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[Inyo]

Originally Posted by 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.

It is done. It is finished. We now have a new World Chess Champion (of classical chess):

[macuaig]

Originally Posted by TBman

I should get a program for my PC as the phone apps are too small.

Chess.com
Any device, any OS.

[Inyo]

I am undeading this thread to provide updates on current chess happenings.

We now have two World Chess Championship matches decided: Bullet Chess; and the Women's World Chess Champion.

First, yesterday, former World Chess Champion of Classical time control (usually called Classical Chess) Magnus Carlsen (Norway)--still the #1 ranked chess player in the world--and Hikaru Nakamura (US--#2 ranked Classical Chess player in the world) squared off to decide the World Champion of Bullet Chess--that is, game in only one minute (with no time increments per move). Each player has but a single minute to complete the game. They received 45 minutes to play as many Bullet games as they could. The trick, though, is that in order to secure a victory, become World Bullet Chess Champion, you need to win by two games--except of course if the match is tied after completion of those 45 minutes. At that point, they play six additional games, after which whoever is currently in the lead wins. If the six games conclude in a tie--first player to win a game is crowned champion.

Here's one of the critical Bullet Games of the Magnus-Hikaru match--the game that could very well decide the World Champion of Bullet Chess. Hikaru had won that title on three previous occasions, by the way, though interestingly enough Magnus was participating in his very first World Bullet Chess Championship tournament.

Tale of the tape, as it were: Their official FIDE (International Chess Federation) Bullet chess ratings were about equal going into the match, but Hikaru (3343 Bullet FIDE) has played some 3,200 or 3,300 FIDE rated Bullet games, while Magnus (3339 Bullet FIDE) had only a little over a thousand FIDE Bullet battles under his belt. Hikaru, the more experienced, versus challenger Magnus--the World Bullet Chess Championship Tournament rookie.



And here's the final game of the Women's World Chess Championship match (Classical time controls) between challenger Tingjie Lei and reigning Women's World Chess Champion Wenjun Ju--both from China. This is the 12th game of a 12 game match. Each player has one win apiece--the rest of the games were drawn.



Bonus coverage. I won't embed the videos here due to spoiler potential, but for folks interested--here's an interview with Magnus Carlsen shortly after his Bullet Chess match with Hikaru Nakamura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojMJIC3ZrmE . And here's a rather brief talk (conducted by the same commentators who spoke to Magnus) with Hikaru Nakamura, following his Bullet games against Magnus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypSphVoobZo .

[Inyo]

I am undeading this thread once again to supply additional information pertaining to chess doings.

We now have a new Chess World Cup Champion for 2023--a nearly month-long tournament that began on July 30 in Baku Azerbaijan with 206 participants: Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen (Norway), number 1 ranked player in the world and five time World Champion of Chess, though he has declined to play in future World Chess Championship matches unless time formats are changed; he has apparently grown "stressed and bored" with Classical Chess of late, preferring to participate with greater frequency in the faster rapid and blitz time controls.

Magnus Carlsen has now won every significant chess tournament known to exist (except if you want to include Fischer Random, which is technically speaking not real chess, of course). In five previous appearances in the Chess World Cup, Magnus had most curiously indeed failed to gain the final; he did attain third place in 2021, though. Adding to the considerable intrigue is that Magnus unbelievably caught a rather debilitating case of food poisoning prior to his finals match, recuperating enough in time of course to manifest his chessic destiny with a victory.

Here are Carlsen's two finals match games with 18 year-old Indian prodigy/phenom Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa that decided the 2023 Chess World Cup. Note of course that "Prag"--his chess nickname--as a top three tournament finisher, automatically qualifies for the next Candidates Tournament, which will ultimately determine who faces current World Chess Champion Ding Liren (China). Magnus has already stated for the record that he will not participate in the Candidates Tournament:

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by Inyo

I am undeading this thread once again to supply additional information pertaining to chess doings.

We now have a new Chess World Cup Champion for 2023--a nearly month-long tournament that began on July 30 in Baku Azerbaijan with 206 participants: Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen (Norway), number 1 ranked player in the world and five time World Champion of Chess, though he has declined to play in future World Chess Championship matches unless time formats are changed; he has apparently grown "stressed and bored" with Classical Chess of late, preferring to participate with greater frequency in the faster rapid and blitz time controls.

Magnus Carlsen has now won every major chess tournament known to exist (except if you want to include Fischer Random, which is technically speaking not real chess, of course). In five previous appearances in the Chess World Cup, Magnus had most curiously indeed failed to gain the final; he did attain third place in 2017, though.

