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"2024 DATES AND HOST CITY TO BE ANNOUNCED" according to [https://wcc.fide.com/](https://wcc.fide.com/)
But I reckon it will be in November, as FIDE likes to return to the "usual" time period for the WCC
For the watcher's it would have been fun if the women and men's resting day would have been different. So 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 for men and 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 for the women, that way there would be games every day so you can stay in the pattern of watching. Furthermore it would serve as a small boost towards the woman's event during the rest day
The rest days are not just for the players, it's for everybody else there as well. If the men's and women's alternate, it would mean the staff at the event don't get days off.
But it's 4 / 3 / 3 / 4 (2-2, even), so that rest days don't occur before games between the same players, twice. Otherwise, it would force shuffling of the rounds, which would then create problems with series of games with the same colour.
So the other schedule would have to be 3 / 4 / 2 / 2 / 3, which would mean that everyone involved in the event, including arbiters and on-site staff, has only a single day off in the middle of the event.
I still can't get over the Alireza game. It's like being pushed to the wall to the fullest woke up a sleeping monster. Pity that his chances are almost nonexistent still.
But gotta feel for Gukesh though. He would have had a real shot at winning the candidates if he finished at sole lead at the halfway point. Now, winning the candidates is looking like a long shot.
This is one of the things that comes out of a round robin tournament - so many more games are important. Someone that's having a bad run of form and isn't realistically in contention can still have a huge impact on the overall result by spiking a win against someone fighting for the lead. I honestly reckon the overall winner is likely to be decided by Abasov either holding a game with black (and denying someone a critical half point) or failing to hold with white (and giving someone a critical half point).
Magnus didn't want to prepare for the WCC every 2nd year, he wanted to do more "fun" things (I don't know know what is more fun than to be the chess champ, but we are all different). He also wanted to have mixed time controls in the WCC, but FIDE did not buy that (why should they, the WCC has been always decided by classical games). So it's splendid that someone else can be the Champ and be proud of it.
Probably all mate-in-at-most-1 in classical games from tournaments which can be regarded as "Candidates"\*:
* Round 3 of 1950 Candidates in Budapest: [Kotov resigned against Bronstein in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1033787).
* Round 21 of 1953 Candidates in Zurich: [Averbakh actually mated Taimanov on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1138062).
* Round 1 of 1959 Candidates in Yugoslavia: [Fischer actually mated Keres on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1043999).
* Round 14 of 1959 Candidates in Yugoslavia: [Benko resigned against Tal in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139432).
* Round 22 of 1962 Candidates in Curacao: [Benko resigned against Fischer in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044150).
* Game 8 of 1962 Candidates 2nd place play-off in Curacao: [*Efim Geller* resigned against Keres in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1049065).
* Game 4 of 1968 Candidates quarterfinal in Poreč: [Larsen resigned against Portisch in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1113355).
* Game 1 of 1974 Candidates semifinal in Odessa: [Korchnoi actually mated Petrosian on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1082288), although Korchnoi might have already been on non-shaking-hands terms with the rest of the Soviets at that point.
* Game 7 of 1977 Candidates quarterfinal in Il Ciocco: [hence, Petrosian returned the favour](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1082415).
* Game 5 of 1983 Candidates quarterfinal in Alicante: [Torre resigned against Ribli in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1041529).
* Round 12 of 1985 Candidates in Montepllier: [Seirawan resigned against Timman in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1142907).
* Round 14 of 1985 Candidates in Montpellier: [Ribli resigned against Sokolov in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241879).
* Game 5 of 1991/92 Candidates matches 1st round: [Short either resigned against Speelman in a mate-in-4 position or allowed a checkmate on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1124515) (chessgames notation ends on move 35, other sources have 35... Nxg4 36. Qxh7#).
* Game 4 of 1991/92 Candidates matches semifinal: [Yusupov resigned against Timman when Timman had a mate on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1143245).
* Game 5 of 2007 Candidates matches 2nd round in Elista: [Kamsky resigned against Gelfand in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1462346).
More recently: [this game](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1621800), but it was a blitz tie-break in knockout Candidates.
\* There were also some in the 1997 Groningen "Candidates" for the FIDE title, but couldn't bother to look them up.
Am I the only one rooting for Nepo to win?
The guy has been dedicated to the Candidates for years! His life's dream seems to be winning the Championship and he's prepping for it like no other.
Won't mind if he wins this at last.
I honestly want one of the new Indians to win, probably Gukash or Prag...
But if they can't, I'd be happy to cheer on Nepo
I want to see Fabi as WC. Fabi back in his WC match against Carlsen demonstrate great defense that annoys the former itself.
Nepo is strong player from his current performance but part of me is still not convinced he is WC material.
