Carlsen's New Opening Is So ABSURD, His 2800 Opponent Questions EVERYTHING!

Today I have for you one of the most incredibly ridiculous and fantastically grotesque games of chess you're ever likely to witness. But before we get into it, have a quick look at the position you see here. Does it look familiar to you? You might think that you recognize this opening and you may even think you know what it's called. But have a closer look. Why does it look as though white has only made three moves while black has made four? Well the answer lies with this fellow the most goat-like of all trolls, Sven Magnus Carlsen, who in April of 2021 subjected the entire chess world to a level of disrespect for every opening principle we hold dear, much more egregious than anything it had ever seen before, or will likely ever see again. In no less than 40 consecutive games played on leechess.org against some of the most elite opposition the site had to offer, he employed one of the worst opening strategies imaginable by moving his king from its original square towards the center of the board within the first few moves of the game and in most cases proceeding to put it right back where it started, forever losing the right to castle as well as a couple of valuable tempi. This opening behavior is so abominably abysmal that in the game you're about to witness, after only five moves have been played, his 2800 rated opponent, Grandmaster Daniel Bogdan Dic of Romania, had already developed a winning advantage worth almost two pawns, according to the engine, and for the next 20 moves or so, things did not get any better for Magnus. But he believes in a thing called love, which is kind of beside the point, because he also believes in a thing called sorcery, and his ability to perform it for the purpose of humiliating the world's most elite players while simultaneously desecrating the sanctity of our beloved royal game. As he pulls a totally undeserved win right out of whatever alien equivalent of our human body's nether region he may or may not possess. So if you're someone who's easily offended by terrible chess moves, then I don't really know what to tell you. You should probably keep watching anyway, because this might just be good for you. Magnus Carlsen has Team White in this most unholy undertaking. He opens with e4, to which Daniel Dic replies with a c5 Sicilian. Knight to f3 is, of course, the most popular thing for White to play here, but Magnus now opts for a move that would be the worst that White could possibly make, if it weren't for bishop to a6, losing a whole piece, as he puts his king on e2, forever giving up the right to castle while blocking diagonals for both his queen and bishop. And believe it or not, this opening does actually have a name, and it's not the Bond Cloud. Apparently, because the game began as a Sicilian, this is known as King David's Opening. So not really sure why it's called that. I mean, if you want to go biblical, I would think that something like Absalom's Opening would be a bit more fitting. Or better yet, how about just Nimrod's Opening? But anyway, knight to f6 is next, attacking the central pawn. Magnus pushes d3 defending, and now we get the strong and sensible d5, just looking to break open the center and try to get to that White king, like Boggs after Dufresne. Magnus throws a knight on d2, adding defense to his center, which isn't the engine's favorite thing to do. It liked e5 a lot better, but Magnus is just trying to hold the fort down here, giving some extra coverage to c4, maybe thinking that Black might otherwise push a pawn there, maybe after playing d4. Not entirely sure, but after knight to c6, we do have king back to e1, at which point we already have a position so incredibly rare that it's only been seen in 14 out of the 7.4 billion games in the Lichess database, the majority of which were played after this game. So we're going to go ahead and call it a brand new opening, invented by Magnus. Let us know in the comments if you have any ideas about what to call it. The game continues with e5, a very good move in full accordance with opening principles. Magnus pushes c3, which looks a bit mysterious, but it does open another diagonal for his queen, and he could even be thinking about pushing c4 in response to d4, just to keep things good and closed while not conceding too much territory to Black. We next have bishop to e7, knight g to f3, a kingside sequestering, bishop to e2, preparing to do the same, except that white can't do the same, which is of course the sole reason that he's losing here. Daniel Deke pushes b5, a very strong move, Foley engine approved, just taking some of that western front. Magnus just ignores it, he pushes h3, maybe thinking about getting his king over to h2 eventually, castling by hand as it's called. We next have c4, a good and winning move, as nearly all of Black's moves are. The engine liked a5 a bit better, not really sure why, nor do I really care, because what healthy hominid doesn't want to try to break everything open before white can get his king to safety? Makes sense to me. Magnus takes on d5, it is the top engine move, when