Magnus Carlsen quipped, “it’s nice to show that my retirement only lasted a couple of days” as he powered to victory in the Superbet Rapid & Blitz with a +10 blitz performance that included a run where he scored 10.5/11. It was all credit, therefore, to Jan-Krzysztof Duda, that the Polish no. 1 pushed Magnus all the way and in the final 124-move game missed some wins that would have forced a playoff.

Magnus Carlsen had a very slow start in Warsaw, failing to win a game for the first two days, but by the first day of the blitz he was already flying, and he didn’t ease off on the final day.

He would sum up, when asked for a message to his fans:

He made it seven wins in a row with an impressive defensive and then counter-attacking effort against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (the day’s 2nd top scorer), before getting revenge on the player who beat him on the first day of blitz, Wesley So. Magnus started 1.b3, and Wesley’s losing mistake was then to capture that pawn.

After 26.Rxa6! Qc5? 27.Qg3+! Magnus was completely winning, even if the conversion was a little bumpy.

That win was enough to give Carlsen the lead as Anish Giri beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Magnus decided it was time to try again with the opening that had lost him the first game of the tournament, the Polish 1.d4 b5!?.

Deac was the only player Magnus didn't beat in blitz | photo: Lennart Ootes, Grand Chess Tour

Up to a point it seemed to be working perfectly, as the huge 2.5 minutes Bogdan-Daniel Deac spent on 16.b5!? seemed to doom him to time trouble disaster in a complex position. As so often, however, the time situation spooked his opponent, and when Magnus took a long think of his own it was to play the losing 36…exd5?

37.Qg4!, attacking the loose rook and bishop, wins, since the only attempt to defend both pieces, 37…Qd8, is met by 38.c7! and the bishop has to be abandoned.

Here the clock situation did hurt Bogdan-Daniel, however, as he blitzed out 37.Qe5? and after 37…Qd8 missed another chance for a win with 38.c7! By the end of the game Magnus had reasons to be happy with a draw, and they increased when it turned out Duda had lost again.

Magnus got straight back to winning ways as he took down Radek Wojtaszek, Kirill Shevchenko and then Richard Rapport. That win made it a run of 10.5/11 for the world no. 1.

At this stage the only realistic challenger for Magnus was Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but he was two points back with just three rounds to go.

Magnus explained, however, that exhaustion was beginning to take over.

There was a packed local audience cheering Duda on | photo: Lennart Ootes, Grand Chess Tour

Duda, who had topped the table in rapid chess and went into the last day with a half-point lead, found things tough going, at least after a virtuoso display of how to checkmate with bishop and knight against Richard Rapport.

From there on Duda lost three of the next four games, but then he went on a 3-game winning streak just when Magnus was beginning to struggle. The penultimate round was particularly dramatic, since Magnus was on the ropes against Levon Aronian but ultimately managed to hold a draw. It looked as though that would be enough for tournament victory, since Duda was arguably even worse in a drawish endgame against Radek Wojtaszek.

Duda won on demand to close the gap on Magnus going into the final round | photo: Lennart Ootes, Grand Chess Tour

Duda would make it three games, three wins against his Polish colleague, however, when Radek went astray on move 53.

53…Bb5! is a draw, but 53…Bc8? was losing, since Duda could march his king all the way to c7, drive away the bishop, and push his pawn to a6. There was no stopping it, which meant Duda had closed the gap to a point before facing Magnus in the final round. He could go all-out for the win that would force a playoff, since he’d already sealed at least second place.

The final showdown between Duda and Carlsen | photo: Lennart Ootes, Grand Chess Tour

Duda went for an opening you don’t see every day!

Magnus explained, however, that this might not have been a wise choice.

Sure enough, Magnus played the computer’s top choices, while Duda… didn’t!

There was nothing better than losing the exchange with 9…Qxe4 10.Nc7+ and it seemed at first the final showdown would be anticlimactic. In the end, however, nothing could be further from the truth. As Magnus put it:

Carlsen’s edge slipped away, until it was Duda who was on top and got an endgame with a bishop and two pawns against a rook that was a nightmare for Magnus to defend. For the most part, the former world champion did a fantastic job, but it was impossible to navigate all the nuances at speed. Duda was winning, the tablebases tell us, as late as move 118.

118…Bb6! is winning, while after 118…Bf4 there were only another six moves before the game was over. It had been an enormous fight.

Magnus took home the $40,000 top prize, while Jan-Krzysztof Duda got $30,000.

Not a bad performance from the wild card | photo: Lennart Ootes, Grand Chess Tour

The Polish star could also take comfort from the fact that Magnus was a wildcard, so not a rival for the overall tour standings. Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave shared 3rd place.

Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and Anish Giri will be heading almost straight from Warsaw to Norway, where Norway Chess starts with an opening blitz tournament on Monday. They’re joined by Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov — who will fight it out in the Grand Final of the ChessKid Cup on Friday — and Alireza Firouzja, Hikaru Nakamura, Gukesh, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Aryan Tari.

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