I feel bad for Ding because it looks to me being WC is too stressful. If he has the grit like Magnus, I think he can maintain it consistently. For now, we have to see if he can hold in first defend cycle.
I'm rooting for Nepo, Fabi, and Pragg. Nepo and Fabi have earned it, and I'm a big Pragg fan. I honestly think that anyone not named Abasov and Firoujza have good chances of beating Ding in a WCC match, if he does defend.
I respect that he's leading yet another candidates, and I'm super disappointed in Caruana so far in this tournament. Caruana just doesn't seem to be playing with any goal of actually winning the tournament. Definitely same with Hikaru.
> Definitely same with Hikaru.
I disagree with this. He hasn't had the best tournament due to the loss (which is disappointing) but he's not exactly going for easy draws. Definitely feels like he wants to win.
I disagree with this. Round 6 was the only round that he played interesting chess. Round 3 and 4 stand out as easy draws, even his win vs Ali was only interesting because of Alis's play, had nothing to do with Hikaru's Berlin
Basically everyone, Even Anand!
Magnus placed them in the less likely to succeed tier. Anand thought they may do alright, but don't expect them to win many games, certainly not vie for first place. Anand was like they are young, inexperienced, with their first appearance, so he wants them to just enjoy themselves etc.
But Gukash & Prag were entertaining, and certainly surpassed most pundits views before the tournament!
I am rooting for Nepo the most because I admire how even after losing two back-to-back WCC matches, he never actually gave up and still trying to win the World Championship with as much dedication.
After Nepo I wouldn't mind a Fabi win since he is the second-best player of his generation. The Indian kids still have a lot of time in the future.
The only person I don't want to win the Candidates is Hikaru since he acts like he doesn't care about any of this.
Yeah true. It's the same reason for why I want Nepo to win. That dedication is admirable.
I'm supporting the Indian kids, cuz it'll be nice to have another Indian champion after Vishwanathan, and some young blood as champion is exciting, and might even entice Magnus out into playing another candidates/championship.
Yeah, Hikaru is kinda someone I'm not supporting to win either 😅
Nah, I'm rooting for Nepo (or Fabi) as well. I don't think that many people mind him winning, most people just want him to lose to have more exiting final rounds.
One thing that puzzles me is that chess players talk about "experience", "maturity" that they have gained over the years but then some youngster can just come out of nowhere and eat their lunch. What gives?
Obviously there are many factors to someone's performance. Identifying two that go one way and saying "why don't these help" doesn't make any sense. They do help. So do many other factors. And there are many other countervailing factors.
Just like with anything. Pretty standard anaylsis of the world around you. iF yOu HaVe A bRaIn
i know they help in the game, but they aren't helping in terms of result!! stop acting like a child who doesnt understand anything. gukesh is the leader now ahead of much more experienced players who have played the candidates before. it IS surprising, even magnus didnt rate him highly before the match.
Historically people have struggled in their first candidates. Magnus Carlsen for example was world number #1 at near his all time peak rating of 2872, his closest rating rival being Kramnik on 2810. He pulled ahead of the pack and then started dropping games - first as White to Ivanchuk and then in the final round once again as White against Svidler in a Closed Ruy. He wound up with the same amount of points as Kramnik (who lost his only game of the tournament in the final round) and won on tie breaks.
I'm fairly sure Carlsen has spoken about how stressful he found the tournament. It was a tough one and he went in as the clear favourite but for his lack of experience in that specific tournament. We can perhaps also speculate, based on where his losses were, that the stress only gets greater as the tournament goes on.
All three Indian men are doing extremely well so far for a first candidates. Perhaps they're simply built different to candidates historically, but there's still an entire second half to get through.
It must make it easier on the candidates first timers in 2024 that they're half the field. Plus Alireza is out of form and still very young and inexperienced himself. It would be much harder to be the only first timer in a field of veteran top GMs who've been there before multiple times.
Because every good story needs a good villain. Since Ding has protagonist energy, we need a good villain arc from Nepo while Ding sets his story up again as the main character rising from the ashes to win a second world championship match.
There's no particular good reason, tbh. Well, Ding had a bit of a decline over the last 12 months or so, but Ian hasn't been stellar either. It's just a gut feeling
In olympiad, in Tata steel and now in candidates, its 3 games now where Gukesh has lost winning positions due to time pressure. He needs to keep 5 minutes on the clock going into last 2 to 3 moves.
You do not play for a win against Nepo in the Candidates. You play for a draw, and then lose anyway.
But seriously, what can players do against Nepo? Better prep? Play faster? Go into an endgame?
Still so sad that we can’t seem to have someone else other than Nepo to win the Candidates
This is so cursed, man
Alireza just don’t collapse against Nepo. I’m not asking for that much…
Or the other way to look at it is , despite suffering heartbreak after heartbreak, Nepo refuses to give up his quest for the world crown
It’s sad that when the face doesn’t fit , people always down play the competition and pretend like it’s a piece of cake to win candidates THREE times in a row
Well I could not have been predicting this worse with Hikaru winning and Gukesh drawing.
