Watch on the whine* | thearticle

Sackcloth and ashes, dear readers, wailing and gnashing of teeth: Magnus Carlsen has lost another game. This time the world number 1 fell victim to 23-year old Alisher Suleymenov. The Kazakh

 player has enjoyed an _annus mirabilis, _as he only received his Grandmaster title this year. Moreover, Carlsen did not just lose, he was annihilated. The last time he had lost to a

sub-2520 player under classical time controls, was against Berge Østenstad in the 2006 Norwegian Championship. Anyone playing over the ensuing débâcle might be pardoned for jumping to the

conclusion that the former world champion had been excessively influenced by that ultimate abomination and heresy, variously identified by its legion of diabolical manifestations: shuffle

chess, varied baseline, Fischer Random, Chess 960… Without actually accusing his victorious opponent of cheating, as he did in his costly case against Hans Niemann, Carlsen strongly implied

that dark forces were at work in his overthrow. Afterwards Carlsen commented, apropos of this stunning reverse: “I was completely crushed in my game today. This is not to accuse my opponent

of anything, who played an amazing game and deserved to win, but honestly, as soon as I saw my opponent was wearing a watch early in the game, I lost my ability to concentrate. I obviously

take responsibility for my inability to deal with those thoughts properly, but it’s also incredibly frustrating to see organisers still not taking anti-cheating seriously at all (no

transmission delay, spectators walking around the playing hall with smartphones).” _Willing to wound, but yet afraid to strike_, as Alexander Pope would have put it — or, more likely, afraid

of the legal backdraught. Here is that game:  ALISHER SULEYMENOV VS, MAGNUS CARLSEN QATAR Masters Open, Round 3, October 12, 2023 1.D4 NF6 2. C4 E6 3. NF3 B6 4. A3 BA6 5. QC2 BB7 6. NC3 C5

7. E4 CXD4 8. NXD4 BC5 9. NF3 NC6 10. B4 BE7 11. BB2 QB8 The theoretical move had, until then, been 11… d6 [Lokander-Ionov, 49th Rilton Cup, 2020, 1-0]. The text begins a curious chain of

regressive manoeuvres. 12. RD1 O-O 13. BE2 D6 14. O-O RC8 As we shall soon see, 14… Rd8 would have been  a more reliable use of Black’s rook. 15.RFE1 BF8 16. BF1 NE7?! Both 16… Ne5 and …h6 

would have represented more proactive choices. 17.NB5 NE8? This retreat is a bridge too far backwards. Superior resistance is offered by 17… Ng6 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Qd2 Rd8 20. Nfd4 a6 21. Nc3

 Kh8 with an edge for White, based on greater control of space and Black’s substandard pawn structure around his king. 18. NG5! NG6  The knight newly arrived on g5 attacks the traditionally

vulnerable h7 and f7 points in the black camp. There is in fact no longer anything Black can do to ward off cataclysm.  For instance, the naive 18… h6? would invite instant sacrificial

demolition on f7, while in the game, this breakthrough cannot long be postponed. 19.E5 D5? Adding further faggots on to the already crackling bavin. Comparatively better would have been 19… 

Bc6 20. Nd4 dxe5 21. Nxc6 Rxc6 22. g3 Nf6 23. Bg2 Rc8, although White still enjoys a considerable and probably winning advantage. 20.QB3  Now all White’s units conspire to converge against

Black’s triangular nexus of exposure from a8 via d5 to g8. 20… BE7  Now the flimsy barricades collapse under a torrent of murderous blows. 21.NXF7 KXF7 22. CXD5 BXD5 23. RXD5 EXD5 24. QXD5+

KF8 25. ND4 NF4 26. QF3 KG8 27. QXF4 QB7 28. NF5 B5 29. BXB5 BF8 30. BC4+ KH8 31. NH6Black resigns 1-0. And hot off the presses … Oro Faustino, a nine-year old from Argentina, has scored an

International Master norm. This is becoming unreal. Verily I say unto you, Out of the brains of babes and sucklings …. We are fortunate enough to have a key game, taken from the fifth round

of the tournament, where Oro wins with the Black pieces, against a titled player. ANDRES AGUILAR VS. ORO FAUSTINO Copa Ciudad de Comodoro Rivadavia, Round 5, October 2023 1.D4 NF6 2. C4 E6

3. NC3 BB4 4. QC2 D5 5. CXD5 EXD5  The opening transposes from a Nimzo-Indian to a Queen’s Gambit Declined, exchange variation. 6.BG5 C6 7. E3 O-O 8. BD3 H6 9. BH4 BE6 10. NE2 BD6 11. H3

This new move is a marginal improvement over the previously played 11. Bg3 and f3. 11… NBD7 12. O-O RE8 13. RAD1 RC8 14. A3 Misconceived, this is neither a constructive waiting move nor a

sensible expansion on the queenside. 14… NB6 15. E4 DXE4 16. NXE4 NBD5 17. NC5 BXC5? Black does better to be content with defending the b-pawn, with either, 17… Rc7 or …Rb8. 18.DXC5 QA5 19.

ND4 BD7 20. BF5 Both 20. Bg3 and b4 were superior routes to accumulating an advantage. 20… RCD8 21. RD3 More slippage; 21. Bd3 would have been a more solid way of consolidating White’s

initiative and advantage. 21… RE1 22. B4 RXF1+ 23. KXF1 QA6 24. BXD7 RXD7 25. BXF6 NXF6 26. KG1 RD5 27. A4 RE5? A bad mistake by Black. Either 27… b6 or …Nd7 maintained an equal situation.

28.NF5 RE8 29. RG3? And this blunder shoehorns Black back into the game. White kept a significant advantage with 29. Qc3 Re6 30. Kh2 Kh7 31. a5 Re5 32. Nd6 Re2 33. Rg3. 29… RE1+ 30. KH2 QF1

31. RXG7+ KF8  32. KG3?? A terminal oversight. 32… NH5+ 33. KF3 NXG7 34. NE3 RXE3+ White resigns 0-1 * With apologies to Lillian Hellman’s smash hit play, _WATCH ON THE RHINE. _ _RAYMOND

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