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2018 World Chess Championship - Officially over!

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Starts tomorrow 10:00 am EST

 


Magnus Carlsen (Norway) is the LeBron James of chess. He’s a dominant force, unquestionably the best in the world, and has been number one for a sustained period of time. He’s chasing GOAT status, and his presence is so imposing that opponents often beat themselves before he needs to.

Fabiano Caruana (USA) is coming for the crown. In 2018 Caruana has established himself as clearly the biggest threat to Carlsen’s dominance, winning the Candidates Tournament by a full point to qualify for the World Championship match and generally operating at a level of sustained brilliance that makes him a serious threat for the title.

Carlsen-Caruana is the matchup the chess world was hoping for. It’s No. 1 versus No. 2 and the first World Championship match between the top two since Kasparov and Karpov in 1990. Caruana only sits three Elo rating points behind Carlsen at 2832 to 2835. If Caruana wins the match within the 12 classical games, he’ll not only take the title but also the world No. 1 spot that Carlsen has held continuously since July 2011—about which Magnus has said “I would like to give you some boring, politically correct answer, but the truth is yeah, it does bother me!”

The match will consist of 12 classical games, following a rest day pattern throughout. The World Championship returns to London with the games being played at The College in Holborn.


https://deadspin.com/magnus-carlsen-and-fabiano-caruanas-fight-for-the-world-1830208841

Caruana is only the second American in history to play for a World Championship since... Bobby Fischer in 1972.

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Bobby Fischer was batsh1t crazy, I might get into chess (not really) if the best player in the world acted like him.

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Day 1 is in the books! Caruana had white pieces and opened with 1. e4. Magnus responded with the Sicilian Defense playing ...c5 and ultimately castled Queen-side, while Caruana castled King-side.

Despite playing with white Caruana never had any advantage and after a few early inaccuracies, Magnus slowly built a huge advantage. Eventually Caruana got into time trouble and Magnus reached a near crushing position. And then... he missed a few winning moves. That allowed Caruana to weasel out of defeat and secure the Draw. The game lasted 7 hours with 115 moves.

 



“I was outplayed after the opening", Caruana said. “It was a complicated position. Magnus started to outplay me. I think I was clearly losing, for a long time I was losing. This was not the most pleasant experience to defend this extremely long game with white. I think I was quite fortunate to end up with a draw.”



“It started very well, I was better on time and had a better position” said Carlsen. “I couldn’t quite find the knockout before the time trouble. I played a bit too cautiously I think. Suddenly he got a chance to break loose. Then it was quite drawish.”


Day 2 begins tomorrow with Magnus as white. Beginning to look like the odds makers were right - Magnus is gonna destroy American Chess dreams. :angry:

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Day 2 is in the books! Magnus opened with 1. d4. Caruana responded with the Indian Defense playing ...Nf6. The game was fairly steady early on until Caruana played a novelty, which apparently surprised Magnus and eventually led to a slight lead for Caruana. But it wasn't enough to secure the win and the game ended in a Draw after 49 moves.

 

 

“This was not very good,” Carlsen said. “I was surprised in the opening. I thought I had chances to a small advantages. I mis-calcuated something. Then I had to beg for a draw, but that went without problems.”

 

He added “I am not happy about this, but it’s better than losing. He played a completely new move that actually doesn’t look natural to me. I have to look at it later. We’ll see if it was a surprise in this game or if he found something new.”

 

There will be a day of rest tomorrow and the match resumes Monday morning.

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Game 3 is in the books! Caruana playing white opened with 1. e4. And just like in Game 1, Magnus responded with the Sicilian Defense playing ...Nc5.

 

Caruana managed to get a small advantage from the opening, but played an inaccuracy on move 17 and was forced to defend the remainder of the game, which ultimately ended in a Draw after 49 moves.

 

 

In the post game interview Carlsen was asked about being uncomfortable in the opening: “I miscalculated the position. I thought what I entered was very close to equalizing. Then I realized I was clearly worse.”

 

“From the start, I thought it was a bit uncomfortable. I just tried to limit his advantage as much as possible. When we reached the endgame, I thought I had equalized. I didn’t really play for a win. It was only when I forced his pawn on a black square and established it there, I thought I would be able to press him.”

 

Game 4 starts tomorrow morning.

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Is this the championship round? You know, all the marbles? Or is this like a semi final or something?

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Is this the championship round? You know, all the marbles? Or is this like a semi final or something?

It's the World Championship.... winner take all.

