Anyone following the chess world championship?

[david2]

Worldchamp Carlsen (my hero) will most likely win it again after he already won two games. The remainder games played were mostly fighting draws.

Nepomniachtchi now needs to attack even more which cannot be done without also giving chances to Carlsen. My bet is that Carlsen will win a few more games in the not so far future.

Games can be seen here. https://en.chessbase.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/user/PowerPlayChess/videos

 

[PeroK]

Poor Nepo. He's played really well, with just one real mistake so far. He seems to have played for a win as black a couple of times and come to grief, while not pushing too much with the white pieces.

The idea of playing one game per day without adjournments is generally good, but I think it's backfired in this case. They both needed a rest day after that epic.

 

[Infrared]

I don't see Ian coming back after this past game. It seems that 10...Kf8 was a strange choice and 10...Qe7 would've led to a quick draw. And 21...b5 was a very uncharacteristic blunder - I would even expect myself to notice that Qa3+ refutes it. Though Carlsen was a bit better by then anyway and Nepo would've had to work to make the draw.

 

[david2]

They both needed a rest day after that epic.

Yeah, that game was a great one. The longest WC game ever. Nepo was so close to draw that game. But Carlsen can squeeze water from a stone. Reminds me of a game Carlsen played against Karjakin. Normally a draw but one mistake after a long shuffle and it was over.

 

[Office_Shredder]

I don't see Ian coming back after this past game. It seems that 10...Kf8 was a strange choice and 10...Qe7 would've led to a quick draw. And 21...b5 was a very uncharacteristic blunder - I would even expect myself to notice that Qa3+ refutes it. Though Carlsen was a bit better by then anyway and Nepo would've had to work to make the draw.

I think Nepo figured he needed to win something, so he would create a position where the game wasn't an auto draw. The only issue I have with this idea is he should have tried a bit harder to go for it with white in game 7 if that was his idea, I'm sure he was tired, but so was carlsen, and you probably could have gotten a situation that was a bit more 50/50 on who wins than that Kf8 move.

 

[PeroK]

I think Nepo figured he needed to win something, so he would create a position where the game wasn't an auto draw. The only issue I have with this idea is he should have tried a bit harder to go for it with white in game 7 if that was his idea, I'm sure he was tired, but so was carlsen, and you probably could have gotten a situation that was a bit more 50/50 on who wins than that Kf8 move.

Also, in game 6 he played ambitiously. In modern chess at the highest level, it's rare that black comes out on top. His best chance after losing a game was to mix it up when he had the white pieces.

 

[onatirec]

I agree that it's all but over. Game 8 was ugly. I kind of liked the early h5, but things went downhill fast. Really seemed he should've spent more time at the board.

I was generally impressed with Ian's play. He often came out of the opening with a slight advantage and had real chances as black in games 2 and 6 (just before the time scramble) with the black pieces - and a very difficult to see opportunity in game 5 with c4.

I don't think it's too farfetched he could pull off a win with black. Perhaps now we'll see a najdorf or grunfeld.

 

[PeroK]

I don't think it's too farfetched he could pull off a win with black. Perhaps now we'll see a najdorf or grunfeld.

In 1986, Karpov won three games in a row to come from 4-1 down against Kasparov back to 4-4, before eventually losing 5-4 (12.5 - 11.5).

That was 9 decisive games in a 24-game match. I laugh when people talk about the Carlsen-Nepo games being exciting when I think back to those matches. Two of Kasparov's wins in the Ruy Lopez were totally amazing games.

PS Fischer against Spassky had only 4 draws in the first 13 games (although one was a forfeit, of course).

 

[PeroK]

PS All we had in those days were the moves coming up on Ceefax, the BBC pre-Internet text service on terrestrial TV.

 

[fresh_42]

PS All we had in those days were the moves coming up on Ceefax, the BBC pre-Internet text service on terrestrial TV.

... and the newspaper. IIRC I bought a chess magazine at the central station to follow the matches.

 

[PeroK]

... and the newspaper. IIRC I bought a chess magazine at the central station to follow the matches.

Newspapers aren't live! The moves would come through one or two at a time on the old teletext service. I would set up a board and follow the games as best I could.

 

[david2]

Now it is really over. Nepo self-destructed.

 

[PeroK]

Now it is really over. Nepo self-destructed.

$c5$ was inexplicable.

 

[fresh_42]

Why didn't he see 27. ... c6 I assume he fell for the opportunity c5 with c6 to fix the bishop on b7. Too bad that Carlsen had a move in between. All he had to do is consolidate his position and force Carlsen into time problems.

 

[fresh_42]

And here is the photo of the match:

... after 27. c5??, c6!

 

[Office_Shredder]

I'm kind of curious, at the grandmaster level, what fraction of games have a blunder that bad? Is it like, one in thirty, so pretty surprising but let's be honest they're playing a lot of chess, or is it more like one in a million, this is literally the worst move of the year.

 

[fresh_42]

I wonder if there are such statistics, but it happens. It was the natural move here: the pawn was threatened and c5 saved its life. A seemingly easy way to keep the advantage of one pawn on the board. That's when I usually hit the reverse key when playing with the computer. I think it is a case of overthinking a position and then choosing the worst of all possibilities. Re4 would have covered the pawn, too, but the computer says, that Re4 is a bad move as well. Maybe he figured this out and in the end saved it with c5 instead.

