Top level chess
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DarthFed
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Vishy is alive and well at the top. He really stepped up after losing the title to Carlsen at the end of 2013. Maybe a good example for Kramnik who has been going through similar poor form.
Did you check out any of the Kasparov-Short match? They are playing a bunch of blitz and rapid games. The old man is still strong as hell at 52 having been retired for 10 years already.
Did you check out any of the Kasparov-Short match? They are playing a bunch of blitz and rapid games. The old man is still strong as hell at 52 having been retired for 10 years already.
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I missed it yesterday, but I'll look out for it tonight. It would have been something to see Kaspy lock horns with some of these young guns. I guess Anand and Kramnik are good reference points, but to see how these guys match up to the great man would have been something
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Yes I agree. I only meant that they are the best proxy available to connect the two K's to the new generation. I watched the first rapid yesterday. It was a bit of a blunder-fest. It just shows the strength of the current lot. Although to be fair a few months of match play and no doubt Garry would be better!
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Still it's worth pointing out that Kaspy would have a much diminished edge in terms of preparation these days. Any of these elite guys can use their computers to come up with opening novelties as we've seen many times. Obviously the likes of Vishy and Fabiano still have an edge using the resources available to them, but it's not like the old days.
As an aside, I was a bit appalled by the post match conference of Wesley and MVL. Clearly MVL had prepped, but several times Wesley asked "what would you have done if I'd done this?" and MVL would just shrug and say this wasn't one of the top lines from the engine. I just shook my head in amazement. Surely the computer analysis is the starting off point, not the be all and end all! :nono
As an aside, I was a bit appalled by the post match conference of Wesley and MVL. Clearly MVL had prepped, but several times Wesley asked "what would you have done if I'd done this?" and MVL would just shrug and say this wasn't one of the top lines from the engine. I just shook my head in amazement. Surely the computer analysis is the starting off point, not the be all and end all! :nono
shawnbm
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I don't follow chess like all of you here, other than major articles of world championships. Did Magnus obtain the 2900 + being bantered about? Is that the highest rating ever? How does in compare to Fischer, Kasparov and others of the last fifty years? Thank you
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^No he's not done it yet. He's close though. At the moment his rating is 2875-ish. His peak rating was 2882 I believe. Kasparov's peak rating was 2851, and Fischers 2785.
But please bear in mind that Elo ratings are not an absolute measure of chess strength. They are a relative measure. So when you consider that when Fischer had his peak monthend rating (and note the distinction, because FIDE only ever published calendar monthend numbers, while we now have websites that show live ratings) of 2785 at a time when the next best rating - I'm guessing it was Spassky at the time - was some 120 rating points below him. At Kasparov's peak his rating superiority to the next best player peaked at something like 82 points. Carlsen's peak gap to the next best is about 74.
What we can say however is that in all likelihood Carlsen's sustained gap to the next best may well be the best in history already. I don't have the numbers to hand. What is even more impressive though is the fact that Carlsen is competing in an era where everyone has access to huge computer databases so it's very impressive that he is able to maintain a gap such as it is versus the field. Add that to the fact that chess is even more widely played at a very high level now than even in Kasparov's time so Carlsen is definitely dominating a deeper population set. By any measure what this young man is doing is practically unheard of and he hasn't even reached his peak strength yet.
What I find even more frightening is that, to date, he has not really focused on using home preparation to beat the opposition. This recent tournament might be the start of something new as he used home prep to beat Kramnik who used a Berlin defence against his e4. That probably doesn't make much sense to you, but trust me when I say that Kramnik has been the premier proponent of the Berlin defence and he used it to defeat Kasparov in the World Championship. Kramnik is typically very highly prepped while Magnus isn't, so for Carlsen to beat him like that is really scary.
Carlsen is a player who has simply wanted to avoid home preparation and get a playable position in a middle game with the confidence that his superior chess ability will win the day. He's a throw back in a way. His style is the complete opposite of what you would expect in an era that has computer resources available to them. In short this is one stupendously strong chess player, and I am already of the view that he belongs in the the rarified selection of all time great players. A list that I would limit to: Kasparov, Fischer, and possibly Lasker.
But please bear in mind that Elo ratings are not an absolute measure of chess strength. They are a relative measure. So when you consider that when Fischer had his peak monthend rating (and note the distinction, because FIDE only ever published calendar monthend numbers, while we now have websites that show live ratings) of 2785 at a time when the next best rating - I'm guessing it was Spassky at the time - was some 120 rating points below him. At Kasparov's peak his rating superiority to the next best player peaked at something like 82 points. Carlsen's peak gap to the next best is about 74.
