GM Yermolinsky - World Rapid Championship 2022

Opening: B06, E04, A01: Robatsch (Modern) Defence, Catalan Open 5.Nf3, Larsen's Opening

Player(s): Tomashevsky, Carlsen, Keymer, Abdusattorov

The year 2022 concluded with a traditional World Rapid and Blitz Championships, this time held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The world's best players traveled there to take part, only with notable exceptions of Alireza Firouja, Wesley So and Levon Aronian. The Rapid competition of held over three days and 13 rounds, featuring a G/15+10 time control, which is rapidly becoming a modern classic thanks to the efforts of World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
Magnus has decided to relinquish his title in slow chess to focus on faster time controls, and I can understand it. Why sit through one long game when you can play five a day at a faster pace? Does the quality suffer? Probably not that much when it comes to the King himself. The others, however, will find themselves under more pressure to perform during the time shortage.
Carlsen employed random openings and generally played fast and loose. His opponents, not so much. The fear of Carlsen is contagious, and I was quite a bit disappointed to witness it carry over to the new generations of players. Video #1 is full of examples of inexplicable hesitation by Carlsen's opponents. Gms Tomashevsky, Abdusattorov and Keymer had their chances and came up with nothing. What is Carlsen's secret? You can download the games in PGN format HERE

Teacher's library (665) B06 E04 A01 Tomashevsky Carlsen Keymer Abdusattorov game analysis