English Chess Forum

Geoff Chandler wrote:So Carlsen ends up with 50% after his 10% was appealed down to 5%.

The should have given him back the 5% after the Queen sac.

2R5/4bppk/1p1p4/5R1P/4PQ2/5P2/r4q1P/7K w - - 0 50

Carlsen played 50.Qh6!!

So when did Karjakin know he had lost? I assume he was down to increments?

He plays 48...Qf2 to threaten various mates. Maybe worth a punt - the alternative of swapping off queens leaves him an exchange down, but with possible drawing chances if they are blitzing out moves?

MC plays 49. Rc8+ SK hesitates - interposing the bishop allows Rxf8+ and mate in 7 - I guess he "feels" that this is losing - and he moves to h7.

Then comes 50. Qh6+ and almost instant resignation. OK, he only has two options, but does he really calculate each immediately? No hesitation to double-check in disbelief?

Wrong thread...

Matt Mackenzie wrote:

Mick Norris wrote: (when is next time, by the way, 2018?)

I think (and hope) that we are on a regular 2 year cycle now?

Yes, found this Agon

Candidates - 8 to 29 March 2018
WC Match starts 7 Nov 2018 (will believe this date when I see it confirmed in 2018 )

Karjakin has already qualified for the candidates, so maybe Moscow will bid again; would be great to see Norway bidding for the WC Match

Mick Norris wrote:would be great to see Norway bidding for the WC Match

Are they taking open bids? I assumed Agon were just picking and choosing where to host these things. I guess bids might be going on privately. I didn't ge the impression that New York bid for this match.

I assume with Kirsan banned, they're unlikely to hold another event in the USA in the near future. This is a shame, because I quite enjoyed the playing schedule, which worked perfectly for the UK timezone. It would be interesting to see the audience numbers if the playoffs started at 2pm CET rather than 8pm. Hopefully - wherever they choose to hold the tournament - they keep the idea of starting play at something like 7pm GMT.

Alistair Campbell wrote:MC plays 49. Rc8+ SK hesitates - interposing the bishop allows Rxf8+ and mate in 7 - I guess he "feels" that this is losing - and he moves to h7.

Then comes 50. Qh6+ and almost instant resignation. OK, he only has two options, but does he really calculate each immediately? No hesitation to double-check in disbelief?

I've just watched this on BBC News and there was a noticeable short delay before Karjakin resigned - perhaps 2 or 3 seconds. That should be plenty of time to calculate two mates in 1 after capturing the queen either way.

Alex Holowczak wrote:
I assume with Kirsan banned, they're unlikely to hold another event in the USA in the near future. This is a shame, because I quite enjoyed the playing schedule, which worked perfectly for the UK timezone. It would be interesting to see the audience numbers if the playoffs started at 2pm CET rather than 8pm. Hopefully - wherever they choose to hold the tournament - they keep the idea of starting play at something like 7pm GMT.

I'm not sure I would use the word "perfectly" to describe the schedule viz the U.K. (Let alone the rest of Europe). Some people do have to get up for work in the morning!

Richard Bates wrote:

Alex Holowczak wrote:
I assume with Kirsan banned, they're unlikely to hold another event in the USA in the near future. This is a shame, because I quite enjoyed the playing schedule, which worked perfectly for the UK timezone. It would be interesting to see the audience numbers if the playoffs started at 2pm CET rather than 8pm. Hopefully - wherever they choose to hold the tournament - they keep the idea of starting play at something like 7pm GMT.

I'm not sure I would use the word "perfectly" to describe the schedule viz the U.K. (Let alone the rest of Europe). Some people do have to get up for work in the morning!

Agreed, or have things to do in the evenings

I almost prefer it when its going on during the work day - that does make the video harder to follow of course, but the games themselves make a suitably modest sort of distraction.

Mick Norris wrote:

Richard Bates wrote:

Alex Holowczak wrote:
I assume with Kirsan banned, they're unlikely to hold another event in the USA in the near future. This is a shame, because I quite enjoyed the playing schedule, which worked perfectly for the UK timezone. It would be interesting to see the audience numbers if the playoffs started at 2pm CET rather than 8pm. Hopefully - wherever they choose to hold the tournament - they keep the idea of starting play at something like 7pm GMT.

I'm not sure I would use the word "perfectly" to describe the schedule viz the U.K. (Let alone the rest of Europe). Some people do have to get up for work in the morning!

Agreed, or have things to do in the evenings

Most of the games seemed to finish at 11-something, so it wasn't too bad. OK, some went beyond midnight that I gave up on...

Maybe not perfectly, then, but I think the principle of playing in the evenings is better than playing in the day. Maybe a 6pm start time would have been fine. I would expect more people will watch it online if they held it then, and while I obviously have no way of telling, you would probably draw in a younger audience.

Alex Holowczak wrote:
Maybe not perfectly, then, but I think the principle of playing in the evenings is better than playing in the day. Maybe a 6pm start time would have been fine.

The players were playing in the afternoon in New York. It was only European spectators who got to watch in the evening. I doubt scheduling a game of potentially seven hours or longer to start at 6:00 pm local time would be acceptable for a World Championship, although I've played in some Opens outside the UK that have had evening starts for some rounds and thus potentially very late finishes.

Roger de Coverly wrote:

Alex Holowczak wrote:
Maybe not perfectly, then, but I think the principle of playing in the evenings is better than playing in the day. Maybe a 6pm start time would have been fine.

The players were playing in the afternoon in New York. It was only European spectators who got to watch in the evening. I doubt scheduling a game of potentially seven hours or longer to start at 6:00 pm local time would be acceptable for a World Championship, although I've played in some Opens outside the UK that have had evening starts for some rounds and thus potentially very late finishes.

Indeed, hence my comment that it's a shame that these matches seem unlikely to be in the USA in future.

Alex Holowczak wrote:I didn't ge the impression that New York bid for this match.

I thought they expected Aronian to win the candidates and so chose NY as being potentially the most lucrative site. Karjakin then threw a spanner in the works.

Brian Towers wrote:

Alex Holowczak wrote:I didn't ge the impression that New York bid for this match.

I thought they expected Aronian to win the candidates and so chose NY as being potentially the most lucrative site. Karjakin then threw a spanner in the works.

They were hoping for a Caruana win, surely, not Aronian.

Well, that or Nakamura.

Carlsen interview

I knew Nielsen & Fressinet were seconds, but not about Grandelius