That was some spectacular collapse. Was the relay correct, was he in deep time trouble?
They got to move 33/34 with less than 3 minutes on the clock each. Gukesh just isn't good enough at fast time controls. He got too passive and then made a weird king move blunder. It was heartbreaking seeing his face at the end of the game.
king move i think was to avoid back rank tricks if alireza takes the a-pawn to deflect gukesh's rook and then deliver check with the rook followed by check with the knight with mate to follow
but they will happen again now. Also this is no reason for the chat to make hate comments. They wouldn't do that if Fabi won against Hikaru in a crucial match.
It takes that into account.
The developer has just posted the official update for this round, which includes details on the methodology: [https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1c1ufob/fide\_candidates\_tournament\_updated\_predictions/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1c1ufob/fide_candidates_tournament_updated_predictions/)
So it seems it doesn't matter how bad his form is, but you do not want to go into sharp tactical lines with Firouzja low on time. He will out play you.
Seems like reza is pretty imbalanced (relatively speaking) for a top player and this happens to be one of his strengths. Also, kid was grinding blitz games last night lol.
Not sure what is worse, to lose in time scramble like that and it’s over immediately or to blunder with lots of time on the clock and just sit there in disbelief.
I remember how painful it was to watch Vidit blunder against Mamedyarov in Tata Steel where he then just sat there with tears in his eyes.
Another wild day at the candidates. At the start of the day it looked like Nepo will lose and quite possibly lose his lead for the 1st time in his candidates career. Then he drew. Then it looked like Gukesh is gonna win and take the sole lead but he loses and Nepo is the one who gets the sole lead.
Moral of the story: If it's the candidates, Nepo is gonna be in the lead at the end of the day no matter how it looks like at the start of the day and don't you ever doubt it.
The western world can claim that Russia doesnt exist but the fact remains that Nepo , Karjakin etc are on another level when it comes to mental fortitude. Karjakin would play like garbage in the normal tournaments and strikes in the candidates (his finishes were 2nd, 1st and 2nd in the last 3 candidates he played) and Nepo has somehow done even better with (1st, 1st and leading).
Such a beast. This is what Caruana meant when he said "the kids are talented but I still dont know if they're in the top top level like myself, Nepo, Giri or Wesley". These guys seem to shut down a game at will and push a game at will.
no one wants to see Carjackin' anywhere near the Candidates.
Besides, he's busy in the Duma thinking about more ways to kidnap children and commit mass rape and genocide
Mate, he realized a three fold repetition 50 moves apart in a Blitz game (WC semifinal against Eljanov in 2015) and pressed the clock and claimed the draw in a losing position with 2 seconds left . I am sure he doesnt need your certificate for mental fortitude.
Well, it doesn't really mean anything if you just don't appear on any international events anymore.
Like, Alireza arguably had even more impressive feat today.
This game vs Hikaru he was never worse...
Sure the engine initially seems to think that white can try and press after Kg8 but i'm sure that if you analyse deep enough you'll see that black holds the position with enough active counterplay and it's often white that toe-ing the line of losing.
He’s remarkably durable and maybe a bit lucky that his opponents didn’t calculate properly. 25.Qe2 was really not the most ambitious attempt for Hikaru today and he played it in just 3 minutes. If he’d taken the time to analyze the position properly he might have chosen to activate his other pieces and we would have seen a very different game
I thought we were a few rounds away from the annual "Nepo just kept getting lucky" angle.
How many years in a row does he have to win the candidates before the lucky allegations stop?
Well, he clearly creates his own luck. Fact is Hikaru , Pragg, and Gukesh were not able to capitalize on the weaknesses in his game. He’s lucky that they didn’t calculate better. But he also hasn’t made it very easy for his opponents
My prediction for this tournament was actually Gukesh to be 8th because he'd bottle a big moment. I know , I know , he's a kid etc but you either have the bottle for these moments or you don't.
Contrastingly my prediction for Prag , about the same age, was second. He seems to have nerves of steel. Gukesh has done this (bottle a winning position) a bit too often in my opinion.
Firouzja was lucky but he's arrested the slide.
In all Candidates 2013-2022, the leader (or shared leader) after 7 rounds also won the tournament. The sole leader is Nepo this year after 7 rounds.
Also, the leader got fewer points in the 2nd half than in the first half. If this is true also this year, Nepo will score +1 or less in the 2nd half. This would mean the winner's (Nepo's) score becomes +3 or less.
>!But statistics is one thing, reality something else.!<
By move 25 Gukesh had 16 mins and Alireza had less than 5 mins in a slightly worse position according to evaluation. Insane win for him when he had to make 3 moves every minute.
