Chess

[Federberg]

She is definitely way out of her league at these events. She is just 23 years old but the troubling part is she doesn't seem any better now than she was 3-4 years ago.

Exactly. She might be the strongest active female player, but it's an insult to think of her as a replacement for Judit

 

[Federberg]

Anand - Carlsen today. Looking forward

 

[DarthFed]

Great tourney so far, looking forward to that too. Hoping Kramnik makes a push too

 

[Federberg]

Some great matches yesterday. What is it with Wesley, he goes ga ga whenever he plays Magnus

 

[Federberg]

As for Svidler... I could imagine doing that pointless queen check yesterday. Shak punished him beautifully

 

[Federberg]

Amazed Caruana hasn't resigned yet

 

[Federberg]

wow! Fabi's rating collapse is epic. 26 point drop

 

[Federberg]

Gawain Jones - Shak match was truly bizarre...

 

[Federberg]

Carlsen wins his first classic round robin super tournament for 18 months. Once it got to the tie break it was over

 

[Federberg]

I like Daniel King's stuff. Quite interest Fischer Random match going on.... Magnus v Hikaru..

 

[Federberg]

I have to say, these Fischer Random games have been very interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing some tournaments added to the schedule. Get rid of all this deep prep

 

[DarthFed]

I have to say, these Fischer Random games have been very interesting. I wouldn't mind seeing some tournaments added to the schedule. Get rid of all this deep prep

Agreed. I think it's going to be bigger in the future and sooner than many think as it's going to be more and more difficult for top pros to beat each other. I think it'd be pretty cool to have a situation where they have one Fischer Random position for every classical tournament in a year and then switch it. Computer prep would still play a big role of course but you'd see a lot of decisive and creative games.

 

[Federberg]

That would be awesome. I remember at St Louis, last year or the year before, listening to MVL talk about one of his games, and instead of talking about what was going on on the board, he was more focused on talking about his computer prep This is why I find Magnus so impressive, he genuinely believes he's a better chess player than everyone else and wants to get away from computer prep as quickly as possible even if he has to go for a slightly inferior line to do it. I think Vishy, while very well prepped, looks like another player who can live with on the board play pretty well.

Incidentally, one of Magnus's comments yesterday when talking about his loss in the first game to Hikaru was very illuminating. Hikaru had played f5 which seemed very anti-positional and Magnus commented about how that was a move he would never have considered because it was so anti-positional, but he observed that Hikaru was the type of player that would consider such a move if he couldn't see a refutation. It's something we always knew I guess, but it was interesting to hear Magnus acknowledge it

 

[Federberg]

this heart rate thing is great as well

 

[DarthFed]

I hear Carlsen is winning but haven't seen any of the games yet. Pretty impressive as always, thought this match would be close to a toss up as Naka is beastly in Fischer Random and plays it more than Magnus.

 

[Federberg]

Yes he's winning, but he did lose the last game from a winning position on time. He's probably fuming. His tendency to want to simplify into a won position cost him as he didn't take the best path and Hikaru is wily enough to escape

 

[Federberg]

Well it's all over, no surprise Magnus won comfortably. The gap between him and Hikaru is huge. If anything the score flatter Hikaru. Definitely would like to see more of this. I have to say, Carlsen is just one heck of a monster player. Loved his defence of Rook and pawn versus Queen

 

[DarthFed]

Well it's all over, no surprise Magnus won comfortably. The gap between him and Hikaru is huge. If anything the score flatter Hikaru. Definitely would like to see more of this. I have to say, Carlsen is just one heck of a monster player. Loved his defence of Rook and pawn versus Queen

Chessgames.com is failing me. They aren't up there yet. Did you follow on chess.com or somewhere else? What time control was used?

 

[Federberg]

Chessgames.com is failing me. They aren't up there yet. Did you follow on chess.com or somewhere else? What time control was used?

The last day was blitz. Can't remember the exact time control though. I watched it directly on twitch. Try it, it's better than going in via the chess.com website

 

[DarthFed]

The last day was blitz. Can't remember the exact time control though. I watched it directly on twitch. Try it, it's better than going in via the chess.com website

I would have but it's back to being busy for me this time of year I'm sure I will see the games at some point.