Irrelevant to my point. Which was that Nepo leads with white for the whole match. At no point in this match will Carlsen have had more whites than Nepo. Have you got it now?Quote:
Originally Posted by Garvinator
Irrelevant to my point. Which was that Nepo leads with white for the whole match. At no point in this match will Carlsen have had more whites than Nepo. Have you got it now?Quote:
Originally Posted by Garvinator
On the other hand it may be even riskier to play the Sicilian for the first time in the safety-first stage of the match, so if it doesn't happen in Game 5 or 7 it may not happen at all. Which is viable; Kramnik beat Kasparov with 1...e5 as his only defence to e4. But he may prefer not to paint himself into a corner.Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelBaron
Game 4 (Carlsen white)
PGN Viewer
Impressive preparation in this game; both players still in prep til about the early 20s.
Magus Carlsen was asked about his thoughts regarding his legacy as World Champion and he quipped that he hoped that he would be known for more than being a World Champion who could not win the World Championship in the Classical stage since 2016, or words to that effect.
Well, looking at some of the openings of the last two World Championships, and the openings from these 4 games, which are two Anti Marshalls and a Petroff, it is rather easy to see why there has been a rather high draw rate.
Yes, the format of 12 games has not helped, but the opening choices have certainly been a factor.
Seems like Nepo had a bit of an edge out of the opening, Magnus adopted a quite solid setup that neutralised it.
Interesting comment from Svidler - if we take this position and reverse the names, so it's Carlsen-Ian instead of Ian-Carlsen - we expect white to score a bit better.
Game 5 (Nepo white)
PGN Viewer
The total cost of Nepo's opening preparation would be sufficient to feed a little village in a developing country for 5 years.
That's still better than 1935–1963, when no reigning world champion won a championship match—they mostly lost (which Magnus hasn't done), and tied twice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garvinator
Game 6 (Carlsen white). The decisive mistake was 130...Qe6
PGN Viewer
Was happy when Magnus started getting in control. Not so happy when things got out of control. Nerves are getting to both. Nepo could have taken on b4 leaving Magnus to fight for a draw
Great to finally see a result in a classical game!
Magnus looks more nervous than Nepo.He has more to lose.It's good to see a win.A win by Nepo will make it more interesting. Personally I would like Magnus to win the match.Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelBaron
One of the great unfortunate issues of the time difference of being in Australia. This would have been a great game to watch live on the internet as it occurred, but that meant starting at 10:30pm or 11:30pm EDT and going through to 6:30am/7:30am.
What a shame.
A fairly exciting game, too, especially when both players were blitzing to make the first time control. It will be interesting to see how Nepomniachtchi responds, after first missing a win, and then being ground down by Carlsen from an equal position. Will he settle for a quick draw, or go for broke?Quote:
Originally Posted by Adamski