 

The match is held every two years. Magnus won the Championship in 2013 over former champion Vishy Anand and has successfully defended his title twice (in 2014 against Vishy Anand (India) and in 2016 against Sergey Karjakin (Russia).

 

To play in the Championship game the challenger has to qualify by winning the "Candidates" tournament which is held a few months prior to the title game. Caruana is only the second American in history to win the Candidates and play for a World Title, the first being Bobby Fischer.

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It's the World Championship.... winner take all.

 

The match is held every two years. Magnus won the Championship in 2013 over former champion Vishy Anand and has successfully defended his title twice (in 2014 against Vishy Anand (India) and in 2016 against Sergey Karjakin (Russia).

 

To play in the Championship game the challenger has to qualify by winning the "Candidates" tournament which is held a few months prior to the title game. Caruana is only the second American in history to win the Candidates and play for a World Title, the first being Bobby Fischer.

Ok thanks. Good thread then. Loved the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer....is this "movie/documentary" worthy if Caruana wins?

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I don't know how I missed this thread. It's been two years already since you last did this? If so, wow, time flies. Would be awesome if Caruana wins. How many times do they need to win, just once?

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Ok thanks. Good thread then. Loved the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer....is this "movie/documentary" worthy if Caruana wins?

 

I hated the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. The "good" kid offered his opponent a draw in the big game just to be nice.?. Ridiculous. The "mean" kid refuses and goes on to lose with the final move being obvious to even a novice chess player.

 

I don't think Caruana's story would make much of a movie. He's good, but there's not much else to say about him. He's too normal and nice.

 

 

Best chess movie.... "Pawn Sacrifice" starring Toby McGuire as Bobby Fischer.

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I don't know how I missed this thread. It's been two years already since you last did this? If so, wow, time flies. Would be awesome if Caruana wins. How many times do they need to win, just once?

Best of 12 games. If they're tied after that, the games switch to a "Rapid" format with only 15 minutes on the clock. That's how the 2016 match ended with Magnus (the king of rapid chess) destroying Karjakin.

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Best of 12 games. If they're tied after that, the games switch to a "Rapid" format with only 15 minutes on the clock. That's how the 2016 match ended with Magnus (the king of rapid chess) destroying Karjakin.

Ah, ok. And the draws count, correct? They could draw twelve times then go to rapid chess?

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Ah, ok. And the draws count, correct? They could draw twelve times then go to rapid chess?

Right. Draws count as 1/2 point, so if they draw all 12 games (unlikely), the score would be 6-6.

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I hated the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer.

I get it. But the "THERE IT IS" line by Sam L Jax is one the best/memorable lines in cinema history. I love that line andI use it whenever I can.

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Game 4 is in the books! Magnus started with a somewhat rare move at the top level playing the English Opening with 1. c4. Caruana responded playing the King's English Variation with ... e5.

 

Neither player managed to gain any significant advantage and the game ended in a Draw after just 34 moves.

 

“It was a bit disappointing,” Magnus Carlsen said. “I thought I was better after the opening. ... I have to start winning games soon. He seems to have out-prepared me with the black pieces so far, so I’ll have to try harder next time.”

 

The players will have a day of rest tomorrow with the match resuming Thursday. After 4 straight draws, the match is tied 2-2.

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Game 5 is in the books! Caruana opened with 1. e4. and Magnus responded with the Sicilian Defense playing ...c5 (same as Game 1).

 

On move 6 Caruana played a shocking/highly aggressive move 6. b4 offering a pawn sacrifice with the hope of creating pressure and confusion. Magnus accepted the sacrifice, but was able to weather to storm and white's advantage never materialized. The game ended in a Draw after 34 moves.

 

“Well, this line is really interesting and if black is cooperative it can get very exciting,” Caruana said. “But Magnus knew the line quite well and I think played in a very logical way.”

 

The match resumes tomorrow with the score tied 2.5 - 2.5.

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Do the refrigerator races come before or after the fingal fingers this year?

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Game 6 is in the books! Magnus opened with 1. e4. Some didn't think Magnus would ever play that opening in this match because it's known to be Caruana's strong suit. Others said Magnus was afraid of being called a chicken if he didn't. Well he did. Caruana responded with ... e5 and after the next moves the Petrov Defense was officially in action.

 

The game remained fairly steady for the next 35 moves, but Magnus was having trouble maintaining equality (let alone find an advantage) and went into long think tanks. By move 41 Caruana had achieved a slight advantage and 10+ moves later his advantage grew even more. Magnus was in a bit of trouble and you could see the pain in face. However, the reigning champ was able to find damn near perfect moves in order to salvage the Draw after 80 moves.

