Magnus Carlsen’s achievements are so many that it is hard for the Norwegian to surprise fans any more, but the No 1’s crushing online blitz victory against Fabiano Caruana on Tuesday was remarkable.
Caruana is the reigning US champion, and had scored an even 6-6 in his classical games against Carlsen in their 2018 world title match in London. This week, they were paired in a quarter-final of the annual $100,000 Chess.com speed championship, whose format of 90 minutes play at 5/1 (five minutes per player per game plus one second per move increment), 60 minutes at 3/1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1/1 bullet, is a searching test of endurance, creativity, and fast reactions over a marathon course of around 25-30 games in three hours.
