World Championship 2021 match will start Nov. 24!!

[Hans Jung]

Very witty Pargat and Frank. I hope the guys in the movie business take you up on your suggestions.

[Brad Thomson]

The theme of the book is that Donald Trump as U.S. President was, and is, a Russian intelligence asset, dating back into the 1980s.

Trump is too stupid to have anything to do with "intelligence", but it is clear that the Russians have the goods on him and that they will spill the beans if he does not cooperate.

[Frank Dixon]

I think Magnus is getting stronger!! He certainly prepared exceptionally well, given his minus score against Nepo, coming into the match, at classical controls. Magnus seemed to keep Nepo guessing in the openings, with his variety, and sequencing of changes. Nepo got essentially nothing with the White pieces, and even lost two games with White. I am surprised that we didn't see at least one game with the Sicilian, especially from Nepo.

Responding to Pargat, I've got another scenario for Magnus in the title role for a new James Bond 007 film:
He chases the villain into an international chess tournament site, where Canada's IA / IO Hal Bond is supervising the play. It's in Norway, of course!! Cyber-warfare is the heart of the conflict; Russian villains are influencing elections again. The two come into contact; Magnus as James Bond says: "The name is Bond, James Bond." Hal replies: "The name is Bond, Hal Bond!!"
We need to work on a script and a title!!

Incidentally, I am now reading the book 'American Kompromat' (2021, Craig Unger). 'The word 'Kompromat' in Russian refers to compromising information. The theme of the book is that Donald Trump as U.S. President was, and is, a Russian intelligence asset, dating back into the 1980s. It essentially covers the material that the Mueller Report, published in 2019, wasn't able to report, due to administration interference orchestrated by Trump. Highly recommended.

[Marc Andre Beaudry]

Fabiano Caruana was quite a challenge to Magnus, he came very close. Ding Liren would be a very interesting opponent. Nepo collapsed completely after the fantastic game 6. In the 3 losses he had after game 6, he made 3 very big blunders. He did not play as if he was worthy of being the challenger.

The are many young kid who are very strong and Alireza is leading the pack, that generation is going to beat Magnus. But Magnus is a very very strong chess player and very difficult to beat

[Pargat Perrer]

Congratulations to GM Magnus Carlsen for defending his title, in such a dominant fashion! I expected a more competitive match. It seems the champion's experience and overall strength was just too much for GM Nepo, who I thought would win at least one game, based on his classical score against Magnus, coming into the match.

So, what is Magnus going to do now for a challenge!? He's got this chess thing figured out pretty good! How about starring as the next James Bond!? He's young, he's got the movie star good looks, and we know he can take care of Russians!!

He's got this chess thing figured out pretty good.... That's what they said about Lee Sedol and the game of Go until Sodol came up against AlphaGo.

Maybe the next challenge for Magnus should be a match against AlphaZero.

Regarding Magnus as Bond, here's a list I came up with....

Top 10 New James Bond Movie Titles Starring Magnus Carlson as Bond

10. Knights In White Satin

09. From Norway With No Love

08. Moonrooker

07. A Move To A Kill (alternative: A View To An En Passant)

06. OctoPawnsy

05. Dr. So (costarring Wesley So)

04. On Her Majesty's Long Diagonal

03. A Deeper Shahade of Black (costarring Jennifer Shahade)

02. Checkmates Are Forever

01. Die on YOUR Time

[Neil Frarey]

Garry Kasparov ...

Congrats to Magnus for a dominant performance vs Nepomniachtchi, who failed to put up any resistance after the game 6 loss. Carlsen rarely had to show his best here, but you cannot blame the shark if his opponent becomes a minnow!

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/statu...76746072031234

[Guillaume Cardin]

Yes, not so good for chess when there is just no challenge. Fifth WC for Carlsen and only 2 game loss (for 19 wins, counting tie-brakers) and in 3 of those WC he just destroyed his opponent.
Hopefully Firouzja will continue to improve and will get to Carlsen's level.

[Victor Plotkin]

I follow title matches since 1978 (Karpov - Korchnoi). This match was the less interesting one. I don't want to say the worst one, but generally it was. Unfortunately...

[Frank Dixon]

Congratulations to GM Magnus Carlsen for defending his title, in such a dominant fashion! I expected a more competitive match. It seems the champion's experience and overall strength was just too much for GM Nepo, who I thought would win at least one game, based on his classical score against Magnus, coming into the match.

