Chess superstar Magnus Carlsen caused two big upsets at the World Rapid Chess Championship in Doha on Saturday. The Norwegian then had to put up with clear criticism from prominent sources.
Magnus Carlsen also made headlines on the second day of the World Rapid Chess Championship in Doha. However, not with his game, but with two actions off the board.
First of all, the superstar was a long time coming. Once again he came to the arcade late for his first game. The result: The start of all games had to be postponed.
“This shows how much Carlsen has FIDE under control”
“This is just terrible and doesn’t look good, to put it mildly,” commented US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura on the late appearance of Carlsen, who has regularly shown up late at many tournaments in recent years, thereby delaying the proceedings.
“Ultimately,” Nakamura continued, “it’s about, and I’ve said this a million times, that they just have to start the clock. They start the clock for every other player, but they never do that for Magnus. And that’s not good,” complained the American in his live stream.
If Nakamura has his way, the Norwegian enjoys an inexplicable special status in these cases. “If me or Fabiano [Caruana] If they had been late for this game, they would have started the clock. They wouldn’t have waited. They always do that for Magnus. “That shows how much he has FIDE under control, to put it that way,” complained Nakamura, who is not taking part in the World Cup this year.
Carlsen pushes cameraman aside
Carlsen caused the second upset of the day after his game against Vladislav Artemiev. Carlsen had the chance to accept a draw, but wanted to continue playing for a win. That took revenge. Artemiev cleverly exploited his advantage and inflicted the Norwegian’s first and so far only tournament defeat.
After the game, Carlsen walked out of the players’ area accompanied by a camera from the “NRK” broadcaster. After a few meters, the visibly annoyed Norwegian simply pushed the cameraman aside. A scene that quickly made the rounds online and also brought the 35-year-old significant criticism.
Despite the background noise, Carlsen still has a good chance of winning the title before the final day. With 7.0 points, he is in shared third place before the grand finale. Only Artemiev and Hans Niemann are slightly better with 7.5 points.