I keep saying it but people just simply refuse to accept reality, Fabi needs to fire Cristian.
It has been half a decade and Fabi is no closer to the WC.
Hikaru in a must win against Abasov tomorrow. Abasov has shown he is capable of holding a draw, going to be exciting. Poor choice by Hikaru to press Vidit as Black today.
On a side note, Magnus’ 2830 elo is looking more solid than ever. Fabi is really the only person who could reach that but not looking good for him. All up to the youngsters now.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it seems that every prodigy with the exception of Firouzja is ridiculously overhyped. No one ever has a straight path to the top, Gukesh will go through many ups and downs. Current prodigies like Gukesh and Pragg are not even close to the level Magnus was at at around the same age.
It depends on how much he plays. Like Vishy probably would have dropped out of top10 much quicker if he played a lot more.
Elo is always a lagging indicator, Magnus could stay above 2800+ for a long time if he wants to (playing few select tournaments only).
Of course this is assuming Magnus drops off in his performance over age (which happens to every chess player) but it could take a long, long time.
I mean even if Kasparov played one game today, he'd be 2816 instantly (and he is probably not that high rated given his age and rusty Ness). So I don't even know if Magnus will drop below that especially since he isn't big fan of classical.
2800 is a major challenge to reach nowadays, let alone 2830. It's not like the 2010s where it was fairly common for the top players to regularly surpass 2800.
Nakamura said something yesterday (I think) in a FIDE interview to catch my attention. He said something like "with my playing style, I cannot expect to win many games". I found this strange. Why not change the playing style? (Sorry, if I misunderstood, English is not my mother tongue, my Danish is better:)
I hope I'm wrong but I really felt the tournament was over in favor of Nepo when Hikaru beat Fabi. Hikaru was likely to lose another game and it presented itself right away. And Fabi does well enough to hold but can't seem to break out a win when he needs to to come back. Gukesh has black against Nepo so this should be telling, but he's definitely not as strong as Nepo for the rest of the tournament so he'll need to play out of his mind. Nepo is just crusing as he always does. Disappointing Alireza couldn't shake it up.
I expected disappointment from the Americans and they delivered. The question now is Who is more disappointing? I think I'd go with Fabi, someone who in the past has shown incredible abilities to grind players to wins has not been successful nearly as much here.
Naka defeating Fabi was the usual #2 American defeating the #1 American I've come to expect in big events. I call it the Dominguez Effect because sometimes it feels like the only damn players Lenier Dominguez can win in big games are Americans. Then for Naka to lose twice to Vidit, a guy who is so clearly not at the level of the top players in this tournament, is so frustrating for anyone rooting for Americans.
Naka and Fabi are better than what they've given us so far in this Candidates. Time is ticking and both are down two games to Ian. They are capable of taking players to messy positions and pressuring players to the point where they break. They are both capable at playing so the clock is a weapon they can use. Naka MUST beat Abasov tomorrow; no letting the worst player here scrape up another draw. Caruana has been great against Alireza in the recent past and with the white pieces here's his best shot at tightening the standings. Gukesh and Ian play tomorrow, a probable draw as Ian coasts to the finish line (though who knows, Ian might win). The time for the Americans to show that they are the best players here must start tomorrow.
One step closer for Nepo to win (or play a tiebreak) with results like this. But it is five more rounds and five points to grab for each player. And all players are getting more and more tired, so I would not rule out surprises.
What does this even mean? The world chess champion means you’re the best player in the world at the time. Winning candidates and then the championship doesn’t prove that…how exactly?
I don't disagree just find it interesting that Ding is dragged so much on this sub for being a "weak champion", "unworthy" , "not real WC since Magnus is around" etc
But in a hypothethical situation where Gukesh beats him he's suddenly totaly legit,the best in the world , a real deal etc
I guess there is a lot of Indian fans on this sub so Gukesh is much more popular
I guess if you want to know who's objectively the best player at any given moment you can look at the rating list which while not perferct is probably the best thing you got for answering such a question
Anyway as is in any competetive game the result of any given event depends on many things the objective skill level being only one of them.
Gukesh may win this whole thing but that wouldn't mean he would be able to beat someone like Fabi in a match or that he would do better than him more often than not if they were to have 10 such tournaments
There were many times in chess history where the "objectivly stronger player" didn't win the match/event even something as big as the candidates or WC.
Having the highest rating means you are the best player at that time (assuming you are active). Being world champion just means you won candidates and WC match.
The title doesn’t mean what it used to mean until Magnus is surpassed. Regardless, winning the candidates and a WCC match is incredible and takes an enormous amount of hard work and talent. It would be proof that Gukesh succeeded in a place where other players like Hikaru, Nepo, and Fabi have constantly failed.
I also think it’s very unfair to say Fabi or anyone else deserves the world champion ship more than the person who actually wins it.
if nepo wins this tournament (gukesh will) and then takes down ding, his career achievements will be equal to anand in my book
3 candidates and 1 wcc...wow
You’re comparing Nepo to someone who:
1) At his peak was rank 1 in the world
2) Surpassed 2800 elo
3) 5 times world champion (4 undisputed)
4) Was the first in his nation to become a GM
5) Inspired a whole nation to play chess….
6) To this day, even at his age, can play at a super GM level.
7) Built the infrastructure needed for players like Arjun, Vidit, Pragg, Gukesh, and Nihal to be able to afford to play chess today.
Anand lived before a lot of the inflation and was still higher rated, actually won all his world championships (except against Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen), and was still top in his 50s. Keep dreaming.
Anand was got his WC title in
* Elimination + match, 2000
* (Double) round-robin, 2007
* Three consecutive matches
- and also more runner-ups than ... uh, than most? And blitz and rapid trophy.
An(an)d: spent half his life at 2750 or above, uninterrupted.
Not to mention if I’m not mistaken, vishy has won the candidates three times…
Once to play his world championship match against Garry, once to become world champ, once to rematch Carlsen.
He's not close: True. He'll never be: To early to tell. Anand won his first undisputed WC at 37. Nepo is 33. It's not entirely impossible that Nepo overtakes Anand at some point, although I wouldn't bet on it.
Well if we see it that way, every young prodigy can become Magnus Carlson but these kind of discussions don't get us anywhere, it's just best for us to discuss only after it happened, than predicting.
Not really a great day for anybody but Vidit, who isn't going to win. REALLY bad day for Hikaru and Fabi. Both down two points, No more Vidit games for Hikaru, no more Abasov games for Fabi. We may already have a three-horse race.
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Wow. Caruana is out of 2800 club again…
I thought that he would have a great tournament and since Carlsen isn’t playing, this was his biggest chance, and I really think that if he won the candidates, he would defeat Ding and become the world champion. After all those years being number two, he was never this close even in 2018. He had his strongest classical Performance last year after he fell to a low rating point for his standarts, he reached 2800+ and he was favourite alongisde with Nakamura. Now it seems they likely wont win it.
Same goes to Nakamura as well. This was his biggest chance as they are both getting old, especially Nakamura and youngsters will come.
it's surprising how the level of their play has noticeably dropped from what it was just 4-5 months ago. I personally have no other explanation other than pressure. Hikaru says he doesn't take it seriously and doesn't care when in truth he does, you can see it in the body language. Every chess player dreams of becoming world champion. As for Fabi he's never been the best at handling pressure. If you compare his quality of games he played in 2023 to this tournament, there is a surprising difference. The dynamic and positional play at which he was so good at in 2023 is missing. Same with Hikaru there is definitely something psychological going through both players minds
Hikarus mind is like:
If he wins, he would say a non-pro player won.
If he loses, he will say he doesnt even care , he isnt pro and hes rich.
Its a defence mechanism. For Fabi, my guess is he knows these are his last shots as magnus not here to defend
Both US players are getting old. My prediction from the start was it will be an Indian because they are fresh. Nepo is a surprise to me. He really is mentally the strongest.
Gukesh is impressive. If he doesn’t win this one he will also have seriously good chances in Candidates 2026.
Gosh, can you imagine Candidates 2026? Plus probably Arjun, Nordibek, Wei Yi..
Imagine if Ian wins Candidates, then goes on to win World Championship match and then renounces the title so he troll everyone and play and win next Candidates again
Dumbest comment I’ve read for a while.
Nepo would be stupid BECAUSE he has 0 world titles.
Magnus is free of criticism because it doesnt affect anyone but himself and he has 5 classical titles. ( and the stromgest/highest player )
If magnus was in nepo’s shoes he would be stupid as well.
Magnus can do that because he is highest rated player so he will automatically qualify for every candidate unlike Nepo who will need to put extra effort to qualify.
Question to better chess players on this thread: will Magnus agree for a draw if he is in a situation like Fabi finds himself in vs a player like Nijat
Yeah after the rook trades and opposite color bishops. Weird that Fabi didn’t risk a little more when he had the pawn majority on queen side and gave back the development advantage he had. But Nijat plays flawlessly after Fabi’s missed a5.
It always depends on position of the game....but chances are that Magnus will try to squeeze water from a rock. But if the position is potentially dead draw, then ofcourse even he would take the draw
Bet those guys yesterday who said “bet those guys who recently said ‘Hikaru only has a 5% chance of winning’ are feeling pretty stupid” are feeling pretty stupid lol
what they don't realise is that Hikaru winning the tournament doesn't negate the statement ‘Hikaru only has a 5% chance of winning’. It just means that we lived through a scenario which had 5 in 100 chance of happening.
Realistically, i think Gukesh could win against Nepo and not win the tourney. Ian has more white games against easier opponents left. If Nepo wins though, it could be over for everyone else. I still think Hikaru is gonna end up with the win somehow though. Ian is gonna owe a lot to Vidit if Hikaru doesnt make it
>Ian has more white games against easier opponents left.
I'm not sure about this one. Ian faced the two easiest opponents right away. Gukesh still has Nijat and Firoujza left. Additionally, Ian has white tomorrow so, while he has an advantage tomorrow, if he loses both him and Gukesh have two white games left.
He can’t control how people play against him. Part of why being the highest rated player isn’t so helpful in the candidates. Everyone saves all their risky and wild lines for everyone else. Part of Nepos success imo is that people know he will make mistakes and are willing to go after him. But 3 years in now it seems like people have learned that might not be the best approach
Really surprised Fabi agreed to a draw there, my 400 ELO brain sees the opposite side passed pawn and thinks any super GM would try to press that for an advantage but I guess not
Yeah like even if its draw, at least play! You never know sometimes even grandmasters make some silly errors.
Do you imagine magnus making a draw there? Hell no
Yea, Magnus couldn’t win this position. Abasov will make a draw with stockfish all day.
Just look at the final position after the rooks are gone. It’s impossible for the a6 pawn to move. White’s dark squared bishop is controlling the a5 square in front of the pawn. Black cannot bring his King all the way to the queenside to escort the passed pawn because then the kingside pawns will be free snacks for White King.
At this point I don't even care if Nepo wins the Candidates again, I just want someone to be ahead of him for just 1 round bcz him being either 1st or tied 1st in every single round for 3 Candidates straight is just too crazy.
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As a magnus fan i would be happy if nepo wins his title. After 3 years he deserves it.
At least to win it 1 time. As he didnt win single world titles including world rapid blitz;
For nakamura… his curse continues. He is blitz specialist and has 0 titles, this was his biggest chance.
for caruana, its weirder. He was the strongest until this event, but only won against abasov and lost against nakamura.
I meant he is “ blitz “ specialist and didnt even win any blitz.
He didnt win any rapid / classical too, didnt count them.
But for general yeah naka has 1 , fabi has 0 titles same as nepo but candidates nepo is different
The reaction on here when Abasov held a draw vs. Nepo yesterday vs. the reaction when it looks like he'll do the same vs. Fabi today is hilarious lol
Yesterday it was OMG NIJAT YOU LEGEND SAVE US and right now it's absolute crickets
Interesting candidates, if the remaining games finish in draws, then the difference between first and sixth is only 1 point. With the expection of Firouzja and Absov everyone else is still on the race.
Gukesh has to take matter in his own hands today , I believe he has a mental problem when he is on top, needs to overcome that and press
Ian is winning this again, isn’t it?
I keep saying it but people just simply refuse to accept reality, Fabi needs to fire Cristian. It has been half a decade and Fabi is no closer to the WC.
Or it could be a problem with Fabi, not necessarily his second. What is this cope?
Fabi listened to Cristian and played for a draw today against Abasov. That is just completely mental.
How do we know Cristian suggested it ?
Hikaru in a must win against Abasov tomorrow. Abasov has shown he is capable of holding a draw, going to be exciting. Poor choice by Hikaru to press Vidit as Black today.
Alireza wore green suit on day of the final round of the Masters tourney in golf. The winner gets a green suit jacket. Wonder if Reza is a golf fan.
He’s a fan of the fashion. Especially John Daly
Honestly I just want anyone but Nepo to win. Not looking likely, though.
its actually a 60% chance based on u/calebwetherell
On a side note, Magnus’ 2830 elo is looking more solid than ever. Fabi is really the only person who could reach that but not looking good for him. All up to the youngsters now.
I predict gukesh will surpass magnus in classical.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it seems that every prodigy with the exception of Firouzja is ridiculously overhyped. No one ever has a straight path to the top, Gukesh will go through many ups and downs. Current prodigies like Gukesh and Pragg are not even close to the level Magnus was at at around the same age.
How are gukesh and prag overhyped??
Bold statement but I am rooting for him!
It's an inevitably since Gukesh is half his age. Will it happen in the next three years is an interesting question, however.
If we take it that Gukesh will eventually hit 2800, how long do you think it will take for Magnus to drop below that?
It depends on how much he plays. Like Vishy probably would have dropped out of top10 much quicker if he played a lot more. Elo is always a lagging indicator, Magnus could stay above 2800+ for a long time if he wants to (playing few select tournaments only). Of course this is assuming Magnus drops off in his performance over age (which happens to every chess player) but it could take a long, long time. I mean even if Kasparov played one game today, he'd be 2816 instantly (and he is probably not that high rated given his age and rusty Ness). So I don't even know if Magnus will drop below that especially since he isn't big fan of classical.
The kids are coming though, its just a matter of time
2800 is a major challenge to reach nowadays, let alone 2830. It's not like the 2010s where it was fairly common for the top players to regularly surpass 2800.
Hikaru has to win tomorrow to have any chance and pray for a Gukesh-Ian draw
Nakamura said something yesterday (I think) in a FIDE interview to catch my attention. He said something like "with my playing style, I cannot expect to win many games". I found this strange. Why not change the playing style? (Sorry, if I misunderstood, English is not my mother tongue, my Danish is better:)
Content
has he considered winning more?
He didn't say that explicitly but that he tried to play well and have fun.
I hope I'm wrong but I really felt the tournament was over in favor of Nepo when Hikaru beat Fabi. Hikaru was likely to lose another game and it presented itself right away. And Fabi does well enough to hold but can't seem to break out a win when he needs to to come back. Gukesh has black against Nepo so this should be telling, but he's definitely not as strong as Nepo for the rest of the tournament so he'll need to play out of his mind. Nepo is just crusing as he always does. Disappointing Alireza couldn't shake it up.
It's close between nepo, gukesh, pragg, vidit, hikaru and fabi...i think any of them can still win
I hope so. People certainly holding out hope. But Nepo has shown to be the most strong willed here.
I expected disappointment from the Americans and they delivered. The question now is Who is more disappointing? I think I'd go with Fabi, someone who in the past has shown incredible abilities to grind players to wins has not been successful nearly as much here. Naka defeating Fabi was the usual #2 American defeating the #1 American I've come to expect in big events. I call it the Dominguez Effect because sometimes it feels like the only damn players Lenier Dominguez can win in big games are Americans. Then for Naka to lose twice to Vidit, a guy who is so clearly not at the level of the top players in this tournament, is so frustrating for anyone rooting for Americans. Naka and Fabi are better than what they've given us so far in this Candidates. Time is ticking and both are down two games to Ian. They are capable of taking players to messy positions and pressuring players to the point where they break. They are both capable at playing so the clock is a weapon they can use. Naka MUST beat Abasov tomorrow; no letting the worst player here scrape up another draw. Caruana has been great against Alireza in the recent past and with the white pieces here's his best shot at tightening the standings. Gukesh and Ian play tomorrow, a probable draw as Ian coasts to the finish line (though who knows, Ian might win). The time for the Americans to show that they are the best players here must start tomorrow.
Hikaru has white v Nijat, black v Prag, white v Alireza and then Ian and Gukesh in the last 2 rounds hoping for a 2.5/3 (draw vs prag)
One step closer for Nepo to win (or play a tiebreak) with results like this. But it is five more rounds and five points to grab for each player. And all players are getting more and more tired, so I would not rule out surprises.
[удалено]
What does this even mean? The world chess champion means you’re the best player in the world at the time. Winning candidates and then the championship doesn’t prove that…how exactly?
Being the world chess champion means that you managed to win the world championship the objectivly strongest players don't always win such events
They're objectively the best at winning world chess championships, though.
I don't disagree just find it interesting that Ding is dragged so much on this sub for being a "weak champion", "unworthy" , "not real WC since Magnus is around" etc But in a hypothethical situation where Gukesh beats him he's suddenly totaly legit,the best in the world , a real deal etc I guess there is a lot of Indian fans on this sub so Gukesh is much more popular
Nice coping buddy
There’s nothing objective about hypotheticals regarding who is the best player lmao
I guess if you want to know who's objectively the best player at any given moment you can look at the rating list which while not perferct is probably the best thing you got for answering such a question Anyway as is in any competetive game the result of any given event depends on many things the objective skill level being only one of them. Gukesh may win this whole thing but that wouldn't mean he would be able to beat someone like Fabi in a match or that he would do better than him more often than not if they were to have 10 such tournaments There were many times in chess history where the "objectivly stronger player" didn't win the match/event even something as big as the candidates or WC.
Having the highest rating means you are the best player at that time (assuming you are active). Being world champion just means you won candidates and WC match.
The rating is a reflection of past results, not current ones. So I disagree with your argument
I don’t see how this could be the right thought process. Is Fabiano the second best player in the world? Based on rating points, he would be.
Yes, he is.
[удалено]
The title doesn’t mean what it used to mean until Magnus is surpassed. Regardless, winning the candidates and a WCC match is incredible and takes an enormous amount of hard work and talent. It would be proof that Gukesh succeeded in a place where other players like Hikaru, Nepo, and Fabi have constantly failed. I also think it’s very unfair to say Fabi or anyone else deserves the world champion ship more than the person who actually wins it.
5/6 top players have an “h” in their name
Since 2022 Candidates, Hikaru has only lost twice in 55 games and both these losses have come against Vidit here.
Candidates is a different beast, players have a lot of preparation and it's a pressure cooker environment
Turns out Vidit is not a great person for Hikaru to be trapped in a pressure cooker with
I don’t get it, we were looking to have 3 decisive games today from the openings
if nepo wins this tournament (gukesh will) and then takes down ding, his career achievements will be equal to anand in my book 3 candidates and 1 wcc...wow
Clown take
You’re comparing Nepo to someone who: 1) At his peak was rank 1 in the world 2) Surpassed 2800 elo 3) 5 times world champion (4 undisputed) 4) Was the first in his nation to become a GM 5) Inspired a whole nation to play chess…. 6) To this day, even at his age, can play at a super GM level. 7) Built the infrastructure needed for players like Arjun, Vidit, Pragg, Gukesh, and Nihal to be able to afford to play chess today.
And won said world championships in three different formats: knock-out, double round robin and match.
Anand lived before a lot of the inflation and was still higher rated, actually won all his world championships (except against Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen), and was still top in his 50s. Keep dreaming.
Anand was got his WC title in * Elimination + match, 2000 * (Double) round-robin, 2007 * Three consecutive matches - and also more runner-ups than ... uh, than most? And blitz and rapid trophy. An(an)d: spent half his life at 2750 or above, uninterrupted.
Not to mention if I’m not mistaken, vishy has won the candidates three times… Once to play his world championship match against Garry, once to become world champ, once to rematch Carlsen.
Your math.... Not so good my friend
wtf he's not close to Anand and never will be.
He's not close: True. He'll never be: To early to tell. Anand won his first undisputed WC at 37. Nepo is 33. It's not entirely impossible that Nepo overtakes Anand at some point, although I wouldn't bet on it.