So, what is Magnus going to do now for a challenge!? He's got this chess thing figured out pretty good! How about starring as the next James Bond!? He's young, he's got the movie star good looks, and we know he can take care of Russians!!

[Marc Andre Beaudry]

Magnus is a well deserving World Champion, he will be seen as the GOAT , many actually think that he is right now. Right now, I see 1 Kasparov 2 Magnus 3 Fischer. But it is only a question of years before I put him as no 1,

Magnus plays many different openings as white or black, has a tremendous positional sense, calculates accurately long tactical variations, and excels in endgame and plays for the win most of the time. Kasparov said that Magnus is the combination of the best of Karpov and Fischer and I think this representation very accurately describes Magnus.

[Brad Thomson]

Four decisive games, what more could we ask for?

[Hans Jung]

Well its over. Magnus wins in the endgame. 4-0 with 7 draws.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

What a beautiful way to end the match! With a king hunt!

It's a torture.

The life with the engine is quite different - blunders are shown immediately.

[Hans Jung]

What a beautiful way to end the match! With a king hunt!

[Frank Dixon]

I believe that top players today play more sharply in shorter time control games, since they know that deep analysis by their opponent is impossible when trying to refute a move which is a bit unusual, new, offbeat, or borderline unsound. It certainly can make for more interesting chess. Both sides make moves that are less than perfect, just due to the shortness of time to decide; trying to provoke an opponent, force the opponent to take more time to analyze a move which may or may not be sound. Understanding and knowing the controls of a game is vital when analyzing it; some GMs have gone so far as to state that blitz games should NEVER be analyzed in print. I disagree. There are more games happening now at shorter controls among top players, and with technology omitting the need for players to record moves to paper, the game score can still be retained; that didn't used to be possible unless each board had a highly trained and sharp person to record the moves for quick games. For example, at the 1970 World Blitz Championship, at G/5', all games were collected, with assistants at each board recording them accurately.

I have found that certain opponents I encountered played very differently at shorter controls, especially in the opening. I would see stuff like 1.h4, 1.a4, 1.Na3, etc.

The late GM David Bronstein (1924-2006) is an authority I want to bring in here, on two items. I am an enormous admirer of his career and writings; he would be in the conversation about historical players with the most knowledge about chess.

1) Political thoughts during competitions: in his last book 'Secret Notes', with co-author Voronkov, published in 2007, just after his death, GM Bronstein writes at some length about the tension felt by Soviet players during the 1953 Candidates tournament, due to the recent death of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin (1879-1953). Stalin, incidentally a chess player of moderate strength, kept an irron grip on the USSR for some 30 years, and was responsible for the deaths of millions. The Soviet players in 1953, GM Bronstein writes, were unsure of just what might happen back home, as in their results being punished or rewarded; who the new leaders would be, and what they would do. Soviet chess leaders at that time wanted GM Smyslov to win the tournament (he did); GM Bronstein, who had won the previous series, was viewed as too much of a bohemian in his lifestyle; this according to GM Bronstein, who writes in his 1995 book 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' that his own father was exiled for nearly ten years without cause (he received an apology later, after his death). GM Bronstein wrote in 1995 that, playing Black against fellow contender GM Samuel Reshevsky in the 1953 Candidates', he was ORDERED by the Soviet delegation leaders ordered to win the game, to stop GM Reshevsky's progress towards the lead. GM Bronstein did win the game. He tied for second with Reshevsky and GM Paul Keres, behind Smyslov.
Incidentally, I just finished reading the book 'Stalin's Daughter' (2015), and the author has fascinating insights into the times around Stalin's death, from sources I hadn't read before. Svetlana Stalina (1926-2011) defected to the West in 1967.
I reference this from my earlier post concerning GM Nepo's state of mind during the current match, with tensions rising between Russia and NATO. While GM Nepo is probably NOT following news developments in detail, you would have to believe he and his Russian friends are very much aware of the general picture back home. Nepo's play in games 8 and 9 was very poor, after playing very well in the other games (he did lose game 6 but it took a mighty effort by Magnus to take him down). The Russian economy is a mess, the country faces sanctions, it is adversarial with almost all other nations, military tensions are increasing, and potential revolution is fomenting near the surface from many quarters.

2) It is interesting that in 1995, GM Bronstein wrote about his own insights on time controls affecting style of play, particularly in many practice games with his very good friend GM Isaac Boleslavsky (1919-1977), that in short time controls, the two would play correct technical chess, and in longer controls, let their creative fantasy come more into play. GM Bronstein was a pioneer in getting shorter time controls into reality for top competitions. He writes about this at length.