2018 Altibox Norway

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LawrenceCooper
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by LawrenceCooper » Fri Jun 08, 2018 10:57 am

NickFaulks wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 10:33 am
benedgell wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 10:15 am
Sure enough, he blitzes out 17 moves of preparation, gets the dullest possible draw, and the game is over in 20 minutes.
14 moves and 10 minutes really, after that it was repetition.

At the elite level, is it really impossible nowadays for Black to insist upon having a game without being entirely reckless? I suspect that only the players themselves and those who work closely with them know the answer to that.
"Entirely reckless" is overstating it, Magnus would probably have chosen a different opening if one down with one to play in a match but he may have been fairly confident of Caruana-So being drawn and felt that playing objectively was his best chance, especially given his uncertain play against So and Mamedyarov had probably dented his confidence.

Chris Rice
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Chris Rice » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:01 am

Just to blend into the discussion is the Peter Doggers report:

"About 20 minutes into the round, the first game suddenly ended in a draw. Barely out of the opening, a 6.d3 Ruy Lopez, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Magnus Carlsen repeated three times.

Carlsen: “I was very unsure of what to do. Basically I just decided in the car on the way here to play my normal stuff and see what happens. And as you could see, nothing happened.”

“I didn’t actually expect Magnus to go for this line,” MVL said. “In case he went for something sharper, where I had a few ideas in mind, I would probably have tried to play. At the same time, considering the tournament and how I played so far, a draw is OK to finish the tournament and not to add any more injuries.”

Carlsen said that he wasn’t thrilled about this outcome, but that he couldn’t avoid the repetition without taking risks.

But that was not the end of the story. As it turned out, the players had analyzed this specific line together when Carlsen was preparing for his world-title match with Karjakin. “We analyzed a lot of variations in the Ruy Lopez. It’s not the first time that we actually play a line that we analyzed together,” said Vachier-Lagrave."

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:23 am

Includes:
Peter Doggers at chess.com wrote:With more than 20 points between Caruana and world number-three Mamedyarov in the live ratings, there's a good chance we'll see the first world number-one vs world number-two world championship match since Kasparov-Karpov, 1990.
and
Peter Doggers at chess.com wrote:Obviously, both players have more classical events scheduled before the match. Carlsen will play Biel and possibly the Olympiad and the European Club Cup, Caruana has the Sinquefield Cup, the Olympiad and Chess.com Isle of Man confirmed.

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:49 pm

It was quite something when Caruana won a tournament ahead of Carlsen just a few day after the candidates. But ok, we thought, the wind was still with him. But now he has done it again, in an event which apparently he really did not want to play and from which he tried to withdraw, in Carlsen's own country!

Then again there is that match experience point. Perhaps it will be (just a bit) like Spassky v Petrosian 1966, with the challenger coming with the necessary momentum against an apparently stagnant champion but still somehow lacking that something needed to win the match. Because Carlsen does still seem stagnant, doesn't he? The fuss of last week when we thought he had got refound his mojo pretty soon went, and we were back to "well, he will win on tie break, if it gets there".

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Jun 08, 2018 4:09 pm

Magnus quite possibly thought "job done" after the opening rounds, tbh.

And when his trash talking against So blew up in his face, he was poorly placed to adjust.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Fri Jun 08, 2018 5:09 pm

On the contrary, how could he have relaxed so soon, with his recent record? He has been waiting for an outright win in an elite event for a long time and must be at least somewhat worried that he cannot even do it from a point ahead.

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Fri Jun 08, 2018 5:37 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 4:09 pm
Magnus quite possibly thought "job done" after the opening rounds, tbh.

And when his trash talking against So blew up in his face, he was poorly placed to adjust.
I got into a mini debate on twitter as to whether this was trash talking (my belief) or a mere statement of fact at the time. Perhaps it was both.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:02 pm

I think it is tempting fate to talk in that manner about a rival just before you are due to play them!
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:31 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:02 pm
I think it is tempting fate to talk in that manner about a rival just before you are due to play them!
That’s what i thought.

Mind you it def makes things more interesting that Magnus is willing to say what he thinks rather than just toss out some bland ‘one game at a time, Brian’ type guff

Also, ending up with egg on your face notwithstanding, in the long run underconfidence probably loses people more points than over confidence.

Brian Towers
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Brian Towers » Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:34 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 10:40 am
Carlsen pointed out that the fact that MVL had worked with him on the 2016 WCC had a bearing on this game, which is a reasonable point.
Ah, perhaps that helps explain Caruana's cryptic Mordred tweet.
Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now.

Mick Norris
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Mick Norris » Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:34 pm

That's a reference to the game they play called Avalon
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Sat Jun 09, 2018 8:28 pm

Jonathan Bryant wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:31 pm
Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:02 pm
I think it is tempting fate to talk in that manner about a rival just before you are due to play them!
That’s what i thought.

Mind you it def makes things more interesting that Magnus is willing to say what he thinks rather than just toss out some bland ‘one game at a time, Brian’ type guff

Also, ending up with egg on your face notwithstanding, in the long run underconfidence probably loses people more points than over confidence.

Coincidentally a short video on Magnus' thoughts about confidence has just appeared on you tube.


https://youtu.be/81tmNazVFE0

Chris Rice
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Chris Rice » Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:19 am

There was quite a bit of discussion in this tournament involving Carlsen accusing the likes of Karjakin and Mamedyarov of pre-arranging draws. Mamedyarov indeed appearing to admit it while Karjakin wasn't so keen. In his latest column Ask an Honest Man a Question GM Jon Tisdall discusses how much of this discussion was actually misreported or, stirred up if you like, by the media and also gives some anecdotes with examples of people trying to pre-arrange draws. I like the one involving Jon Hammer the best:
"JLH (Jon Ludwig Hammer) recalled how he had gotten a knock on the door of his hotel room on the night before the final round of a tournament in Sweden, and found his opponent, who wondered if they shouldn’t just agree to make peace the next morning. The Hammer angrily turned his opponent away.
However, needing only a draw with white to clinch first place, JLH quickly steered the game into safety and a handshake the next day, leaving his opponent baffled.
"There is a big difference between arranging a draw and being happy with a draw" Hammer explained. A nice coda to the story is that JLH complained to the organizers about the late night offer, but they were too annoyed with his dull game to do anything about it."

There is also discussion on what Carlsen said about So and various other titbits, great read.

David Robertson

Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by David Robertson » Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:58 am

Chris Rice wrote:
Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:19 am
great read
Absolutely!

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: 2018 Altibox Norway

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:57 pm

David Robertson wrote:
Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:58 am
Chris Rice wrote:
Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:19 am
great read
Absolutely!
Me three.

For my money, JT probably the best journalist writing about chess at the mo. Except I don't have to pay any money to read him. Which is nice

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