Anish Giri committed the equivalent of chess murder as heflagged the nicest man in chess, David Navara, in Game 1 of the final of the MrDodgy Invitational. It was a powerful statement of intent, and David nevermanaged to get into the match, failing to win a game as Giri raced to a 7:2victory. Its Anish who will be the proud owner of a signed photo of tournamentorganiser Mr Dodgy on a horse, at least unless he succeeds in selling it toPeter Svidler.
You can replay all the games from the Mr Dodgy Invitationalusing the selector below (click on a result to open the game with computeranalysis):
And heres Jan Gustafssons commentary on the final day,including the final interview with the players:
David Navara won a close match against David Howell and thensurprisingly crushed Peter Svidler in the semifinals of the Mr DodgyInvitational, and the Czech no. 1 also showed dedication away from thechessboard:
Anish Giri won 10 games and lost just 2 as he beat LaurentFressinet and Anton Korobov, but not for the last time in the tournament hecame up with unconvincing excuses for failing to take a photo with a horse. Forthe final, however, he came through! (click the photo to see it in all its glory)
If that showed how seriously he was taking the match it wasnothing compared to the first game. Anish outplayed his opponent to win a pawn,but the position looked destined to end in a draw:
David was behind on the clock, but with exactly 1 minute to 1minute 11 seconds it was nothing too serious, and he played relatively quicklyand confidently. It was to no avail, however, since Anish, whos been workinghard on eliminating any weaknesses in online chess, went on to blitz out hismoves like a man possessed and ultimately win on time while still having 37seconds remaining.
Hed done it against a man who a day previously had offeredPeter Svidler a draw in the first game of that match when Peter was down to 1 second to his 23.
Did Anish feel guilty?
Yeah, for the next three games I was mentally justifyingmyself, trying to find excuses.
A good lawyer would have advised Anish to stay silent, but
To be frank, first of all the easiest excuse that people cansay is that when you are the one with an extra pawn you can do it. The otherexcuse you can say is that before that it was not so easy if it was a draw, andI simplified into it with an intention to flag. There can be many excuses, butof course I feel its part of the game without increment
Peter Svidler later had to check hed heard that right:
Peter understood the thought process, but went on
In my head this is like pre-meditated murder, this is not anexcuse It makes it much worse, I think!
Mr Dodgy understandably also took offense
So you had three different excuses and you didnt just say,I wanted to win the picture of the horse?
While Anish kept digging
Its definitely nothing personal. I would have done itagainst absolutely anyone and I would expect anyone to do it against me aswell, especially if you have less time.
In this case, however, it was hard to imagine David everflagging his opponent in a similar situation, with Jan raising the issue of whetheradhering to a personal code of chess etiquette was a liability in online chess:
It might become a competitive disadvantage if it becomes thenorm to flag in such positions.
And what did David himself think? Well, he admitted it was hisfault to lose a pawn, but pushed back when Anish suggested there were somewinning chances, and then made a polite statement that you might say for himwas the equivalent of Gata Kamsky rage quitting:
I admit you had your right to play for the win. I just wasunderstandably unhappy about the way how the game ended.
Why have we dwelt so long on that moment? Well, partlybecause its genuinely a hot topic in the new world of high stakes online chess,but also because the match from there on was disappointingly one-sided:
Giri was extremely impressive, playing fast but building upadvantages in most of the games so that the scoreline could if anything havebeen more in his favour. There were some memorable moments. For instance:
36.Rg5+! brought this game to an abrupt end, with Davidresigning a move before mate after 36hxg5 37.Qf6+.
The best chance for David was in fact in the final gameafter 30g6:
If David had played 31.Ne7+! Kg7 32.Nc6 and then e.g. 32Rb733.Re7! he would have been completely winning, but that was a win pointed outby Giri after the game. David admitted hed been nervous as he went for31.Nxh6+? and went on to get trapped in a mating net.
Nothing had gone right for the Czech no. 1. When asked if hed played worse, or Giri better than Svidlerthe day before, he explained:
Both. With me in blitz much depends on my form, andyesterday I slept well, so it was fine, but today I had a very silly idea toprepare for the match seriously, because I had not prepared seriously for abouttwo months. Ok, I prepared for the European Online Championship, but otherwiseI was not studying openings. But ok, six hours its not a good idea, to say theleast. I was just playing too slowly and I was tired, but its my own faultthat I prepared so much.
Anish Giri was an absolutely deserving winner, however, andwas right to bask in the glory
even if the haters are never far away!
Anish had won the grand first prize of a signed photo of ahorse, and understood its value:
People think the first prize is a joke, or not serious,unlike the Magnus Carlsen Invitational where its 80,000 euro or whatever, butI have a suspicion that this picture could be worth a lot, you just have tofind the right customer, which is why I took part as well. Im hoping to makeuse of this victory!
Plan A is to sell the photo to Peter Svidler, who might betempted to buy it if for no other reason than to make up for his unconscionablefaux pas of insulting the horse.
Peter also tried to rescue the situation with praise for the man on the horseand his tournament:
An incredibly fun thing, I hope it reemerges! Thanks to Dodgyfor not giving up on it when the whole world was laughing at him hysterically,and well-played to the winners.
The question now, of course, is where you can go from here...
More RadioJan (or RadioJan is no more)?
Bigger, better angrier?
We hope you enjoyed the event and will join us for that rivalMagnus Carlsen Chess Tour that reaches its third stage on Saturday with theChessable Masters.
See also:
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Ruthless Giri wins the Mr Dodgy Invitational - chess24