Here are Carlsen's two finals match games with 18 year-old Indian prodigy/phenom Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa that decided the 2023 Chess World Cup. Note of course that "Prag"--his chess nickname--as a top three tournament finisher, automatically qualifies for the next Candidates Tournament, which will ultimately determine who faces current World Chess Champion Ding Liren (China). Magnus has already stated for the record that he will not participate in the Candidates Tournament:

Another update from the 2023 Chess World Cup.

In the women's finals, Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) won the title by defeating Nurgyul Salimova (Bulgaria) two games to zero in the classical chess format--but, a star was born during the tournament: 20 year-old International Master (one notch behind a Grandmaster in chess ratings hierarchy) Nurgyul Salimova lit up the women's competition with sensational, scintillating chess.

Indeed, she pulled off one of my top three favorite games of the entire tournament (men's and women's sections combined), a Morphy-like brilliancy featuring aesthetically satisfying sacrificial lines that forced resignation on the spot due to the unavoidable threat of a bishop-rook mate along the back rank. Awesome stuff. Inspiring.

And here it is--it's the second of the two games analyzed by Agamator Chess, below (both Salimova games here are exceptional): A true thing of beauty, indeed. Salimova is playing Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk ((Ukraine)--only the fourth woman in history to attain a FIDE chess rating of at least 2600, the former #2 women's chess player in the world who finished runner-up in the 2017 women's chess world championship match.

[Inyo]

It's the final of the 2023 Speed Chess Championship everybody wanted to see: world #1 chess player Magnus Carlsen (Norway)--numerous chess historians consider Magnus the chess GOAT, of course, he who enjoys the highest rating of all time, surpassing even the likes of such chessic luminaries as former World Champions Bobby Fischer and Gary Kasparov (often called the second and third greatest chess players of all time)--versus the inimitable speed chess demon himself, Hikaru Nakamura (US--at last check, I believe he's still currently world #2), a veritable force of nature who after emerging victorious five times in a row has indubitably established a Speed Chess Championship hegemony (thank you commentator Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky for the use of that word hegemony in this context; grin).

This is the eighth Speed Chess Championship, by the way; Magnus won the first two (2016 and 2017), but since then it's been the full-on Hikaru show, albeit one must dutifully observe that since his initial consecutive championships, Magnus has played in the event only two additional times, losing to Hikaru just last year (2022), in actual fact.

Ah, yes. The time controls. Here it goes. First--90 minutes of five minute blitz games, with a one second increment per move; next--an hour of three minute blitz games, with a one second increment per move; and finally, a half hour of one minute bullet games (same one second increment, of course).

Agadmator Chess (the usual go-to here for chess games) has yet to analyze the sublimely scintillating final game of the match, so I'll provide here, first, a link to the entire match, with wonderful commentary by Grandmasters Daniel Naroditsky and Aman Hambleton, whose expert analysis on the fly, in the violent heat of moment, when chaotic carnage is occurring on the board, is superbly instructional, and greatly entertaining, to boot--and, second, an excellent discussion of the final game of the match from Epic Chess, who runs through the numerous intricacies of the deciding final game with sharp illuminating detail.

Here's the entire match, with commentary by Grandmasters Daniel Naroditsky and Aman Hambleton. Be sure to stick around to the end for interviews with the participants, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. The match coverage begins at the 12:20 mark of the video:



Here's the video from Epic Chess regarding the final and decisive game of the 2023 Speed Chess Championship. It is one of the most entertaining chess games I have ever seen, featuring near the conclusion a brilliant double rook sacrifice to secure the tournament victory. Unreal. It has to be seen to believed:

[AX17609]

Holy smokes! This is why speed chess has gotten so popular. You'd never see moves like that in a classic game.

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by Inyo

It's the final of the 2023 Speed Chess Championship everybody wanted to see: world #1 chess player Magnus Carlsen (Norway)--numerous chess historians consider Magnus the chess GOAT, of course, he who enjoys the highest rating of all time, surpassing even the likes of such chessic luminaries as former World Champions Bobby Fischer and Gary Kasparov (often called the second and third greatest chess players of all time)--versus the inimitable speed chess demon himself, Hikaru Nakamura (US--at last check, I believe he's still currently world #2), a veritable force of nature who after emerging victorious five times in a row has indubitably established a Speed Chess Championship hegemony (thank you commentator Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky for the use of that word hegemony in this context; grin).

This is the eighth Speed Chess Championship, by the way; Magnus won the first two (2016 and 2017), but since then it's been the full-on Hikaru show, albeit one must dutifully observe that since his initial consecutive championships, Magnus has played in the event only two additional times, losing to Hikaru just last year (2022), in actual fact.

