Viswanathan Anand (centre) will face Hikaru Nakamura (left) and Magnus Carlsen in a tournament in Morocco which will be played in the unique Casablanca Chess Variant format. (PHOTOS: FIDE via Lennart Ootes, Stev Bonhage)
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will face off against Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Amin Bassem, Africa’s strongest Grandmaster, at a chess event in Morocco’s Casablanca later this month where a very unique format will be showcased. The four players will represent their continents in the event that will take place on May 18th and 19th.
The unique format is called the Casablanca Chess Variant by the organisers of the event (Casablanca Stock Exchange, Casa Events and Animation, and the Royal Moroccan Chess Federation) and it will have players having a completely new kind of starting position.
We explain what the Casablanca Variant is and how the event will work.
How does the Casablanca Chess Variant work?
Explaining the unique format of the variant, the organisers said, “Each game at the Casablanca Chess will commence from equal positions inspired by historical gems — some renowned, others less so. (The question is) Will today’s masters follow the well-trodden paths of their predecessors, or will they choose a new direction?”
While on commentary duty for the FIDE Candidates tournament, five-time world champion Anand had explained how this event will play out.
“We’ll have selected positions that we’ll need to play out. The positions will be interesting and equal,” he said before announcing that he will also be in action at an event in Lyon in June (a rapid tournament) and then another tournament in Corsica (blitz open tournament).
What this means is that organisers will pick a mid-way point from a historical game, for example, a game from the 1995 World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Anand. And then the two players on the board have to try and beat their opponent from that point on.
So, how will these selected positions on the board be picked at the Casablanca event?
Grandmasters Laurent Fressinet and Hicham Hamdouchi will choose and unveil surprise starting positions before each game.
How is Casablanca Chess Variant different from the Freestyle G.O.A.T. event?
The basic idea behind both Casablanca Chess Variant and the Freestyle G.O.A.T. event is the same: since opening prep has made games predictable and an exercise in memorising moves and lines, have a starting position on the board that the players don’t know beforehand, so cannot prepare move order in advance and have to improvise while on the board.
“In this digital age, some games unfold seamlessly, their moves orchestrated in advance, leaving little room for creativity at the board. To inspire the spirit of independent thought and strategic creativity, the Casablanca Stock Exchange introduces the groundbreaking Casablanca Chess Variant,” the Casablanca Chess organisers announced.
While the Freestyle G.O.A.T Chess Event that Carlsen promoted had pieces on the back ranks of both players organised in a randomised order, the Casablanca Chess Variant will use historical games as an inspiration to present players with a position.
