Magnus Carlsen is now the world chess #1 (1 Viewer)

[SacramentoBob]

Specifically would like to look into some Caro Kann exchange variations I'm having a ##### of a time with.

As Black?

... Nc6 followed by ...Qc7 is your best bet. You don't want to allow him to take away all your good squares with his bishop on d3 and f4. White should avoid Nf3 as that gives the Black light-squared bishop another potential landing spot.

 

[Reginald Cornsilks]

Specifically would like to look into some Caro Kann exchange variations I'm having a ##### of a time with.

As Black?

... Nc6 followed by ...Qc7 is your best bet. You don't want to allow him to take away all your good squares with his bishop on d3 and f4. White should avoid Nf3 as that gives the Black light-squared bishop another potential landing spot.

Caro Kann advance is my bread and butter. I don't know what to do when the exchange is played

But yes as black. Let me find a few games and post them here. The exchange is getting me all messed up. Wondering if I should just switch to the French Defense, but then I don't enjoy getting my light squared bishop out ahead of my pawn structure.

 

[SacramentoBob]

Here's the *official* chess thread:

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=703733

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Boy, what an (unexpectedly) epic battle between Carlsen and Karjakiin.  7 draws to start, then a Karjakin win.  Media going ape#### and a lot of mindless extrapolation to Karjakin as the next champ.  Ah, but Game 10 had other plans.  Kind of a messy one with a missed forced draw early on (that Karjakin would gladly have taken had he seen it).  Carlsen had Karjakin cramped into his back three ranks and eventually pushed him in a beautiful example of zugzwang where there was no improving move available.  

The live commentary has been pretty good by Judit Polgar, but she absolutely refuses to appreciate or even (in some cases) comprehend what the computer analysis is plainly telling her.  I actually like this approach most of the time since anyone can sit there with an engine and call out top lines and minor theoretical advantages, but it was pretty clear that Magnus had built up a decisive advantage and only had to grind it out.

As satisfying as it clearly was to Carlsen (who has acted every bit the petulant child in his loss), it wasn't pretty early on and he again dodged a bullet.  A draw in this one might have sunk his chances to retain the title.

Both guys are clearly exhausted at this point.  Carlsen was never pushed anywhere near this hard by Anand at any point in their two World Championship meetings.  In fact, he streamrolled him pretty convincingly.  As Kasparov said at one point during this match, Karjakin is a fine player, but Carlsen is exceptional.  I think a lot of people were surprised, though, how well (and accurate) Karjakin has been.  He has clearly frustrated Carlsen to this point with his resourcefulness and defense.  These two are nearly the same age which is a big change from Vishy Anand as a competitor who looked every bit the 40-something in his previous two title tries.  Karjakin's form was obviously very good in the Candidates Tournament (besting a wildly talented field) and it seems to have continued.  

The inaccuracies in Game 10 are certainly the result of mental and physical fatigue, but that's how these classical events go.  I can't even imagine how tired Kasparov and Karpov were in the (abandoned) World Championship in 1984.  48 games over 5 months with Kasparov charging hard at the end.

Should be an exciting finish in this one.  If it goes to tiebreaks, Magnus is about as good as it gets in short time controls and would be the clear favorite. 

 

[Mr. Pickles]

"Have you ever done the Ruy Lopez?" is usually a great pickup line.

Incidentally, the Ruy Lopez opening has been on prominent display throughout this match.  

 

[Dope]

Carlsen blew game 2 of the Rapid tie-breaker set. He had it. Sergei was able to work his way back to a draw.

1-1 after 2.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Judit seems to have gone up a size or two. I must say it suits her, no complaints here.

 

[grateful zed]

he won a honda!

 

[culdeus]

Someone want to explain to a total noob how that was a draw in game 2.

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Carlsen blew game 2 of the Rapid tie-breaker set. He had it. Sergei was able to work his way back to a draw.

1-1 after 2.

He was way up at one point, but it wasn't easy to convert that one.  Svidler and Gustafsson were puzzling over it.

Unsurprisingly, Magnus severely outplayed Sergey in 3 of the 4 rapid games.  I guess we can cut Sergey him some slack in game 4 given his back was against the wall and he had to do something crazy with black.  

Carlsen has the feel of a guy that could be the champ for a very very long time.  I think his only enemy is boredom, frankly.

 

[timschochet]

Boy, what an (unexpectedly) epic battle between Carlsen and Karjakiin.  7 draws to start, then a Karjakin win.  Media going ape#### and a lot of mindless extrapolation to Karjakin as the next champ.  Ah, but Game 10 had other plans.  Kind of a messy one with a missed forced draw early on (that Karjakin would gladly have taken had he seen it).  Carlsen had Karjakin cramped into his back three ranks and eventually pushed him in a beautiful example of zugzwang where there was no improving move available.  

