Like The Chess? Here's An Excellent Chess Channel

[Street Glider]

So... televised chess?

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by Inyo

I am undeading this thread in order to supply supplemental information:

The 2021 World Chess Championship is indeed underway in Dubai, where reigning champ Magnus Carlsen holds a 5-3 lead over challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi (AKA, Nepo) in a fourteen game match. Eight games have been played thus far--Carlsen has won two, with six draws (one point for a win, a half point each for a draw).

Here's Antonio Radić's expert analysis of game eight, played yesterday, from his Agadmator Chess channel:

It is done. It is over. Magnus Carlsen (from Norway) remains World Champion of Chess by defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi (from Russia) in game 11 of their 14 game match. Final tally: Carlsen four wins and seven draws; "Nepo" zero wins and seven draws.

Here's Antonio Radić's excellent analysis of that game 11, from his Agadmator Chess channel:

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by Inyo

Among my favorite YouTube chess channels is the one operated by Antonio Radić (AKA, Agadmator Chess), who with entertaining interpretive expertise analyzes (on average) at least one game of chess each day--many from current interesting chess tournaments around the globe that feature grandmaster luminaries demonstrating chessic brilliance, including of course current world chess champion Magnus Carlsen: he who hails from Norway--he who will attempt to defend his chess championship status versus challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi (affectionately called Nepo) of Russia in Dubai starting November 24, 2021.

One must note that Carlsen presently holds the triple crown of chess mastery: for example, he is top-rated and world champion in all three time-controlled tournament disciplines--blitz chess (five minute game); rapid chess (game in 30 minutes); and classical time-control chess (first 40 moves in an hour and a half, then game in 30 minutes, with 30 seconds added starting from move one). For the World Championship match, time controls will be as follows: "100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move one." Quoted material from the web page over at https://www.chess.com/club/the-class...m%20move%20one .

While perusing Agadmator's chess channel the other day, I came upon a famous 1858 game that features Paul Morphy (born in New Orleans, Louisiana)--usually considered chess's first unofficial World Champion--a genuine chess prodigy who from 1857-1858, at the age of 20 to 21, eventually crushed with convincing dominance every chess master of his day that he was able to encounter; of course, he wasn't able to play everybody of chessic impressiveness.

Several powerful players in Germany, for example, were beyond Morphy's travel reach (though Morphy graciously paid for Adolf Anderrsen's travel expenses from Germany to Paris for their match in December, 1858--soon after which Morphy returned to the US, under extreme pressure from his parents to do so), and one of England's historic greats--Howard Staunton--famously ducked Morphy one on one, although Morphy did defeat Staunton in the two consultation games they played, where Morphy and Staunton each teamed up with a partner player to create a two on two scenario.

Operative word here is "eventually," because for some peculiar reason or another Morphy, among his acknowledged extraordinarily strong opponents (Louis Paulsen, Adolf Anderssen--who later succeeded Morphy as the second unofficial world chess champion in 1862, after Morphy had mysteriously retired from the game at the very height of his powers--and Johann Jacob Löwenthal, for example), all of whom he vanquished with efficient ease, had especial early difficulties gaining the advantage over a brilliant chess master named Daniel Harrwitz, a dedicated professional chess player who frequented cafes, dispatching all adversaries with a practiced chessic technique.

So the back story here is that while in Paris on a European chess tour in 1858, Morphy challenged Harrwitz to a chess match: first person to gain seven wins would achieve victory. Harrwitz refused at first. But Morphy persistently pursued, refusing to take no for an answer, would not let Harrwitz off the hook, so to speak, wanting to play all the great chess masters of Europe that he could, not wishing to let Harrwitz escape unscathed.

Bottom line: Harrwitz finally agreed to play at least one preliminary off-hand game against Morphy before deciding to enter a match contest. They played that lone skittles game at the Café de la Régence, where in 37 masterful moves Harrwitz beat Morphy (playing the white pieces) with a Philidor Defense. Only after that favorable outcome did Harrwitz eventually agree to the match with Morphy. Conditions were set. Arrangements made. The match began.

And Harrwitz "inexplicably" won the first two games of the match. Harrwitz had thus defeated Paul Morphy three consecutive times, an unprecedented accomplishment versus Morphy in a level game; he once lost three games in a row to a very strong individual against whom he'd perhaps arrogantly given knight odds--that is to say, Morphy had removed one of his own knights from the game--but in that specific case he came back strong to win the next five of six games played, thus winning the match.

