The opponent asked to lose when Carlsen did not give a draw
Ivanchuk (Elo 2,667) holds a white piece, meets Carlsen (2,835) in the second standard game of the fifth round on the evening of August 13, with the goal of winning if he does not want to be eliminated. After country 30, the old Ukrainian general asked for a draw, but the world's number one player disagreed.
If there is a draw, Carlsen will advance to the quarterfinals, while Ivanchuk is eliminated. However, due to the higher rating, the Norwegian player will lose 2 Elo for this draw. Therefore, Carlsen refused to offer a draw, and the two continued to play in the endgame.
At move 43, Carlsen had a good win in the endgame of the same color, but the computer judged him to have only a small advantage. White still has many chances to equalize if it continues, but is no longer likely to win. However, Ivanchuk apologized at the time and this time Carlsen agreed. The number one seed entered the quarterfinals with two standard games won. And Ivanchuk stopped walking, losing 3 more Elo.
In a post-match interview, Carlsen said that he had no compassion for others, so he refused to offer a draw. "Ivanchuk suggested a draw after 30, but then I had a practical idea to win, and there was no risk of losing," the 33-year-old said, laughing. "I'm not known for being merciful. Elo is one thing, but winning feels better."
Carlsen added that Ivanchuk was disappointed when he was denied a draw, because in high chess this rarely happens. But at that time, he found the ending seemed interesting, so he wanted to continue playing even though there was not much hope of winning. Assessing the position at the end of the game, Carlsen said: "I am not sure if I can win, but anyway he asked to lose when the game was over."
Ivanchuk was born in 1969, once ranked number two in the world in 1991, 1992 or 2007. Chess queen Judit Polgar considers him one of the three genius players, alongside Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand. Ivanchuk won four gold medals in the team at the Chess Olympiad, the 2007 World Blitz Champion and the 2016 World Fast Chess Champion.
At the 2015 Blitz World Championship, Ivanchuk played all of Carlsen, then jumped. The world's number one player expressed frustration after that defeat. Video of Ivanchuk's reaction at that time attracted hundreds of thousands of views on Youtube.
Carlsen will meet Indian prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju in the quarterfinals, starting at 6pm on Tuesday 15/8, Hanoi time. Two other matches in the quarterfinals took place within the US and India, respectively Leinier Dominguez - Fabiano Caruana and Erigaisi Arjun - Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. In the remaining quarter-finals, home player Nijat Abasov will meet Ian Nepomniachtchi or Vidit Santosh Gujrathi.
