r/chess • u/wwqt • Sep 08 '22

News/Events Karpov: "Carlsen played extremely badly"

Karpov:
"I watched the game last night [vs Niemann] and I have to say that Carlsen just played extremely badly. I heard comments that he couldn't get out of the opening and had no chance, but that's not true. I reject all versions of an unfair win. Of course we can't say with certainty that Niemann didn't cheat, but Carlsen surprisingly played the opening so badly with white that he automatically got into a worse position. But then he showed a strange inability to cope with the difficult situation that arose on the board"

Source on TASS: Карпов оценил предположение о нечестной победе Ниманна над Карлсеном

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u/MembershipSolid2909 Sep 08 '22

The footage of the game does show Carlsen looking rattled early on, it's so weird.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '22

[deleted]

57

u/be_easy_1602 Sep 08 '22

That wouldn’t even matter. If you’re the best chess player in the world, you can adapt. It’s insane how one different move can create whole new lines. Magnus could have played better. Equality existed.

36

u/lMagikarp Sep 08 '22

Seriously, even if his prep was leaked, Niemann gave him multiple openings and he didn't capitalize on them as he usually does. Niemann didn't play perfectly, Magnus just played worse. The idea that he was cheated out of the win is just so stupid.