An instructive aside here is to note that Morphy is not unique in experiencing difficulties with a single opponent. Several historically magnificent chess players have suffered at the hands of specific individuals whose power over them has constituted a situation tantamount to Super Man encountering kryptonite. Observe please that Bobby Fischer, prior to his domination of Boris Spasky for the world chess title in 1972, had never before defeated BS head to head. Spasky had a 5-0 all time advantage over Fischer before BF triumphed over Boris. Then too, today's World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has in head to head classical chess tournament time activity fallen to his future challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi four losses to one victory, though Carlsen does indeed hold the overall advantage over "Nepo" in rapid and blitz games.

But back to the Harrwitz circumstance. Morphy was far from intimidated; he clearly did not consider Harrwitz a harrowing experience. He told astonished folks sitting at the table, in the aftermath of that third loss in a row (two consecutive match play defeats) that Harrwitz would not win another game.

The prediction came true. Morphy rattled off four wins in a row, drawing the seventh game, then polished Harrwitz off in fine style in the eighth and what turned out to be the final game of the match. Deeply dispirited and depressed, Harrwitz officially quit the match at that point, and so Morphy won the match with five wins, two losses and a draw.

The first video, below, is from Agadmator's chess channel, where Antonio Radić expertly analyzes game four of the Morphy-Harrwitz match. It's the critical game where Morphy finally evens the score versus Harrwitz--two wins apiece. It's a brilliant game, indeed.

A bonus here, before Antonio proceeds to analyze the chess game, is an AI-Deep Learning "animation," created from a high resolution photograph of Paul Morphy, bringing the famed chess champion back to life, in a way.



Here's another quality video from Agadmator's superior chess channel, originally posted to YouTube on June 1, 2021. It's game seven of the second day of the tournament championship match between current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and Grandmaster Wesley So at the FTX Crypto Cup (2021), a rapid chess tournament (game in 30 minutes), where the combatants, unable to decide the winner in their previous multiple games, have now entered terrifying territory known as Armageddon.

It's a dead-bang sudden death situation. Winner of this game wins the tournament. The dramatic difference here in chess Armageddon is that it's now a modified blitz game--Magnus plays with the white pieces and receives five minutes on the time clock; with the black pieces, Wesley gets only four minutes to play an entire game, though the gimmick here is that the individual playing with the white pieces must WIN the game. Wesley only needs to draw, or win of course, to achieve the tournament victory.

I am undeading this thread, once again, to provide here a most interesting update, I believe.

Just over the transom, earlier today, arrived another entertaining and instructive video by Antonio Radić (AKA, Agadmator Chess). He analyzes a game he and his community played against the highest ranked and rated woman in the history of chess--grandmaster Judit Polgar (#8 in the world, 2004, with a 2734 ELO in 2005), she of Hungarian heritage who though now retired from professional tournament chess at the highest level, continues to participate in various simultaneous chess exhibitions around the globe.

On March 20,2022, Polgar faced on-line 10 "chess influencers" from several different countries in a simultaneous cyber-chess exhibition, including agadmator (Antonio Radić) from Agadmator Chess, in the first Global Interactive Community Chess Simul. Each influencer in effect made moves for his/her own sizeable chess community, so the format could perhaps best be described as a cyber-consultation exercise, where Judit Polgar faced the combined minds of multiple folks at each cyber chess table; one site I visited estimated that there could have been as many as six million individuals following the games.

So without further fanfare, let the game begin. As a preliminary aside here, though, I must report that I was rather surprised that Antonio chose the comparatively rare but theoretically effective Löwenthal Variation of the Sicilian Defense (and, yes, it's named after Johann Jacob Löwenthal--the #2 ranked chess played in the world,1858, who famously lost a match to #1 ranked Paul Morphy in 1858) in response to Judit's usual e4 opening with white; perhaps Antonio had chessic irony on his mind: Johann Jacob Löwenthal was Hungarian, as is Judit Polgar.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

I used to be interested in chess, stories of the golden age of Morphy, Capablanca, Alekhine, Fischer . . . the days when imagination and insight and creativity were the most important characteristics of a great player.

Eventually it evolved into a game of rote memorization - incredibly mentally demanding, yes, but no more interesting to me than watching somebody reciting a thousand digits of pi.

