Chess

[DarthFed]

Topalov blundered with fxg6. Karjakin has a good attack going here and even though Topalov has gotten out of a few bad positions this tournament I'm not about to say he is a great defensive player. And Karjakin is up the exchange, wasn't sure if he'd elect to go for that or play hxg7 right away. Either way he should win this but black does have a decent attack on the queenside so white can't get careless.

 

[DarthFed]

This has really gotten away from Anand here. I don't think attacking with moves such as h5 and Rh6 was going to have much hope.

 

[DarthFed]

I would not have seen Qc4!, strong move threatening Qf4. Black is left with a hope and a prayer for a screwup here.

 

[DarthFed]

Anand resigned already. Meanwhile Giri has a nice edge on position vs. Svidler. I don't think Topalov has enough attacking chances to survive this so we may get a flip flop with Karjakin back at +2 and Anand at +1. Caruana gave back the pawn to weaken black's pawn structure on the queenside. Probably a draw but white has all the winning chances here.

 

[DarthFed]

And Topalov is just about polished off. Caruana-Aronian looks like a draw. Giri up a pawn in a 2 rook endgame, should be a fairly straightforward draw. Going to be an amazing last 2 rounds, rest day tomorrow.

 

[DarthFed]

Aronian looking like he's trying to spice up the position and play for a win. Have to respect him for that as though this is not the most sound play his only realistic chance in this tournament is winning today.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Never noticed this thread before. Disappointed with how awful Hikaru's playing, especially with him insisting for a year now that this is the tournament that counts.

 

[DarthFed]

^ I wonder if deep down he even wanted to win and face Carlsen. He had a great win today but for the most part his play has been uninspiring and he should've dropped one to Giri yesterday.

Aronian actually has some play now, Caruana's queen is blocked off for now but Aronian's rook is all that's defending the b4 pawn.

This would be a real disaster for Caruana, drawing a won game and now possibly losing a dead draw in consecutive rounds would kill the confidence and drop him from the leaderboard.

 

[DarthFed]

Wow, Kd2 instead of f3 for Caruana.

 

[DarthFed]

Not sure what to think here, white up a pawn and black will have a tough time promoting the h pawn but obviously dangerous position for white.

 

[DarthFed]

Good fighting game for sure but still seems like a draw. Kudos to Aronian for battling hard here

 

[Federberg]

had to miss most of today. Looks like another draw for Giri! These last few rounds have become really interesting. I don't know what to think anymore. Vishy is a monster one round and a mouse the next. It's going to come down to Caruana, Vishy and Karjakin it seems. That match between Sergey and Karjakin could be the decider

 

[DarthFed]

Draw agreed with Caruana and Aronian. That was a fun one to follow. Svidler-Giri is a theoretical draw, not much can go wrong there for Svidler. It will be an awesome last couple of games. I'm fine with Caruana winning it but Karjakin would be a fairly big surprise winner IMO. I'm still on board with no Anand winning this lol. He got demolished today.

 

[Federberg]

It's extraordinary that Giri and Svidler are only 1.5 points behind the lead.

 

[Federberg]

Draw agreed with Caruana and Aronian. That was a fun one to follow. Svidler-Giri is a theoretical draw, not much can go wrong there for Svidler. It will be an awesome last couple of games. I'm fine with Caruana winning it but Karjakin would be a fairly big surprise winner IMO. I'm still on board with no Anand winning this lol. He got demolished today.

Yes agreed. I have to say... no one is looking like a challenge for Magnus. The number of promising positions these guys have messed up. I would bet that most of those Carlsen would have converted.

 

[DarthFed]

^ Agreed and that's what separates him from the rest. Giri and Svidler are actually just 1 point behind but with 2 rounds to go and being a full point behind 2 players they probably need to win out to have a prayer and that's not happening.

 

[DarthFed]

But you look at the standings and it is one even tournament aside from Topalov whose handed out some easy W's to people.

Giri has white vs. Topalov and black vs. Anand to finish up. The easiest game and then possibly the toughest the way Anand is playing with the white pieces. Svidler is White against Anand and black against Caruana so absolutely no chance he wins out. The question is how he tilts the balance with his results against 2 contenders.

 

[Federberg]

But you look at the standings and it is one even tournament aside from Topalov whose handed out some easy W's to people.

Giri has white vs. Topalov and black vs. Anand to finish up. The easiest game and then possibly the toughest the way Anand is playing with the white pieces. Svidler is White against Anand and black against Caruana so absolutely no chance he wins out. The question is how he tilts the balance with his results against 2 contenders.

Yes agreed. What are the odds of Giri going through all of this with draws. He might think that's ok, but he's really going to have to learn how to take chances otherwise he'll be forgotten very quickly. Frankly I'm starting to feel like I don't want to see him in any of these super tournaments. He's just a waste of entertainment right now. Granted some of the positions he gets into are quite interesting, but then the inevitable fizzling out is starting wear on me!

 

[DarthFed]

Hopefully he gets on the board against Topalov. But if not then yeah he probably gets all draws which is pretty crazy for a 14 round tournament.

 

[brokenshoelace]

GIri kind of highlights why so many people are down on the entertainment factor in the world of chess right now. He plays 30 moves of theory, slowly leading to an inevitable draw.