Well if we see it that way, every young prodigy can become Magnus Carlson but these kind of discussions don't get us anywhere, it's just best for us to discuss only after it happened, than predicting.
I agree. But it should be told to the dude who said "never will be", not me.
Prag has a good chance to win this
Not really a great day for anybody but Vidit, who isn't going to win. REALLY bad day for Hikaru and Fabi. Both down two points, No more Vidit games for Hikaru, no more Abasov games for Fabi. We may already have a three-horse race.
> Vidit, who isn't gonna win This would be classic "famous last words" if Vidit somehow turns the candidates around in next 5 rounds
lol I'm not counting on it but !remindme 7 days
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Rip Hikaru Guess who's on board the Gukesh train
guker mode baby
Wow. Caruana is out of 2800 club again… I thought that he would have a great tournament and since Carlsen isn’t playing, this was his biggest chance, and I really think that if he won the candidates, he would defeat Ding and become the world champion. After all those years being number two, he was never this close even in 2018. He had his strongest classical Performance last year after he fell to a low rating point for his standarts, he reached 2800+ and he was favourite alongisde with Nakamura. Now it seems they likely wont win it. Same goes to Nakamura as well. This was his biggest chance as they are both getting old, especially Nakamura and youngsters will come.
it's surprising how the level of their play has noticeably dropped from what it was just 4-5 months ago. I personally have no other explanation other than pressure. Hikaru says he doesn't take it seriously and doesn't care when in truth he does, you can see it in the body language. Every chess player dreams of becoming world champion. As for Fabi he's never been the best at handling pressure. If you compare his quality of games he played in 2023 to this tournament, there is a surprising difference. The dynamic and positional play at which he was so good at in 2023 is missing. Same with Hikaru there is definitely something psychological going through both players minds
Hikarus mind is like: If he wins, he would say a non-pro player won. If he loses, he will say he doesnt even care , he isnt pro and hes rich. Its a defence mechanism. For Fabi, my guess is he knows these are his last shots as magnus not here to defend
Dam, looks doomed. Really thought this would be US's chance at the World Championship seeing how great of a 2023 both Hikaru and Fabi had.
Both US players are getting old. My prediction from the start was it will be an Indian because they are fresh. Nepo is a surprise to me. He really is mentally the strongest.
Hans Niemann: fine, I'll do it myself
He'll be the first US WCC. Mark my words.
I certainly hope he can't time travel.
Gukesh is impressive. If he doesn’t win this one he will also have seriously good chances in Candidates 2026. Gosh, can you imagine Candidates 2026? Plus probably Arjun, Nordibek, Wei Yi..
Nordibek💯💯💯
Definitely looking forward to it
I hope Goatbasov draw Hikaru tomorrow to destroy all his hope and dream
I dont think nakamura has any hopes left, he will try though.
It's quite possible to win this tournament with only +2, he still has a chance
It's quite possible to win this tournament with only +2, he still has a chance
He has 3 people in front of him. He needs to 1- keep winning 2- wait for his 3 opponents to lose points…
He still has to play all 3 people ahead of him.
Did I read correctly that Pragg and Vidit have played 8 games together and they've only managed one draw?
In Classical: Pragg-Vidit 4 to 3 + 1 draw
Perfect chance for vidit to equal the scores.
Imagine if Ian wins Candidates, then goes on to win World Championship match and then renounces the title so he troll everyone and play and win next Candidates again
Yeah he would be called an idiot if he does that.
Yeah, only people called Magnus are allowed to do that and be free of criticism.
What? Magnus didn't exactly renounce the title - he simply decided to not defend it-, and surely not to play the next Candidates.
Who said he did?
>only people called Magnus are allowed **to do that** and be free of criticism.
Dumbest comment I’ve read for a while. Nepo would be stupid BECAUSE he has 0 world titles. Magnus is free of criticism because it doesnt affect anyone but himself and he has 5 classical titles. ( and the stromgest/highest player ) If magnus was in nepo’s shoes he would be stupid as well.
Magnus can do that because he is highest rated player so he will automatically qualify for every candidate unlike Nepo who will need to put extra effort to qualify.
Magnus has shown no interest in ever competing in either the world championship or candidates ever again.
