World Championship 2016

Carlson 1/2 Karjakin 1/2

Carlson plays a Trompowski.  J. Polgar quoted saying black achieved a more comfortable position.

all I know.

(meow)

:-D

I declare this topic to be purrrrrrrrrrrfect

Game 2 drawn; closed Ruy Lopez by Karjakin. Solid praise for J. Polar commentary.

Peter Svidler and Eric Hansen are doing a fine job providing (English language) commentary.  Games three and four lasted over six hours each, during which time Messrs. Svidler and Hansen indefatigably provided commentary on the games and provided entertainment.

Karjakin wins game 8 with the black pieces, after 7 straight draws.  Lots of great commentary out there, and I read those by Fabiano Caruana and Sagar Shah and viewed Daniel King's remarks.  Both players criticized for inaccuracies, but nowadays the inaccuracies referred to are so incredibly subtle that it takes computers to spot them (example - Karjakin's knight on c6 allowing a knight fork at a7 several moves later; only occurs in the notes).

Even Karjakin would not boast about his advantage in the press conference, and I agree.  Anything can still happen.  However, should the match end up tied at 6 - 6, I think that having the championship decided in a speed playoff is simply a shame.  I hope this does not happen, but now, Magnus has to beat Sergey twice; this seems pretty hard to imagine.

(meow)

Tied after 11 games. Carlson has white in game 12, the last in regulation time.  I think he's going to win this.

mc

Magnus has a good chance to win with  white in the last game, but he must be careful not to push too hard, Karjakin is a tenacious defender.  Magnus might be smart to play solid and draw and take his chances in the playoff.   He plays very well in short time controls....

I agree with Seirawan (and many, MANY others) who feel that the Chess 'classical' world championship should not be decided by rapid, speed, or armegeddon games.  Seirawan suggests a 13 game match, with draw odds favoring the extra black.  Not a bad idea.  I'd entertain this, or other ideas that avoid this scenario.

But what's done is done.  Somebody will emerge tomorrow with the championship crown.  In these types of playoffs, literally ANYTHING can happen.  While Carlson is the pick as 'favorite', I will not even hazard a guess.  Both players went for this, as I see it.  There may be some excitement tomorrow.  May the better (speed) player win.

(meow)

Congrats to Magnus!  In the rapid games, game 2 ending is worth a study, I love how that one ended with the sacrfice and then en passant stalemate.  I also enjoyed the very last move of the match, a cute Queen sacrifice to force mate

The final outcome of the match was not a surprise to anybody.  In fact, considering the well known styles of the players, one could argue that the entire match was not a surprise!  How does the Chess we are seeing now, at the World Championship level, compare with the Chess of the old days: Alekhine, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Lasker, Tal, Fischer, Smyslov, Kasparov, and etc. etc.  (no omissions intentional here, nor is the order)?  Magnus just kept needling, pressing, hoping to induce mistakes from one of the worlds most accurate, defensive players who clearly was prepared exactly for this type of play.  No sharp openings, no theoretical novelties, nothing to write books about.

And how will the Chess powers-that-be resolve the issue that practically NOBODY (players/spectators) is happy with the current world championship cycles, either men's or women's, and what changes will the future bring.  All questions are just watch, and see.

(meow)

I think they could write a book or two on this match,   The match material would make a good book on how to play the Ruy Lopez.  Also, I found several of the endings very interesting and instructive, with several study like endings.

I would like match rules to award in the case of a draw, 1/3 of a point to Black and no points to White. A match to five points would probably be an adequate test and neither too long nor too short for a championship.

24 boards. 24 games. that's my idea.

24 boards. 24 games ?! Yes, a one day simultane tournament against each other! :-P

But I am glad Magnus won. The attacking player deserves credit, just like in soccer!