Scenes From the Chess Olympiad: Magnus Carlsen Is Still on Top of His Game
The chess world was left reeling by the surprise announcement last month that its biggest star, Magnus Carlsen, would surrender his world title, citing a lack of motivation.
But Carlsen is not going away and expects to continue playing in events other than the world championship. He is playing Board 1 for Norway at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India.
Through Monday, he was 6-0-3, but his team was down in 41st place.
The tournament, considered the world’s top international team event, is normally held every two years, but it has not been held in person since 2018 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Carlsen before his game with Uruguay. He announced last month that he would surrender his world title, citing a lack of motivation.
Uzbekistan led the open competition with a day to go, and India was ahead in the women’s event.
The event was also the site of the election for president of the International Chess Federation. The current president, Arkady V. Dvorkovich of Russia, faced Andrii Baryshpolets, a Ukrainian grandmaster who said the war in Ukraine “was an impetus for me to fight for changes.”
But the result was a landslide: Dvorkovich received 157 votes to 16 for Baryshpolets.