YMMV.

It was the whole memorizing openings that turned me off about chess. But more recently, I am seeing more and more training that involves understanding, rather than memorizing. The memorization can come naturally from just playing a lot of games and continuing to learn.

From what I read, Fischer felt that the whole memorizing opening lines was ruining chess too. He invented Chess960, in which the back pieces are set up randomly to completely unhinge the memorized opening lines. I have yet to try playing that flavor of chess, but my chess computer has two engines. One is "classic" chess and the other is Chess960. When you start a new game, you choose which you want to play.

At the world class levels, these players spend their lives studying chess and work with multiple chess coaches. But for us for whom it is a hobby with casual or even low end tournament play, we can enjoy the game without having to memorize lots of long opening lines.

Tony

[Inyo]

Another great game of chess analyzed by Antonio Radić (AKA, Agadmator Chess).

Here we have a true clash of chessic titans: The World Champion of chess Magnus Carlsen versus the reigning women's chess champion, Ju Wenjun (from China).

A spirited contest, indeed, played on March 23, 2022:

[Inyo]

I am undeading this thread to provide information on the rather recent chess cheating scandal that perhaps some AGFers have already heard about. It all started when 19 year-old US chess prodigy Hans Niemann, playing with the black pieces, easily crushed current World Number One and still reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in an over-the-board game this past September 4.

In the aftermath of that startling loss, Magnus strongly intimated that Niemann might have been cheating during the game, somehow using as an assistant a supremely strong computer chess program (AKA Stockfish, for example) to help him make moves during specific critical moments in the game; even dispassionate observers agreed that Niemann had mysteriously smashed Magnus with the black pieces in a way only a literal mere handful of grandmasters in the world with chess ratings substantially higher than Niemann could even hope to accomplish.

Of course, Niemann denied all of this, maintaining that he has never cheated during over-the-board chessic competition, but eventually admitted that he had indeed cheated during online games when he was 12 and 16 years old, presumably to help boost his ratings.

So here is Agamator Chess's discussion of the long-anticipated Chess.com report on the curious kerfuffle; note that Chess.com is of course primarily an online chess site that does not usually involve itself with over-the-board chess. Recollect, too, that the organization had already banned Niemann from their online chess activities because of cheating concerns.

Bottom line: In their 72 page report--which includes 52 pages of graphs and charts to supplement the primary text--Chess.com noted that while they found no direct proof that he has ever cheated during over-the-board games, there is indeed considerable evidence to support the conclusion that Niemann had indeed cheated in some 100 online games as recently as 2020 when he was 17 years old, falsifying Niemann's claims that his cheating had been confined to only two separate incidences at ages 12 and 16.

Here is the Agamator discussion of that Chess.com report:



And here's the chess game between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann that started it all back on September 4, 2022. Hint--stick around for the last few minutes, too, after Agamator finishes analyzing the actual over-the-board game; he provides a most fascinating super-computer line that could have led to an even more decisive conclusion for Niemann:

[Gitfiddlemann]

Of course, Niemann..... eventually admitted that he had indeed cheated during online games when he was 12 and 16 years old, presumably to help boost his ratings.
.....there is indeed considerable evidence to support the conclusion that Niemann had indeed cheated in some 100 online games as recently as 2020 when he was 17 years old, falsifying Niemann's claims that his cheating had been confined to only two separate incidences at ages 12 and 16.

Cheaters...
Once a cheater always a cheater. That's pretty strong evidence that cheating is part of his DNA. Why is he even allowed to play in tournaments?
And if you're sitting across the world champion in a game, and you're cheating, how are you doing that?
I mean, people who cheat at golf, like Patrick Reed of LIV golf, get caught on video sometimes.
But at chess. Does he have an ear implant of some kind connected to a computer, telling him what to do?
Very strange. But disturbing. I hope they can clean this up satisfactorily, otherwise, high level chess is doomed.

[tinnitus]

As much and some loved him, I never paid much attention to Madden when he was a football commentator. But I'd probably watch at least once if he was still around and applied his hyperbole (with scribbled circles, Xs and arrows) to a televised chess match.

[TBman]

My family use to love playing chess against each other. I keep meaning to get back into it, perhaps there is software online that would make it interesting.

[frankmcr]

Any game in which a computer can defeat a human can and will be won either by the computer or by the human who most efficiently conceals their use of a computer.

