Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, has helped spark an immediate and impressively rapid growth in online chess with his announcement of a $250,000 elite tournament which starts on Saturday 18 April with Carlsen himself as the No 1 seed.
Before that, there is the fascinating prospect of a dream final in chess24’s Banter Blitz Cup where players commentate on their moves verbally while the game is in progress and may also trash-talk their opponent.
Carlsen and the brilliant exiled Iranian 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja, who is already a global fan favourite and widely regarded as a likely world title challenger any time from 2022 onwards, are in opposite halves of the draw and seeded to meet in the final – the date of which has not yet been announced. It will most likely be between Sunday 13 April and the start of the Carlsen Invitational on 18 April.
This pairing, if it happens, will hark back to the controversial Carlsen v Firouzja game in the World Blitz in Moscow during December. Firouzja is compared to the tactical legend Mikhail Tal, while Carlsen is perceived as the successor to Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov.
There has already been a recent astonishing low-profile marathon series between the two, played on 2 April on Lichess and consisting of 194 one-minute bullet games, many of which have been captured in online videos.
The match was first to 100 wins. Counting the draws, Firouzja triumphed 103.5-90.5. Some blamed Carlsen’s defeat on his using a mouse while Firouzja moved faster by finger touch. Others claimed that Carlsen had tired himself by playing 70 bullet games against fellow Norwegians immediately beforehand. The play was often of remarkably high quality on both sides for all moves in one minute with no increment, like this example analysed by GM Daniel King on Chessbase.
The Banter Blitz dream final, if it happens, promises to be exceptionally watchable since both players have been in devastating form in earlier rounds. Up to the semi-final, Firouzja had won all five of his best of 16 game matches by at least six points, while Carlsen produced a Fischer-style performance in his semi-final. The world champion defeated Sanan Sjugirov, a Russian who had beaten him twice over the board, by a perfect 9-0, playing some wonderful games en route, all of which can be watched on video with Carlsen’s commentary.
There is one obstacle, though. Firouzja still has to win his semi-final, the best-of-16 three-minute games starting at 7pm on Friday, against India’s 26-year-old GM Srinath Narayanan, who has eliminated five opponents.
Other major internet events have already begun or will soon be under way as experts and amateurs seize the opportunity for the serious competition which abruptly stopped in mid-March due to Covid-19.
Britain’s national league, the 4NCL, was quickly into action as an online 4NCL attracted 172 four-player teams, far above expectations. The opening weekly round (of 10) was played on Tuesday on lichess.org, the user-friendly free site where you are paired with an opponent within a few seconds and which is recommended for newcomers to internet chess.
One unusual aspect of the online 4NCL is that Guildford, who have dominated the over-the-board version for the best part of a decade, are absent. In place of their elite GM squad there is a team of rising talents, Guildford Young Guns. There is also Guildford Gatekeepers, a quartet of low-rated amateurs.
ChessPlus Alpha, a new 4NCL name, and Ireland’s Gonzaga, whose base is a Dublin college, are the two top seeds. ChessPlus Alpha have registered some well-known Swedish GMs, though they did not field any of them in defeating Watford 3-1. Gonzaga suffered a shock defeat, 1.5-2.5 to Surbiton, for whom Koby Kalavannan, aged 17, enhanced his growing reputation by scoring the individual upset of the night, beating France’s GM Sébastien Mazé.
Wednesday 15 April sees the chess.com $10,000 Abu Dhabi Blitz, whose entry is headed by the US world No 2, Fabiano Caruana, and France’s world No 5, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, leader of last month’s aborted Candidates. This event is open to all titled players.
The online tournament boom hosted by popular websites has left the official global body, Fide, looking a touch flat-footed, and without a challenger to Carlsen following the suspension of the Candidates last month at the halfway point.
Fide does have a web presence, its online Arena where you can qualify for international titles up to AGM, but it still lacks the appeal of the leading commercial websites.
3666 1…Rxe5! If now 2 Nxe5 Qg5! with the winning double threat Qxg2 mate and Nxh3+followed by Qxd2 winning the queen. In the game White tried 1…Rxe5 2 dxe5 Qg3! and White resigned because even after 3 Qxf4 Nxf4 mate by Qxg2 is unavoidable.