Ah, yes. The time controls. Here it goes. First--90 minutes of five minute blitz games, with a one second increment per move; next--an hour of three minute blitz games, with a one second increment per move; and finally, a half hour of one minute bullet games (same one second increment, of course).

Agadmator Chess (the usual go-to here for chess games) has yet to analyze the sublimely scintillating final game of the match, so I'll provide here, first, a link to the entire match, with wonderful commentary by Grandmasters Daniel Naroditsky and Aman Hambleton, whose expert analysis on the fly, in the violent heat of the moment, when chaotic carnage is occurring on the board, is superbly instructional, and greatly entertaining, to boot--and, second, an excellent discussion of the final game of the match from Epic Chess, who runs through the numerous intricacies of the deciding final game with sharp illuminating detail.

Here's the entire match, with commentary by Grandmasters Daniel Naroditsky and Aman Hambleton. Be sure to stick around to the end for interviews with the participants, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. The match coverage begins at the 12:20 mark of the video:



Here's the video from Epic Chess regarding the final and decisive game of the 2023 Speed Chess Championship. It is one of the most entertaining chess games I have ever seen, featuring near the conclusion a brilliant double rook sacrifice to secure the tournament victory. Unreal. It has to be seen to believed:

And here's Agadmator Chess's analysis of the final game of the Magnus-Hikaru Speed Chess Championship match--second of the two games he discusses (came over the transom about four hours ago or so, as I recollect):

[Inyo]

I am undeading this thread to provide another important update in the world of chess.

Bigly congratulations to World #1 chess player Magnus Carlsen (Norway) who just defeated challenger Wesley So (US--World #11 Classical Chess player--but one of the very best rapid chess players in history) in Toronto, Canada, to capture his third consecutive victory in the Champions Chess Tour venue (winning a cool 200,000 dollars in the process; and note that Wesley So was monetarily remunerated quite nicely indeed for his second place position, pocketing a not unpleasant 100,000 US currency), the penultimate major chess tournament of year 2023; upcoming is the much anticipated World Rapid & Blitz tournament that takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from December 26 to 30, with a $1 million prize fund (according to the FIDE web page). Magnus is the defending champion in that tournament, of course.

Format for the Champions Chess Tour final: First player to emerge victorious in two of three four-game Rapid Chess sets (game in 15 minutes, with three second increment per move); one four-game set played each day. If the participants remain tied after the four mandated games, they progress directly to chess Armageddon, where each chessic combatant places a secret time bid; lowest time receives the black pieces and must only draw (or win) the game to win (using less than fifteen minutes); with a full fifteen minutes to play, the individual with the white pieces must win the game in order to secure victory.

Here is full coverage of both days of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour match between Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So, with wonderful expert commentary from several luminaries in the chess community (with amazing insights, they entertainingly analyze the moves as each game rages on in real time before the world).

The first day, Set 1. The commentators: At far left is Grandmaster David Howell (UK); middle is Grandmaster Robert Hess (US); and at far right is International Master (just one step below a Grandmaster in the hierarchy of chess ratings) and Women's Grandmaster Tania Sachdev (India)



The second day, Set 2:



And if you just want to catch the final game of Set 2, the match-winning game--here it is:



And here is Agadmator Chess's analysis of the final match-winning game:

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by Inyo

I am undeading this thread to provide another important update in the world of chess.

Bigly congratulations to World #1 chess player Magnus Carlsen (Norway) who just defeated challenger Wesley So (US--World #11 Classical Chess player--but one of the very best rapid chess players in history) in Toronto, Canada, to capture his third consecutive victory in the Champions Chess Tour venue (winning a cool 200,000 dollars in the process; and note that Wesley So was monetarily remunerated quite nicely indeed for his second place position, pocketing a not unpleasant 100,000 US currency), the penultimate major chess tournament of year 2023; upcoming is the much anticipated World Rapid & Blitz tournament that takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from December 26 to 30, with a $1 million prize fund (according to the FIDE web page). Magnus is the defending champion in that tournament, of course.

Format for the Champions Chess Tour final: First player to emerge victorious in two of three four-game Rapid Chess sets (game in 15 minutes, with three second increment per move); one four-game set played each day. If the participants remain tied after the four mandated games, they progress directly to chess Armageddon, where each chessic combatant places a secret time bid; lowest time receives the black pieces and must only draw (or win) the game to win (using less than fifteen minutes); with a full fifteen minutes to play, the individual with the white pieces must win the game in order to secure victory.

Here is full coverage of both days of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour match between Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So, with wonderful expert commentary from several luminaries in the chess community (with amazing insights, they entertainingly analyze the moves as each game rages on in real time before the world).

