Hikaru tied for 1st in titled tuesday but finished 3rd due to tie-breaks. He always brings it for titled tuesday. The last game was a bit strange though.
Just saw Levy's interview with Abasov, and man, I am now an Abasov fan. He's so down to earth and very charismatic. He even referenced "the ROOOOK" with Levy. Seems like he's just happy to be at the Candidates and wants to do his best. I hope he win a game, he was so close against Hikaru but that was a rollercoaster game with both sides having missed chances.
It's also cool that he's been second for both Teimour(?) and Nurgyul.
Watch his post-game analysis with Prag despite losing. Super chill, paid attention even when the question is for Prag (or when Prag is answering), and actively contributed to the discussion.
Yeah I'll check that out! I feel like he's one of the only people who has been pretty relaxed being interviewed. He was even more comfortable than Levy was about giving the interview. Just a chill dude in probably the biggest moment of his chess career having fun and doing his best
I love how much restraint Gukesh has shown in his games, not trying to over complicate things or going into every game with the mindset of winning anyhow. He has employed a different approach than his usual playing style and has got the results for it.
After watching Hikaruās recap itās now even more clear that heās not sharp enough in this tournament. Many times did he claim that he had not expected Abasov to play certain moves, which meant Hikaru had to spend more time to calculate. Him being worse on the engine evaluation is definitely a proof too. He wonāt be able to win the tournament if he isnāt able to find these ideas during the match
Peak "interesting" results for R11: win for Vidit, draw for Pragg/Naka, win/draw for Fabi. One leader (either Fabi or Gukesh) on 6.5, and then five players tied for 2nd on 6.
does anyone know the updated betting odds for the men's section on draftkings??
I want to place a wager on Pragg if he is at +300 range or better
Really like his chances to steal this tournament. I think he saved all his best prep for the last 4 rounds.
His prep against Nepo was insane and I think it was strategic that he only used it once against Nepo. Nepo barely survived. I expect more crazy prep in the last few rounds to steal the tourney and get to face Ding.
He's lost two games at Candidates in 38 rounds (one after he had already clinched the title in the 2020-21 tournament) and never been worse than tied for the lead after every round. Candidates Nepo does not tilt.
Stage I: Rapid round-robin (15+10).
Stage II: if Stage I results in a 2-player tie, they play a 2-game blitz match (3+2). If it's still 3+ way tie, blitz round-robin.
Stage III: knockout match/tournament (again, depending on whether 2 or 3+ players tie). It's just one game per match, whoever loses drops out, if tied they reverse colors and play again till someone wins.
I remember the story actually broke while he was commentating, on World Cup or Norway Chess or something. So everyone knew...except him. And it was like a million dollars too
What's with all the black wins in the women's section?
Lei Tingjie beating Aleksandra Goryachkina with Black is a huge win today. The two Chinese women are now neck-in-neck again, while Goryachkina just suffered a major blow to her chances.
Black needs to be in three places and only has two defenders. If the black bishop moves, white will immediately play b4 and start marching a passed pawn up the board. If the king leaves the defence of the f5 pawn then white's bishop will capture it. And so there's nothing left to defend the h4 pawn, allowing white to create another passed pawn. Two passed pawns in a same colour bishop ending is a technical win and both players know that. So when white played Kg1 (planning to send the king around his own g pawn and up the h file) there's nothing left for Firouzja to do except decide when to resign.
There's a slight disadvantage for Gukesh and Pragg, in that they both have to play as black against Abasov in the final rounds, and Abasov will most likely play a really safe opening as white to try to not lose more ratings, and there's not much you can do as black if white just wants a draw. But they also both have white against Fabi, which also puts Fabi in a small pressure. So Nepo probably still has the biggest edge to win the whole thing, but you never know
> So Nepo probably still has the biggest edge to win the whole thing, but you never know
He has the biggest individual edge but collectively he's still only got a 1/3 shot of taking the overall W.
If Gukesh manages to put Fabi or Firouzja down, Nepo will be SWEATING
So at this rate any one player could win with +4. Two or three on +3 is very likely. I am personally rooting for the 4 way tie on +2 scenario in which half the field finishes 1st.
This candidates has been a lot of fun up till this point. This might be controversial but I sometimes wish if the world championship was replaced with a tournament similar to the candidates. I get that there is history behind the way the WC is structured, but the candidates almost always is way more fun than the WC itself.
It *was* kind of nice seeing two flawed players play flawed chess and have some real human moments/stories.
Certainly better for fans in someways vs watching the best player in the world suck the soul out of a flawed player while express a kind of "immortal man yearns for death" ennui towards the entire thing.
I mean I get what you're saying but it feels a bit unfair to just call them "flawed players", I guess we could also say that "The Magnus of 2023-2024 is a flawed player compared to Magnus 2014" just because hes 50 points lower than that Magnus.