if Black were to recapture with his knight or queen, then he would promptly lose his thrice attacked pawn on c4. So we do have a capture on d3 first, when after Bxd3, there follows Qxd5, attacking the bishop, Qe2 defends, we have Rd8, hitting it again, and now Bc2. And what do you think Black's best move is in this position? How about a little b4, threatening to take on c3, opening another avenue of attack on the queenside, while damaging the white pawn structure. When if white were to take on b4, then the recapturing knight would be attacking his bishop, threatening to come into d3, as well as the move Bxa6, defended by the knight, attacking the queen. So Magnus instead puts his knight on e4, maybe thinking about meeting Black's next move, Bxc3, with Nxc3, hitting the black queen, only to realize that after Qa5, Bxa6 is probably coming anyway, attacking his queen, who doesn't have a lot of places she can go. And if you try to prevent that move with Bxd3, well then comes Nb4, with the double attack, and nothing has been solved. So what's tried in the game is a recapture by the pawn. This way, after Daniel Deke's next move, which is Qa5, Magnus can place his bishop on d2, ready to meet Bxa6, which was not played in the game, with the move c4, blocking the diagonal with the discovered attack on Black's queen. However, this would not have solved anything due to a powerful sacrificial move now available to Black. Pause and ponder the position if you want to try and spot it, and while you're at it, try to come up with a good reason why you shouldn't subscribe to the channel and hit that like button. Or better yet, don't try to think of a reason, just do it without thinking. Either way, I will still very deeply appreciate it. Congratulations to anyone who found Rxd2, when if the queen were to recapture, there'd be Bb4, pinning and winning, and after Nexd2, well then comes Qc3, hitting a couple of pieces, Rc1 defending, and now e4, driving White's knight from f3, followed by some horribly oppressive moves like Nd4, Rd8, Bb4, or to a3, and the White position is falling all to pieces. What's played in the game though, is not Black's strongest move, Ba6, but rather Nd5, maybe thinking about coming into f4, or if White pushes c4, into b4, threatening to take the bishop on c2 with check. More on that in just a moment. Magnus puts his king on f1, headed towards the relative safety of h2, we next have Ba6, which at this point is no longer Black's best move. The engine preferred f5, followed by a quick e4, if anyone's interested, but Black is of course still comfortably winning here, attacking the White queen, when if Magnus were to try blocking with his bishop, well then if nothing else, Black could just play Ne3, with check, and a discovered attack, picking up the bishop, and White is pretty much toast. So we instead have c4, per the original plan, attacking the Black queen, at which point Ndb4 is probably the best move, opening the eyes of the rook on d8, threatening that exchange sack on d2 in some lines, then maybe take on c2, push f5, then e4, that's the engine's vision for the position anyway. I should probably mention that after Ndb4, a3, attacking the pinned pony, would not be winning a piece for White, due to the fact that a takes b4 would drop a whole rook on a1. What's played is Qa3, which is pretty hard to criticize in a 3-minute game of Blitz, which is what this is by the way, just getting off of that dark-haired deacon's d, maybe looking to sneak into b2 next, looks very natural, but the engine's saying that this move comes dangerously close to throwing away the win, but only if White were to play Kg1 here, allowing him to quickly connect his rooks with Kh2 before anything bad happens. But Magnus does not play his best move, Kg1, he instead tries Bb3. Okay, looks pretty solid, the bishop's now defended, defending a couple of pawns, only trouble is, Black now has Rab8, threatening the win a piece next with Rxb3, due to that pin on the a pawn. Magnus has everything under control though, or so he thinks, after his next move, Re1, unpinning his pawn. And what do you think Black ought to play in this position? Give the position a few minutes thought, and see what you can come up with. The most crushing move, not played in the game, is going to be Rxb3, when after the recapture and Qxb3, Black is now threatening to pick up the still pinned pawn on c4, to which White has no good way to add defense, seeing that Rc1 would just run in the bishop to a3. So, the engine's giving Kg1, Bxc4, Qd1, offering a trade to ladies, Qb5 avoiding it, ready to bring a knight into d3, and I think it's fairly obvious that White is on the ropes here, or at least I hope it is, but if the White position looks like something that you'd like to try and defend, do let us know in the comments, and I'm sure someone will be happy to step in and do my job What's played by Daniel Deek is not the exchange sack on b3, but rather f5, which is also objectively winning, attacking the knight. Magnus puts it on g5, would next have e4, threatening to win the knight on f3, or so it would seem, but after Magnus Carlsen's very tricky