Magnus Carlsen suffered a hiccup on his hunt for the 2900 target in the Norwegian League this weekend when he had to settle for a draw against 399 points lower rated IM Geir Sune Tallaksen Østmoe. In Carlsen's absence on Sunday it got worse for his club Offerspill, as they suffered a sensational 5-1 loss against lowly-rated Nordstrand.
Norway's #1 and #2 Magnus Carlsen and Aryan Tari both played for Offerspill, who fielded the strongest ever team in the Norwegian League | photo: Jakob Aavik
Magnus Carlsen shocked the chess world after winning the World Championship match against Ian Nepomniachtchi, when he announced that it would likely be his last match, and that he now wanted to shift focus towards an “impossible” target: breaking 2900.
In Tata Steel Chess, Carlsen secured a 3-point gain by beating Fabiano Caruana in the 12th round, taking his rating to 2868. A nice plus, considering the opposition, but it was clear there was still a very long way to go.
Speaking to his friend Magnus Barstad on the “Løperekka” podcast of his sponsors Unibet, Carlsen spoke about his performance in Wijk aan Zee, saying he was “very, very satisfied”.
I had a goal before the tournament, and that was to manage to keep my mood and the discipline up throughout the tournament, and I did just that. You can see with the result that it was a huge success, the best classical chess I've played in a while. There are obviously always things to improve. I won five games, but if I got the maximum I could have won nine. It was a huge step in the right direction, however. If I do this, like 15 times more, I'll make it to 2900! I'll just have to keep with me what was very positive from the tournament. It was very motivating to work towards that.
In 2019, his best year to date, he benefited enormously from his preparation for the World Championship match against Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen thinks his preparation for Dubai helped him score a good result in Wijk aan Zee.
I think I was just very motivated and very focused for this tournament. It may sound a bit strange, but this was something I felt in Wijk aan Zee, but not during the match. I was also asked about that at the end of the tournament, “you say you are motivated here, but weren't as much during the match, why is that?”. The answer was very simple: I like playing this tournament, but not the World Championship match. It has to come from inside. What can you say? It's very motivating to be so motivated for something. I am very much looking forward to pushing on in future tournaments and my goal is to be on top whenever I'm playing. I felt like I almost did that here. It is very satisfying to feel that “this time I did everything right”. Almost, at least!
While Carlsen was on top in Wijk aan Zee, it doesn't seem as though he was in the Norwegian League this Saturday. The top division is a 9-round event with 10 clubs from all over the country. Rounds 4 to 6 took place at the weekend.
Magnus Carlsen after his first appearance in the Norwegian League in Tromsø in October, where he managed to win a difficult position against GM Benjamin Arvola Notkevich | photo: Anniken Vestby / Norwegian Chess Federation
The World Champion played his second game this season for the club he founded in 2019, Offerspill Chess Club, facing 2466-rated IM Geir Sune Tallaksen Østmoe, who plays for SOSS.
A curious detail is that these two first met in 2000, when 9-year old Carlsen, who had a national rating below 1000 at the time, sensationally managed a draw against his 2220-rated opponent in the Norwegian Junior Team Championship.
Since then Tallaksen Østmoe has become a strong International Master with one GM norm, and a renowned composer of studies. He is also known to be particularly good in endgames, which likely helped him defend in a grueling 84-move game against the World Champion.
Carlsen found some fine tactics, was pressing for most of the game, and did miss a win. It wasn't that easy to spot, but Tallaksen Østmoe revealed the winning plan on Twitter.
Despite the draw on board 1, Offerspill went on to win the match against SOSS 5-1.
Tallaksen Østmoe's draw is quite an achievement given Carlsen's score against players below 2500 since 2010. The draw is in fact matched by only one other player at that level, namely then IM Nino Batsiashvili, who scored half a point in the 2015 Qatar Open. Carlsen had also won all five games he had previously played in the league.
Tallaksen Østmoe's achievement got praise from none other than Anish Giri.
The draw cost the World Champion 4.2 rating points, more than losing the 3.1 points he gained in Wijk aan Zee. 36 points to go!
Fielding Norway's no. 1, no. 2 GM Aryan Tari, no. 4 GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen and no. 6 GM Frode Urkedal, Offerspill had been the dominant team this season, winning all their matches comfortably. However, they face tough competition from Carlsen's previous club, Vålerenga, who were champions in four of the last five seasons.
On Sunday, Vålerenga, headed by GMs Mustafa Yilmaz, Evgeny Romanov and Jon Ludvig Hammer, caught up with Offerspill in the standings by winning 5-1 against Stavanger, while mid-table team Nordstrand scored one of the biggest sensations in the history of the Norwegian League by crushing Offerspill 5-1.
Nordstrand was lower rated by at least 100 points on four of the six boards, but remained undefeated, with 2403-rated veteran GM Rune Djurhuus beating Aryan Tari (2660) on board 1 and 2322-rated FM Isak Sjøberg beating Frode Urkedal (2549) on board 2. Offerspill also lost on board 5 and 6.
Offerspill and Vålerenga are now tied for first with 10 match points and 24 team points. The crucial decider is likely to come when they face each other in the next round. The final weekend takes place on March 4-6.
The second weekend of the Norwegian League took place in two different cities, with six teams in Oslo and four in Stavanger | photo: Anniken Vestby / Norwegian Chess Federation
Carlsen's hunt towards 2900 could continue this spring, if he decides to play in this season of the Grand Chess Tour, but he is definitely playing in Norway Chess, where he will be chasing his 4th consecutive title.
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