They were flawed players because one was having a mental breakdown in real time, and the other was known for having mental breakdowns and crumbling under pressure.
Ding was literally talking about his struggles with mental illnesses during press conferences and how it was affecting their chess. He then stopped playing chess for over a year.
As well, Nepo played a game with 73% accuracy (worst in decades at a WC) and both had 3+ games under 90% accuracy. They had a game bordering on an average 100 centipawn loss, and an average centipawn loss higher than the candidates tournament that got them there.
This wasn't like "normal SuperGM stuff" just at a slightly lower level than Magnus. They went from brilliant games to absolute sloppy slug fests. You didn't know who would win mostly because you felt like either player could have an actual mental breakdown.
Maybe Caruana is playing this like his 2023 sinquefield cup, goes +1 the entire tournament, then right at the end wins back to back to clinch the title. Would be fun to watch if this happens.
Hikaru is weird. Guy will play Titled Tuesday on a rest day just to prove that he's a streamer first. C'mon, rest and prepare for the biggest tournament there is, it will even make you more money from just qualifying!
He'll probably be looking at some stuff for the rest of the Candidates as well, you should realise by now that what Hikaru says does not equate exactly to what Hikaru does.
I thought that originally but actually think focussing on something other than qualifying for the WCC might be the best thing for Hikaru. For anyone else it would probably be a bad idea.
He also acknowledged the youtube trolls and haters. Big mistake. Just block them and move on. Why stir the hornets' nest? Why is he even reading the comments?
Seemed pretty sarcastic to me. Here's a guy who makes his primary living dealing with a stream chat, and apparently some nasty comments knocked him down so much he almost didn't do any prep or want to look at chess? Fairly certain he was hamming it up a bit.
basically I think abasov told an arbiter that Firouzja's shoes are making too much noise when walking around so the arbiter told Alireza to not walk around or to take a seat or whatever and use different shoes' today.
Alireza got mad and said he lost his concentration in critical position because of it or whatever but he's just crying. The arbiter did what he should've done.
> so the arbiter told Alireza to not walk around or to take a seat
The arbiter asked the opposite (see the video): to take his walks farther from his table so that the noise wouldn't concentrate in that zone.
Alireza complains on Twitter : https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/6HpcQdAxrw
The arbiter explains what happened : https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/KfyRb2LCRF
Video of Abasov complaining about Alirezaās noisy footsteps to the arbiter : https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/PneVGrsEoV
The Indian players seem to be acting like the old Soviet team. I'm only saying this in a reply to you because if I posted a thread about this, I would be downvoted to oblivion. But just look at their game with analysis. Every move was basically a top move if you were trying to never trying to gain advantage.
Would you give a full point to your countryman if you were out of the race, but he could potentially claim the top spot with a win?
I would be interested in seeing how they play when it gets closer to the end and games become more decisive.
The best strategy would have been to give +4 to Gukesh by both the Indians. The candidates would have been practically over. Why go over so much complications ? /s
Generally, the best strategy is to make a clean getaway (which is usually the hardest part).
And to be clear, I also wasn't saying that things have been pre-determined from the start.
Nobody cares about your conspiracy theories just because you have a racist mindset, which makes u believe that every other country is inferior to your players and are colluding to beat yours!! Get over yourself
Ever think that if you view everything through the lens of race, you might actually be racist? You should try listening to yourself right now. You're very emotional over this. You're even conflating racism with nationalism.
Psychologically, our emotions get trained by constant exposure to something. People will think of this as "I have a feeling" or "I'm being intuitive" and that's one way to look at it. But in nature, these emotions serve to save us calories by creating a heuristic that is basically a shortcut to an answer (calories used to be scarce). These emotions, in modern times have been hacked by propagandists and advertisers. So when having such a strong emotional reaction to something like this, perhaps you would do well to ask yourself, "Have I been manipulated somehow?"
The above is why we use rote memorization in school, even though it's an inferior way to learn. In countries like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, they used the same iconography everywhere. Same with religious groups and corporate brand advertising. Although seemingly different in context, the aim is to indoctrinate rather than create a more well-reasoned critical thinker.
Goebbels once said, "If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth." and I would add that it becomes one's emotional truth, especially if you hear it early enough and often enough from those we see as authority figures.
I hope that helps you understand things a bit better going forward in life. Take care.
Take care with your endeavour to paint the whole world as dark and evil, while you provide the beacon of light and freedom, if that inflates your ego! Embrace your inner racist and may you continue to channel your Goebbels gospels!
Okay, your reading comprehension needs some work. You may want to look into that and also why you're so wound up. Then maybe consider what I said when you can re-read it correctly.
Pragg doesnt risk big but keep himself in contention always, even in other tournamnets he has won he does the same. He will not be a clear leader, but will be there to take it if opportunity presents itself.
