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 The World Championship is here (yesterday, technically). It features champion Magnus Carlsen at his most insecure, defending against American Fabiano Caruana. This is a bit of a hurried thread since I forgot to make it in time for yesterdays game! Places to watch: Official Site — You have to pay and it sucks. Don't use it. Chess24 — My favourite. Features Sopiko Guramishvilli, Peter Svidler, and Sasha Grischuk. Svidler is, in my mind, the best chess commentator going. Him and Jan Gustaffson play off each other fantastically, especially when bored. Chess.com — I think they've hired the Chessbrahs to do it again this year. Quite popular with people here. Schedule: All games start at 3PM London, UK time Caruana has white 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 Carlsen has white 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 Round 1: November 9 1/2 Carlsen generates a winning advantage but somehow fails to convert. I am not use to him not winning these kinds of games. Round 2: November 10 1/2 Caruana gets the better of Carlsen in the opening, but Carlsen manages to defang play and the game is quickly drawn. Round 3: November 12 1/2 Caruana improves on the game 1 opening but lets control of the a-file slip. Carlsen generates good play in the endgame but can't find a winning plan. Round 4: November 13 1/2 Carlsen gets a small stable advantage but just doesn't seem to try to do anything with it. Round 5 November 15 1/2 A wing gambit! Despite Carlsen marching his king down the board before move 30, a surprisingly straightforward draw. Round 6: November 16 1/2 Game of the tournament. Carlsen plays a weird variation on the Petroff that quickly turns into a queenless symmetrical position. Somehow this ends up with Carlsen giving a piece for three pawns to try and hold an endgame. He plays perfect-to-the-human-eye defence, but apparently somewhere around move 67 there's a win. Neither player sees it. Round 7: November 18 1/2 I was unavailable for this game but it doesn't look like much happened. Carlsen went back to his game 2 opening, as expected, but didn't seem to accomplish anything. Or even come close. Round 8: November 19 1/2 A top level Sveshnikov?! Caruana developed a very good advantage out of the opening, but seemed to punt it very quickly. This game seems to have crystallized the narrative that Carlsen is having trouble with Caruana's opening preparation, but Caruana's actual play has been very inadequate. Round 9: November 21 1/2 Magnus finally gets the better of the opening, and looks to be on his way to a possibly-winning game until he overlooks 25. h5 gxh5. Round 10: November 22 1/2 A dynamic-looking game that is too poorly played to go anywhere. Carlsen nearly blunders a good endgame into a straight loss. Round 11: November 24 1/2 [farting noises] Round 12: November 26 Tie-Breaks: November 28 Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Nov 26, 2018 |
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Nov 10, 2018 15:33
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 09:01 |
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ulmont posted:Basically every chess twitch streamer is also doing live commentary, so if you prefer to get Ben Finegold or Luís Fernández Siles you can do that. Haha gently caress Agon.
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Nov 10, 2018 16:00
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAFhdYU3Tao Queen's Gambit Declined today. Not standard Magnus fare, so let's see where he takes it.
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Nov 10, 2018 16:02
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(After 15 moves) This is one of those positions that I don't feel comfortable with from either side. Both queensides feel too weak to me. Overall I think I prefer white, due to the space advantage and the possibility of putting the bishop on f3, which feels strong here.
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Nov 10, 2018 17:10
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algebra testes posted:Where is Jan? Team Magnus
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Nov 10, 2018 17:59
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Teddybear posted:I like to pop in during the WCC and pretend that I know chess at all. From what I've seen from commentary, it looks like Carlsen is steering them towards another draw with those last couple moves? His position is objectively bad/drawn, but he has some practical ideas. If anything he's trying to find a win somewhere, 30 moves down the line.
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Nov 10, 2018 18:23
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If you have a passed pawn on the 6 and you're not losing, might as well play on.
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Nov 10, 2018 18:41
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Revenge of the 3v2 rook endgame.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:08
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A very back to the drawing board game for Magnus. I don't think he got anything that he wanted.
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Nov 10, 2018 19:13
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrSEUaGkvgA Another semi-open, reasonably dynamic position for Carlsen. I feel like he's reasonably happy as black here.
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Nov 12, 2018 16:36
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Drone posted:Have there been any real, highlight "wow!" moments so far? Magnus loving up a win in round 1?
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Nov 13, 2018 11:44
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https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1062322566642196482 The St Louis Chess Club might have accidentally leaked some of Caruana's prep. Hob_Gadling posted:I thought the opening choice was interesting in game 3. Is there a good analysis on what the traps were? I'm certain there was something beyond the pawn sacrifice. Carlsen was white in game 2. It looked like he was completely unprepared for Rd8. White actually has lines to play for a good game after that, but they're very complicated and I guess Carlsen didn't want to play a double-edged game. Carlsen went for a much quieter game because his first priority was avoiding Caruana's prep.
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Nov 13, 2018 13:40
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We got a four knights English today. Straight up and down so far. e: I play this as white. I'm watching closely what Magnus goes for because, well, I'm not entirely confident with what to do. I know that white wants to put a rook on c1 to support the knight going to c5, but I can never figure out where to put my bishop or how to do that fast enough. e2: I also wouldn't be surprised if Carlsen doesn't go for the obvious first-choice plan. Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Nov 13, 2018 |
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Nov 13, 2018 16:03
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Piece sacrifice into an unbalanced endgame. Still objectively a draw, but by no means a guarantee on either side. Of note is that Caruana doesn't have the correct bishop for the corner.