The live commentary has been pretty good by Judit Polgar, but she absolutely refuses to appreciate or even (in some cases) comprehend what the computer analysis is plainly telling her.  I actually like this approach most of the time since anyone can sit there with an engine and call out top lines and minor theoretical advantages, but it was pretty clear that Magnus had built up a decisive advantage and only had to grind it out.

As satisfying as it clearly was to Carlsen (who has acted every bit the petulant child in his loss), it wasn't pretty early on and he again dodged a bullet.  A draw in this one might have sunk his chances to retain the title.

Both guys are clearly exhausted at this point.  Carlsen was never pushed anywhere near this hard by Anand at any point in their two World Championship meetings.  In fact, he streamrolled him pretty convincingly.  As Kasparov said at one point during this match, Karjakin is a fine player, but Carlsen is exceptional.  I think a lot of people were surprised, though, how well (and accurate) Karjakin has been.  He has clearly frustrated Carlsen to this point with his resourcefulness and defense.  These two are nearly the same age which is a big change from Vishy Anand as a competitor who looked every bit the 40-something in his previous two title tries.  Karjakin's form was obviously very good in the Candidates Tournament (besting a wildly talented field) and it seems to have continued.  

The inaccuracies in Game 10 are certainly the result of mental and physical fatigue, but that's how these classical events go.  I can't even imagine how tired Kasparov and Karpov were in the (abandoned) World Championship in 1984.  48 games over 5 months with Kasparov charging hard at the end.

Should be an exciting finish in this one.  If it goes to tiebreaks, Magnus is about as good as it gets in short time controls and would be the clear favorite. 

This is a great writeup.

 

[timschochet]

What a beautiful checkmate in the last game.

 

[Steve Tasker]

The live commentary has been pretty good by Judit Polgar, but she absolutely refuses to appreciate or even (in some cases) comprehend what the computer analysis is plainly telling her.  I actually like this approach most of the time since anyone can sit there with an engine and call out top lines and minor theoretical advantages, but it was pretty clear that Magnus had built up a decisive advantage and only had to grind it out.

She was getting absolutely #### on by some Twitter folks for her analysis.  I didn't get the hate; I thought it was, for the most part, pretty good.

 

[Sammy3469]

He was way up at one point, but it wasn't easy to convert that one.  Svidler and Gustafsson were puzzling over it.

Unsurprisingly, Magnus severely outplayed Sergey in 3 of the 4 rapid games.  I guess we can cut Sergey him some slack in game 4 given his back was against the wall and he had to do something crazy with black.  

Carlsen has the feel of a guy that could be the champ for a very very long time.  I think his only enemy is boredom, frankly.

You get the sense that Sergey can't consistently put him in danger.  Given enough time, he can consistently draw, but under any sort of time pressure, he starts making mistakes.  I'm too dumb at the game to know exactly why, but my guess is Magnus is at another level once they are forced to start trading pieces.  

 

[Dope]

He was way up at one point, but it wasn't easy to convert that one.  Svidler and Gustafsson were puzzling over it.

Unsurprisingly, Magnus severely outplayed Sergey in 3 of the 4 rapid games.  I guess we can cut Sergey him some slack in game 4 given his back was against the wall and he had to do something crazy with black.  

Carlsen has the feel of a guy that could be the champ for a very very long time.  I think his only enemy is boredom, frankly.

I'm a notch above novice, so I was using the computer analysis which at one point gave Magnus an 80% chance at victory. Plus Magnus had a crazy time advantage. That it became a draw was fascinating. At that point I really thought momentum was on Sergei's side, but Magnus can really play rapid chess much better and he dominated games 3 &4. . I would have loved to see them go to blitz, but this was just as good.

I love championship sports.

 

[chet]

I'm a notch above novice, so I was using the computer analysis which at one point gave Magnus an 80% chance at victory. Plus Magnus had a crazy time advantage. That it became a draw was fascinating. At that point I really thought momentum was on Sergei's side, but Magnus can really play rapid chess much better and he dominated games 3 &4. . I would have loved to see them go to blitz, but this was just as good.

I love championship sports.

Sport?  Come on.

 

[Dope]

Sport?  Come on.

The IOC says that it is.

One could say that Football is a chess game with individual battles between the pieces.

Both of those sentences are definitely stretches, but not like saying a tree is a dog. More like saying alligator tastes like chicken.

 

[chet]

The IOC says that it is.

One could say that Football is a chess game with individual battles between the pieces.

Both of those sentences are definitely stretches, but not like saying a tree is a dog. More like saying alligator tastes like chicken.

Not according to Wikipedia. 

Recognized sport[edit]


Chess is not recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC);[3] since June 1999 FIDE has been recognized by the International Sports Federation.[3][4][5][6]

Is backgammon a sport?  Bridge?  Calling chess a sport is silly.  Likening it to football is even worse for any number of reasons.

 

[Dope]

Not according to Wikipedia. 

Is backgammon a sport?  Bridge?  Calling chess a sport is silly.  Likening it to football is even worse for any number of reasons.

Contests. I like Championship contests.

Now I'll get off your lawn.