Champions Chess Tour 2022: COVID hit hard on Calsen who lost another game on Day 3 against Hansen
Day 3 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2022 ended with Nepomniachtchi triumphing and Carlsen making commentators wonder if he hallucinated!
Nepo has an undefeated streak after 11 rounds, leading the tour and hitting a rating performance of 2949! Among his Day 3 wins were Hans Niemann, and the 16-year-old Indian chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandaa, who yesterday won against the World Champion and became an internet sensation.
Carlsen on the other hand is fighting hard not to be eliminated after a catastrophic Day 1, and a terrible blunder game against Pragg on Day 2.
Day 3 looked better for the Norwegian GM who scored two wins and a draw but what seemed to be a mouse-slip led to an unfortunate result against Eric Hansen. “But I thought, whatever, I’ll try it. I just hallucinated, no I didn’t hallucinate, I just missed that he can go to c3 with the queen.” Carlsen said afterward.
With the chess world wondering what’s wrong with the World Champion, Carlsen admitted that he’s suffering from post-covid side effects. “It’s been a little bit better today, but the first couple of days I was feeling like I’m ok but I didn’t have the energy which made it hard to focus because every time I tried to think I blundered. It was a little bit better today, but still pretty bad.” Carlsen confessed.
The event will continue on Tuesday, February 22, at 6PM CET, and you can watch it on the World Chess broadcasting page.
