London Chess Classic: Nepomniachtchi stuns Carlsen, takes lead

An uncharacteristic blunder from the Norwegian led to Nepomniachtchi's victory in the eighth round in London.

Published : Dec 11, 2017 19:11 IST

Ian Nepomniachtchi has reasons to smile. The Russian shocked Magnus Carlsen to take sole lead.
Ian Nepomniachtchi has reasons to smile. The Russian shocked Magnus Carlsen to take sole lead.
lightbox-info

Ian Nepomniachtchi has reasons to smile. The Russian shocked Magnus Carlsen to take sole lead.

Ian Nepomniachtchi, who seems to be totally immune to the draw syndrome at the London Chess Classic, scored his third win on the trot and moved into the sole lead, going to the final round.

But, the Russian should thank World champion Magnus Carlsen for his latest win. It was an uncharacteristic blunder from the Norwegian that led to Nepomniachtchi's victory in the eighth round in London.

He now has 5.5 points, half-a-point ahead of Fabiano Caruana of the United States, who is in the second position. On 4.5 is Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who drew with Viswanathan Anand.

The talking point of the day was of course the game between Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi. Or the Carlsen blunder, to be more precise.

Playing from the white side of a Slav Exchange variation, he first blundered a pawn and then a piece before resigning after 40 moves. “I missed everything – there’s not much else to say,” he said later. “I failed to predict a single one of his moves.”

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment