Slow and steady

‘I kind of played old man’s chess in that game,’ said Magnus Carlsen, after winning a game against S.L. Narayanan, a top Indian grandmaster, at the Tata Steel Rapid in Kolkata last week. ‘No long variations, just positional chess.’ None of his moves would have come as a great surprise to his opponent, while Narayanan’s mistakes were inconspicuous. Yet Carlsen steadily assumed control of the game, consistently sensing the optimal places for his pieces.

S.L. Narayanan-Magnus Carlsen

Tata Steel Chess India Rapid, November 2024

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 O-O Be7 6 Qe2 6 Re1 is more common, and one standard continuation is 6…b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 O-O 9 h3 Na5 10 Bc2 c5 11 d4. The move 9…Nc6-a5 signifies the popular Chigorin variation, named after Mikhail Chigorin, a Russian master from the 19th century. The strategies which Carlsen employs in this game would be adapted from his knowledge of that classic variation.