The first day, Set 1. The commentators: At far left is Grandmaster David Howell (UK); middle is Grandmaster Robert Hess (US); and at far right is International Master (just one step below a Grandmaster in the hierarchy of chess ratings) and Women's Grandmaster Tania Sachdev (India)



The second day, Set 2:



And if you just want to catch the final game of Set 2, the match-winning game--here it is:



And here is Agadmator Chess's analysis of the final match-winning game:

The year of Magnus Carlsen concluded with yet another spectacular explosion of chessic fireworks: The World #1 chess player won his 16th and 17th world titles (including of course his five world Classical Chess victories) by emerging first in both sections of the World Rapid and Blitz Championships held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from December 26 to 30; Magnus secured victories in both the rapid and blitz sections of the prestigious tournament for the second consecutive year.

Much congratulations to Magnus Carlsen, arguably the greatest chess player in the history of the game (Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer also usually receive votes for the GOAT title, of course). On Thursday, Magnus took first place in the Rapid section (game 15 minutes, with a ten-second increment per move), and approximately two hours ago he earned victory in the Blitz discipline (game in three minutes, with two seconds added per move).

Here's Agadmator Chess's analysis of a Magnus Carlsen Blitz game during the tournament:



YouTube coverage of the event. For all three days of the Rapid section, the primary commentators are Grandmasters Robert Hess (US) and the legend himself Péter Lékó (Hungary):

The Rapid section, Day 1:



The Rapid section, Day 2:



The Rapid section, Day 3 (final day of Rapid action):



Here's the full first day of Blitz from Chess24. Grandmasters Robert Hess (US) and Péter Lékó (Hungary) supply the primary commentary on the games:



Day Two (final day) of the Blitz section. Commentators are Grandmaster Peter Leko (Hungary) and Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson (Germany) :

[Inyo]

I am undeading this thread to supply important supplementary information pertaining to significant doings in the world of chess.

Beaucoup congratulations to the world's #17 ranked chess player--India's Gukesh D (formal name: Dommaraju Gukesh, born May 29, 2006) who yesterday--at the age of 17--became the youngest participant, ever, to emerge victorious in the Chess Candidates Tournament (held in Toronto Canada this year), and thus becomes the youngest individual in history to qualify for the World Chess Championship match (versus China's Ding Liren) later on this year.

Note of course that World #1 chessic great Magnus Carlsen (Norway), he who achieved the highest chess rating in history, usually considered among the top three chess players of all time along with Gary Kasparov (Russia) and Bobby Fischer (US)--although lots of chess aficionados evaluate him as the greatest of all time--abdicated his World Chess Champion title (held from 2013 to 2023) last year, and while obviously qualifying for the Candidates Tournament this year chose to skip the proceedings.

Going into the final round (a round robin-style tournament featuring 8 chessic greats who qualified for the Candidates through a rigorous procedure determined by FIDE, the official overruling organization (folks curious about the complicated Candidates qualifying process should hop on over to the detailed Wiki page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candid...ournament_2024 ), Gukesh with 8 and a half points held a half point lead over the three trailing rivals tied for second place, each with 8 points: World #2 Fabiano Caruana (US); World #3 Hikaru Nakamura (US); and World #7 Ian Nepomniachtchi (born in Russia--though he's currently playing under the neutral "FIDE Flag"--winner of the previous two consecutive Candidates tournaments).

And in a case of incredible serendipitous high drama, all four players were scheduled to play a top four rival in that final found: Gukesh versus Hikaru Nakamura; and Fabiano Caruana versus Ian Nepomniachtchi.

So the calculus of multiple possible eventualities is rather easily determined. If Gukesh wins, he qualifies for the World Chess title match versus Ding Liren, no matter the outcome of the other game; if he draws, he either wins the tournament (should the others draw), or at least qualifies for a tie breaker competition if either of his other two trailing competitors wins (in chess, of course, a win counts for one point, while a draw garners a half point). If Gukesh loses, he advances to a tie breaker only if the trailing two draw; if either Fabiano or Ian wins, and Gukesh loses--Gukesh is out

Here is the excellent analysis of that final Candidates Tournament round by Agadmator Chess; the Fabiano Caruana-Ian Nepomniachtchi contest, in particular, is in my opinion one for the ages.

[AX17609]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread.

I found the Candidates Tournament riveting, I don't know why. I watched an astonishing about of it with very little understanding of what was going on. I play chess, of course, but nowhere near well enough to even begin to understand GM strategy. Yet, I watched. Now that it's over, I'll miss it.