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Nov 16, 2018 20:37
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a5 is Magnus claiming he has a fortress.
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Nov 16, 2018 21:39
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People in the chess24 chat are claiming that there was a win for black at move 67, but black missed it. Seems very, uh, theoretical.
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Nov 16, 2018 22:13
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vyelkin posted:Stockfish announced mate in 30 after Carlsen played Kg6 and then I guess Caruana didn't do whatever Stockfish wanted because then it switched to mate in 63 and then it went back to slight advantage for black. Next stop move 114, I guess. e: I can actually see this game creating one of those stealth repetitions. Like not the same position three times consecutively, but distributed over 10-20 moves. e2: Yeah, looks like Grischuk has identified a position triple repetition. Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Nov 16, 2018 |
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Nov 16, 2018 22:16
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And it's in the books. Probably a large number of books. And Grischuk gives the final word: "And every Friday I'm wasted like poo poo."
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Nov 16, 2018 22:31
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Teddybear posted:And now we're into theoretical draw territory. RIP. He should've had this. Oh man I don't know about that.
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Nov 16, 2018 22:31
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vyelkin posted:If you can't calculate forced mate in 63, can you even call yourself a super GM? https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1063551897053929472
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Nov 16, 2018 23:32
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https://twitter.com/SusanPolgar/status/1065187711395483648 Combat chess, down to the wire.
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Nov 21, 2018 11:23
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This is not what white would conventionally want out of an opening, but if Caruana is already using time then Carlsen probably has roughly what he wants. It's an unbalanced position, not immediately simplifying, and has options for play. Now if you could just tell me what Carlsen does about Nc4 plans. e: Giri: "Go Premium. Unmute the Grischuk."
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Nov 21, 2018 16:30
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Grischuk: "You know, on a weak engine this is the first line." Giri: "Hey, you got a weak engine." Svidler: "This is the highest complement I've been paid in a while."
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Nov 21, 2018 17:32
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Complete meltdown in the Grischuk household right now.
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Nov 21, 2018 18:28
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And we've reached the Svidler referencing loss part of the broadcast.
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Nov 21, 2018 19:08
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Back to the Sveshnikov. It feels pretty double-edged (move 19), but still that Carlsen is better if he navigates it. e: "To me chess is a constant struggle between the desire not to lose and the desire not to think." Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Nov 22, 2018 |
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Nov 22, 2018 17:31
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On 21.Kh1, the Svidler/Giri/Grischuk team has found 21...b5!!. It sacrifices a pawn and gives white an advanced passer, with the trade-off of clearing out white's defensive rook on a3. I hope he goes for it.
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Nov 22, 2018 17:56
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Omnikin posted:He's going for it. Fabi's in a bad way right now And then Carlsen blunders a pawn. I suspect that Caruana has enough time to confirm that he can take on b5 and not die.
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Nov 22, 2018 18:42
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Syncopated posted:Things are happening! Things seem to have largely ceased happening.
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Nov 22, 2018 19:58
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Jonny Nox posted:Things aren't happening in a really tense way. This position is a gift to the broadcasters as a revenge against the people who just sit there and read off computer evals.
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Nov 22, 2018 20:16
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Nice piece of fish posted:Re Misérables Carlsen is blundering and Caruana is playing with total cowardice.
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Nov 22, 2018 21:22
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Next game
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Nov 24, 2018 17:30
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silvergoose posted:Just looked and oh is that opposite square bishops, only pawns elsewise, and therefore clearly a draw? Analysis team is focusing on "so let's say that black's king is permanently locked out of the position and white can make multiple moves in a row, can white win then?"
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Nov 24, 2018 18:19
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Look at how the game ended, I've won that endgame before. Mind you, it was against a player not quite as good as Caruana.
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Nov 24, 2018 19:11
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The game is interesting, but I'm still here for Giri and Grischuk turning to roasting Svidler already.
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Nov 26, 2018 17:35
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Nice piece of fish posted:gently caress was that rook move? Want a rook on the c-file, and don't want to give up the ability to castle long just yet.
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Nov 26, 2018 17:47
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It's a wild position but once against Carlsen is less than precise. Still looks like he holds the balance, though. e: Grischuk with the good point that given the match and clock situation, Carlsen is probably looking to solidify the position with a slight plus with initiative. Caruana will have to play quite precisely under a lot of pressure. Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Nov 26, 2018 |
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Nov 26, 2018 18:19
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What is striking about this match, and makes it feel different from Carlsen-Karjakin, is that the quality of game seems quite low. This was most notable in game 10, but generally these games haven't seemed necessarily drawn. Rather, they're drawn because Caruana is passive and Carlsen is inaccurate.
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Nov 26, 2018 18:57
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welp to tie breakers we go
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Nov 26, 2018 19:07
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 09:01 |
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vyelkin posted:That was really weird. I guess Carlsen couldn't see a way through despite clearly being better. Black is theoretically not without worry in that position. But black is also clearly better, and still has play. I guess it's predictable given the nothing of a game 11. I guess he's just happy to roll with rapid games.
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Nov 26, 2018 19:10
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