Ever full of surprises, Magnus Carlsen played the Dutch Stonewall variation and won against Vishwanathan Anand in Round 4 of the Grenke Chess Classic at Baden Baden.
I don’t think I have ever seen the Stonewall being employed by a World Champion! Maybe back then in the in days of Mikhail Botvinnik it was I don’t think it has happened in a recent times. I have not gone through the Chessbase Database before making this claim.
The Stonewall is quite popular among some club players. The strategy behind is quite simple, use a wedge of pawns in the centre and back them up with your pieces to build a space advantage. It is not always an easy opening to play against on either side. The Stonewall is aptly named as it is very difficult to break through. It’s a solid opening choice. Grandmaster Nigel Short had this to say about playing the Stonewall.
There are very few players who can rebound from a defeat as well as Carlsen. He seems to just shrug it off and get back to his winning ways. He even poked fun at himself after losing the game against Arkadij Naiditsch in the previous round.
After his win against Anand, Carlsen commented, “I guess the previous round just goes to show that when you play riskily–sacrifice material–you should follow it up by playing well.” Here is another comment from Carlsen on the game.
With his ever changing openings and defences, Carlsen is sure to keep his opponents guessing. Given that most grandmasters spend a great deal of time working on openings, Carlsen probably gives his opponents even more work.
The win against Anand was Carlsen’s first since their match! Regarding his Opening Carlsen said “I tried to play something unusual in order to get something exciting”.
We recently spoke about the risky chess that Carlsen employed in his match against Naiditsch which did not work too well. He has certainly continued with risks from an opening perspective. The Stonewall is a well-known opening but not at top level meaning that it has a huge surprise element. Carlsen has often been described as a boring players but his play at Grenke Chess Classic has been anything but boring. It has full of surprises for the chess fans and even the players I am sure.
And here is another tweet on the game. 
These are interesting times for chess. Here is the game betwen Carlsen and Anand. Enjoy!
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