Magnus Carlsen has not competed on chess.com for more than a year, since the website is in direct competition with chess24.com, which is owned by the Play Magnus Group. So it was a shock when the world champion appeared unannounced on the starting line for this week’s Titled Tuesday, an 11-round blitz event with free entry to all internationally titled players.
The Norwegian used 1 b3 and 2 Bb2 (Larsen Opening) in every game as White, and 1…b6 and 2…Bb7 (Owen Defence) in every game as Black. He still outclassed the field with 10/11, conceding two draws and defeating the world top-50 opponents Jeffery Xiong, Grigoriy Oparin and Parham Maghsoodloo.