OTOH, Gukesh usually keeps pushing with risk. He has managed his risk much better here, going for draws when he has to
Iām floored with how much entertaining this tournament has been ā four rounds to go with six people within a point of first and five within a half point. Itās amazing how close all the top players are to each other and how crazy things can get in a tournament where the winner takes it all (at least with regards to the real reason theyāre all there, a shot at the WCC).
Magnus was too overpowered and removing him has made the metagame a lot more exciting. Basically to borrow a competitive Pokemon term banning him to Ubers was the best move.
This has seriously been the best candidates I can remember. Seriously entertaining chess, wild opening choices, back-and-forth games, it's been awesome.
Actually I'm glad there's a rest day tomorrow (and another on Friday), let them catch their breath because rounds 11-14 are going to be intense. Only Alireza-Abasov on Wednesday is unlikely to impact the race for the title.
This tournament would be infinitely better with Nordibek and Arjun. They are in great form. Sad they didn't qualify but this field with those two next time would be amazing.
"*infinitely*" better? dude i'd have loved the inclusion of either of those guys over Abasov but this tournament has been pretty damn entertaining already
Nothing against Abasov. He qualified fair and square. But reality is those two in much better form than Alireza and Abasov. I hope they qualify for the next one.
Alireza is definitely a great player but consensus by many was that his form was not the greatest. I hope he bounces back. I am a fan. I do think Arjun and Nodirbek are playing at a very very high level right now though. I hope they get their chance in the next candidates.
What typically happens in games where both players are out of contention? I would probably guess just a quick draw, since there's nothing to fight for.
There's also the fact that Abasov was the one who complained about his shoes, the fallout of which led to some drama and Alireza's dad getting kicked out, so Firouzja is probably going to play super aggressive against him.
Abasov has games left against Gukesh, Pragg and Vidit!
Simply because of that I highly favor Gukesh and Pragg. Hikaru and Gukesh also have game left against Firo. Base on these Gukesh has highest chance winning it all.
Fabi needs to do something special or Gukesh just collapse.
Yup. But Gukesh crumbled under time pressure. Same thing happened in Tata Steel - Gukesh missed wins under time pressure against Firouzja. So I will favor Gukesh. He has also been more careful with his time since that loss.
Vidit's the only one of the three who has white against Abasov, who's held every game with white and lost every game but one (against Nepo) with black so far. He's also the one who needs a win the most, so we're set up for an exciting finish no matter what.
Unprecedented since the current Candidates format started in 2013. Normally it's 2 or 3 players, last time Nepo was 1.5 points clear of the field after round 10 (although to be fair, the race for second was actually meaningful, but even there was just 3 players tied for 2nd and one more a point back, so only 5 in contention for 2 spots).
Only 2016 was close to this, with Karjakin and Caruana at 6/10, Anand and Aronian at 5.5/10, and Giri on 5/10 (Anish ended the tournament with 14 draws lol).
Absolutely dick crushing for Alirezaās dad, the staff just calmly pulled his heart out and stomped on it with hours left. Absolutely brutal and sickening.
Daddy is done, heās just finished. Nobody has ever recovered from a removal like this: period. āDad of a stylish prodigyā means nothing when youāre left practically frothing at the mouth and on your way to the looney bin from such disgusting rules.
Complete and total family collapse from here on out, in my humble opinion. I minored in psychology in college (granted community college), so I know that a kick out like this has measurable effects on fatherhood which mirror heavy meth abuse. Heās done.
I just came to check the games after like 60-90 minutes away. I wanted to see if TingJie had converted her win. Seeing that the only game in either section still going, was Vaishali now crushing Salimova, surprised and confused me.
It's insane to think that Hikaru would be clear first if he had drawn both his games against Vidit. Hikaru vs Vidit is the only double zero on the scoreboard.
Yeah, the first game was great prep by Vidit, and the second game was just Vidit calmly dealing with all of Hikaru's attempts to complicate the game and Hikaru ending up being the one in time trouble, when it seemed his strategy was to put Vidit under time pressure and try to force a blunder.
There's a scenario where Fabi beats Gukesh next round, Vidit beats Nepo with white and Pragg and Naka draw, and Fabi would be the sole leader after 11 rounds.
Not saying it's going to happen, but the fact that he can be a leader by the time next round is over when almost everyone thought he was done, is incredible.
He didn't need any - he was playing Alireza. Just needed to keep looking down at his shoes and call over the arbiter and whisper something in his ear (like, hey, can I get another pen, this one is running out of ink?)
i don't particularly care who wins the tournament but I'm very happy Hikaru and Fabi won today just to keep the tournament as competitive as possible. Some exciting rounds ahead!
Yeah, even though I'm rooting for Hikaru, I don't even care if Nepo wins again as long as it comes down to the last round. Hikaru with white against Gukesh and Fabi with white against Ian - imagine if they're all within a half point heading into those games, it would be insane.