 

[Infrared]

Re4 would have covered the pawn, too, but the computer says, that Re4 is a bad move as well.

Re4 just loses to Rb8.

Anyway, both of Ian's most recent losses have been from very uncharacteristic blunders... I think he was just mentally defeated after game 6. IMO, this can be seen even in his game today: he absolutely needed to win but he played the Petrov to get a draw. It seems that he just wants the match to be over.

 

[onatirec]

Nepo, ground down by the goat in typical magnus fashion, blunders away the rest of the match. Reminds me of a move I'd make in blitz - I would honestly expect a super GM to see that blunder in a bullet game.

Maybe Firouzja or someone else from the next generation will take the crown eventually, but probably not until magnus is tired of wearing it.

 

[PeroK]

this can be seen even in his game today: he absolutely needed to win but he played the Petrov to get a draw.

I'm not so sure that he needed to win yesterday. His target was two wins from two as white and one win from three as black. That's gone down to one win from two as black, so it hasn't changed much.

If, and it's a big if, he can find a way to win as white, then the pressure is on Magnus a little.

 

[david2]

I'm kind of curious, at the grandmaster level, what fraction of games have a blunder that bad?

If I remember correctly Carlsen blundered a piece against Giri once in the opening and resigned at the spot. (I believe it was at Wijk aan Zee but cannot find the game) And he blundered a piece againt Gawain Jones (also at Wijk), but still won, letting people believe he did it on purpose! (Which he did not) po po po pokerface 8)

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1908574

17 .. f4 attacks two pieces.

But still such blunders do not happen often at the highest level.

 

[david2]

Maybe Firouzja or someone else from the next generation will take the crown eventually, but probably not until magnus is tired of wearing it.

Firouzja is hot! He will be WC one day, but indeed only if Carlsen is getting tired to be the number one for so many years. haha

 

[Infrared]

I'm not so sure that he needed to win yesterday. His target was two wins from two as white and one win from three as black. That's gone down to one win from two as black, so it hasn't changed much.

I don't think I agree with this. When you're down so much, you can't go into a game being amenable to a draw. With so few chance left, you need to try every game. Maybe it's possible that the last game rattled him so much that he didn't think he was in a position to play a serious game last round, but I mostly think he's given up on the match...

 

[PeroK]

I don't think I agree with this. When you're down so much, you can't go into a game being amenable to a draw. With so few chance left, you need to try every game. Maybe it's possible that the last game rattled him so much that he didn't think he was in a position to play a serious game last round, but I mostly think he's given up on the match...

That's the problem with your analysis. It leads you to the conclusion that Nepo must have given up.

We can test our respective theories in the next match. If you believe he has given up you must predict a quiet draw. I predict he goes all out for a win.

We'll see who proves to be right.

 

[david2]

I predict he goes all out for a win.

and Carlsen wins. hehehe,

but let's see.I hope we see a great game tomorrow.

 

[PeroK]

He should play the King's Gambit!

 

[david2]

hahaha. yeah why not!

 

[fresh_42]

My guess is Russian.

 

[Infrared]

eads you to the conclusion that Nepo must have given up.

We can test our respective theories in the next match. If you believe he has given up you must predict a quiet draw. I predict he goes all out for a win.

I don't know about quick draw- if he has white, he'll probably try something. But I think it'll be more along the lines of another anti-Marshall test than an all-out winning attempt.
I might have worded my earlier post badly. I mean that I think he has given up on trying to win the match, not on trying to play decent games.

He should play the King's Gambit!

This would be terrific! He beat Firouzja with the KG fairly recently. The only issue is that he made a chessable course on the opening, and this might take away some element of surprise... However, if he plays the King's gambit, I'll definitely concede to being wrong about his state of mind in the match!

 

[david2]

The fat lady sang! It is over!

Congratulations to Carlsen for once again showing he is the best!

Game six really was the turning point. Nepo never recovered from it.

Next stop is Tata Steel 2022. The participating players have just been announced.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/field-of-participants-tata-steel-chess-tournament-2022-complete

 

[PeroK]

I don't think I agree with this. When you're down so much, you can't go into a game being amenable to a draw. With so few chance left, you need to try every game. Maybe it's possible that the last game rattled him so much that he didn't think he was in a position to play a serious game last round, but I mostly think he's given up on the match...

I think you might have been right. The final game was a poor attempt at a win, as it was Carlsen who took the initiative in the middle game! If Nepo was going to lose that game, he should have lost by pushing too hard for a win, but he was forced to defend.

Possibly the match showed that there is a gulf between the players. It was a bit like Short against Kasparov - the longer the match went on the more obvious it became that he was no match for Kasparov.

 

[BillTre]

Here is a 358 article reviewing the matches.
They have several charts comparing aspects of the different games.
Here is one of them.

 

[david2]

Uh Oh

After Magnus Carlsen convincingly won the World Championship match 7.5-3.5 against challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, the old and new World Champion seems to be tired of defending his title. In a Norwegian podcast interview with his friend Magnus Barstad, Carlsen indicated that he lacked the motivation to defend his title again. Unless the next challenger would be Alireza Firouzja.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/no-more-world-championship-matches-for-carlsen