It s Unbelievable Carlsen Last Did This 20 Years Ago

This is a generational event that you have to see to believe. Most chess fans were refreshing the page, did we really just witness this? It happened at the World Teams Rapid and Blitz event in June 2026. Magnus Carlsen, world number one, was playing. Had the black pieces here playing this aggressive Sicilian defense and his opponent, the super strong grandmaster, Shant Sargassian had white. I'm going to bring you the full story at the end, but first we need to dive in on this game. It really is incredible, especially in the context of the whole story here. Magnus had just lost to Argen Eregeisi, stunning queen sacrifice. I'll link that game at the end. Somehow it got a bit buried by the all-powerful algorithm, right? You've got to see that one if you haven't. So incredible. We're now in a Neidorf defense here. Magnus going aggressive. 15 minutes each, of course. Some time added back per move and bishop d3. This is a bit of a rare bird. Often the bishop's sitting here, for example, or here. Here it blocks the queen. Let's crack on. Magnus plays what they call a Dragendorf. Mixing the dragon with the Neidorf. Banana hammock built here, but watch that dark squared bishop. Knight c6, f3 from white, and does the bishop tuck into bed? No siree, this is Magnus. Loves a sideline, h5 on the board. Now look, we get it. It was recently voted by these guys, the Global Chess Committee, the most overpowered move in chess. Any kind of rook pawn push, with the rook blasting off behind it. We understand it, but it means you want a fight. Because where's the king ever really finding safety now? Even though you clamp on g4. Queen d2 was played here. Magnus now takes, distracts this bishop a minute, so he can land this one. Hit the queen. Obviously we're not about to see a Botes gambit. This looks pretty natural, but Magnus is quite happy to exchange those dark squared bishops. In the game, queen f2. Sliding over. No castling for you sir, but no worries. King's going this way. Magnus now punches through the centre here, and it looks really weakening. And it is, but at the same time, you take away this diagonal from the bishop. That was really annoying. Sometimes white smashing up the structure. And, after this move here, you've at least gained some space. Black would love d5 one day, but that's hard to achieve. Magnus now moves the queen. We get bishop c4, heading to the party spot. We can see this is the big fight now, and that's why Magnus goes for the counter attack. On this light squared complex, of course you're not taking. Don't help black clog the toilet. Plug that hole. Bishop drops off here. Now rook c8. This is where rooks belong. Half open files, if there's no open files available. King f8 from Magnus. Castles, and there he goes with the Magnus business. Castled by hand. Connected those rooks. Love how he understands, like, every position. And now rook d3. Prepares this double stack. And Magnus plays a great defensive move. Rook c6. Defending the pawn. Pressuring the bishop, which is defended by the queen. But what's so subtle about this, is if white goes bishop a4 saying, Hey, get back from whence you came. Then I'm going to double stack. Then you're really under pressure. Well, black doesn't have to move the rook. There's bishop c4. And you skewer these. So both sides win an exchange. Magnus is sitting fine in this position. No issues. Could even get d5 in on a good day. So that's why no bishop a4. We get the immediate double up. And now because bishop a4 is a threat. There's no longer this problem. That's why Magnus takes. Pawn recaptures looking logical. Towards the centre. It's what you get taught. But cb was played. Why? Probably so that this one's not under pressure when the knight hops one day. It's rich stuff. Tense stuff. And look at this. Pawn h4. Love how these guys so rapidly see the tactics. If takes. Then there's a discovered check. Queen gets fossilised. So pawn isn't touched. In the game, before you can say, Hey Magnus, show us your speed boat. There he goes. What a guy. Chance gains space over there. And Magnus doesn't crack on with h3. Looks really logical. Messing with the structure. Creating a thorn pawn. Bishop f4 instead. And just to give you a quick flavour. If white played this. You know, get out my house please. Go away. You don't even have to move the bishop. This is how quickly things can turn. The attack can come. If you executed your threat. You're now just dead. This is a huge check threat. Rook's coming in. If you tried to do something like this. You know, run with the queen or something. Well now you can check here. If the knight was removed. Hence this. This is on the cards. You just get absolutely pulverised. So we didn't see g3. Shunt instead. Drops back with the bishop. Understanding there's an attack brewing here. Knight h5 playable. Different game. Magnus simply takes. Queen recaptures. And he thrusts forward with his b-pawn. Fixing this as a weakness. I mean it can be defended. But okay. He gains this square also. And that's the main idea. We see pawn a3. Queen c7. King f1 on the board here. Now how about this? Does Magnus activate the rook or the knight? Queen e7 is played. And it's a little bit of a draw offer. Possibly. If the king goes back. Will Magnus go back? If the king goes back. Will Magnus go back? And even if one side doesn't repeat. It gives you insight. Into the mentality of your opponent. At that stage. Shunt though. He shan't be fazed. He wants to push for the win. Activates the queen here. Magnus now finds a nice shot though. In response to this. And it's d5 for the high five. Garry Kasparov rushes in. Gives Magnus one. They have a little giggle. There's Maurice Ashley on hand. To enjoy the moment also. Mr Tickle in disguise. Pawn takes. And