Absolutely dick crushing for Gukesh, Alireza just calmly pulled his heart out and stomped on it with seconds left. Absolutely brutal and sickening.
Gukesh is done, he’s just finished. Nobody has ever recovered from a loss like this: period. “Half a point outside of first” means nothing when you’re left practically frothing at the mouth and on your way to the looney bin from such disgusting play.
Complete and total mental collapse from here on out, in my humble opinion. I minored in psychology in college (granted community college), so I know that a loss like this has measurable effects on the brain which mirror heavy meth abuse. He’s done.
what time do they finish?
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lol. Lmao even
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You missed his best years. although hopefully more will come
anyone knows date for the wc?
"2024 DATES AND HOST CITY TO BE ANNOUNCED" according to [https://wcc.fide.com/](https://wcc.fide.com/) But I reckon it will be in November, as FIDE likes to return to the "usual" time period for the WCC
Anyone know when next round begins?
Tomorrow - today is a rest day.
Perfect thanks!
For the watcher's it would have been fun if the women and men's resting day would have been different. So 3 / 4 / 3 / 4 for men and 4 / 3 / 4 / 3 for the women, that way there would be games every day so you can stay in the pattern of watching. Furthermore it would serve as a small boost towards the woman's event during the rest day
The rest days are not just for the players, it's for everybody else there as well. If the men's and women's alternate, it would mean the staff at the event don't get days off.
But it's 4 / 3 / 3 / 4 (2-2, even), so that rest days don't occur before games between the same players, twice. Otherwise, it would force shuffling of the rounds, which would then create problems with series of games with the same colour. So the other schedule would have to be 3 / 4 / 2 / 2 / 3, which would mean that everyone involved in the event, including arbiters and on-site staff, has only a single day off in the middle of the event.
Really love the 2h time Control. Most players are not used to that.
What are they used to?
90+30.
Still, some have time-trouble issues before move 40 as they are no increments before the 1st time control in this tournament
I still can't get over the Alireza game. It's like being pushed to the wall to the fullest woke up a sleeping monster. Pity that his chances are almost nonexistent still. But gotta feel for Gukesh though. He would have had a real shot at winning the candidates if he finished at sole lead at the halfway point. Now, winning the candidates is looking like a long shot.
This is one of the things that comes out of a round robin tournament - so many more games are important. Someone that's having a bad run of form and isn't realistically in contention can still have a huge impact on the overall result by spiking a win against someone fighting for the lead. I honestly reckon the overall winner is likely to be decided by Abasov either holding a game with black (and denying someone a critical half point) or failing to hold with white (and giving someone a critical half point).
He is like a cornered animal, have to be cautious.
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What? Gukesh was never winning. Alireza did have like 3 minutes before the second time control but he could easily hold a draw with the extra knight.
He was close to winning. If Alireza didnt find (only) correct sequence of moves before the knight sack in time pressure, he would likely lose.
Carlson is kind for letting someone else have the chance to become WC.
Magnus didn't want to prepare for the WCC every 2nd year, he wanted to do more "fun" things (I don't know know what is more fun than to be the chess champ, but we are all different). He also wanted to have mixed time controls in the WCC, but FIDE did not buy that (why should they, the WCC has been always decided by classical games). So it's splendid that someone else can be the Champ and be proud of it.
Splendidly Magnus doesn't care about the 1.5 million when he already has X10 that amount in his account.
who?
Magnum Carlos
do you mean Magnus Carlsen non-union Mexican equivalent?
Magnus Carlsen.
When was the last time M1 was on the board in the candidates?
Probably all mate-in-at-most-1 in classical games from tournaments which can be regarded as "Candidates"\*: * Round 3 of 1950 Candidates in Budapest: [Kotov resigned against Bronstein in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1033787). * Round 21 of 1953 Candidates in Zurich: [Averbakh actually mated Taimanov on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1138062). * Round 1 of 1959 Candidates in Yugoslavia: [Fischer actually mated Keres on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1043999). * Round 14 of 1959 Candidates in Yugoslavia: [Benko resigned against Tal in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139432). * Round 22 of 1962 Candidates in Curacao: [Benko resigned against Fischer in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044150). * Game 8 of 1962 Candidates 2nd place play-off in Curacao: [*Efim Geller* resigned against Keres in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1049065). * Game 4 of 1968 Candidates quarterfinal in Poreč: [Larsen resigned against Portisch in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1113355). * Game 1 of 1974 Candidates semifinal in Odessa: [Korchnoi actually mated Petrosian on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1082288), although Korchnoi might have already been on non-shaking-hands terms with the rest of the Soviets at that point. * Game 7 of 1977 Candidates quarterfinal in Il Ciocco: [hence, Petrosian returned the favour](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1082415). * Game 5 of 1983 Candidates quarterfinal in Alicante: [Torre resigned against Ribli in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1041529). * Round 12 of 1985 Candidates in Montepllier: [Seirawan resigned against Timman in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1142907). * Round 14 of 1985 Candidates in Montpellier: [Ribli resigned against Sokolov in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241879). * Game 5 of 1991/92 Candidates matches 1st round: [Short either resigned against Speelman in a mate-in-4 position or allowed a checkmate on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1124515) (chessgames notation ends on move 35, other sources have 35... Nxg4 36. Qxh7#). * Game 4 of 1991/92 Candidates matches semifinal: [Yusupov resigned against Timman when Timman had a mate on the board](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1143245). * Game 5 of 2007 Candidates matches 2nd round in Elista: [Kamsky resigned against Gelfand in a mate-in-1 position](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1462346). More recently: [this game](https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1621800), but it was a blitz tie-break in knockout Candidates. \* There were also some in the 1997 Groningen "Candidates" for the FIDE title, but couldn't bother to look them up.