 

Interestingly if Magnus had lost, Caruana would've officially taken over the No. 1 Elo ranking.... a position Magnus has held since 2011.

 

“I was just way too casual,” says Carlsen when asked to explain Friday’s near-upset.

 

There will be a day of rest tomorrow with the match resuming Sunday. Magnus will start the second half of the match with white.

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Game 7 is in the books! For the second half of the match, the players switch colors so Magnus played white again and opened with 1. d4. Caruana replied with the Indian Defense playing ... Nf6. The first nine moves mirrored Game 2. Magnus pressed, but couldn't create any significant advantage and Carauana was able to liquidate most of the pieces and simplify the position. After 40 moves, the players agreed to a Draw.

 

“I could have played much more ambitiously,” Carlsen lamented.

 

The past two games were a big hurdle for Caruana as Magnus had White back-to-back along with a day of rest in between. Caruana weathered the storm and has to be feeling confident about his chances. However, if it remains tied after 12 games the match switches to rapid time format and Magnus is incredibly good in at that, while Caruana has struggled in recent rapid tournaments. He needs a win to avoid the tie-break. Game 8 starts tomorrow.

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Why cant we get a GC tournament here. Slow boat chess.com app or chess with friends ???

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Game 8 is in the books! Caruana opened with 1. e4 and Mangus replied with the Sicilian defense playing ... c5. The players were making moves very quickly for the first ten moves. Then Caruana played a novelty which slowed Magnus down. Caruana continued to play at a fast pace, which seemed to indicate his excellent preparation. Later Magnus played an aggressive, but risky move which eventually led to a significant advantage for Caruana. It looked the American might draw first blood in this match!!! But on move 24, Caruana played an inaccuracy which let Magnus off the hook. After 38 moves, the players agreed to a Draw.

“Some minor disappointment,” Caruana said when asked to assess his emotions after the match. “I thought at some point I had a very promising position. I didn’t quite see exactly which moment I had something very good.”

Says a relieved Carlsen: “This was a tough game. He was the one who had all the chances. So I am happy to have survived it for sure.”


This was a tough Draw for Caruana. A win with just 4 games remaining would've put him in the driver's seat for the World Championship. Interestingly, in 2016 after 7 draws, Magnus lost Game 8, only to come back and win 1 of the final 4 games and send it tie-breaks... which he won quite easily.

There will be day of rest tomorrow and the match resumes Wednesday.

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Just say this is a battle of nerdy home school kids.

 

Those little locker stuffers are good at that shiit.

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Game 9 is in the books! Magnus opened with another English opening playing 1. e4. And just like Game 4, Caruana responded with the King's English variation playing ...e5. The first eight moves repeated Game 4, until Magnus played a novelty on move 9. This sent Caruana into a deep think. Magnus continued to play at a fast pace while Caruana who was clearly out-of-book had to spend lots of time on every move. Eventually, Caruana was in some time trouble and Magnus had reached a significant advantage and looked like he would finally break through. But on move 26, Magnus played an inaccuracy which equalized the position. The players agreed to a Draw after 56 moves.

 

"He was prepared quite deeply until move 17," Caruana said. "He knew what was going on and then I had to start groveling. I didn't feel like my position was much worse, just slightly worse."

 

"I felt like I had a comfortable advantage and then I just blew it." said a disappointed Carlsen. "I was poor."

 

 

Some grandmasters thought Magnus had a near winning position. Caruana was lucky to get the draw. There are only 3 games left - two of which Caruana has white. The match resumes tomorrow with score tied 4.5-4.5.

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Game 10 is in the books! Caruana opened with 1.e4 and Magnus replied with the Sicilian defense playing ...c5. Caruana played the first novelty on move 12 and gained a large time advantage over the next few moves as Magnus took long thinks. By move 20 the game was incredibly sharp with some grandmasters commenting there would certainly be a winner/loser from the game. The players battled, but neither was willing to take too big of risks and surprisingly the game ended in a Draw after 54 moves. Both players knew they had chances after the game

 

 

"I felt it was very close to mate. The problem is if I don't mate, I'm losing." Carlsen said.

 

"I think at some point I had a big advantage, but I couldn't see how to play it." Caruana said.

 

 

Recap:

 

Game 1: Draw (Magnus blew it)

Game 2: Draw

Game 3: Draw

Game 4: Draw

Game 5: Draw

Game 6: Draw (Caruana blew it)

Game 7: Draw

Game 8: Draw (Caruana blew it)

Game 9: Draw (Magnus blew it)

Game 10: Draw

Game 11: ?