this is the point. Looks impossible of course. You're going to get triple killed. But the queen's hanging. So you can't take that knight. Hence the queen's exchange. Hence the knight can now hop back and recapture. Classic motif. Rook e1 is now played. And f6 is a playable defense. We're in the Batcave. Analysis. Clearly Magnus didn't play it. Because you expose the king. The rooks invade. But with some precise tiptoeing. You can cover all bases. Unravel eventually. Yes the rook's hanging. But you get a counter sort of thing going. Just one sample line. And black's okay here. Was an option. Not played by Magnus. He does understand that f6 is often very stinky. So he does this one instead. To defend the pawn. King f2. And here we go. This is what we live for. Knight c8. Magnus begins the maneuver. Knight e4 of course. Knight b6 in response. Knight c5. What a seahorse hitting a pawn. But Magnus spawns a seahorse of his own. Defends this pawn laterally. Hits this pawn on b2. This is why he practices. Deep into the knight. Down in Oslo. In the training camps. With his physical hobby horse. Great way to visualize the maneuvering. Do get yourself one. All you need is a broom. And you can stick a horsey head on it. We now see this rook defend the pawn here. You're not going to push of course. You drop a3. So we saw a5 in response now from Magnus. Excellent move. Take me. I take you. Therefore. We saw rook d7. Seventh heaven as they say. Pin. Takes was played. Pawn recaptures. Doubled up. Not very nice. Knight b6 is actually best. You pick up tempos on this rook. And you can spin to d5. If the rook leaves the d-file. Hit this pawn. Not played. Magnus in the space of two moves. Rook f5. Pawn b3. And knight d6 goes wrong. And in this position. Sargassian has a great option to go. Pawn g4. Powerful. Because after you take on croissant. Natural. Pawn recaptures. The pieces just aren't working harmoniously. Something like g4 is on the way. Let's say you drop back like this. One of the top moves. And the e-pawn is dropping. You can even take with the knight. Delay it just a moment. Not that move. That's a bad move. Rook f to f6 is one of the better ones. And you could take like this. It's really good. This whole g4 thing starts it. Can't hold the pawn. Not played. Rook d2 instead. Now it allows some funky stuff here. You know you could be capturing on c5 here. Going for a check. Using the pin. All sorts of wacky stuff. Magnus simply covers that horse. However they're getting lower on time. Rook e7 from white. This is perhaps the position actually. Where you can chop the knight. And go for the fork stuff. Similar motifs anyway to what I described. Rook f4 from Magnus though. Looking for the exchange of prisoners. And that is what we see. However this is fascinating. Because after rook ed5. Hitting that knight. Knife f5 natural. g4 is now played. And it gives Magnus an uncomfortable question. Do you move the knight backwards. And then leave this square available to the rook. To potentially slip out. Or do you take on croissant. Played in the game. Bellow it in your best French accent. Naturally. But allow white to trap your rook on b4. This rook has no squares. And this is the problem now for Magnus. Rook c8 is played. Not rook c7. You run into this fork town stuff. This holds the position fine. And now after rook to 2d3. Defending the b-pawn. The threat is set up. If white had another move here. You jump with the knight. Hit the rook. It's trapped. So Magnus. He drops off and hits this rook. Now you'd love to go rook e5. And stay with your knight. Then threaten knight a6. Then there's knight c6. Picking up more tempos. You can never quite make that trap of the rook work. Rook g5 also problems. King f6 or pawn f6. So in the game. Rook d7. You take my knight. I take your knight. It's what Magnus should do. Because then. Although he's got a trapped rook. Still. You can't really realistically win it with the king. There's too many problems with this one. Spinning around and activating. It's a drawn position. But Magnus doesn't do this. He plays the shocker. Knight c6. Massive blunder. Because now. The threat can be executed. As discussed. Knight a6. And the rook on b4 is trapped. Now we do need to give Magnus. A little bit of breathing room here. He is a new father. He's on that diaper duty. We know that that's a game changer. When we think about stinky moves. We're not just talking on the board here. So he's not in his best mental place right now. Not as sharp as he has been in recent months. Years. He's missing things. And this is a classic example. Rook's trapped. What to do? This one hits this knight here. Forces the take. Knight recaptures. So thankfully it's just an exchange. Not an entire rook. But regardless. The position is woefully lost. There's no outpost for that knight. There's nothing to be done. Nothing to be said really. It's going to drop off the board. It's barely even got squares here. Magnus loses instantly. Knight a5 is technically the best. Hitting a pawn. But it's awful on the edge there. It's on no kind of circuit whatsoever. Trapped. The rooks will swoop in soon. This was played in the game. But it loses on the spot too. Rook e8 of course. Pin and win baby. That one's about to drop. Move it anywhere. And this rook simply drops. Magnus goes down on move 50. And what was so unprecedented. Historic. Was this was the second loss of a string of four. Never has Magnus done that. Not for like 20 years. Since he was a kid or something. Unreal scenes here in the rapid at the world teams event. Magnus stormed back in the blitz. But boy was this one to forget for him. I hope you enjoyed. Have a look at the video on screen. In case you missed his incredible game against Arjun. Queen sack to finish it. And thanks a lot. See you soon. Cheers.