Magnus Carlsen arrived too late – appeared in sweatpants with 30 seconds left on the clock

Magnus Carlsen arrived too late – appeared in sweatpants with 30 seconds left on the clock
Magnus Carlsen arrived too late – appeared in sweatpants with 30 seconds left on the clock
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(Magnus Carlsen, 1/1 point in blitz World Championship) Magnus Carlsen surprised by arriving late for the blitz chess opening against Vladislav Kovalev. With 30 seconds left on the clock, he made the first move – wearing a pair of springy sweatpants.

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– It’s my fault, of course, but I got stuck in traffic, so it took forever. It was quite frustrating, but it worked out just fine. It was a shock to get to the board to see that there were 30 seconds left, says Carlsen to NRK – and promises that he will go and change!

The world champion from Lommedalen made the whole hall wait when he did not appear, even though it was well past 10 o’clock, when the first game of the Blitz Chess Championship was to be started.

Even five minutes after the game was supposed to start, he was not present. And the clock was ticking. On NRK’s ​​live broadcast, there was complete confusion about where Carlsen actually was.

– What is happening with Magnus Carlsen now? What kind of start is this for our man? asked NRK’s ​​chess expert Torstein Bae.

Suddenly he came running in wearing a hoodie and sweatpants. With 30 seconds left in the match, he finally makes his first move against Kovalev. The outfit was still not completely within the regulations.

– It appears as a fairly clear violation of the rules by Magnus Carlsen, who appears in training clothes and not in the nice clothes that you should wear according to the rules, says Bae.

– Magnus escapes. He is good enough for that, says Aryan Tari to NRK about the break-up.

Despite the delay: Carlsen won the first game in the Blitz World Championship – and was grinning brightly as he left the hall. According to Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, Carlsen was on a ski trip (!) under the auspices of the organisers, and thus arrived too late.

FAST MAN: Wearing a Puma hoodie and sweatpants, Carlsen came running into his first game in the Blitz World Championship. Photo: Screenshot NRK

Reigning champion

Magnus Carlsen is looking for another WC title after becoming world rapid chess champion on Wednesday.

Should he manage the “double”, it will be the third time for Carlsen. Also in 2014 and 2019, he won both the rapid and blitz titles, but last year things went wrong in the blitz. Then he only finished in 12th place.

The Blitz Chess Championship takes place over two days, Thursday 29 and Friday 30 December, with a total of 21 games. Twelve of them are scheduled to be played on Thursday.

What about Carlsen against Niemann?

In addition to who will run away with the WC title, there is great excitement about whether Carlsen will meet the American Hans Niemann during the tournament.

Carlsen has made accusations of cheating against the American, who has responded with billion-dollar lawsuits against the Norwegian and some others. The last time Carlsen and Niemann met, the Norwegian lost on purpose.

In order for the two to meet in the WC, they must be on a relatively equal score, and placed against each other according to The Swiss system The Swiss systemThe principle in a Swiss tournament is that in each round you meet a player you have not met before and who has done as well (or poorly) as you. Modifications are made to prevent players from facing each other twice, to aim for color switching, and to try to prevent players from constantly facing players with slightly more or slightly less points than themselves..

Published:

Published: 29.12.22 at 10:06 a.m

Updated: 29.12.22 at 10:32 a.m

The article is in Norwegian

Tags: Magnus Carlsen arrived late appeared sweatpants seconds left clock

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