Magnus Carlsen reflects on stunning loss against Vincent Keymer in Freestyle Chess: 'I tried to complicate the position'

Magnus Carlsen has had a mixed run in the opening event of the tournament that he helped create with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner. After losing three out of five games on Day 1 of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour event in Weissenhaus, Carlsen appeared to have regained the form that had made him one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, if not the best.

The world No 1 would breeze through the next three days – winning three out of four games on Day 2 before pulling off a dominant 2-0 scoreline against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the quarter-finals. The Norwegian chess star’s run at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort, however, would come to a screeching halt in the semi-finals after he lost to home favourite Vincent Keymer 0.5-1.5 , resigning in 39 moves in Game 1 before being held to a stalemate the following day.

Reflecting on his defeat at the hands of German Grandmaster Keymer, who currently is leading 1-0 against Fabiano Caruana in the final , the five-time Classical world champion admitted he had complicated his position in the semis.

“I tried to complicate the position. Didn’t really succeed. He was certainly better, and as I said, he was playing the opening better. But I managed to fight (and) I’m really happy about that,” Carlsen said on Take Take Take.

“Towards the end, both Game 1 and Game 2, that’s really what it came down to that he was a lot better with the time ticking down. That is obviously not a great sign but it is what it is and it was certainly deserved that he went through, and if you saw his game today as well, he’s playing really well,” he added, lauding Keymer for his victory over Caruana on Thursday.

Carlsen is currently battling for the third spot against Uzbekistani GM Javokhir Sindarov, who has also had a fairytale run in Weissenhaus after being included as a last-minute replacement for Indian legend Viswanathan Anand.

Carlsen currently is leading 1-0 after beating Sindarov in just 28 moves while playing with black pieces. And reflecting on Thursday’s meeting with Sindarov, the 34-year-old felt his opponent “lost his way a little bit”.

“I think in the game, he lost his way a little bit. I think he found it hard to make committal decisions and eventually he let me back in the game,” Carlsen added.

The Weissenhaus event – the first of five in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour that will run till December – concludes on Friday with the final standings set to be decided on the eighth and final day of competition.