It was alleged to be a showdown between a velocity demon and doubtless the greatest-ever Grandmaster in chess historical past. However it turned out to be a whole whitewash as Magnus Carlsen thrashed Nihal Sarin of their Esports World Cup quarter-final showdown, successful 2.5-0.5 on Thursday.
The primary recreation noticed each GMs play out a draw after which within the second recreation, Carlsen bagged a win, although earlier, he had supplied a draw by repetition to his opponent, which was rejected. Carlsen merely smiled in response.
Then within the third recreation, it was all Carlsen as he completely destroyed Sarin and clinched victory to qualify for the semi-finals.
‘I simply obtained fully crushed’: Nihal Sarin
Talking after his defeat, Sarin stated, “After all, I simply obtained fully crushed right this moment, however yeah, I imply, I for certain may have performed higher. I feel for the primary one and a half recreation, I used to be matching him or perhaps enjoying even higher.”
“I imply, he’s Magnus for a motive,” he added.
Earlier than ending his post-match interview, the Indian GM stated, “I’m simply very pleased to play in opposition to Magnus; he’s my greatest inspiration. It’s my first time attending to play him in a match. I want him good luck.”
Sarin was thought-about an underdog on this event, and he will likely be dissatisfied by the style of his defeat to Carlsen. He was representing S8UL within the event, and Carlsen was enjoying for Workforce Liquid.
A baby prodigy, Sarin crossed the Elo score of 2600 in 2018 on the tender age of 14-years-old, which on the time made him the third youngest participant in historical past to take action.
He obtained his GM title on the 2018 Abu Dhabi Masters, which additionally made India’s 53rd and the twelfth youngest in historical past on the time. He lately received the Tashkent Open in March 2025, with an unbeaten rating of 8/10.
