Field Can Only Contain Freestyle Friday Winner Carlsen For So Long

GM Magnus Carlsen is not inevitable but, more often than not, he seems to be. The December 19 edition of Freestyle Friday was no exception, as Carlsen won his last four games in a come-from-behind victory. Carlsen won with 9.5 points, outlasting GM Sam Sevian on nine points and four players on 8/11. The result was Carlsen’s fourth in Freestyle Friday and first since October.

But it was GM Matthias Bluebaum, who was streaming for Freestyle Chess, who got off to the fastest starting the tournament. In the sixth round, he faced GM Parham Maghsoodloo, who was coming off delivering what ended up Carlsen’s only loss of the tournament. Bluebaum took the victory this time, reaching 6/6 while offering some entertaining self-deprecation on stream (see the game notes for just a sample).

Unfortunately, he actually calculates. Which is very unfair!

– GM Matthias Bluebaum

Bluebaum’s reward for the perfect start was to play Black against Carlsen in the seventh round. Low on time, Bluebaum got a draw, but wanted more, and the computer agreed he could have had more. “Why am I such a chicken?” he lamented. “I understood I was better, but I didn’t think it was just dead winning.”

Still frustrated with himself, Bluebaum got GM Sam Sevian next. Time was again a factor for Bluebaum, and Sevian won to take the tournament lead with 7/8.

Bluebaum and Carlsen remained half a point back on 6.5/8, and Sevian did not get to enjoy first place for long. It was his turn to face Carlsen, who won in a rout.

Freestyle Friday breakout star GM Sina Movahed beat Bluebaum in the same round, allowing Carlsen to take the sole lead with two rounds remaining. Of the five players a half-point behind Carlsen, including Movahed and Sevian, Carlsen got GM Denis Lazavik as his 10th-round opponent. Lazavik survived longer than Sevian had the round prior, but Carlsen still eventually overran him in the position.

Magnus retained his tournament lead with the result, but Sarana and Sevian also won to stay immediately behind him. Meanwhile, Bluebaum had finally recovered and won again, putting him in sole fourth. That kept his chances alive for a tie for first after the 11th-round pairings were set: Carlsen-Movahed, Sevian-GM Alexey Sarana, and Bluebaum-GM Jeffery Xiong. Wins for Movahed and Bluebaum with a draw in the third game would have resulted in a four-way tie for first place.

But Carlsen is Carlsen, and he quickly obtained an advantage over Movahed, while Sevian did the same over Sarana. Sevian also had a big clock advantage and won first, while Movahed fought on as he and Carlsen entered mutual time trouble.

That ended Bluebaum’s chances (Xiong would go on to win their game anyway) and then Carlsen finished off Movahed to end Sevian’s.

Sarana and Lazavik would round out the top four in the final standings, with Xiong and GM Bogdan Daniel Deac on the outside of the cash winners looking in thanks to tiebreaks. WFM Kalyani Sirin won the women’s prize with a 21st-place finish.

December 19 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 25)