Game 12: ?

 

Score is tied 5-5 with two left before the rapid tie-break format. Magnus has white on Saturday and Caruana has white on Sunday.

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Game 11 is in the books! Magnus opened with 1. e4 and Caruana (the master against e4 with black) responded ... e5, soon a Petrov opening was reached. Caruana played very fast in the opening (as he has most of the match) showing his good preparation. But neither side got anything going and the fairly stale game ended in a Draw after 55 moves.

 

 

"Not much happened today. Now there's a lot riding on the final game." Caruana said.

 

 

 

No world chess title game has ever started with 11 straight Draws. Tomorrow is the last game! If Caruana wins, he'll be the first American World Chess Champion since Bobby Fischer. If he loses, Magnus retains his title for the 3rd time. If they draw, the match goes to rapid time format and Carauana would be a huge underdog.

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Caruana has white, you can doooooo iiiittttttt$#@! MAGAIC! :banana:

 

Fabiano Luigi Caruana has white!!! Grandmasters say the entire match Magnus's white openings were quite boring, while Caruana's were adventurous creating interesting/complex positions.

 

Top chess players study and analyze computers to find small novelties in the opening/middle-game and lock them in a vault when found. We're going to see Caruana's vault. I expect another fast played game by Caruana taking bigger risks and throwing his best novelties at Magnus to see if he can figure out all the right defensive moves.

 

USA USA USA!

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Fabiano Luigi Caruana has white!!! Grandmasters say the entire match Magnus's white openings were quite boring, while Caruana's were adventurous creating interesting/complex positions.

 

Top chess players study and analyze computers to find small novelties in the opening/middle-game and lock them in a vault when found. We're going to see Caruana's vault. I expect another fast played game by Caruana taking bigger risks and throwing his best novelties at Magnus to see if he can figure out all the right defensive moves.

 

USA USA USA!

These guys also hire lots of other chess masters. They've analysed every game they've ever played, and do postmortum on every game in the match.

 

At this level, it's really not a game at all.

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These guys also hire lots of other chess masters. They've analysed every game they've ever played, and do postmortum on every game in the match.

 

At this level, it's really not a game at all.

 

When you play at this level there's no ordinary venue.

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The final classical game of match - Game 12 is in the books!!! Caruana with white was carrying the hopes and dreams of every American chess player today - a win meant he was a World Champ! Caruana opened with 1. e4 and Magnus again replied with the Sicilian Defense playing ... c5 (same as in Games 1, 5, 8 and 10). Magnus was the first to deviate from main lane on move 8. Over the next ten moves Caruana went into long thinks while Magnus blitzed out moves. However, computers were showing Caruana reached a slight advantage. The position was so sharp that once again grandmasters declared there were definitely be a clear winner. Ten moves later, Magnus took back the advantage in a big way along with a significant time advantage. It looked like Magnus would win Game 12 and retain his title. And then on move 31.... inexplicably... Magnus offered a Draw, which Caruana happily accepted.

 

Magnus obviously didn't want to risk going for the win and end up losing. So he offered the draw to send the match to tie-breaks.

 

“I just wanted a position that was completely safe, but where I could put some pressure. If a draw hadn’t been a satisfactory result, I would have approached it differently.” said Magnus

 

 

Caruana: “I was a bit surprised by the draw offer. I can never be better and I don’t really have any active ideas. If anything, black is better."

 

In Norwegian "Magnus" apparently translates to "spineless jellyfish." The match will be decided Wednesday with rapid and blitz games, both of which Magnus holds World Titles. Good luck Fabi.

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With the score tied 6-6, today's tie-break match would finally decide who is the World Champion.

 

Rapid game 1: Magnus Carlsen wins easily

 

Rapid game 2: Magnus Carlsen wins easily

 

Rapid game 3: Magnus Carlsen wins easily

 

That's game, set, match. Magnus Carlsen has successfully defended his title for the 3rd time and remains the #1 rated player in the world. Just as everyone suspected, Fabiano Caruana had no chance in the rapid format, since Carlsen is also ranked #1 in both rapid and blitz chess. It's a terrible way to decide who's the best in the world at classical chess. It's like breaking a tie between the best marathon runners, by running a 40 yard dash. Ridiculous. It's rumored there will be changes for the next title game in 2020.

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I get it. But the "THERE IT IS" line by Sam L Jax is one the best/memorable lines in cinema history. I love that line andI use it whenever I can.

That’s Lawrence Fishburne.

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