What we can say however is that in all likelihood Carlsen's sustained gap to the next best may well be the best in history already. I don't have the numbers to hand. What is even more impressive though is the fact that Carlsen is competing in an era where everyone has access to huge computer databases so it's very impressive that he is able to maintain a gap such as it is versus the field. Add that to the fact that chess is even more widely played at a very high level now than even in Kasparov's time so Carlsen is definitely dominating a deeper population set. By any measure what this young man is doing is practically unheard of and he hasn't even reached his peak strength yet.
What I find even more frightening is that, to date, he has not really focused on using home preparation to beat the opposition. This recent tournament might be the start of something new as he used home prep to beat Kramnik who used a Berlin defence against his e4. That probably doesn't make much sense to you, but trust me when I say that Kramnik has been the premier proponent of the Berlin defence and he used it to defeat Kasparov in the World Championship. Kramnik is typically very highly prepped while Magnus isn't, so for Carlsen to beat him like that is really scary.
Carlsen is a player who has simply wanted to avoid home preparation and get a playable position in a middle game with the confidence that his superior chess ability will win the day. He's a throw back in a way. His style is the complete opposite of what you would expect in an era that has computer resources available to them. In short this is one stupendously strong chess player, and I am already of the view that he belongs in the the rarified selection of all time great players. A list that I would limit to: Kasparov, Fischer, and possibly Lasker.
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I found this quite amusing...
http://www.vice.com/read/magnus-carlsen-world-chess-champion-is-kind-of-a-dick
Personally I think the author is a bit of a dick himself. Try to ask serious questions and you might get a bit of respect
http://www.vice.com/read/magnus-carlsen-world-chess-champion-is-kind-of-a-dick
Personally I think the author is a bit of a dick himself. Try to ask serious questions and you might get a bit of respect
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Nice to see Karjakin showing his class. For someone who was Magnus's earliest true international rival (I'm excluding Hammer), he's seems to have lost his drive over the last few years. It's amazing that we all talk about So, Giri and Caruana and barely pay him any attention anymore
DarthFed
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Karjakin is similar to Radjabov in that they seemed to peak early and stopped improving at a fairly young age. They are still very good and dangerous but I don't see them as major challengers to the title as there are younger and better players that are still improving (which of course includes Carlsen himself).
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I've always thought of them as slightly different animals. When Karjakin is in the mood he's very strong. Apart from Radjabov's strength in certain openings like his KID's he's far less stable. I haven't figured it out apart from Sergey liking the ladies (he's 25ish and seems to be on his 2nd marriage if I remember correctly), he seems to have almost taken a sabbatical. He seemed to be going the Leko route of trying to draw as many games in a row for a while, but in this Grand Prix he seems to be warming up again. I've loved looking at some of his games. I recall one a couple of years back where he did an awesome sac in an endgame. Surprisingly creative, perhaps not quite in the Shirov or Carlsen league of endgame play, but still impressive
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Looking forward to Norway Chess. Have you folks heard about this confession box thing? Apparently players will be able to go into a Big Brother style confession box and talk about how they're feeling, their position etc during the match Very interesting innovation 
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:laydownlaughing
I'm loving the trash talking between Magnus and Hikaru...
Hikaru in an interview in Norway:
"I think Magnus’ style of play is boring and I find other players more interesting. Myself, I’m a romantic, and I love to see people take chances. Magnus constantly reduces risk instead, maximizing opportunities when they come."
Magnus in an interview later:
"Today I played "Nakamura chess" and that just isn't enough."
I'm soooo looking forward to that match up in a few days. My most eagerly awaited match of the year. If it's anything like Zurich last year, it's going to be epic!
I'm loving the trash talking between Magnus and Hikaru...
Hikaru in an interview in Norway:
"I think Magnus’ style of play is boring and I find other players more interesting. Myself, I’m a romantic, and I love to see people take chances. Magnus constantly reduces risk instead, maximizing opportunities when they come."
Magnus in an interview later:
"Today I played "Nakamura chess" and that just isn't enough."
I'm soooo looking forward to that match up in a few days. My most eagerly awaited match of the year. If it's anything like Zurich last year, it's going to be epic!
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