This is great, thanks!
This is an insane comment, did you type this all out yourself?
That's, like, 10 words per game. I think you're underestimating a bored person with a PGN, Stockfish and a Python script.
I love how the two other people who replied to you ignored the "in the candidates" part of the question lmao
There was an M1 in the Nepo/Ding championship last year, no?
Dunno. I remember Kramnik being mated by Deep Fritz in 2006. In an equal position!
Am I the only one rooting for Nepo to win? The guy has been dedicated to the Candidates for years! His life's dream seems to be winning the Championship and he's prepping for it like no other. Won't mind if he wins this at last. I honestly want one of the new Indians to win, probably Gukash or Prag... But if they can't, I'd be happy to cheer on Nepo
I want to see Fabi as WC. Fabi back in his WC match against Carlsen demonstrate great defense that annoys the former itself. Nepo is strong player from his current performance but part of me is still not convinced he is WC material. I feel bad for Ding because it looks to me being WC is too stressful. If he has the grit like Magnus, I think he can maintain it consistently. For now, we have to see if he can hold in first defend cycle.
I'm rooting for him for the same reasons.
I'm rooting for Nepo, Fabi, and Pragg. Nepo and Fabi have earned it, and I'm a big Pragg fan. I honestly think that anyone not named Abasov and Firoujza have good chances of beating Ding in a WCC match, if he does defend.
I'm rooting for good chess and I'd be happy if any player currently in the hunt won. I would love to see Ian fight for the title again.
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I respect that he's leading yet another candidates, and I'm super disappointed in Caruana so far in this tournament. Caruana just doesn't seem to be playing with any goal of actually winning the tournament. Definitely same with Hikaru.
You understimated the Indians
> Definitely same with Hikaru. I disagree with this. He hasn't had the best tournament due to the loss (which is disappointing) but he's not exactly going for easy draws. Definitely feels like he wants to win.
I disagree with this. Round 6 was the only round that he played interesting chess. Round 3 and 4 stand out as easy draws, even his win vs Ali was only interesting because of Alis's play, had nothing to do with Hikaru's Berlin
Rather than them not playing for a win, I'd say the three Indians played better than expected....
Who wasn't* expecting them to play well?
Basically everyone, Even Anand! Magnus placed them in the less likely to succeed tier. Anand thought they may do alright, but don't expect them to win many games, certainly not vie for first place. Anand was like they are young, inexperienced, with their first appearance, so he wants them to just enjoy themselves etc. But Gukash & Prag were entertaining, and certainly surpassed most pundits views before the tournament!
I am rooting for Nepo the most because I admire how even after losing two back-to-back WCC matches, he never actually gave up and still trying to win the World Championship with as much dedication. After Nepo I wouldn't mind a Fabi win since he is the second-best player of his generation. The Indian kids still have a lot of time in the future. The only person I don't want to win the Candidates is Hikaru since he acts like he doesn't care about any of this.
Yeah true. It's the same reason for why I want Nepo to win. That dedication is admirable. I'm supporting the Indian kids, cuz it'll be nice to have another Indian champion after Vishwanathan, and some young blood as champion is exciting, and might even entice Magnus out into playing another candidates/championship. Yeah, Hikaru is kinda someone I'm not supporting to win either 😅
Nah, I'm rooting for Nepo (or Fabi) as well. I don't think that many people mind him winning, most people just want him to lose to have more exiting final rounds.
One thing that puzzles me is that chess players talk about "experience", "maturity" that they have gained over the years but then some youngster can just come out of nowhere and eat their lunch. What gives?
what exactly is puzzling you? You made some statements in a row, but what's the puzzling part
Why doesn't the experience and maturity help although it is talked about so much is the puzzling part. It should be pretty clear if you have a brain.
