Chess discussions

[pillory]

It’s in London

We'll see...

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In other news Caruana and Carlsen have of course been drawn together in the first round of Grenke this Saturday. It's the fourth tournament in a row they face each other in the first round.

 

[pillory]

Monumental game between Carlsen and Caruana now in the Sinquefield Cup. Caruana will be the new #1 if he wins. Also their last game before the WC match, possibly? (Not that Caruana looks very likely to win at the moment.)

 

[pillory]

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I think Carlsen likes his position.

 

[pillory]

Ended in a draw. Carlsen probably missed a good squeeze if not a win.

 

[pillory]

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Takes it on the chin!

 

[LoSpritz]

Came for Chest Discussions. Obviously I misread. I'm outta here

 

[pillory]

Nakamura had a "shh" moment against Carlsen in the last round and gave up a pawn just for fun thinking it was a draw anyway. It wasn't, so we'll have a play-off between Carlsen, Caruana and Aronian (who beat Grischuk with a crazy rook sacrifice).

 

[pillory]

Wait, it's not a three-way playoff, but two-way with one of the three being eliminated by drawing of lots??

 

[pillory]

Apparently Carlsen thought this was stupid and talked the other two into sharing first place without a playoff.

 

[donkeyfish]

In the end nothing

 

[donkeyfish]

I predict 11 draws and one win to Carlsen. Hyped up match but won't be a lot of decisive results.

 

[Grylte]

Probably remis this

 

[pillory]

Great start to the match, however it ends.

 

[pillory]

What worse psychologically in the first game of a WC match, being outplayed with white or throwing away what would have been a huge win? Assuming this ends in a draw.

 

[Skåre Willoch]

Great game so far. Hopefully M-dog will take it home. Does he know he missed out yet?

 

[pillory]

I'm pretty sure he does.

 

[Skåre Willoch]

Can't see how he'll win this now.

 

[Macern]

I’ve been watching for 4 hours straight. Really exciting. Sad if this ends in a draw considering how that has been the likely result for a long time now

 

[settembrini]

What worse psychologically in the first game of a WC match, being outplayed with white or throwing away what would have been a huge win? Assuming this ends in a draw.

Caruana will be relieved he didn't lose. Carlsen will be annoyed he didn't win but he's so strong mentally it won't affect him at all imo.

Very surprising game 1 though. First Caruana got outplayed in the opening with white when openings are probably his strongest area then Carlsen didn't close out a winning position which is so unlike him.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Black again in better position.

 

[settembrini]

Much better from Caruana today. His great opening prep paid off and he put Carlsen under a lot of pressure. Carlsen defended well as you would expect but this was a much more even game than the first.

 

[Skåre Willoch]

Likely another remis, but really interesting so far.

 

[Grylte]

No chess expert, but looks to me like both have played better with black.
Wonder if the leaks from Caruana's preparations will affect the next couple games.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

No chess expert, but looks to me like both have played better with black.
Wonder if the leaks from Caruana's preparations will affect the next couple games.

Carlsen with a rookie mistake overlooking a3. Caruana still in computerpreperation, and Carlsen have yet to do the castling.
First match that will not end in a draw.

 

[donkeyfish]

This is a mess

 

[AgentP]

Carlsen with a rookie mistake overlooking a3. Caruana still in computerpreperation, and Carlsen have yet to do the castling.
First match that will not end in a draw.

Carlsen would have obviously seen a3. The game is actually level now and will probably end in a draw.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

Carlsen would have obviously seen a3. The game is actually level now and will probably end in a draw.

Carlsen played like a computer now for some moves and either draw or Black wins.

 

[donkeyfish]

Five draws but I enjoy the match. It's exciting with unbalanced positions most of the time. No Berlin or Italians yet.

 

[pillory]

Has black eventually been better, however slightly, in all the games so far? Carlsen under big pressure now, but it think it's still a drawn position despite the computer evals (based on comments from people who actually have a clue and looking at computer lines).

 

[pillory]

Ok Caruana was somehow winning there for a couple of moves, but now it's a draw again? I don't understand anything.

 

[donkeyfish]

Ok Caruana was somehow winning there for a couple of moves, but now it's a draw again? I don't understand anything.

You and the rest of the world I reckon. Everything looks exactly the same but goes from 0 to mate in 60 or whatever

 

[settembrini]

That was probably Caruana's best game so far. I think he wins it against anyone but Carlsen.

 

[pillory]

This is the key position:

The only winning move is Bh4. Good endgame study material, I guess.

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[pillory]

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[pillory]

The least obvious missed win in WCC history?

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[pillory]

I almost understand the endgame after watching Svidler's analysis.

 

[donkeyfish]

I almost understand the endgame after watching Svidler's analysis.

Svidler and Grischuk is the best commentators I've watched. Over my head at times, but highly instructive.

 

[settembrini]

Caruana proving how strong his opening prep is right now.

20 moves into games 8 and he has more than double the time of Carlsen plus a better position.

 

[settembrini]

Caruana will regret playing h3 today a lot more than missing that crazy mating idea in game 6.

It was a very dynamic and open position and he lost all his advantage playing such a passive move.

 

[Prometheus]

Is this the event in Holborn? I stood outside the VIP entrance for a bit the other day to appear like a brainiac to passersby.