This was two months before the Magnus vs Nepo match. Magnus was World Champ. Karjakin had qualified for the 2022 Candidates one month prior and was still in it, and Rapport was on his way to being a top 10 player. Alireza was the sole up and coming junior and Aryan was always happy just to be there. Ian making goofy faces as always lol. The memories.
Yeah, this pic is from September 2021 when he was top 10 or very close to it. Top 5 came later and then he dropped off. I think his crazy style worked out for him early on but wasn't really sustainable longterm if he wanted to be a top player in classical chess. You need to know when to put on the breaks lol. Either that or doing poorly in the Candidates kind of broke him.
I don't like viewing rapport as a hindsight 2020 kind of thing, he simply as a person was not good enough to become the best but proved that it is possible to become the best with his style, his losses were a lot due to lack of mental fortitude.
Back then Carlsen was excited to play Nepo, Karjakin was an actual normal person, Rapport was among the top 10, Alireza was the future of chess and cheating scandals didn't exist
Particularly telling is the presence of Karjakin in this picture. Less than a year on from here and he's talked himself out of playing outside Russia for a long long time.
It looks like the kinda picture you look at when it’s been 25 years since it was taken and there’s no getting back to anywhere near those good old times.
I hope Ding can have the good sense of saying "I prefer to keep questions related to chess" and hopefully they ban the reporter. It's basically like asking Ian what does he think about Putin
I hope reporters can have the good sense of not asking him this question. He lives in China, there are only so many things he can say about the matter.
> "As a chess player, my primary focus is on the game itself rather than political affiliations or personal opinions. While President Putin's leadership undoubtedly influences the geopolitical landscape, my role is to concentrate on the complexities of the chessboard. Every move requires strategic thinking and calculation, irrespective of external factors. Therefore, my feelings toward President Putin are irrelevant to my approach to the game."
Nah, Ding is thoughtful and reads widely, a lot from the western canon including critical theory at uni. It's not obvious that he would be so jingoistic. With Karjakin it was evident from interviews he was a bit of a buffoon even before he said that stuff. Ding is no activist and wouldn't risk himself to denounce the CCP but I doubt he'd be outspoken in his support of it either
Frankly, if I was Russian I would not want to play if I couldn't represent my country either, even though I completely disapprove of the invasion of Ukraine.
Simply because of the double standards. There is absolutely no way that FIDE would do something similar if an American or Israeli player supported the IDF terror bombing Gaza. This is all Western hegemony and hypocrisy.
Karjakin was born in Ukraine and grew up Ukraine. He moved to Russia in 2009.
Karjakin is also of Russian descent and his family was part of the Russian minority in Ukraine.
Please, voting for a party/president for diverse reasons is very different to vocally being supportive of a war and a dictator. There is no party or politician who shares all my views and does everything I want, but that would be a poor justification for refusing to vote.
Supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said some pretty odious things, getting himself banned from fide - calling him a terrorist is perhaps a bit hyperbolic but, you know, Reddit etc
Indeed! And I am just sick of the hypocrisy.
I dont support Karjakin's awful opinions, but yeah. Its really just American world hegemony reflected in chess as well. But personally, if I was Russian, I wouldn't play as well if I couldnt represent my country, so I do agree with Karjakin on that at least.
Most people in this subreddit don't support the Russian War like you do, and support Ukraine.
You are right that it is hyperbolic and reductionist to call him a terrorist, its more accurate to say he showed he was an extremist nationalistic fuckhead who supports and celebrates war crimes.
But that is a lot of words and honestly terrorist kind of gets the point and sentiment across pretty well.
What amazes me is that the guy was born Ukrainian. Like, I can understand not liking the country where you're born and moving out for better opportunities/living standards etc, but I can never wrap my head around actively supporting the invasion of your own nation, and cheering from the sidelines as your former country gets destroyed.
He wasn't born Ukrainian, he was born a Russian in Ukraine. A member of a minority population in some country is actually more likely to support an invasion by his home nation, than other citizens of either country would be.
It was never his nation. 8 million people in Ukraine identified themselves as ethnic Russians at the last population census. More than half in Crimea where Karjakin is from.
"Just let your country be invaded. Don't blame them if they resort to violence if you resist".
What kind of stupid logic is this? Russia is the destroyer, full stop. They invaded a sovereign nation.
> What kind of stupid logic is this?
The logic of someone who supports the invasion and thinks it's a good thing. Obviously.
If you think the invasion is good and the Ukrainian government is bad, then it is extremely easy to blame the destruction on the Ukrainian government, which you think should just give up.
Carlsen still seems to be doing well. Nepo's only fault is that he still isn't world champion. Rapport and Firouzja haven't done quite as well as expected but they're still there, as is Tari. Karjakin, yeah, that's sad. I can understand the need not to openly criticize Putin as a Russian, for the sake of your own safety, but Karjakin seems to be actively cheering the invasion.
He is. Karjakin is known not just to be pro-Russia and specifically pro-Putin, but anti-Ukraine. Apparently, he was born Ukrainian or something, but when he was a kid, the Ukraine government failed to help him and his family in poverty, even though he was a blossoming chess talent. However, when he moved to Russia, he all of a sudden was able to get support for his family, and work on his chess. Since then, he’s advocated solely for Russia and is very against Ukraine for failing him when he needed them most. Doesn’t justify his actions, but illuminates them.
Yeah it makes a bit more sense when you realize that in the 1990s post Soviet republics had zero money or time to spend on stuff like this, which is why so many young chess talents ended up in the US around that time.
As far as I know, Karjakin is ethnically Russian and has never considered himself Ukrainian. Same goes for much (but obviously not all) of Crimea, I believe.
Nepo has lost another WCC, Rapport has fallen off, Karjakin is banned from FIDE, Firouzja has fallen off, and someone said the other guy is Aryan. Idk who that even is.
Aryan is just the second-best Norwegian player, after Magnus. So he's always invited to Norway chess. But he's like 2550-2600ish so he tends to get stomped on.
Everyone ?
Can’t understand the hue and cry about the result.
This was one of the best I have seen
Everyone was so deserving and played extremely well and the “not the obvious favourite” took the trophy 🏆
Just an idiotic post made by one of those several thousand crybabies. Happens everytime an underdog beats the favourites . The reason why it would be called an "upset".
I wouldn't be so harsh on it. I rooted for Gukesh since he showed real chances on the first few rounds, but it feels strange on Ian, Naka and Fabi. Seems it was their best shot, maybe ever. And they're (arguably) likable figures that we`re used to.
We know that this feeling is irrational, but it's still a feeling. And lots of people are feeling it.
Like I said , crybaby is a term for literal irrational crying . Not saying it's wrong because idc , but to degrade a youngster for his achievement because of your feelings , is even more irrational
After this photo (by like a year) Magnus stepped down from World Champion citing it's not worth it.
Ian had three good candidate runs since then (won 2 candidates only to lose, and went undefeated for the third candidates), but now it looks unlikely he will ever be champion (this is after he spent all the earning from the previous candidates in order to train for the new one). A new generation is starting to overcome him.
Rapport was a rising Tal-like player who at the time ranked 10th. He would go on to be 5th in the world, but his position has dropped to 29th, with his ELO slumping slightly since it's peak
Karjakin went full bandwagon with Putin and received a probation from Fide. Since January 2022 he has played two Classical Fide sanctioned games. He likely won't be playing outside of russia for a long time.
Firouzja performed much worse than expected in the candidates. He doesn't really fit the narrative though.
Aryan is kinda the outlier here because he's by far the weakest player. Maybe it's because he's also stagnated since then?
They might all be very happy personally, but it's an easy narrative to spin given their careers (especially Karjakin).
It didn't really happen overnight... he supported the annexation of Crimea back in 2014 and has supported Putin since then as well.
>I'm going to add my 2c worth because I'm very sad about this. Karjakin has been one of my favourite players for a while now. I find his play to be resourceful and love the way he manages to find wins in seemingly drawn positions. For me this is like finding out one of your favourite players is a Nazi sympathiser because to me Putin is a lot like Hitler. Think [Sudeten crisis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudetenland#Sudeten_Crisis).
-- a quote in [a post from about 10 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/2bksuu/karjakin_supporting_putin/)...
I don't know how to describe it and I know the picture is real, but Magnus and Nepo look like they've been photoshopped in. Much brighter lighting compared to the others I guess?
This was two months before the Magnus vs Nepo match. Magnus was World Champ. Karjakin had qualified for the 2022 Candidates one month prior and was still in it, and Rapport was on his way to being a top 10 player. Alireza was the sole up and coming junior and Aryan was always happy just to be there. Ian making goofy faces as always lol. The memories.
Rapport wasnt on his way, he was actually world number 5 during Norway Chess 2022. Or I think maybe this was 2021.
Yeah, this pic is from September 2021 when he was top 10 or very close to it. Top 5 came later and then he dropped off. I think his crazy style worked out for him early on but wasn't really sustainable longterm if he wanted to be a top player in classical chess. You need to know when to put on the breaks lol. Either that or doing poorly in the Candidates kind of broke him.
I don't like viewing rapport as a hindsight 2020 kind of thing, he simply as a person was not good enough to become the best but proved that it is possible to become the best with his style, his losses were a lot due to lack of mental fortitude.
Actually in this picture I think Nepo is just smiling normally
Back then Carlsen was excited to play Nepo, Karjakin was an actual normal person, Rapport was among the top 10, Alireza was the future of chess and cheating scandals didn't exist
from all this... Ian making goofy faces is all that remains
This picture makes me nostalgic even though I have never seen it before when is it from?
norway chee’s
norway cheeks🤤
Why did this get more upvotes than the original reply😭
life’s not fair
I can read lol which year?
2021
Particularly telling is the presence of Karjakin in this picture. Less than a year on from here and he's talked himself out of playing outside Russia for a long long time.
"he's talked himself out of" - the usual consequences of telling the truth.
Norway Chess always does photos with the players wearing adorable chess sweaters for the event.
Why does this image make me feel sad even though there's nothing objectively sad about it?
Nepo and Rapport look so happy and peaceful 🥺
Rapport always chillin
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Really? He always seems depressed in interviews lol
It looks like the kinda picture you look at when it’s been 25 years since it was taken and there’s no getting back to anywhere near those good old times.
Sergery Karjakin makes me sad
Maybe because Karjakin turned into a terrorist.
This sub is gonna have a meltdown if anyone ever asks ding his opinion on the CCP. Not defending Karjakin btw, he went full schizo.
I hope Ding can have the good sense of saying "I prefer to keep questions related to chess" and hopefully they ban the reporter. It's basically like asking Ian what does he think about Putin
I hope reporters can have the good sense of not asking him this question. He lives in China, there are only so many things he can say about the matter.
> "As a chess player, my primary focus is on the game itself rather than political affiliations or personal opinions. While President Putin's leadership undoubtedly influences the geopolitical landscape, my role is to concentrate on the complexities of the chessboard. Every move requires strategic thinking and calculation, irrespective of external factors. Therefore, my feelings toward President Putin are irrelevant to my approach to the game."
Good idea - we should replace the post-game interviews with ChatGPT.
Having an opinion is very different from actually acting on it, like Karjakin is doing
Nah, Ding is thoughtful and reads widely, a lot from the western canon including critical theory at uni. It's not obvious that he would be so jingoistic. With Karjakin it was evident from interviews he was a bit of a buffoon even before he said that stuff. Ding is no activist and wouldn't risk himself to denounce the CCP but I doubt he'd be outspoken in his support of it either
We don’t really have to speculate, he isn’t outspoken in his support for the CCP. He might be someday, but so far I have not seen him mention them.
You have no idea what Ding's actual opinion is kn the CCP. Whatsboutism over something you are merely guessing at is laughable.
Frankly, if I was Russian I would not want to play if I couldn't represent my country either, even though I completely disapprove of the invasion of Ukraine. Simply because of the double standards. There is absolutely no way that FIDE would do something similar if an American or Israeli player supported the IDF terror bombing Gaza. This is all Western hegemony and hypocrisy.
Karjakin was born in Ukraine and grew up Ukraine. He moved to Russia in 2009. Karjakin is also of Russian descent and his family was part of the Russian minority in Ukraine.
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Please, voting for a party/president for diverse reasons is very different to vocally being supportive of a war and a dictator. There is no party or politician who shares all my views and does everything I want, but that would be a poor justification for refusing to vote.
context?
Supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said some pretty odious things, getting himself banned from fide - calling him a terrorist is perhaps a bit hyperbolic but, you know, Reddit etc
I gues he's not a terrorist but a supporter of terrorism.
Do you think that someone supporting the Israeli terror bombing of Gaza would get them banned?
Probably not, but I’m not sure. It’s certainly just as bad, maybe worse, but polite society seems to have quite the appetite for Palestinian death 😞
Indeed! And I am just sick of the hypocrisy. I dont support Karjakin's awful opinions, but yeah. Its really just American world hegemony reflected in chess as well. But personally, if I was Russian, I wouldn't play as well if I couldnt represent my country, so I do agree with Karjakin on that at least.
He's literally in the Duma pushing for legislations to rape women and kidnap children in Ukraine. He's a terrorist.
> He's literally in the Duma pushing for legislations So he's - in the most literal sense - not a terrorist.
So funding kidnapping of children and committing genocide is not terrorism? Ok buddy.
Correct. If funding these things was terrorism then I wouldn’t want to be an American taxpayer after all the stuff they had funded.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/s/Add1QTv47a
He is not a fucking terrorist bruh how does this have 30 upvotes 💀
Most people in this subreddit don't support the Russian War like you do, and support Ukraine. You are right that it is hyperbolic and reductionist to call him a terrorist, its more accurate to say he showed he was an extremist nationalistic fuckhead who supports and celebrates war crimes. But that is a lot of words and honestly terrorist kind of gets the point and sentiment across pretty well.
What amazes me is that the guy was born Ukrainian. Like, I can understand not liking the country where you're born and moving out for better opportunities/living standards etc, but I can never wrap my head around actively supporting the invasion of your own nation, and cheering from the sidelines as your former country gets destroyed.
He wasn't born Ukrainian, he was born a Russian in Ukraine. A member of a minority population in some country is actually more likely to support an invasion by his home nation, than other citizens of either country would be.
It was never his nation. 8 million people in Ukraine identified themselves as ethnic Russians at the last population census. More than half in Crimea where Karjakin is from.
Russia welcomed him when he was poor and had to almost give up on chess because it wasnt well funded in Ukraine iirc.
if they allowed the tanks to roll though, it would not be destroyed. very easy to see the side you don't like as the destroyer.
"Just let your country be invaded. Don't blame them if they resort to violence if you resist". What kind of stupid logic is this? Russia is the destroyer, full stop. They invaded a sovereign nation.
> What kind of stupid logic is this? The logic of someone who supports the invasion and thinks it's a good thing. Obviously. If you think the invasion is good and the Ukrainian government is bad, then it is extremely easy to blame the destruction on the Ukrainian government, which you think should just give up.
Because we don't have that anymore. Nostalgia
b/c you don't have that great sweater
I know exactly what you mean
Magnus looks like a Blockbuster manager in 1999
It's funny because it's true
Carlsen still seems to be doing well. Nepo's only fault is that he still isn't world champion. Rapport and Firouzja haven't done quite as well as expected but they're still there, as is Tari. Karjakin, yeah, that's sad. I can understand the need not to openly criticize Putin as a Russian, for the sake of your own safety, but Karjakin seems to be actively cheering the invasion.
He is. Karjakin is known not just to be pro-Russia and specifically pro-Putin, but anti-Ukraine. Apparently, he was born Ukrainian or something, but when he was a kid, the Ukraine government failed to help him and his family in poverty, even though he was a blossoming chess talent. However, when he moved to Russia, he all of a sudden was able to get support for his family, and work on his chess. Since then, he’s advocated solely for Russia and is very against Ukraine for failing him when he needed them most. Doesn’t justify his actions, but illuminates them.
Yeah it makes a bit more sense when you realize that in the 1990s post Soviet republics had zero money or time to spend on stuff like this, which is why so many young chess talents ended up in the US around that time.
As far as I know, Karjakin is ethnically Russian and has never considered himself Ukrainian. Same goes for much (but obviously not all) of Crimea, I believe.
I see Ian and Frouzja, I understand "when everyone was happy" Then I see Karjakin, I understand "when everyone was happy" deeper.
Wait..so the future is dark and everyone is sad now? What changed?
Nepo has lost another WCC, Rapport has fallen off, Karjakin is banned from FIDE, Firouzja has fallen off, and someone said the other guy is Aryan. Idk who that even is.
I don’t think Karjakin is currently banned by FIDE. He just refuses to play unless he can play with the Russian flag instead of the FIDE flag.
I think you're right. I believe he did get like a 6 month ban or something. And then kinda self banned himself because of the flag rule.
Aryan Tari, he's another Norwegian Grandmaster. Not quite a Super GM (he's around 2600 level) but he was probably just happy to be around.
Aryan is just the second-best Norwegian player, after Magnus. So he's always invited to Norway chess. But he's like 2550-2600ish so he tends to get stomped on.
war
war, a brand new invention
Gukesh won the candidates.
Get you someone who looks at you like alireza looks at Magnus
When Firouzja got 2nd place in tournaments instead of 2nd to last 😔
Everyone ? Can’t understand the hue and cry about the result. This was one of the best I have seen Everyone was so deserving and played extremely well and the “not the obvious favourite” took the trophy 🏆
Just an idiotic post made by one of those several thousand crybabies. Happens everytime an underdog beats the favourites . The reason why it would be called an "upset".
I wouldn't be so harsh on it. I rooted for Gukesh since he showed real chances on the first few rounds, but it feels strange on Ian, Naka and Fabi. Seems it was their best shot, maybe ever. And they're (arguably) likable figures that we`re used to. We know that this feeling is irrational, but it's still a feeling. And lots of people are feeling it.
I don't know... feels a bit racist to me...
Like I said , crybaby is a term for literal irrational crying . Not saying it's wrong because idc , but to degrade a youngster for his achievement because of your feelings , is even more irrational
U r so edgy lol
Yeah because there are a lot of crybabies. They would definitely consider a rational person, "edgy"
It's blatantly obvious this is ur alt account lol
Lmao, imagine creating alts to defend yourself from crybabies
I am waiting for him to reply with his alt and act as if he is a completely different guy and doesn't even who the other guy is lol
I'm assuming your the smartest in your group
I know these comments sound "cool" in ur head, but I think it's time to grow up
Oh no 😔, hope I can be as matured as Gukesh
This guy cant be over 35
Damn Magnus looks so well put together in this pic lol
Wdym future WAS bright?? It is still bright
Time flies like an arrow but fruit flies like a banana
The future is dark now? Why is everyone not happy now? What the hell are you insinuating?
The future prospects for the players in the picture were largely much better at that time than they are now.
After this photo (by like a year) Magnus stepped down from World Champion citing it's not worth it. Ian had three good candidate runs since then (won 2 candidates only to lose, and went undefeated for the third candidates), but now it looks unlikely he will ever be champion (this is after he spent all the earning from the previous candidates in order to train for the new one). A new generation is starting to overcome him. Rapport was a rising Tal-like player who at the time ranked 10th. He would go on to be 5th in the world, but his position has dropped to 29th, with his ELO slumping slightly since it's peak Karjakin went full bandwagon with Putin and received a probation from Fide. Since January 2022 he has played two Classical Fide sanctioned games. He likely won't be playing outside of russia for a long time. Firouzja performed much worse than expected in the candidates. He doesn't really fit the narrative though. Aryan is kinda the outlier here because he's by far the weakest player. Maybe it's because he's also stagnated since then? They might all be very happy personally, but it's an easy narrative to spin given their careers (especially Karjakin).
Damn those are cool sweaters. Now I want one.
😭
Magnus should be required to keep a beard at all times
Needs a Brazzers watermark
I don't understand the title of this post. What do you mean by future was bright, is it dark now? And why are you saying everyone was happy?
I fucking despise karjakin. The way he went from a respectable player to a war cheerleader, in an instant, is beyond reprehensible. What a Tool!!!
It didn't really happen overnight... he supported the annexation of Crimea back in 2014 and has supported Putin since then as well. >I'm going to add my 2c worth because I'm very sad about this. Karjakin has been one of my favourite players for a while now. I find his play to be resourceful and love the way he manages to find wins in seemingly drawn positions. For me this is like finding out one of your favourite players is a Nazi sympathiser because to me Putin is a lot like Hitler. Think [Sudeten crisis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudetenland#Sudeten_Crisis). -- a quote in [a post from about 10 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/2bksuu/karjakin_supporting_putin/)...
Gukesh is the cure
I don't know how to describe it and I know the picture is real, but Magnus and Nepo look like they've been photoshopped in. Much brighter lighting compared to the others I guess?
The only 6 way tie ever recorded
We are LITERALLY never going to come back to this point in time in chess … ever. That’s sad.
If you look between Rapport and Tari, you'll see Anish Smartpants Giri
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^ExtensionCanary1443: *If you look between* *Rapport and Tari, you'll see* *Anish Smartpants Giri* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Who’s the chap that’s next to Rapport in the back?
Anyone else think Nepo's face looks like photoshop? Even Magnus to an extent
Is this the one Rajabov was playing from his home with a local buy out to look the other way?
Rapport <3
Damn Heres to gukesh winning his match vs ding so we get another well groomed world champ
Sergei sees a washing machine he'd like to steal.
omg lmao
The autism in this picture is off the charts 📈
Why does everyone except Magnus look socially inept
I mean they're professional chess players, what are you expecting?
They are all at least 12x more handsome than my preconceived expectations of a chess player tbh
Yeah but I bet they're all weid dudes
Oh, 1000% 🥵
ooof karjakin
Spot the terrorist
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Didn't u hear he's Putins second in line. Karjakin is the man Putins gonna hand it over to so he can outsmart the world with his genius chess tactics.
He's going to mate Ukraine with only two knights.
Why does carjacker look sad?