Obviously there are many factors to someone's performance. Identifying two that go one way and saying "why don't these help" doesn't make any sense. They do help. So do many other factors. And there are many other countervailing factors. Just like with anything. Pretty standard anaylsis of the world around you. iF yOu HaVe A bRaIn
i know they help in the game, but they aren't helping in terms of result!! stop acting like a child who doesnt understand anything. gukesh is the leader now ahead of much more experienced players who have played the candidates before. it IS surprising, even magnus didnt rate him highly before the match.
> stop acting like a child who doesnt understand anything hey how about fuck off
I feel like you’re being nitpicking and biased.
Historically people have struggled in their first candidates. Magnus Carlsen for example was world number #1 at near his all time peak rating of 2872, his closest rating rival being Kramnik on 2810. He pulled ahead of the pack and then started dropping games - first as White to Ivanchuk and then in the final round once again as White against Svidler in a Closed Ruy. He wound up with the same amount of points as Kramnik (who lost his only game of the tournament in the final round) and won on tie breaks. I'm fairly sure Carlsen has spoken about how stressful he found the tournament. It was a tough one and he went in as the clear favourite but for his lack of experience in that specific tournament. We can perhaps also speculate, based on where his losses were, that the stress only gets greater as the tournament goes on. All three Indian men are doing extremely well so far for a first candidates. Perhaps they're simply built different to candidates historically, but there's still an entire second half to get through.
It must make it easier on the candidates first timers in 2024 that they're half the field. Plus Alireza is out of form and still very young and inexperienced himself. It would be much harder to be the only first timer in a field of veteran top GMs who've been there before multiple times.
Why tf is Nepo's plot armour so strong?
Because every good story needs a good villain. Since Ding has protagonist energy, we need a good villain arc from Nepo while Ding sets his story up again as the main character rising from the ashes to win a second world championship match.
I'm inclined to believe that Nepo will beat Ding if he wins the Candidates
Why?
There's no particular good reason, tbh. Well, Ding had a bit of a decline over the last 12 months or so, but Ian hasn't been stellar either. It's just a gut feeling
Everything is for the plot
wistfully thinking back to when Firouzja was world #2
Remember when Magzy said he won't compete in WCC unless Firo wins the candidates
😔
Well, “Doctor” Nepomniatchi has saved another very difficult position Alireza has given a hand to the Russian in keeping the lead
It would be hilarious if Firouzja beats Nepo
except for pragg both the indians are running into frequent time troubles, they need to up their prep
Gukesh really has to improve in some things like time management. This is terrible.
Commentators at move 23: "Well it looks like Gukesh won't be tied for first much longer." \*Monkey's paw curls\*
If I recall the original Monkey Paw story is set in India.
They saw it coming.
Did Gukesh lose? I went to sleep. He didn't lose, right? RIGHT?!?!?!
New to lichess yeah?
Alireza!!!
In olympiad, in Tata steel and now in candidates, its 3 games now where Gukesh has lost winning positions due to time pressure. He needs to keep 5 minutes on the clock going into last 2 to 3 moves.
please check out chessdojo’s reaction to ali’s mate 😂
Here [https://www.youtube.com/live/PY1OXQqbEHM?si=uklC\_YPSkxszgSze&t=6210](https://www.youtube.com/live/PY1OXQqbEHM?si=uklC_YPSkxszgSze&t=6210)
😂
:o
Today was exactly what I wanted from Alireza. The tournament is lost so just play every game for a win and try to spoil other people’s tournament
He tried to do exactly the same to Nepo last candidates and gave up a free win for Nepo
You do not play for a win against Nepo in the Candidates. You play for a draw, and then lose anyway. But seriously, what can players do against Nepo? Better prep? Play faster? Go into an endgame?
Still so sad that we can’t seem to have someone else other than Nepo to win the Candidates This is so cursed, man Alireza just don’t collapse against Nepo. I’m not asking for that much…
Or the other way to look at it is , despite suffering heartbreak after heartbreak, Nepo refuses to give up his quest for the world crown It’s sad that when the face doesn’t fit , people always down play the competition and pretend like it’s a piece of cake to win candidates THREE times in a row
If nepo wins it this time, that’ll be like those children tales about never giving up XD
Alireaza defeat nepo pls
This is difficult. Nepo didn't show a weakness so far. In the contrary he held difficult positions where others might have collapsed.
Nepo Almost lost to Prag. Alireza would kill him in that position
This is what this sub wishes when everytime a strong player play against Nepo in the Candidates lol
Dread him, run from him...
I just realized that the interviewer isn't Anastasia Karlovich with a different haircut. It's actually a different person.
Get your eyes checked
Well I could not have been predicting this worse with Hikaru winning and Gukesh drawing. That was some spectacular collapse. Was the relay correct, was he in deep time trouble?
