Chess

[Federberg]

anyone else watching the candidates? It's actually gripping stuff. Nepo is en Fuego. Looks about to hand Ding his 3rd loss. Who would have thunk it...

 

[Federberg]

OMG!!! Levon Aronian's wife died recently...

Arianne Caoili passes away at 33

Levon Aronian’s wife Arianne Caoili has tragically died at the age of just 33 after a car accident in Yerevan two weeks ago. Initial reports suggested that her condition, while serious, had stabilised, but on Monday Levon shared the terrible news that his wife had passed away. He paid tribute to...

chess24.com

 

[Kieran]

Pure drama at the world chess championship match today between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi - longest game in the history of world chess championships, and the first game of classic chess in the final that was actually won, in 5 years!

Carlsen won it to take a lead, I’m not a high chestnut like brother @DarthFed but I follow it, without comprehension.

The final few moves here:

 

[tented]

Pure drama at the world chess championship match today between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi - longest game in the history of world chess championships, and the first game of classic chess in the final that was actually won, in 5 years!

Carlsen won it to take a lead, I’m not a high chestnut like brother @DarthFed but I follow it, without comprehension.

The final few moves here:

I’m a chess novice among novices, but enjoyed watching this. I found a slightly longer version of the end, with analysis which helped me.

 

[Kieran]

I’m a chess novice among novices, but enjoyed watching this. I found a slightly longer version of the end, with analysis which helped me.

Thanks for that, T! I was watching on and off during the day, have to say, 7’45” of play, that’s hugely impressive that they kept their heads for such a complex game. They drew again today, so Carlsen is in a good position to extend his lead if he plays as well again tomoro…

 

[Kieran]

Carlsen had gone up a few gears and Nepo hasn’t responded. He just resigned game 9, playing with white, to go 6-3 down with 5 games left. An impossible task, given how dominant Carlsen is now…

 

[Federberg]

Disappointing start to the Candidates for Firouzja. It almost feels like he went deep into the tank with computer prep. Playing super strong GM's is different gravy. All I can say is please let it not be Nepo again. I think Magnus would probably carry through his threat to retire if that happened. I would have preferred Ding, but he's not in form. I wouldn't mind Rapport going against Magnus just for the fun of it. He's the closest of the current top 10 to one of my favourite players of all time Morozevich

 

[Federberg]

Firouzja's game yesterday against Caruana was an absolute disaster. He looks out of his depth. Didn't expect such poor quality from him. A young Magnus Carlsen he ain't

 

[Federberg]

Firouzja's collapse continues. I hear he was playing online bullet last night
Meanwhile Ding is fighting back something fierce. I'm watching the endgame against Fabi. Fabi pushed too hard and blundered. I can't see how Fabi survives this. So now, potentially Ding could move into second place! I don't think anyone's catching Nepo though. It's a pity really. I'm not sure anyone really wants to see another Carlsen - Nepo. Especially Magnus! I hope he changes his mind though. Nepo has shown more stability in a long tournament than I've ever seen before. I think a stable Nepo is every bit the threat to Magnus that either Fabi or Ding

 

[Federberg]

And there it is! Ding beats Fabi. What a turn around! Not sure if Fabi recovers from this. Just wow!

 

[Kieran]

Any chess buffs able to explain to me the cheating allegations against Hans Niemann in his match with Carlsen? I’ve looked at several videos but don’t understand it.

And in what way exactly did he use anal beads to cheat?

 

[tented]

Any chess buffs able to explain to me the cheating allegations against Hans Niemann in his match with Carlsen? I’ve looked at several videos but don’t understand it.

And in what way exactly did he use anal beads to cheat?

 

[Kieran]

This video here is an excellent and fair breakdown of the cheating controversy that’s exploded in chess. Carlsen and alleged cheat Niemann faced each other again two days ago - and Carlsen resigned after one move, obviously making a statement that he’ll play the tournament but won’t play Niemann.

The video explains that Carlsen had used a rare variation of an opening called The Catalan, one he’d never used before, and yet the younger man responded by playing a flawless game against this opening. Niemann says it was “a ridiculous miracle” that this was Magnus strategy because just that very morning he’d been studying the Catalan. He then said that Carlsen had used this opening before, though he hadn’t.

There’s a suggestion that somebody on Carlsen's team leaked his strategy to Niemann, and other suggestions that Niemann had some remote electronic assistance. Yet another suggestion, in his favour, is that he just played immaculately after studying the opening that morning.

 

[Federberg]

 

[Kieran]

So that's a bit clearer, without him saying anything at all. Avoiding the topic and not clearing Niemann of allegations of cheating, then saying at the end that cheating "should not be treated lightly" is a clear reference to Hans admission that he previously cheated twice in online games - an admission that has faced challenges from chess.com who seem to think it's more than twice, and other players who've wondered if he's admitting to cheating twice but there might have been cames he cheated in but which aren't so obvious.

His coach is coming under scrutiny now. The interviewer obviously received a snorter in her earpiece while interviewing Carlsen because she followed up later on Magnus compliment that Niemann's coach was doing a good job by asking if Carlsen thinks that Niemann's coach is somehow affecting the live game, which seems impossible. Niemann is in sharp focus now. It'll be interesting to see if Magnus has anything more that suspicions. Evidence will be hard to come by, either to prove Hans to be innocent, or guilty, but watching GM Hikaru analyse his games and react to Niemann's own analysis of his games suggests that he thinks that somethings not right: "This really weird. This is not 2700 level analysis..."

 

[Kieran]

I'm obsessed by this scandal. In tennis terms, it's as if a Big 3 player refused to play against another player in a big tournament, but also refused to say clearly why. Reputations are on the line, including Magnus Carlsen, the greatest chess player since Garry Kasparov, and one of the great genius competitors in the history of the game. Unless he provides evidence of cheating, then his own reputation is slightly diminished, even though his interview (posted above by @Federberg ) has gone some way further to giving a clear indication of why he refused to play. Hans Niemann has admitted to previously cheating in online games, but now Carlsen has - by mentioning Niemann's coach - reminded us that Niemann's coach was also previously disqualified for cheating. When Carlsen said in the interview that Niemann's mentor "must be doing a great job", by publicly naming the secretive Niemann's coach, and in this way, he was possibly insinuating that the "great job" his mentor was doing was typically of the dark arts.

This video is very good at giving context and background:

 

[Federberg]

 

[Kieran]

So Magnus Carlsen has finally made a public statement accusing Niemann of cheating, not only in the games that Niemann has admitted to, but that he “has cheated more - and more recently - than he has publicly admitted.”

Carlsen also says that he felt Niemann cheated in the over the board game between them. This is fairly seismic stuff.

 

[Federberg]

Say whatever you want this World Championship is fascinating. But... it also shows how immensely strong Magnus is. The era of relatively error free chess in finals is over. In this match you feel that a mistake might be survival because of re-gifting...

 

[Kieran]

5 wins and 4 draws in 9 games here. Very impressive - or unimpressive, depending on how the games were. I remember a few years ago Carlsen and Caruana played 12 straight draws. It was the end of chess, some people said. Too mechanical and predictable.

Then along came Nepo…