Chess is one of those games.

EDIT: but it's not really much of a change from all the "championship matches" where the game adjourns and then the players have their respective team of experts comb through every recorded match in history to tell them the best next couple of moves before adjourning again.

[tbeltrans]

Thanks Inyo for starting this thread and providing several very interesting posts that I have enjoyed reading.

Tony

[Inyo]

I am undeading this thread to supply information pertaining to the just-concluded World Rapid Chess Championship component of the World Rapid and World Blitz Championship tournaments held in Almaty, Kazakhstan (no Borat jokes allowed here, by the way...). It's the final round of the Rapid Chess portion of the twin tournament battles featuring current classical Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway versus Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran; Magnus needs to win to stay in contention for the World Championship of Rapid Chess.

Here are the time control parameters for the Rapid and Blitz chess championship tournaments, from the PDF document entitled Regulations for the FIDE Open World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2022 Almaty, 25 – 31 December:

RAPID: 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.
BLITZ: 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.

Here is the Agadmator Chess analysis of the championship game that features an instructive, devastating kingside attack by Magnus against his opponent's classical Sicilian Defense (Magnus employs the Richter-Rauser variation in response to Parham's classical Sicilian). The ultimate conclusion--an inevitable Magnus check mating march that forces resignation--is a thing of great chessic aesthetic beauty, indeed.

Magnus Carlsen is the 2022-2023 World Rapid Chess Champion:

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by Inyo

I am undeading this thread to supply information pertaining to the just-concluded World Rapid Chess Championship component of the World Rapid and World Blitz Championship tournaments held in Almaty, Kazakhstan (no Borat jokes allowed here, by the way...). It's the final round of the Rapid Chess portion of the twin tournament battles featuring current classical Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway versus Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran; Magnus needs to win to stay in contention for the World Championship of Rapid Chess.

Here are the time control parameters for the Rapid and Blitz chess championship tournaments, from the PDF document entitled Regulations for the FIDE Open World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2022 Almaty, 25 – 31 December:

RAPID: 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.
BLITZ: 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.

Here is the Agadmator Chess analysis of the championship game that features an instructive, devastating kingside attack by Magnus against his opponent's classical Sicilian Defense (Magnus employs the Richter-Rauser variation in response to Parham's classical Sicilian). The ultimate conclusion--an inevitable Magnus check mating march that forces resignation--is a thing of great chessic aesthetic beauty, indeed.

Magnus Carlsen is the 2022 World Rapid Chess Champion:

Newsflash, just in:

OK, enough already with the hyperbolic hyper-reaction, I reckon. Admittedly the news is now a few hours old, not of literal immediate import, but ye olde Magnus Carlsen, already reigning World Champion of both the Classical and Rapid chess disciplines, has now become a triple crown champion of chess for the third time in his career, by defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan (last year's Rapid Chess World Champion, by the way) with a Ruy Lopez (Nodirbek used the Morphy Defense variation of the Ruy, playing the black pieces) in the final round of the World Blitz Championship. Magnus is now the 2022-2023 World Champion of Blitz Chess. Magnus won the triple crown of chess in 2014 and 2019, as well.

Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen. Well done, indeed.

Here's the sterling commentary/analysis by Agadmator Chess:

[frankmcr]

Well, I'm pretty near certain that this is the first time an international World Championship competition has come down to a battle between Iceland and Uzbekistan.

So, Well Done! to both sides, and Til Hamingju, Island!

[Inyo]

I am undeading this thread to supply information pertaining to the World Chess Championship, 2023.

Reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen of course abdicated his chessic throne and thus permitted the first and second-place 2022 Candidates Tournament participants to play for the world chess title here in 2023 (in Kazakhstan).

The combatants are Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) and Ding Liren (China)--the #2 and #3 ranked chess players in the world, respectively.

First two games are already in the books. Text that accompanies game 1 at agadmator's Chess Channel:

The 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship is a 14-game match taking place in the St. Regis Astana Hotel in Astana, Kazakhstan on April 9-30 between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, who finished 1st and 2nd in the 2022 Candidates Tournament. Reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen has chosen not to defend his title. The first player to reach 7.5 points wins, while a 7:7 tie will be decided by a playoff. The prize fund is €2 million, split 60:40, or 55:45 if it goes to a playoff. No draw offers are allowed until after move 40.





Edit: Games three and four are now in the books: