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Controversy continues to hound Magnus Carlsen and the Fide Rapid and Blitz World Championship. After the Jeans Controversy in the Rapid Tournament, Magnus agreed to return to play in the Blitz tournament. He reached the finals after an exciting match versus Hans Niemann in the quarterfinals. It will be remembered that there was another controversy involving Magnus and Hans in 2022 where Magnus quit the Sinquefield Cup and refused to play Hans in other tournaments after losing amid suspicions of cheating.
It was a thrilling quarterfinal match between Magnus and Hans. Magnus came from behind a 0.5-1.5 deficit to win.
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The Finals match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniatchi was no less thrilling. Magnus won two games and the commentators were already writing Ian off but somehow he dug deep and won two games on demand. Several draws ensued and Magnus offered and Ian accepted to share the title. Naturally, this was criticized by a lot of fans and players alike. After pacifying Magnus on the previous controversy, it seems that FIDE is bending backwards to cater to Magnus's demands.
Controversy aside, it was an exciting Blitz Tournament. Ian beat Rapid champion Murzin in the quarterfinals and the solid Wesley So in the semis while Magnus defeated Hans Niemann in the quarterfinals and Jan Kryzstof Duda in the semis. My favorite game is this win by Nepomniatchi with black.
In this position, Magnus was threatening mate in two with Rb8 but Ian found the brilliant Rxg2!!
Kxg2 was followed by another brilliant move Ne3!
The only move to prevent mate was to give up the queen with Qxe3 (fxe3 Rg8+) then d4+ follows.
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