In Azerbaijan, Carlsen wins when it counts

In winning the Shamkir 2014 chess tournament in Azerbaijan, Magnus Carlsen was able to exact revenge in the last round against Fabiano Caruana, one of two players who defeated him earlier in the event.

The losses had left Carlsen, the world champion, in a tie for second at the halfway point; the leader was Teimour Radjabov, an Azerbaijani who had also defeated him. But as he has often done, Carlsen, who is from Norway, rallied in the event's second half, when he did not lose any games, winning three of them and drawing two.

Caruana finished second. And Radjabov placed fourth at the tournament, which was played in memory of Vugar Gashimov, an Azerbaijani grandmaster who died in January at age 27 while being treated for a brain tumor.

Carlsen's defeat of Caruana, who is from Italy, was significant because Caruana might be the best positioned to challenge Carlsen as No. 1 in the years to come. His openings are well prepared, and his solid play is bolstered by his willingness to take chances.

Another contender, Sergey Karjakin of Russia, who finished fifth in Shamkir, does not seem a dynamic enough player to present Carlsen with any real problems. Karjakin drew all of his games at the tournament.

Hikaru Nakamura, the top American player, has proclaimed himself a legitimate threat to Carlsen. But in Shamkir, Nakamura lost both of his games to Carlsen on his way to a third-place finish. His career record in slow games against the world champion is zero wins, 10 losses and 15 draws. (Caruana has three wins, four losses and five draws when playing Carlsen.)

(NYT)