TF Chess Club 2, WCC 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2023

[Carlos J]

Chess.com with Caruana, IM Danny Rensch and GM Robert Ress, only problem is they have gaps in comm with music. Good stuff here, well for me at the start, watching the seats fill up and the little VIP section at the front. Checked out and standard tickets are $26 which is so cheap:



And like FIDE and Chess24 with Judit on youtube, all have live comments. So good all are free on youtube this time.

And also the legend:

And on to the game, Magnus looks to be going on the attack now after 14.

Naka on Twitch:



Only problem with a lot of them is they don't have the moves list onscreen.

[Carlos J]

Magnus down the exchange after 22. Nepo is spending a hell of a lot of time out of the arena. One comment asking if he has prostate problems. Following Guardian for moves and got Judit and Giri on. They are great, lots of tension there. Comments:

Jamie Wildish​: Judit and Anish should have a boxing match. My money would be on Judit.

Marcos Coin​: 10$ on Judit she has strong left hand

Alex Kuradnov: ​Judith roasts giri GTA 5 version

Vishav Kapoor​: Judit is going toe to toe with Anish giri who is #6

pnockema​: Judith and Anish are pure gold

Sherlock​its: no more magnus vs nepo on chess24, i am here for anish vs judit @chess24

Emanuele Vignati​the: real war is between anish and judit

Kumar Animesh​: this is the most fun commentary

Jango Hemmes​: What is this hostile commentary I got myself into?

SHADOW​: vidit and anish will be the best combination for commentary

Dummy Variable​: this commentary is far more entertaining than the other one with the 4 guys agreeing on anything

Francis Noel Versoza​it: looks klike they want to kill each other lol

CjL​: lmao commentators actually playing a game at this point

Slime Entertainment, Inc.: ​Judit's decibel level is approaching her peak Elo

[Carlos J]

Draw after 58 moves. Magnus had chances, Nepo had chances, but ended equal. Was a draw for a while, but Judit said something interesting about Magnus playing on as he is great at endgames, that he likes to test and wear out the opposition as they have to keep making perfect moves.

Finally sussed out the best was to watch. Have a youtube up for comms and watching and just the board on Chess24 in another tab which has notation. So many people in comments asking what move is it.

[Carlos J]

Svidler!

I liked it. Low key, of course no Svidler and Jan Gustafsson, but what is? A new site, though said the Russian version had been up and running for a while.

Liked how near the end, they had interviews with Kramnik and Vishy together about their game.

Think today, might give each site an hour with the Chess24 board open for notation.

But the games are looking good already despite draws.

[Carlos J]

It was quite an enjoyable game. I watched Polgar & Giri and I found it tense tbh. I like them both but they both have annoying traits which doesn't make for good chemistry.

Judith has a habit of interrupting and talking over people. Which is a room 101 thing for me.

Giri can be quite terse. Can come across as blunt. I don't think it's intentional tho.

May check naka now.

Judit like with Anna Rudolf last time is a bit of a mother hen, but she is great and does challenge Giri on moves by intuition where he has the computer findings. Maybe not intentional with Giri, but think he's been an arse at pressers with other players before.

Still like both and certainly drama.

Also a photo on Agadmator's round up, Maurice there seeming to be the MC. And did read NBC are doing a half hour show everyday about each game with Maurice. Don't know about dear old Yasser, will have to check out: https://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2021 ... atch-2021/

[Carlos J]

Game 2 from yesterday. A Catalan with momentum swings, opportunities for both and Nepo winning the exhange but having to give it back later. A draw in 58 moves. Interesting hearing Judit Polgar and others saying Magnus played on in a drawlike end to try to wear Nepo down a bit over the marathon. A decent draw and interesting game which gives hope for decisive games to come.

Here's Jerry:



And GM Danny King:



Best of 14, first to 7.5 wins:

Carlsen 1 - 1 Nepomniachtchi.

[Carlos J]

Game 3 from yesterday. Another Ruy Lopez. Standard opening followed by mass exchanges in a short middlegame leading to a drawn endgame which finished on move 41. Highly accurate chess according to the computers, but not as exciting to the viewers as Saturdays game. Rest day today and back Tuesday and I still think we'll get a decisive game soon.

Here's Jerry:



GM Danny King:



Best of 14, first to 7.5 wins:

Carlsen 1.5 - 1.5 Nepomniachtchi.

[Jock Bauer]

Thanks for posting these dude.

Always been a fan of DK.

[gheko]

I like agadmators videos.

