Magnus Carlsen lost to a Pole in Poland with the Polish Defence last weekend, as the world No 1 returned to action after a poker break following his abdication of the world title. Carlsen paid the price for a provocative choice of the risky 1 d4 b5 as Black against Radoslaw Wojtaszek. However, the Warsaw Rapid/Blitz took place over five days, and on Thursday Carlsen stormed through the field with seven straight wins to take first prize, surviving a final round 124-move marathon against Poland’s No 1, Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
Carlsen was in trouble early against Wojtaszek, whose strong pawn sacrifice 10 d5! trapped the Norwegian king in the centre. Later he missed fleeting chances to recover and resigned when his king was about to be chased into the open board with disastrous loss of material.
