‘To share is to do’, as no Latin proverb dared to suggest. The 2024 Fide World Blitz championship, held in New York just before the new year, awarded gold medals to both Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi when their final match remained tied after seven games. The last three games were played in ‘sudden death’ mode, where any decisive game would determine the championship, and according to the rules they were to play on indefinitely. Carlsen proposed to Nepomniachtchi that they share the title, and they got the nod after a private discussion with Arkady Dvorkovich, the Fide president.
Disgruntled fans complained that there must be one winner because ’twas ever thus, and that sporting values were undermined by their backroom deal. It later emerged that Carlsen had shrugged to Nepomniachtchi that if Fide refused, they could just make short draws. Obvious as this loophole was, Carlsen later felt obliged to clarify that he was joking, in response to performative claims that his comment was tantamount to match-fixing.
Still, one must admit that the players were not breaking any records for endurance. So far that day, Carlsen had played 14 games, and ‘Nepo’ had played 15. Bearing in mind the nerve-shredding tendencies of high-level blitz, that is plenty but not excessive, and certainly no match for John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, whose fifth set at Wimbledon in 2010 went to 70-68.
A shared gold is not without sporting precedent. An iconic moment arose in the high jump event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in which friends and rivals Mutaz Barshim from Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy both completed their jumps at 2.37m and failed at 2.39m. The official decision to share the gold, at Barshim’s suggestion, was widely celebrated.
Also in 2020, the Online Chess Olympiad hit the rocks when two Indian players lost their connection during the final match against Russia. Dvorkovich also awarded gold to both teams.
A fraught backdrop at the World Blitz in New York forced his hand in a different way. The World Rapid had taken place just a couple of days earlier, with a formal dress code. Carlsen turned up wearing jeans, albeit looking smart, and was requested to change on pain of forfeiting a game. He was unimpressed, and when the sanction was imposed he withdrew in a huff, declaring that he wouldn’t bother with the blitz event either. Presumably some diplomatic magic brought him back in time for the blitz, but Dvorkovich must have judged that any further wrangling in the final was best avoided.
The spectacular game below offers an alternative explanation for Carlsen’s peaceability. He had led the match 2-0 before Nepo won two games in a row to even the score. If you lost like this, wouldn’t you feel Caïssa was in your opponent’s corner?
Magnus Carlsen–Ian Nepomniachtchi
Fide World Blitz Chess Championship, 2024
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 Nce2 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 a3 a5 8 Nf3 a4 9 h4 Nb6 10 Nf4 Na5 11 Rb1 Bd7 12 Bd3 h6 13 O-O Qc7 14 Re1 Nbc4 15 Nh5 Bb5 16 dxc5 Qxc5 17 Nd4 Bd7 18 Qg4 O-O-O 19 Qf4 Qe7 20 b3 axb3 21 Nxb3 Nxb3 22 Rxb3 Bc6 23 Be3 g5 24 Qd4 gxh4 25 Nf6 Bg7 26 Reb1 Bxf6 27 exf6 Qc7 28 Qa7 Rhg8 29 Bf4? The losing move. 29 Bf1 was stronger. Qxf4! 30 Rxb7 (see diagram) Rxg2+!! 31 Kxg2 Ne3+ White resigns as 32 fxe3 Rg8+ mates quickly, or 32 Qxe3 d4+ wins the queen.
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