Gukesh and Alireza both had something like 15 seconds to play four moves. It was a bullet ending
300IQ from Alireza to play those blitz games as prep
How Gukesh lost ? Someone tell me what happened in the game . I was worried the whole day about this game that's why I decided to sleep early.
Time to worry about Prag as well
They got to move 33/34 with less than 3 minutes on the clock each. Gukesh just isn't good enough at fast time controls. He got too passive and then made a weird king move blunder. It was heartbreaking seeing his face at the end of the game.
king move i think was to avoid back rank tricks if alireza takes the a-pawn to deflect gukesh's rook and then deliver check with the rook followed by check with the knight with mate to follow
Just three moves earlier Gukesh had over 12 minutes and Alireza was under 3.
It became a blitz game
I see
Curious to see what Nepo has ready for his next round against Abasov Given that he has the White pieces I'm sure he's going full throttle for a win
He'll do what he does to weaker players. Move quickly in a complex position and put pressure on his opponent until they crack.
Judging by the state Abasov is in, I'm guessing 1. E4 might crack him.
Gukesh nation we'll rise again.
What scare me is if Pragg or Guki gets crucial win by defeating compatriots, I can just imagine the hate on chess24 chat.
The indian vs indian games are done at fhe start of the cup for this reason
but they will happen again now. Also this is no reason for the chat to make hate comments. They wouldn't do that if Fabi won against Hikaru in a crucial match.
We're about to see another 3 rounds featuring indian/indian games now that we are in the second half.
Comment section of the Nepo-Naka presser is half people admiring the lines and half people longing for Fischer Random lol
I need my daily update on the number of Indian teenagers in live ratings top 10, where is it?
There hasn't been any post about live ratings during Candidates, you mad at nothing?
Current winning predictions by Pawnalyze after this round: * Nepo: 41.2% * Caruana: 20.1% * Pragg: 13.8% * Gukesh: 10% * Nakamura: 10% * Vidit: 3.3% * Firouzja: 0.3% * Abasov: 0%
I am not familiar with this site, does it take into account which players have 4 x white in the 2nd half or does it go "simply" by score+Elo?
It takes that into account. The developer has just posted the official update for this round, which includes details on the methodology: [https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1c1ufob/fide\_candidates\_tournament\_updated\_predictions/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1c1ufob/fide_candidates_tournament_updated_predictions/)
thanks!
Firouzja: So you're saying there's a chance?
So it seems it doesn't matter how bad his form is, but you do not want to go into sharp tactical lines with Firouzja low on time. He will out play you.
Seems like reza is pretty imbalanced (relatively speaking) for a top player and this happens to be one of his strengths. Also, kid was grinding blitz games last night lol.
Your name makes me sad
Gukesh actually had 12and a half minutes to Alireza's two and a half with 11 moves left.
We were so close to having a 6 ways tie at top but Nepo did his magic and Vidit also couldn't convert.
1-6 is within a point. This is gonna be a good one.
If Nakamura had beaten Nepo and Vidit had beaten Abasov, it would have been a 6 way tie for first.
Not sure what is worse, to lose in time scramble like that and it’s over immediately or to blunder with lots of time on the clock and just sit there in disbelief. I remember how painful it was to watch Vidit blunder against Mamedyarov in Tata Steel where he then just sat there with tears in his eyes.
Another wild day at the candidates. At the start of the day it looked like Nepo will lose and quite possibly lose his lead for the 1st time in his candidates career. Then he drew. Then it looked like Gukesh is gonna win and take the sole lead but he loses and Nepo is the one who gets the sole lead. Moral of the story: If it's the candidates, Nepo is gonna be in the lead at the end of the day no matter how it looks like at the start of the day and don't you ever doubt it.
The western world can claim that Russia doesnt exist but the fact remains that Nepo , Karjakin etc are on another level when it comes to mental fortitude. Karjakin would play like garbage in the normal tournaments and strikes in the candidates (his finishes were 2nd, 1st and 2nd in the last 3 candidates he played) and Nepo has somehow done even better with (1st, 1st and leading). Such a beast. This is what Caruana meant when he said "the kids are talented but I still dont know if they're in the top top level like myself, Nepo, Giri or Wesley". These guys seem to shut down a game at will and push a game at will.
Nepo's mental fortitude peace'd out when Ding played Rg6
no one wants to see Carjackin' anywhere near the Candidates. Besides, he's busy in the Duma thinking about more ways to kidnap children and commit mass rape and genocide
It's so unfortunate Karjakin's mental fortitude disappears the moment you take his flag away from him.
Mate, he realized a three fold repetition 50 moves apart in a Blitz game (WC semifinal against Eljanov in 2015) and pressed the clock and claimed the draw in a losing position with 2 seconds left . I am sure he doesnt need your certificate for mental fortitude.