[Carlos J]

Game 4 on Magnus' 30th birthday. When both videos are 15 minutes, you know it's either a mega blunder or a quick draw. A Petrov's Defence. Both players had passed pawns, Nepo's on the 6th rank and Magnus' on the 5th, but no more progression and a draw on 33 moves. A better draw than yesterdays though.

As I said in 2018 and Jerry mentions today, the more draws, the more the tension ramps up. Will comment more on draws tomorrow.

Here's Jerry:



GM Danny King:



Best of 14, first to 7.5 wins:

Carlsen 2 - 2 Nepomniachtchi.

[Carlos J]

I like agadmators videos.

I like him as well. Takes, takes, takes. His historical games are great, especially his Morphy saga, 'The Pride and Sorrow of Chess'.

But like using Jerry and Danny for the WCC. Jerry is great at explaining lines and reasons to all levels and Danny does it from a GMs eyes.

[Jock Bauer]

Finding it very hard to watch all draws tbh. I am investing alot of time into watching this!

[Carlos J]

Finding it very hard to watch all draws tbh. I am investing alot of time into watching this!

Got in this afternoon and clicked on just as they were shaking hands. Said yesterday was going to comment on draws today.

The last victory in a classical game of a World Championship match was Carlsen beating Karjakin in game 10/12 on November 24 2016. All 12 games of Carlsen v Caruana in 2018 were drawn and now the first 5 in 2021. That's 19 consecutive draws beating the 17 by Karpov v Kasparov in the abandoned 48 game epic in 1984/85 match.

So what can be done? FIDE have extended the number of matches and changed time control for this series. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich says: https://ruchess.ru/en/news/report/arkad ... chi_match/

– How this match’s regulations are different from its predecessors?
– The key difference is 14 classical time control games instead of 12. With more games that we have now, the probability of error increases. Moreover, tension is known to go up as the number of rest days goes down. We will actually have two rest days per week, unlike the previous one rest day following every two games. Match schedule: three games – a rest day – two games – a rest day - three games, etc. This is designed to increase tension and interest in the match. This is to bring up the rate of decisive games compared to the 2018 London match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, in which all 12 classical control games ended in a draw. I hope that Dubai will bring us more decisive games, after all.

I've always said that the more the draws, the more the tension increases each game, but it can have the opposite effect of a fear of playing aggressively and just playing safe to a draw. And the Rapid, Blitz and potential Armageddon tie breaks favour Magnus who is best at them.

Article here, though they say Carlsen beat Karjakin in game 11, when it was 10: https://worldchess.com/news/all/16-draw ... hip-games/

Looking online in 2018 and now, lots of comments about it. Some like seeing the game at the highest level and if there are draws there are draws as no mistakes are made. Many though fear the influence of super-computers meaning long lines of opening prep are known usually leaving a small middlegame where the players are on their own and often multiple exchanges leading to drawn endgame.

And various theories about what can be done. Play on till a result (not practical). Like football, three points for a win, 1 for a draw (but that makes no difference in a two horse (no pun) race). Another similar to an idea touted in football about having the penalty shootout before the game, have the tie breaks before the start of the match meaning the loser has to go for wins (interesting, but the winner of the tie breaks will probably try to exchange everything and neutralise positions). A draw in classical is a win for the champion (probably then similar to the previous option). And many others such as a sort of triathlon with Classical, Rapid and Blitz combined but then this is the Classical World Championship and there are others for the other two. Also some fans of play some Chess960 either as tiebreaks or in the game. I don't mind all the draws myself and of the above, playing Chess960 in the tiebreaks is probably my favourite.

The sad thing is, with the popularity of online chess rising due to lockdown, then the success of 'The Queen's Gambit' to a mass audience more people will follow this match, hence NBC having a daily highlights show in the US, more live blogs in quality newspapers (Guardian live blog of game 1 in 2018 had 300k views, so surely more this year: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ian-online ) and numerous live streams on youtube and twitch (Chess24's 5hr 30min stream of game 2 has had 623k views), will a series of draws put casual and even dedicated fans off? Hope not. Err, sure missed other stuff I was going to write, but that's enough for now.

Game 5 videos up later.

[Jock Bauer]

That was a very good read, thanks mate.

No getting away from computer prep so maybe Chess960 is the only way forward for chess.

[Carlos J]

That was a very good read, thanks mate.

No getting away from computer prep so maybe Chess960 is the only way forward for chess.

Thanks. Will be interesting what happens if all draws this time and what FIDE says. Will watch today later after football.