑old, Russian
grand master Alexander Morozevich and reached the top
of the classification table.
The
game, which we present today, is probably the best game
that the Norwegian wunderkind from Norway has ever played.
The game lasted five hours and fifteen minutes, and
was thrilling from the first to the last move.
Carlsen’s
opening showed that he has really been doing his homework.
The wunderkind’s astonishing 13th move drove the wily
Morozevich out of any possible preparation. From that
moment, it became clear that the young Norwegian would
be the one to add a full point to his score sheet.
Nonetheless,
Morozevich defended himself very well and battled to
the bitter end to salvage the half point for a draw.
To me, it was evident Carlsen had some chances to win
the game earlier, but couldn’t find the efficient manner
to accomplish his objective until the 40th move, when
Morozevich’s position collapsed.
I
belong to the group of chess observers who believe an
imminent world championship is simply a matter of time
for Magnus Carlsen. For the moment, he has not surged
to the top, but games like this make us think that his
moment is rapidly approaching.
In
the second round of the tournament, he drew against
Levon Aronian, but definitely had opportunities to capture
a win.
Due
to Carlsen, it has been a terrific tournament so far.
We will keep you updated, because Carlsen may have some
more surprises in store for us in later rounds.