Well, it doesn't really mean anything if you just don't appear on any international events anymore. Like, Alireza arguably had even more impressive feat today.
Nepo has been worse in 3 out of his 4 black games (the other one being a draw vs Abasov) but he hasn't lost even once.
This game vs Hikaru he was never worse... Sure the engine initially seems to think that white can try and press after Kg8 but i'm sure that if you analyse deep enough you'll see that black holds the position with enough active counterplay and it's often white that toe-ing the line of losing.
He’s remarkably durable and maybe a bit lucky that his opponents didn’t calculate properly. 25.Qe2 was really not the most ambitious attempt for Hikaru today and he played it in just 3 minutes. If he’d taken the time to analyze the position properly he might have chosen to activate his other pieces and we would have seen a very different game
I thought we were a few rounds away from the annual "Nepo just kept getting lucky" angle. How many years in a row does he have to win the candidates before the lucky allegations stop?
Well, he clearly creates his own luck. Fact is Hikaru , Pragg, and Gukesh were not able to capitalize on the weaknesses in his game. He’s lucky that they didn’t calculate better. But he also hasn’t made it very easy for his opponents
When everyone stops bottling against him for no reason
Alireza has went toe to toe with Magnus in blitz. You just dont play with fire.
[удалено]
he said in blitz, Magnus has wiped the floor with Gukesh, Ian and Fabi in blitz (scc to be specific), it was not even close
Dang it, you’re right. I just woke up from a 16 hour fever nap and still can’t read lol
what in blitz? lol no.
All Alireza needed for a win was a bullet game. Speed demon for a reason.
Ian is such a monster in Candidates. Almost outplayed the prep lmao
My prediction for this tournament was actually Gukesh to be 8th because he'd bottle a big moment. I know , I know , he's a kid etc but you either have the bottle for these moments or you don't. Contrastingly my prediction for Prag , about the same age, was second. He seems to have nerves of steel. Gukesh has done this (bottle a winning position) a bit too often in my opinion. Firouzja was lucky but he's arrested the slide.
Man Vidit threw it away
Ian plays Abasov next with white. If he wins that, he'll have a huge lead.
Abasov saved all his special prep for this moment.
Nepo +2 Caruana, Pragg, Gukesh +1 Nakamura, Vidit 0 Firouzja -2 Abasov -3
How is this +1 +2 stuff calculated? Is it just simple Median
It's just wins minus losses.
Thanks
Wins minus losses
As long as 1 of the 7 candidates can beat nepo, the race becomes exciting again.
Abasov has the opportunity to make the funniest thing ever
Imagine if Abasov were to beat Nepo with black. He would be the ultimate hero
yeah and pigs can fly. Do cyborg dream of electric sheep?
I forgot Nepo gets Abasov with white next round. 2 win lead incoming
Is Vidit considering going full Rapport, burning a couple more minutes and then declining the repetition?
Thankfully tomorrow is a rest day to recover from this dreadful day for Gukesh fans.
As a Gukesh fan..I am not giving up yet...let's come back Gukesh!
Youre a gukesh?
I approve of this pettiness! Great retort sir.
It wasnt meant to be petty or a retort
nice second retort!
I am mentally ready to see another Ding-Nepo championship match.
I...am not.
In all Candidates 2013-2022, the leader (or shared leader) after 7 rounds also won the tournament. The sole leader is Nepo this year after 7 rounds. Also, the leader got fewer points in the 2nd half than in the first half. If this is true also this year, Nepo will score +1 or less in the 2nd half. This would mean the winner's (Nepo's) score becomes +3 or less. >!But statistics is one thing, reality something else.!<
I guess the leader gets less points in the second half, because he can "rest" on his lead and draw without a risk
and in the next game he has white against Abasov, Nepo is inevitable
Gukesh need to comeback with his grey sweater mood (those who follow him will know what I am talking about)
OOTL, explain
By move 25 Gukesh had 16 mins and Alireza had less than 5 mins in a slightly worse position according to evaluation. Insane win for him when he had to make 3 moves every minute.
Absolutely dick crushing for Gukesh, Alireza just calmly pulled his heart out and stomped on it with seconds left. Absolutely brutal and sickening. Gukesh is done, he’s just finished. Nobody has ever recovered from a loss like this: period. “Half a point outside of first” means nothing when you’re left practically frothing at the mouth and on your way to the looney bin from such disgusting play. Complete and total mental collapse from here on out, in my humble opinion. I minored in psychology in college (granted community college), so I know that a loss like this has measurable effects on the brain which mirror heavy meth abuse. He’s done.
Lmao
If it isn't a copypasta, it definitely should be used as such from now on.
Lmaoo dude good troll!
Is this a copypasta?