Anish Giri: “I didn’t feel what you usually feel when playing with Magnus”

Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri commented on yesterday’s victory over world champion Magnus Carlsen at the Tata Steel Masters super tournament.

“It had to happen sooner or later. I’ve been playing very poorly against Magnus lately, and every time he increased the degree of risk.

I thought, “okay, I’m still losing to him, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Sooner or later he will start taking risks again, playing with me like when I was a little boy.”

I beat him only once, and it was pretty unconvincing, I was still very young, and he was a completely different person then. It’s amazing: I won when I was 16, and never since then until this moment!

It seemed to me that my chances of spoiling this game were higher than usual. But I didn’t feel what you usually feel when playing with Magnus. He made moves that were weaker than I expected. It gave me confidence,” – Anish said.

Anish Giri beat Magnus Carlsen in classical chess for the second time in his career. For the first time it happened in 2011 at a tournament in Wijk aan Zee.