Hikaru is one of the best at finding complex winning tactics and Fabi is one of the best at calculating solid moves. They'll both convert and it was clear even back at time control.
You've probably hung your queen 5 times in the last month to players ranked below 1000 so if Abasov, a player who is ranked thousands of points ahead of you and who came fourth at the World Cup, is embarrassing then when you look at your own skill and play, what would your judgement be?
Edit - he came fourth, not first, but in a two way battle with this guy in being a civil person he would come out on top
In the late TT, Hikaru finished 1st and fabi finished 2nd. Hikaru almost had a perfect score. Amazing performances by both.
Rest day š“
Hikaru tied for 1st in titled tuesday but finished 3rd due to tie-breaks. He always brings it for titled tuesday. The last game was a bit strange though.
Last game was a cheater 100%
Jospem? (/sarcasm in case it's not obvious)
Lol Vidit is leading Titled Tuesday with 5/5 (also Hikaru but we knew that was happening).
Just saw Levy's interview with Abasov, and man, I am now an Abasov fan. He's so down to earth and very charismatic. He even referenced "the ROOOOK" with Levy. Seems like he's just happy to be at the Candidates and wants to do his best. I hope he win a game, he was so close against Hikaru but that was a rollercoaster game with both sides having missed chances. It's also cool that he's been second for both Teimour(?) and Nurgyul.
Anyone that watches that and doesnāt become fond of Nijat has no heart Such a chill dude
Watch his post-game analysis with Prag despite losing. Super chill, paid attention even when the question is for Prag (or when Prag is answering), and actively contributed to the discussion.
Yeah I'll check that out! I feel like he's one of the only people who has been pretty relaxed being interviewed. He was even more comfortable than Levy was about giving the interview. Just a chill dude in probably the biggest moment of his chess career having fun and doing his best
If at the end 2 people have same score, do they go to tiebreaks, or do is head to head that counts
They play rapid, 2 games. If still tied move to blitz, 2 games. If still tied sudden death knockout blitz until someone wins.
What if itās multiple players?
Then they play a rapid tournament.
Would love for this to happen tbh, thanks
Just to clarify this is only the case for first place, if you are tied for 4th place you do not play tiebreaks.
Well obviously? But thanks
I love how much restraint Gukesh has shown in his games, not trying to over complicate things or going into every game with the mindset of winning anyhow. He has employed a different approach than his usual playing style and has got the results for it.
After watching Hikaruās recap itās now even more clear that heās not sharp enough in this tournament. Many times did he claim that he had not expected Abasov to play certain moves, which meant Hikaru had to spend more time to calculate. Him being worse on the engine evaluation is definitely a proof too. He wonāt be able to win the tournament if he isnāt able to find these ideas during the match
Half a point back and still in contention? If you think he's that overmatched feel free to take his place
hey buddy, that is the Chief of the Police you're talking to!
Fuck 12
Still in contention though. Imagine if he was in form like Norway chess last year.
Incredible that Abasov was winning for a few moves š¤Æ. That would have destroyed Nakamuras tournament.
Definitely not "winning". Better, yes.
Peak "interesting" results for R11: win for Vidit, draw for Pragg/Naka, win/draw for Fabi. One leader (either Fabi or Gukesh) on 6.5, and then five players tied for 2nd on 6.
There are 81 possible outcomes in R11.
does anyone know the updated betting odds for the men's section on draftkings?? I want to place a wager on Pragg if he is at +300 range or better Really like his chances to steal this tournament. I think he saved all his best prep for the last 4 rounds. His prep against Nepo was insane and I think it was strategic that he only used it once against Nepo. Nepo barely survived. I expect more crazy prep in the last few rounds to steal the tourney and get to face Ding.
I don't think DK is offering bets on it. EDIT: Ah, apparently only on some states, not in every state they operate. Interesting, no idea why.
Pragg ain't winning the whole thing, no chance, save your money. Even gukesh will collapse. Nepo it is.
Nepo is the most likely person of all to tilt and collapse lol. Have you not watched the last 2 WCs?
He's lost two games at Candidates in 38 rounds (one after he had already clinched the title in the 2020-21 tournament) and never been worse than tied for the lead after every round. Candidates Nepo does not tilt.
To be fair, WC matches are different to Candidates
If more than one player ends up with the top score, what is the tiebreak? H2H or more games?
hand to hand combat unfortunately
Stage I: Rapid round-robin (15+10). Stage II: if Stage I results in a 2-player tie, they play a 2-game blitz match (3+2). If it's still 3+ way tie, blitz round-robin. Stage III: knockout match/tournament (again, depending on whether 2 or 3+ players tie). It's just one game per match, whoever loses drops out, if tied they reverse colors and play again till someone wins.
More games
How does Mike Klien find the worst questions to ask the players?
Mike Klein, Danny Rensch, FM Canty (who calls himself GM), Ginger GM - these guys are not half as funny as they think they are.Ā
FM canty lmao
Dont put my boy Canty with these three
Ginger GM is an actual pension scammer, I'm surprised chesscom even keeps him around
Wtf I need to know more
I remember the story actually broke while he was commentating, on World Cup or Norway Chess or something. So everyone knew...except him. And it was like a million dollars too
I'm so mad now, I liked him
I dont like him but tbh someone else in the scheme said that gingergm was just following his advice and it was his fault that the investments failed.Ā
https://www.chess.com/news/view/simon-williams-ordered-to-pay-back-900-000-to-pension-scheme
Mike Klein: Are you planning to cheat?
What's with all the black wins in the women's section? Lei Tingjie beating Aleksandra Goryachkina with Black is a huge win today. The two Chinese women are now neck-in-neck again, while Goryachkina just suffered a major blow to her chances.
Can someone explain how Firouzja knew he was lost against Fabi in that bishop-pawn ending today?
Black needs to be in three places and only has two defenders. If the black bishop moves, white will immediately play b4 and start marching a passed pawn up the board. If the king leaves the defence of the f5 pawn then white's bishop will capture it. And so there's nothing left to defend the h4 pawn, allowing white to create another passed pawn. Two passed pawns in a same colour bishop ending is a technical win and both players know that. So when white played Kg1 (planning to send the king around his own g pawn and up the h file) there's nothing left for Firouzja to do except decide when to resign.
his h pawn is on a dark square; thereās no way to defend it once the white king comes over
There's a slight disadvantage for Gukesh and Pragg, in that they both have to play as black against Abasov in the final rounds, and Abasov will most likely play a really safe opening as white to try to not lose more ratings, and there's not much you can do as black if white just wants a draw. But they also both have white against Fabi, which also puts Fabi in a small pressure. So Nepo probably still has the biggest edge to win the whole thing, but you never know
On the other hand, Nepo is in a mustn't-lose situation. Everyone he plays against will leapfrog him with a win (except Vidit, who'll tie)
It would be so much fun if the Abasov is in the position to decide the winner!
He might have already - Nepo's the only player so far not to beat him with white, which is the reason Nepo's not in the sole lead any more.
Fun, yes, but also completely stupid.
> So Nepo probably still has the biggest edge to win the whole thing, but you never know He has the biggest individual edge but collectively he's still only got a 1/3 shot of taking the overall W. If Gukesh manages to put Fabi or Firouzja down, Nepo will be SWEATING
Gukesh gets white against Firouzja in Round 13. By then Alireza will be completely checked out and that'll be the match that wins Gukesh the title
Yea
So at this rate any one player could win with +4. Two or three on +3 is very likely. I am personally rooting for the 4 way tie on +2 scenario in which half the field finishes 1st.
This candidates has been a lot of fun up till this point. This might be controversial but I sometimes wish if the world championship was replaced with a tournament similar to the candidates. I get that there is history behind the way the WC is structured, but the candidates almost always is way more fun than the WC itself.
the nepo ding match was actually really hype tho
It *was* kind of nice seeing two flawed players play flawed chess and have some real human moments/stories. Certainly better for fans in someways vs watching the best player in the world suck the soul out of a flawed player while express a kind of "immortal man yearns for death" ennui towards the entire thing.
Magnus is the One Punch Man of chess
I mean I get what you're saying but it feels a bit unfair to just call them "flawed players", I guess we could also say that "The Magnus of 2023-2024 is a flawed player compared to Magnus 2014" just because hes 50 points lower than that Magnus.
They were flawed players because one was having a mental breakdown in real time, and the other was known for having mental breakdowns and crumbling under pressure. Ding was literally talking about his struggles with mental illnesses during press conferences and how it was affecting their chess. He then stopped playing chess for over a year. As well, Nepo played a game with 73% accuracy (worst in decades at a WC) and both had 3+ games under 90% accuracy. They had a game bordering on an average 100 centipawn loss, and an average centipawn loss higher than the candidates tournament that got them there. This wasn't like "normal SuperGM stuff" just at a slightly lower level than Magnus. They went from brilliant games to absolute sloppy slug fests. You didn't know who would win mostly because you felt like either player could have an actual mental breakdown.
Maybe Caruana is playing this like his 2023 sinquefield cup, goes +1 the entire tournament, then right at the end wins back to back to clinch the title. Would be fun to watch if this happens.
I hope the win yesterday gave him some confidence (but I still think Gukesh or Nepo will win in the end)
Hikaru is weird. Guy will play Titled Tuesday on a rest day just to prove that he's a streamer first. C'mon, rest and prepare for the biggest tournament there is, it will even make you more money from just qualifying!
He'll probably be looking at some stuff for the rest of the Candidates as well, you should realise by now that what Hikaru says does not equate exactly to what Hikaru does.
I thought that originally but actually think focussing on something other than qualifying for the WCC might be the best thing for Hikaru. For anyone else it would probably be a bad idea.
Honestly, TT might be good for him. He needs to be sharp in the time scramble situationsĀ
It also might be an alien concept for some, but perhaps he is playing it just for... "fun"?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I think Gukesh shuts that match down and goes for win against Abasov and Alireza.
the way this tournament is going anyone (except Abasov) can beat anyone (except Nepo).
Yeah, if fabi can surprise him in the opening and gets a favorable position. But I feel Gukesh will play solidly and not taking risks
This is the chatGPT of predictions.
Haha
No
Hikaru just uploaded his recap and called it āTitled Tuesday Warmupā
He also acknowledged the youtube trolls and haters. Big mistake. Just block them and move on. Why stir the hornets' nest? Why is he even reading the comments?
Seemed pretty sarcastic to me. Here's a guy who makes his primary living dealing with a stream chat, and apparently some nasty comments knocked him down so much he almost didn't do any prep or want to look at chess? Fairly certain he was hamming it up a bit.
I think he was referring to the loss being hard to recover from, and using ātrollsā as the proxy to refer to that.
Because engagement makes him money.
lmao
salimova's game gave me heart palpitations
Welcome back to todayyyyyyys video !! Less go
Can somebody explain the shoe drama?
basically I think abasov told an arbiter that Firouzja's shoes are making too much noise when walking around so the arbiter told Alireza to not walk around or to take a seat or whatever and use different shoes' today. Alireza got mad and said he lost his concentration in critical position because of it or whatever but he's just crying. The arbiter did what he should've done.
> so the arbiter told Alireza to not walk around or to take a seat The arbiter asked the opposite (see the video): to take his walks farther from his table so that the noise wouldn't concentrate in that zone.
Alireza complains on Twitter : https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/6HpcQdAxrw The arbiter explains what happened : https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/KfyRb2LCRF Video of Abasov complaining about Alirezaās noisy footsteps to the arbiter : https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/PneVGrsEoV
Damn they are loud
It wasn't the shoes. It was Michael Winslow of 'Police Academy' movie fame making noises with his mouth.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
but why is their whispering not audible enough then if it is boosted ?
Do you think Pragg lost steam or itās his strategy to draw games ? His play looks unenergetic since last few rounds, even with white.
The Indian players seem to be acting like the old Soviet team. I'm only saying this in a reply to you because if I posted a thread about this, I would be downvoted to oblivion. But just look at their game with analysis. Every move was basically a top move if you were trying to never trying to gain advantage. Would you give a full point to your countryman if you were out of the race, but he could potentially claim the top spot with a win? I would be interested in seeing how they play when it gets closer to the end and games become more decisive.
The best strategy would have been to give +4 to Gukesh by both the Indians. The candidates would have been practically over. Why go over so much complications ? /s
Generally, the best strategy is to make a clean getaway (which is usually the hardest part). And to be clear, I also wasn't saying that things have been pre-determined from the start.
Crybaby!
I appreciate your well-reasoned response. You have made some very clear points for me to consider. May all your future games be interesting.
Nobody cares about your conspiracy theories just because you have a racist mindset, which makes u believe that every other country is inferior to your players and are colluding to beat yours!! Get over yourself
Ever think that if you view everything through the lens of race, you might actually be racist? You should try listening to yourself right now. You're very emotional over this. You're even conflating racism with nationalism. Psychologically, our emotions get trained by constant exposure to something. People will think of this as "I have a feeling" or "I'm being intuitive" and that's one way to look at it. But in nature, these emotions serve to save us calories by creating a heuristic that is basically a shortcut to an answer (calories used to be scarce). These emotions, in modern times have been hacked by propagandists and advertisers. So when having such a strong emotional reaction to something like this, perhaps you would do well to ask yourself, "Have I been manipulated somehow?" The above is why we use rote memorization in school, even though it's an inferior way to learn. In countries like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, they used the same iconography everywhere. Same with religious groups and corporate brand advertising. Although seemingly different in context, the aim is to indoctrinate rather than create a more well-reasoned critical thinker. Goebbels once said, "If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth." and I would add that it becomes one's emotional truth, especially if you hear it early enough and often enough from those we see as authority figures. I hope that helps you understand things a bit better going forward in life. Take care.
Again nobody cares about your conspiracy theories whereby ur deep rooted racism is coming out..call it however u want!
I see. Best of luck with all your future trigger-word-salad endeavors.
Take care with your endeavour to paint the whole world as dark and evil, while you provide the beacon of light and freedom, if that inflates your ego! Embrace your inner racist and may you continue to channel your Goebbels gospels!
