Any Chess Players?

[Tomas]

..and just like that, we are back to from -1.9 to -0.6?

[Gaucho]

[count2infinity]

Odd move... b5 looked sooooooo good.

[Pavel Bure]

Draw... with only a Knight a piece and a couple pawns off the board.

Just from watching this and the use of engines I think they need to get rid of starting with the traditional format games. They’re long, slow, and completely planned. It would take a massive blunder for GM players to not draw in this day and age in this format.

[count2infinity]

This is the longest draw streak in world chess championship history. I wouldn't go nuts changing things until this becomes a normal thing.

That said, I'm all about a combo of classical and blitz.

[Tomas]

This is the longest draw streak in world chess championship history. I wouldn't go nuts changing things until this becomes a normal thing.

That said, I'm all about a combo of classical and blitz.

Actually, 14 draws in succession in the Karpov-Kasparov 1984 match (the first title match I really followed closely) - all while Karpov was up 5:1 and needed just one win to clinch the title (until 1984, they played for 6 wins, regardless the total number of games played. The 1984 match was suspended after 48 games, just when Kasparov won 2 successive games to get to 3:5)

[count2infinity]

Sorry... longest draw streak to start a world chess championship.

[Tomas]

Well, they did not argue about a blueberry yogurt or pee-pee breaks like some of their predecessors - but that's pretty much the only positive thing I can say about the title match so far...

[count2infinity]

I hope that Caruana wins for two reasons:

1. Spineless move by Carlsen to be in a winning position and offer a draw just so you can go to the tiebreak where you have a better record... psh. If you're in a winning position, you go for the win. You don't look at the scoreboard in OT when you're on the powerplay and see there are 30 seconds left and think "I've got a better goalie and more skilled shoot out players. I'll just see this OT out behind my net."
2. I'd love to see Carlsen in the candidates tournament.

[Pavel Bure]

I hope that Caruana wins for two reasons:

1. Spineless move by Carlsen to be in a winning position and offer a draw just so you can go to the tiebreak where you have a better record... psh. If you're in a winning position, you go for the win. You don't look at the scoreboard in OT when you're on the powerplay and see there are 30 seconds left and think "I've got a better goalie and more skilled shoot out players. I'll just see this OT out behind my net."
2. I'd love to see Carlsen in the candidates tournament.

From what I’ve watched of Carlsen he seems like a real ******. Feminine hygiene product that goes up the hoo-ha and shoots water.

[Shyster]

To be honest, I'd bet that most of the people who make it to that level of chess mastery are a little... unique. Past champions like Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal were well known for their eccentricities.

[count2infinity]

Surprise, surprise... Magnus is winning the first game of the tie break. So anticlimactic.

[count2infinity]

Shows what I know, and how great rapid is... Magnus has allowed Fabi to equalize.

[count2infinity]

Shows what I know... again.

Magnus wins game 1.

[crusherstasiak]

uh oh, fabi

[count2infinity]

as expected... Magnus crushed him.

[Pavel Bure]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0yxreTekzZo

[crusherstasiak]

Heads up
Naka v Magnus in final round of world rapid and blitz on now
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 018/14/1/2

[Tomas]

Is the tournament over now? (That is, are there 15 rounds, and is the winner Dubov?)

[crusherstasiak]

Why oh why do I play better against the better players and completely suck against patzers? who, when they start pushing pawns in the 10 minute blitz games I usually play- I'm all...I do not know how to handle this. That, I suppose, makes me a patzer too.
Also; Naka on twitch is entertaing as hell. And the way he handles the puzzle rushes on Chess.com is, well, unbelievable. You'd swear he was doing it in 10x's speed. Guess that's the mark of super GM's

[crusherstasiak]

Magnus is chirping Svidler while waiting for him to log on for their scheduled 5 game match on chess24
live now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8nNHhEGhjE

[crusherstasiak]

fyi naka destroying aronian on chess.com bullet championship going on now

[crusherstasiak]

FYI Ding vs Magnus tomorrow in a play-off for the Sinquefield Cup

[Shyster]

That was not the result I expected from a rapid tiebreaker.

[Tomas]

Pretty awesome article on conditioning of top chess players:

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27 ... ying-chess

I have no problem believing that tournament players can burn 6,000 calories/day. But this gem blew my mind:

... Carlsen claims that many chess players crane their necks too far forward, which can lead to a 30 percent loss of lung capacity, according to studies in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science. And, according to Keith Overland, former president of the American Chiropractic Association, leaning 30 degrees forward increases stress on the neck by nearly 60 pounds, which in turn requires the back and neck muscles to work harder, ultimately resulting in headaches, irregular breathing and reduced oxygen to the brain.

"A chess player can develop chronic neck and upper back pain, as well as sore shoulders and backaches," says Overland, who has worked with the New York Mets and the U.S. Olympic Training Center. "This is particularly concerning considering how much energy they are exerting on playing a competitive game of chess at the highest level."

Not Carlsen. The Norwegian rests his lower back against the chair so it retains a natural curve, his knees slightly apart at the edge of the seat, feet firmly on the ground, and leans forward at about a 75-degree angle. In this position, which he arrived at through reading studies and trial and error, he's not too far forward to lose alertness and not too far back to use extra energy.