Friday 3 December 2021

The fickle finger of fashion

 The 6th game of the 2021 World Chess Championship has just started, and Carlsen has chosen to play the Catalan. This was also the choice for game 2, which ended in draw, but for various reasons, the choice of this opening generated a degree of excitement among the online spectators. This is probably a reaction to the various 1.e4 e5 games that ended in a draw, but I do remember a time when the Catalan was criticised as a 'drawing' opening. 

As I write this the game is still in the opening, but at least Nepo seemed a little surprised by the choice of opening. However, he seems to have recovered his equilibrium, and I fear that the game may end in another draw (based more on the symmetrical pawn structure they seemed to be playing for, than anything else)

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