Wesley So did not cope with the rook – Newspaper Kommersant No. 201 (7402) of 10/28/2022

An extremely funny incident happened at the Fischer World Chess Championship in Reykjavik. In the midst of the group stage, it turned out that the current title holder in this discipline, Wesley So from the USA, who sensationally snatched the title from the “classic” champion Magnus Carlsen in 2019, does not know the rules. In the game of the mini-match against the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, So castled, but in the circumstances it was impossible: the American’s king was in check. Nepomniachtchi was in a state of shock while the judge, who came up to the table, explained the rules to Wesley So. Meanwhile, the Uzbek prodigy Nodirbek Abdusattorov became the leader of the tournament.

One of the most ridiculous and at the same time funny situations in the entire history of chess occurred at the current Fischer World Chess Championship in Reykjavik. Its main participant was the current title holder in this format, invented by the legendary Bobby Fischer and providing for a random arrangement of figures on the front row, 29-year-old American Wesley So. He won the title of champion back in 2019, simultaneously inflicting the most devastating defeat of his career on the finals to his then rival, Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, with a final score of 13.5:2.5.

This incident occurred on the second competitive day of the current world championship. Then Wesley So as an opponent went to 32-year-old Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, playing under the flag of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). They had to play two series of games with each other – the third and fourth rounds.

The comical episode began with a miss by the American playing black. So, having lost concentration, removed his queen from the last rank, thus leaving only two pieces there – the king on g8 and the rook on h8. Then Nepomniachtchi, who, to put it mildly, was surprised by his opponent’s move, raised his queen to a8 and announced So check. The American, on whose face one could read equanimity and calmness, decided to respond to this threat by castling: he took the rook, transferred it to the f8 square and, as if nothing had happened, began to wait for a new blow.

The Russian was even more surprised. He could not believe that So, who had been playing in the elite for more than a decade, had forgotten about this elementary rule, which Nepomniachtchi, according to him, met “at the age of five or so”: if the king is in check, then execute castling is not possible.

The American began to discuss this topic with the approaching judge. The girl bent over the board and with an apologetic look began to explain to the grandmaster, who occupies the fifth line in the FIDE rating, that it is generally forbidden to do this, and then called her male colleague. All the while the couple were talking with Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi watched the situation sideways and could not come to his senses: he either shrugged, raised his eyebrows, shrugged, shook his head. And then, preparing to get up from the table, he rolled his eyes. Later, So frankly admitted in an interview with journalists that he had never read the rules of Fischer chess before, although the castling clause is relevant for both the classic game and this format.

According to the results of two competitive days, Nepomniachtchi earned a total of five points and moved up to the second line in the Group A standings. Its absolute leader – with eight points – is the 18-year-old Uzbek prodigy Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who turned into the main star of the August World Chess Olympiad in Chennai. It was his brilliant performance that then led to the victory of the Uzbek team, which outstripped two very serious competitors – the Armenian team and the second Indian team.

In group B, two players share the first position – Magnus Carlsen and American Hikaru Nakamura, who have six points each. The final rounds of the group stage – the fifth and sixth – were held on Thursday late in the evening. According to their results, the participants of the championship play-off should be determined, where the two strongest grandmasters from each group will go.

Ekaterina Remizova