Laurent Fressinet played his first French Banter Blitz session on chess24 on Wednesday. His boss and friend, World Champion Magnus Carlsen, couldn't resist dropping by to play a game against his second. Was Laurent finally going to take revenge five years after the infamous "too weak, too slow" game?



During the sometimes violent May 1st demonstrations in Paris, Laurent found himself blocked 50 metres from his apartment by the forces of law and order. They weren't letting anyone pass, even a 2-time French Chess Champion!

I don't think they like chess... The Banter will start late, but it will start!

Fortunately it was only a minor setback and the first ever chess24 Banter Blitz in French got underway. Laurent, username Zlatan56, played games against chess24 Premium members.



After many games against amateur players it was the turn of fellow Magnus Carlsen second and Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen to try his luck. In an Evans Gambit Laurent quickly had too much play for his sacrificed pawns and the Dane threw in the towel after only 20 moves!



1. e4 e5 2. ♘f3 ♘c6 3. ♗c4 ♗c5 4. b4 ♗xb4 5. c3 ♗a5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O dxc3 8. ♕b3 ♕f6 9. ♗g5 ♕g6 10. ♘xc3 ♗xc3 11. ♕xc3 ♘ge7 12. ♗d3 f6 13. e5 f5 14. ♗xe7 ♘xe7 15. ♕xc7 ♕b6 16. ♕d6 ♖f8 17. ♖fe1 h6 18. ♘d4 ♖f7 19. ♗c4 ♖f8 20. ♖ab1 1-0

After that warm-up, it was the turn of the Boss, the World Champion and arguably greatest player of all time, Magnus Carlsen, to challenge his second. Was Laurent finally going to take revenge, more than 5 years after the infamous "Too weak, too slow!" game, which by now has 1.2 million views on YouTube alone?

1. d4 ♘f6 2. c4 g6 3. ♘c3 ♗g7 4. e4 d6 5. ♗e2 O-O 6. g4 c5 7. d5 b5 8. g5 ♘fd7 9. ♘xb5 ♗a6 10. ♘c3 ♘e5 11. ♘b5 ♗xb5 12. cxb5 c4 13. f4 ♘d3+ 14. ♗xd3 cxd3 15. ♕xd3 ♘d7 16. ♘f3 ♘c5 17. ♕e2 ♕a5+ 18. ♗d2 ♕a4 19. e5 dxe5 20. ♘xe5 ♗xe5 21. fxe5 ♖ad8 22. O-O ♖xd5 23. b3 ♕d4+ 24. ♗e3 ♕xe5 25. ♖ad1 ♖xd1 26. ♖xd1 ♘e6 27. a4 ♘xg5 28. ♕d3 ♘f3+ 29. ♔f2 ♘xh2 30. ♗xa7 ♘g4+ 31. ♔g2 ♕h2+ 32. ♔f1 ♕f4+ 33. ♔e2 ♕h2+ 34. ♔f1 ♕f4+ 35. ♔e1 ♖c8 36. ♗g1 ♕e5+ 37. ♔f1 ♕f4+ 38. ♔g2 ♘e5 39. ♕e2 ♖c2 40. ♕xc2 ♕f3+ 41. ♔h2 ♘g4# 0-1

In a King's Indian Laurent gambitted away his pawn on b5, à la the Benko, recalling the game where MVL lost to Magnus in the last round of the GRENKE Chess Classic. Laurent was much more successful than his compatriot and got a very pleasant position. Magnus should have contented himself with a draw, but he took some reckless risks. When Laurent played the nice coup de grâce 39...Rc2! Magnus could already have resigned, but he showed the same class and sense of fair play as Peter Svidler had against him and allowed mate on the board.

Watch the whole game:



And you can also replay the whole show (of course this is more for our French-speaking members!):

See also: