Carlsen suffered a crushing defeat at the Speed ​​Chess Championship.

World number one Magnus Carlsen defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi 20.5-9.5 in the quarterfinals of the Speed ​​Chess Championship, despite losing a queen in one game.

Carlsen dominated Nepomniachtchi in their match on the evening of September 15th, securing the victory even with 15 minutes remaining. The Norwegian player won 5.5-3.5 in the 5+1 blitz game (5 minutes per side, plus one second after each move), 6-3 in the 3+1 blitz game, and 9-3 in the 1+1 super blitz game.

The position after 19...Rf7. Carlsen, playing white, had the advantage to win and could have captured the c6 pawn. However, he captured the c6 pawn instead, right on the knight's side.

However, Carlsen made what was considered a foolish move in game 25 against the Russian player. He used his white queen to capture the black pawn at a6, without realizing that the black knight was holding this piece at c7. Nepomniachtchi seized the opportunity, captured the queen, and forced his opponent to concede the game.

Carlsen raised his hand in a puzzled expression, then smiled after the mistake. Nepomniachtchi, however, only lowered his head, then looked up, also somewhat surprised. Although it was merely a formality, this loss still cost Carlsen some of his prize money. According to the tournament rules, a portion of the prize money is allocated based on the difference in scores between the two players.

Carlsen's mistake attracted hundreds of thousands of views on social media. The Chess platform commented: "Sometimes even the greatest chess players in history lose their queen completely. So it's okay if you make the same mistake."

Carlsen lost all his defenders in the match against Nepomniachtchi.

Carlsen lost to Nepomniachtchi.

Carlsen will face Wesley So in the semi-finals, while the other semi-final will be between Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The world number one said that if he reaches the final, he will most likely face Nakamura again. The Japanese-American player has reached the final in all seven editions of the tournament, losing to Carlsen in the first two and winning the remaining five.

The semi-final matches are scheduled to take place on the evenings of September 19th and 20th, Hanoi time.

Xuan Binh

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