Firouzja, the 16-year-old prodigy who unleashes Carlsen without a homeland and without a flag

Iran sneaks into world lite in the prestigious Wijk ann Zee tournament just a few weeks after leaving his country.

Magnus Carlsen remains untouchable, but it seems that his rival for the next decade already has a name and face, although not nationality. Alireza Firouzja, the golden boy of the nextgen Chess player, is now a genius without a country, after having broken ties with Irn, a country that was a national champion with only 12 years.

The reasons are very similar to those that prompted Judoca Saeid Mollaei to take refuge in Germany last summer: Irn prevents his athletes from facing Israeli rivals, forcing them not to appear or forcing them to withdraw from the competition. This exposes them to sanctions, and even the Iranian Judo Federation was completely suspended by the IJF. With this precedent, and to avoid risking a similar sanction, the Iranian Chess Federation decided not to enroll any player in the recent Rapid and Lightning Chess World Championships, in anticipation of a possible crossing with any of the six israeles they took part in the test.

This was the drop that filled the glass for Alireza, who had already been forced in April 2019 – with only 15 years – not to appear in a Grenke Open game against Israel Or Bronstein, putting up with his chances of winning the event and qualify for the lite tournament.

Knowing that his federation did not intend to enroll him in the World Rapid Championship, held in Moscow, Iran would instantly decide to renounce his nationality and asked the International Federation to register for free in the test, which played symbolically under the banner of this institution. The result: a silver medal in the lightning mode, after having played an exciting side by side with Carlsen, who came to overflow completely in his particular duel – although the Asian ended up losing after running out of time.

A hole in the top-20

The definitive consecration for Alireza has arrived this week, where it has been placed leader during several rounds of the tournament of Wijk ann Zee, the Dutch town that, after the disappearance of Linares, is considered with justice as the Wimbledon of chess. Although again Carlsen showed again that he rules in the generational duel, and prevailed in the game that confronts them, the adolescent prodigy accumulates four victories against elite players and is provisionally placed in the world top-20.

Irn, where chess is very popular, was called to be one of the revelation passes at the next Olympiad, to be held this summer in Moscow. With a team formed by young stars in both the women's and mixed categories, the dream of stripping with Russia, China or the United States to enter the medals had gained strength. But these aspirations have gone to waste, since Alireza's resignation has not been the only one: only a few days after that, the female Grand Master Mitra Hejazipour also announced that she was leaving the country, in her case for refusing to cover her hair with the mandatory veil.

117 unbeaten games

Also the veil, and an incident caused by a photo that was calling to deceit, caused last week that the international referee Shohreh Bayat initiated the procedures to apply for asylum in Europe. Shohreh, who runs the Women's World Championship during these days, had become the Secretary General of the Iran Federation, a country where now “I will not be guaranteed my security in case I want to return,” he says. Under these conditions, it is not surprising that the Iranian national championship, which is held during these days, is disputed with the absence of 18 of its 20 best players.

Although Alireza's progress begins to create an incipient rivalry, today there is no one to question Carlsen. The Norwegian closed 2019 as the best year of his career, with 10 victories in super-tournaments, and obtaining for the third time in his career the so-called Triple Crown. This is: at the same time showing the titles of the world champion in classical chess, but also in the fast and lightning modalities. Such is its superiority, which takes more than a year and a half without proving defeat, and chains 117 unbeaten games.