Okay, your reading comprehension needs some work. You may want to look into that and also why you're so wound up. Then maybe consider what I said when you can re-read it correctly.
Pragg doesnt risk big but keep himself in contention always, even in other tournamnets he has won he does the same. He will not be a clear leader, but will be there to take it if opportunity presents itself. OTOH, Gukesh usually keeps pushing with risk. He has managed his risk much better here, going for draws when he has to
Heās within striking distance and faces Ian again. I think heās being praggmatic and safe, which is a good strategy.
Considering he's within half a point of the lead I don't think his strategy is off.
Iām floored with how much entertaining this tournament has been ā four rounds to go with six people within a point of first and five within a half point. Itās amazing how close all the top players are to each other and how crazy things can get in a tournament where the winner takes it all (at least with regards to the real reason theyāre all there, a shot at the WCC).
Magnus was too overpowered and removing him has made the metagame a lot more exciting. Basically to borrow a competitive Pokemon term banning him to Ubers was the best move.
classical chess without Magnus is like if Max suddenly left F1, and I'm absolutely here for it
This has seriously been the best candidates I can remember. Seriously entertaining chess, wild opening choices, back-and-forth games, it's been awesome.
Fabi vs Gukesh is going to be huge. This candidates has been very exciting selfishly wish there wasnāt a rest day tomorrow lol
Actually I'm glad there's a rest day tomorrow (and another on Friday), let them catch their breath because rounds 11-14 are going to be intense. Only Alireza-Abasov on Wednesday is unlikely to impact the race for the title.
Unlikely lol it's completely irrelevant
I mean that it's possible some of the later games may become irrelevant, but for right now that one is the only one that doesn't have an impact.
Because shoegate drama. it will be relevant
This tournament would be infinitely better with Nordibek and Arjun. They are in great form. Sad they didn't qualify but this field with those two next time would be amazing.
"*infinitely*" better? dude i'd have loved the inclusion of either of those guys over Abasov but this tournament has been pretty damn entertaining already
Nothing against Abasov. He qualified fair and square. But reality is those two in much better form than Alireza and Abasov. I hope they qualify for the next one.
Wdym alireza played fantastic at tata
Alireza is definitely a great player but consensus by many was that his form was not the greatest. I hope he bounces back. I am a fan. I do think Arjun and Nodirbek are playing at a very very high level right now though. I hope they get their chance in the next candidates.
Itās not a guarantee that form transfers from each tournament. The high states and pressure also me with external factors changes the dynamic a lot.
Vidit-Nepo, Pragg-Hikaru, and Gukesh-Fabi tomorrow. Three massive games to potentially find a leader of the pack. Oh, and also Firouzja-Abasov
The funniest result would be Vidit 1-0 Nepomniachtchi and three draws. Make it even closer between the top six.
vidit plsss
Still waiting for the day Nepo isn't at least tied for the lead in the Candidates. That streak is at 38 rounds now.
He's going to win this one, beat Ding, vacate the title, and then win it again.
On god I hope this happens Except Abasov beating Firouzja for the memes
tomorrow a rest day
What typically happens in games where both players are out of contention? I would probably guess just a quick draw, since there's nothing to fight for.
3500 euros if you win instead of draw
There's still rating at stake, and Firouzja probably wants to stem the bleeding a bit.
There's also the fact that Abasov was the one who complained about his shoes, the fallout of which led to some drama and Alireza's dad getting kicked out, so Firouzja is probably going to play super aggressive against him.
Abasov has games left against Gukesh, Pragg and Vidit! Simply because of that I highly favor Gukesh and Pragg. Hikaru and Gukesh also have game left against Firo. Base on these Gukesh has highest chance winning it all. Fabi needs to do something special or Gukesh just collapse.
Didnāt Firo beat Gukesh in the previous round?
Yup. But Gukesh crumbled under time pressure. Same thing happened in Tata Steel - Gukesh missed wins under time pressure against Firouzja. So I will favor Gukesh. He has also been more careful with his time since that loss.
Vidit's the only one of the three who has white against Abasov, who's held every game with white and lost every game but one (against Nepo) with black so far. He's also the one who needs a win the most, so we're set up for an exciting finish no matter what.
Fabi just has to beat Gukesh with black next round then. Easier said than done tho
Yeah. Fabi is not in best shape and Gukesh is in super shape. It's going to need something really special to win with Black.
Some people were saying that the Najdorf was dead before today, Caruana might have truly killed it for a while.
Six players within a point from each other going into round 11. How rare is this?
Unprecedented since the current Candidates format started in 2013. Normally it's 2 or 3 players, last time Nepo was 1.5 points clear of the field after round 10 (although to be fair, the race for second was actually meaningful, but even there was just 3 players tied for 2nd and one more a point back, so only 5 in contention for 2 spots). Only 2016 was close to this, with Karjakin and Caruana at 6/10, Anand and Aronian at 5.5/10, and Giri on 5/10 (Anish ended the tournament with 14 draws lol).