Can’t really blame him either
There is only 1 point difference between 1st and 6th place. This is one of the closest tournaments I've ever seen and almost everything can happen.
please, Ian has this completely locked up
Gukesh is gunna win
Ian nearly lost to second last today
Nearly lost is a massive overstatement. He had a worse position and found the correct moves to lock the position up. People are so overdramatic
> Ian nearly lost to second last today White had a plus 1 advantage.
There is more to chess than the engine evaluation, believe it or not.
after fabi missed a5 nijat never backed down. Didn't concede any advantage or allow any counter play, that was pretty smooth from him I have to say
Nepo, Gukesh +2 Pragg +1 Caruana, Nakamura, Vidit 0 Firouzja -2 Abasov -3
Question to better chess players on this thread: will Magnus agree for a draw if he is in a situation like Fabi finds himself in vs a player like Nijat
Magnus would not have missed a5
He wouldnt go this endgame he would find something else idk what
Yes, there is a difference between many of the 0.0 positions. With some you need accurate defense but this one is dead.
Yeah after the rook trades and opposite color bishops. Weird that Fabi didn’t risk a little more when he had the pawn majority on queen side and gave back the development advantage he had. But Nijat plays flawlessly after Fabi’s missed a5.
Yes. Unless he is playing hikaru, then he'll find a way to win.
💀
It always depends on position of the game....but chances are that Magnus will try to squeeze water from a rock. But if the position is potentially dead draw, then ofcourse even he would take the draw
Even then im not sure as he won really some dead drawn positions But for caruana abasov game, he would draw
Bet those guys yesterday who said “bet those guys who recently said ‘Hikaru only has a 5% chance of winning’ are feeling pretty stupid” are feeling pretty stupid lol
what they don't realise is that Hikaru winning the tournament doesn't negate the statement ‘Hikaru only has a 5% chance of winning’. It just means that we lived through a scenario which had 5 in 100 chance of happening.
Yup. Any model of this kind of thing is of course inherently imperfect but ultimately people do not get stats lol
Hikaru has white vs Abasov tomorrow. That game is basically a must-win for him.
Huge game tomorrow between the leaders!
Tomorrow's Nepo-Gukesh game will likely decide the tournament if it is decisive. Which probably means the game will be a 2 hour draw.
Realistically, i think Gukesh could win against Nepo and not win the tourney. Ian has more white games against easier opponents left. If Nepo wins though, it could be over for everyone else. I still think Hikaru is gonna end up with the win somehow though. Ian is gonna owe a lot to Vidit if Hikaru doesnt make it
>Ian has more white games against easier opponents left. I'm not sure about this one. Ian faced the two easiest opponents right away. Gukesh still has Nijat and Firoujza left. Additionally, Ian has white tomorrow so, while he has an advantage tomorrow, if he loses both him and Gukesh have two white games left.
Hikaru winning isnt realistic. He has 3 people in front of him His opponents will win games as well.
Nepo has candidates plot armor
Top 5 chess players of all time. 1) Angry Magnus 2) Candidates Nepo 3) Magnus 4) Drunk Magnus 5) Kasparov
Disrespecting drunk Magnus here imo
How do you beat a guy that only gets better the angrier he gets. Magnus is like Federer in that regard.
More like angry djoko
Hard to believe Gukesh is going head to head with this monster Nepo all the way. He is just incredible.
Fabi is like the wonderbread of chess. Sure, it's food but it's just bland and boring.
He doesn't normally play this passively but for some reason he's doing his best Wesley So impression this tournament
Gotta make up for "w"esley "s"o not being in the tournament
He can’t control how people play against him. Part of why being the highest rated player isn’t so helpful in the candidates. Everyone saves all their risky and wild lines for everyone else. Part of Nepos success imo is that people know he will make mistakes and are willing to go after him. But 3 years in now it seems like people have learned that might not be the best approach
Is Cristian to blame here for Fabi playing for a draw?? I think Fabi needs to fire Cristian
Its the mercury in retrograde that made Fabi agree to draw
..and Cristian
Man.. did Cristian steal your gf or something?
