Yep. I was on chessbomb, and I pointed out on the chat just how much of human chess wisdom is wrong. Many chess books are almost worthless in this respect. Giving up the bishop in that position is completely sound since the bishops have no targets. Perhaps the light squared bishop could have been a nuisance if it somehow was able to dominate on the h1-a8 diagonal, but this is where Magnus knew (psychologically) that Karjakin would probably not risk it since the game would turn into a who-mates-who-first sortie. The most impressive part of that game to me was how Magnus always had a superior endgame at any time in his pocket, but kept as many pieces as possible on the board in case that Karjaking underestimated just how fast he would come under attack due to his broken castled structure. I knew it was going to end in a draw once he played Be7 and was satisfied defending a slightly inferior endgame - not very pleasant against Magnus but Karjakin doesn't seem to mind.
Imo, Magnus is crazy for allowing those goofy pens. They could conceal some sort of device. What it would do who knows, but my imagination runs wild. Fischer would probably be psychologically immobilized in today's world because he was seriously paranoid - the difference being that today, he would have cause. King of chess Magnus Carlsen fears being a pawn in hackers' game Magnus Carlsen (r) at the London Chess Classic at Olympia, London CREDIT: JULIAN ANDREWS Leon Watson 5 NOVEMBER 2016 • 7:11PM Magnus Carlsen, the reigning king of chess, has called on Microsoft for help as fears grow Russian hackers will target him before next week's World Championship. The man dubbed the "Mozart of chess" has spent months using high-powered chess computers to meticulously prepare moves for his gruelling 12-game match against challenger Sergey Karjakin. But any leak of his analysis would hand a significant advantage to Crimean-born Karjakin, the fiercely-patriotic darling of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The Trompowsky Attack is a sound opening. But it also shouldn't be very dangerous for black, and the question is whether Carlsen should have played it in the match. Seirawan argues that in an important match you should play your "A" opening at the beginning. Find out where you stand, and if your opponent has a good defense, you have time to adjust and try again. Keep pushing until you think it's not productive to try anymore and then move on to your plan B or C. Each player has only six whites in the match.
Yeah yeah, but rules are for mere mortals. Magnus should play 1 a3 in this WCC and really shatter any myth that the opening is as important in chess as it is made out to be.
Well, we can disagree on how important openings are. Sure, white can play 1. a3 without risk (though without much advantage), but playing as black 1...a6 could be a different story.
Kinda curious here... you two are obviously pretty schooled at chess.... how many moves do you think you would last against Magnus?
Until he resigns j/k It depends on what the time control is, how deep the game goes into opening theory, how aggressively or passively we play (type of position), and what you mean by last. In classical, I would say over 20 moves and less than 40 moves before a resignable position. If my position is still very competitive at move 40, I would be satisfied. But I could definitely get an inferior position before move 20 as well.
People that aren't intimate with the chess artform think of it the way you do. As some kind of arm wrestling or a war. If you open the game with (all white moves in succession) 1Nf3, 2. g3, Bg2, and castles, it is nearly impossible, assuming that you know even the most elementary tactical motifs, that Magnus or even the almighty God himself can beat you in say less than 20 moves. Chess can be classified into two types (huge oversimplification) of skill: Tactical and Strategical. Bill Gates when he got crushed by Magnus made a critical mistake: he led the game into open positions. Those positions are extremely dangerous tactically and require careful handling. The moves above that I recommended when playing Goliath will at least allow you to finish your coffee before you are scalped and dismembered.
I watched match #1 on youtube. Pretty incredible actually. I play a few times a year, and I always win. Lol, not bragging, its more in the competition I suppose. Hey how come they have the number 1 guy pitted against the number 9 guy? Shouldn't it be #1 against #2 or is that just me being provincial like "Joe the plumber" equating it to football (American)?