reply, Kg1, if Black were to go ahead and take that knight, like so, he would actually be the one going down in a rapid blaze of flaming ruin to a very famous checkmating sequence now available to White, which I think a lot of you can probably already see coming, but if you don't, this is one that you'll definitely want to burn deep into your noggin, as you will almost certainly have the chance to use it in some of your own games. The mate in 5 goes as follows, Qe6+, Kh8, Nf7+, Kg8, Nh6+, Kh8, Qg8+, defended by the knight, Rxg8 only move, and now Nf7+, check, and smothered mate. Always a beautiful sequence, no matter how many times you see it, but what's played in the game is not the mate hanging capture on f3, but rather Rxb3. When after Axb3 and Qxb3, Black still has a crushing position, for all the same sorts of reasons as in that previous line we looked at, the pawn on c4 is about to fall. However, because Magnus now has a knight on g5, he's able to get a bit tricky with the move he plays next, Nxe4. When if Black were to play his only winning move in this position, which Daniel Deke does not, Bxc4, then after White's best reply, Nc5, counterattacking the Black queen, and Qb5, then after Qe6+, Kh8, and Ng5, threatening to come into f7, forcing that aforementioned mate, Black should not take out the knight with his bishop, as that would allow Qe8 check, forcing mate on the next move, but rather put his knight on f6, when because the bishop is now covering f7, there is no checkmate for White. If Nf7++ is played here, then after Kg8 and Nh6+, the king is all good to go to h8, seeing that Qg8++ can now be safely met with Rxg8, and Nxf7++ with Bxf7. What's played in the game though, is not the capture of the pawn on c4, but rather the acceptance of the sacrifice knight on e4 with Fxe4, throwing away Black's entire winning advantage, to the move that Magnus plays next, Qxe4. When if Bxc4 were to be played here, then Qe6++ would pick up the loose pony on c6. So we instead have the better move, Qxc4, just defending the knight, Magnus delivers check from e6 anyway, it is the best move, although after Kh8, he does not find his correct follow-up, which is Ng5, once again threatening checkmate, beginning with Nf7. When after Nc7, defending the light squares with the queen this time, Nf7++, Kg8, a trade of queens on c4, Nxd8, and the bishop recaptures, the engine is saying that the position is totally equal. And we could collectively speculate over exactly why, I'm sure it has something to do with Black's outside passer, but none of it really matters too much, since in the game, we do not have the best move Ng5, but rather the highly dubious Rc1, which on the surface looks like a big winner, attacking the queen, and if she moves, well then the c6 filly falls, and white is winning. However, if Black were to play Nd4 here, counterattacking the white queen, threatening a fork on e2, he would once again enjoy a crushing advantage, since after Rxc4 and Nxe6, he's got the two minor pieces for the rook, as well as that outside passer, and if white tries Rc6 with the dual attack, he can put a knight on c7, everything is defended, and with correct play from both sides, white should inevitably lose. This wasn't played in the game though, where in response to Rc1, Daniel Deek decides to try Rd6, counterattacking the white queen that way, and this looks pretty sensible, and it would in fact be winning for Black, if not for a very sneaky move, now found by Magnus. Pause the video one last time if you'd like to try and spot it, it's nothing too cosmic, but in a game of Blitz, it would be very easy to miss. The move is Qf7, threatening a forced mate in two, beginning with Qe8+, and Black has no good defense, seeing that his queen is still under fire. Rf6 is probably the best try, counterattacking the queen, while enabling Black to block the back rank, with Rf8 defended by the bishop, but after RxQ, RxQ, and RxNc6, white emerges in exchange to the good, and is therefore winning. In the game however, Daniel Deek doesn't even notice the threat of mate, and he just retreats his queen to b5, allowing Magnus' into e8 with check, and just like that, it's completely over, but the crying, the burying, the finger foods, the family feud, the missing jewelry, the accusations, the lawyers, you know the drill, or maybe you're lucky enough not to. At any rate, in this position, Bogdan Daniel Deek does now submit his resignation, seeing that after his only legal move, Bf8, Qxf8 will be check and mate, bringing to a close one of the most savage and humiliating takedowns of a top level player by the world's greatest troll, using one of the worst opening systems that's ever been given a name, at least the first few moves of it anyway. Let us know how it made you feel down in the comments, and then stick around for this next video here. It's either going to totally absolve you from the utter abomination you've just witnessed, or it's going to defile you even worse. Not going to tell you which, I'll just let it be a surprise, but anywho, take care of yourselves, then help the others, enjoy this next game, and I will see you next time.