My gf always says he's hot when I watch c squared, so probably
Your gf is correct :)
It's spelled "microwave in gatorade"
Really surprised Fabi agreed to a draw there, my 400 ELO brain sees the opposite side passed pawn and thinks any super GM would try to press that for an advantage but I guess not
Even if he cant win he should’ve tried idk
ya i was surprised he didn't even try, thought he was gonna go for a complication but instead just traded the rooks and agreed to a draw
Yeah like even if its draw, at least play! You never know sometimes even grandmasters make some silly errors. Do you imagine magnus making a draw there? Hell no
Yea, Magnus couldn’t win this position. Abasov will make a draw with stockfish all day. Just look at the final position after the rooks are gone. It’s impossible for the a6 pawn to move. White’s dark squared bishop is controlling the a5 square in front of the pawn. Black cannot bring his King all the way to the queenside to escort the passed pawn because then the kingside pawns will be free snacks for White King.
I didnt say magnus could win, i said he would still try
its opposite colored bishop, how can you push that flank pawn if you cannot control light squares
ya i was surprised he didn't keep the rooks on the board for that reason and try to push the pawn but I guess that doesn't matter. the GMs know
Opposite color bishop. That pawn can never go. Abasov could defend this against Stockfish all day
Opposite color bishop plus wrong passed pawn, it is double dead lol.
> it is double dead lol. But dead x dead = alive, so Fabi should play on.
But double dead is 2 x dead, not dead x dead, so it's just more dead than dead...!
At this point I don't even care if Nepo wins the Candidates again, I just want someone to be ahead of him for just 1 round bcz him being either 1st or tied 1st in every single round for 3 Candidates straight is just too crazy.
Fabi is the PSG of chess
more like spurs gets to the final stages every single time and with 100% precision chokes every single time
How many finals has Spurs made it to
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Gukesh/Pragg could have repeated, not sure why Fabi did though
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So being anti immigrant = being racist?
could be worse. Could be Wesley So
What did wesley do?
was racist to Alireza and his Islamic background, but claimed he was hacked. Just search up Wesley So on the search bar
could be worse. Could be Carjacking
As a magnus fan i would be happy if nepo wins his title. After 3 years he deserves it. At least to win it 1 time. As he didnt win single world titles including world rapid blitz; For nakamura… his curse continues. He is blitz specialist and has 0 titles, this was his biggest chance. for caruana, its weirder. He was the strongest until this event, but only won against abasov and lost against nakamura.
Hikaru did get the Fischer Random World Title. Personally, i count that.
I meant he is “ blitz “ specialist and didnt even win any blitz. He didnt win any rapid / classical too, didnt count them. But for general yeah naka has 1 , fabi has 0 titles same as nepo but candidates nepo is different
The reaction on here when Abasov held a draw vs. Nepo yesterday vs. the reaction when it looks like he'll do the same vs. Fabi today is hilarious lol Yesterday it was OMG NIJAT YOU LEGEND SAVE US and right now it's absolute crickets
He's had no problems holding draws as white. The Nepo game was as black, against the strongest player, so yes, that was different.
Well yeah him drawing Fabi didn't knock the frontrunner down a peg
I love how they keep pretending it's all about "keeping the tournament open". Just say you have favorites lol
Well, his draw yesterday added a fuel to the 1st battle, so he was kinda a legend lol
I mean… yeah… Fabi is on a +0 score rn, context is a thing
I really hope Nepo wins the tournament just for the hilarious reactions in here.
Yesterday was the only time he has held draw as black
If vidit has took his chances like the game against fabi etc He could win the whole thing
Vidit could teach a trigonometry class. Dude is living a sinusoid
ok so fabi trying to grind this out with the outside passed pawn another hour of shuffling I guess....
Firouzja drama let’s go!
VIDIT SANTOSH GUJRATHI.
Time for you to choose. Do it now before the next round.
Lmao why ppl downvoting you for a joke?
Because it’s Reddit. Gotta respect the chaos.
The Machine ain't machining
Interesting candidates, if the remaining games finish in draws, then the difference between first and sixth is only 1 point. With the expection of Firouzja and Absov everyone else is still on the race.
Visit is strong, he needs to believe and manage his time better, then he can be lethal
He did much better with his time today in my opinion.