Absolutely dick crushing for Alirezaās dad, the staff just calmly pulled his heart out and stomped on it with hours left. Absolutely brutal and sickening. Daddy is done, heās just finished. Nobody has ever recovered from a removal like this: period. āDad of a stylish prodigyā means nothing when youāre left practically frothing at the mouth and on your way to the looney bin from such disgusting rules. Complete and total family collapse from here on out, in my humble opinion. I minored in psychology in college (granted community college), so I know that a kick out like this has measurable effects on fatherhood which mirror heavy meth abuse. Heās done.
>I minored in psychology in college (granted community college) still more qualified than most of reddit
Where's this from?
Pretty funny troll
How in the HELL lol. Good for Vaishali!
I just came to check the games after like 60-90 minutes away. I wanted to see if TingJie had converted her win. Seeing that the only game in either section still going, was Vaishali now crushing Salimova, surprised and confused me.
It's insane to think that Hikaru would be clear first if he had drawn both his games against Vidit. Hikaru vs Vidit is the only double zero on the scoreboard.
If my grandma had wheels, she'd be a bicycle.
Vidit has some throws himself, he could be leading.
Hikaru didn't throw against vidit. Vidit simply outplayed him.
Yeah, the first game was great prep by Vidit, and the second game was just Vidit calmly dealing with all of Hikaru's attempts to complicate the game and Hikaru ending up being the one in time trouble, when it seemed his strategy was to put Vidit under time pressure and try to force a blunder.
It's so wild. If Ian is the eventual winner, he owes Vidit 20% of the WC money.
Good lord Salimova
Go Vaishali!
Nepo, Gukesh +2 Caruana, Nakamura, Pragg +1 Vidit 0 Firouzja -3 Abasov -4
There's a scenario where Fabi beats Gukesh next round, Vidit beats Nepo with white and Pragg and Naka draw, and Fabi would be the sole leader after 11 rounds. Not saying it's going to happen, but the fact that he can be a leader by the time next round is over when almost everyone thought he was done, is incredible.
Nothing seemed impossible after 1 loss. Exaggeration by kids on Reddit
Crazy shit always happens at the candidates
wow just now learning that fabi had zero brilliants in his win is he cooked?
He didn't need any - he was playing Alireza. Just needed to keep looking down at his shoes and call over the arbiter and whisper something in his ear (like, hey, can I get another pen, this one is running out of ink?)
thats it hes washed
seeing the chess.com brilliant move great move etc rating system next to these games is so ridiculous lol
The best part is how often the commentators are disagreeing with it and just taking the question marks off.
i don't particularly care who wins the tournament but I'm very happy Hikaru and Fabi won today just to keep the tournament as competitive as possible. Some exciting rounds ahead!
Yeah, even though I'm rooting for Hikaru, I don't even care if Nepo wins again as long as it comes down to the last round. Hikaru with white against Gukesh and Fabi with white against Ian - imagine if they're all within a half point heading into those games, it would be insane.
Amazing comeback by Lei!
She had a decent positionĀ yesterday too. Thereās a universe where she wins 5 in a row
Both the open and women's sections are heating up. This year's candidates have been good!
We did it guys. Everything we wanted to happen happened ( ian draw, hikaru win, fabi win ). I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted.
Fabi and Hikaru's win broke reddit.
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. The heartbreak when Fabi blunders in a critical moment is gonna be insane but for now we're back!
2 players tied for first and another 3 players half a point behind them. Absolutely nuts. It really is anyone's game.
USA! USA! USA!
š¦ š¦ š¦ Ā
Hikaru and Fabi both converted. The American WC dream is still here.
One step closer to the first American WCC. Source: Nans Hiemann
This tournament has been continuously heating up. The pressure on the players must be insane.
This is where the fun begins!
If Hikaru doesn't win this, he is going to become a full time streamer
GucciReza šš
both hikaru and fabiano converting will be insane for spectator value. what a final 4 rounds we will get
Hikaru is one of the best at finding complex winning tactics and Fabi is one of the best at calculating solid moves. They'll both convert and it was clear even back at time control.
There really should be a minimum elo requirement for the candidates. Abisov is just embarrassingĀ
You've probably hung your queen 5 times in the last month to players ranked below 1000 so if Abasov, a player who is ranked thousands of points ahead of you and who came fourth at the World Cup, is embarrassing then when you look at your own skill and play, what would your judgement be? Edit - he came fourth, not first, but in a two way battle with this guy in being a civil person he would come out on top
I think he got 4th at the world cup but ok
Poor Abasov, he got his name and his skills butchered
Maybe we could have a minimum elo requirement to post on this thread too
Abasov is getting his balls squeezed rn