Where there’s a victor, there’s a loser, and sometimes certain athletes contribute to their team’s or their own shortcomings. These athletes are favorably called bobbleheads.
Norway Chess saw 12 of the highest-ranking male and female chess grandmasters competing over ten rounds of classical chess games.
While some of the players exceeded expectations while others made tremendous blunders, making them the bobbleheads of the week.
Magnus Carlsen
Despite winning the tournament — finishing with a total of 16 points, coming from his three wins, six draws and one loss — it is always a surprise when the former world champion and current highest rated player loses even one match.
He lost his sixth-round match-up with the 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju, the current chess world champion.
After a fairly basic opening to the game, Dommaraju found himself at a disadvantage once the middle-game started. Carlsen was easily gaining positioning, and the board simplified. Carlsen was even able to set up a trap for Dommaraju’s knight through a series of great moves.
But Dommaraju was able to claw back to only a slight disadvantage. Under time pressure, Carlsen made an uncharacteristic blunder in which he was forced to trade his remaining rook and knight while only receiving one of Dommaraju’s rooks in return. This left Dommaraju enough of a material advantage to close out the game without trouble and steal a game against one of the most talented chess players in history.
Carlsen slammed his fist on the table then quickly apologized and stood to shake Dommaraju’s hand — who remained seated with an expression of disbelief.
Wei Yi
Despite being the lowest-ranked player going into the tournament, Wei was still able to fall short of expectations.
The grandmaster was able to achieve the title at the age of 13, but his once prodigal status didn’t seem to help him this time, as he finished last in the tournament.
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He finished with 9.5 points, far behind fifth place Arjun Erigaisi, who finished with 13. Wei did not manage to win a single classical match, receiving three losses and seven draws.
One of those losses was particularly brutal — the one against Dommaraju during the ninth round. Dommaraju was able to find a brilliant bishop sacrifice that opened up Wei’s king, leaving him with no protection. As the game continued to progress, it became clear that Wei held an untenable position and was forced to resign.
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
