Magnus Carlsen had just added another title to his collection. Three days after successfully defending his Esports World Cup chess title for a second straight year, the Norwegian returned to Chess.com’s weekly Titled Tuesday tournament on August 18. This time, however, things went very differently.
Carlsen was beaten in the second round by 15-year-old Indian player Vandan Alankar Sawai, who is rated 2,288 compared to Carlsen’s 2,823. The teenager, who is still working toward his International Master title, won the game in 50 moves.
Sawai entered the game without expecting much from the encounter against the world No. 1.
“I didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain. I decided to play a comfortable game and opened with my usual pawn move, e4, while playing with the white pieces,” he said.
The game remained balanced until the 26th move, when Carlsen made a costly mistake. With his king under pressure from Sawai’s bishop, the former world champion moved his king instead of capturing the bishop, leaving the piece hanging.
“I was shocked when he blundered,” Sawai said.
Carlsen tried to stay in the game, but a series of trades and simplifications eventually left him a full bishop down for a pawn. With the position reduced to a straightforward winning endgame for Sawai, Carlsen resigned on move 50.
The result was a major moment for Sawai, who managed to defeat one of the greatest players in chess despite not yet holding the International Master title.
The teenager went on to play two more rounds, winning three of his four games before withdrawing from the tournament because he was tired. He later told his classmates at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in Delhi about his win, with some initially finding it hard to believe.
Sawai’s next goal is to earn the International Master title. He is also unsure whether chess will become his full-time career, despite his ambitions in the game.
“I am not sure whether chess will be my full-time profession in the future, as at this age many players have become GMs. Perhaps I will look at history and somewhat towards political science,” the 15-year-old said.
