| Carlsen - Caruana World Championship Match (2018) |
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The 2018 World Championship between reigning champion, Magnus Carlsen, and challenger, Fabiano Caruana, a 12-game match organized by FIDE and its commercial partner Agon, was played in London, at The College in Holborn, 9-28 November. Caruana qualified as challenger at the World Championship Candidates (2018). The time control was 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 50 more minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 more minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from move 1. Colors alternated between games except after game 6, so the same player played with White in games 6 and 7. Draw agreements were not allowed before Black's 30th move. If the match was tied 6-6 after 12 games, tiebreak games would be played on 28 November to determine the winner, starting with a best-of-four Rapid match at 25 minutes per player with a 10-second increment; if still tied, up to five two-game Blitz minimatches at 5 minutes per player with a 3-second increment, the winner of any minimatch winning the championship. If still tied, an Armageddon game to determine the champion. All Classical games, and the first Rapid tiebreak game, began at 15:00 UTC (10:00 USA/Eastern). Ten-minute breaks between tiebreak games were stipulated in the regulations but could be waived by the chief arbiter Stephane Escafre. After 12 consecutive draws in the Classical games, Carlsen won the first three Rapid tiebreak games and defended the title for the third time. Elo Classical Rapid
Carlsen 2835 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 9
Caruana 2832 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 6
Official site: https://web.archive.org/web/2018113...
Regulations: https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/...
Scheduling: https://worldchess.com/tournament/1...
Chess.com 1: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...
Chess.com 2: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...
ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/magnu...
chess24: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t...
TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew...
FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/tournament...
Previous: Carlsen - Karjakin World Championship Match (2016). Next: Carlsen - Nepomniachtchi World Championship Match (2021)
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| Oct-31-18 | | ooda: <AylerKupp> <Would you care to enlighten us> It was a drunken assertion, my bad. But it's based on having seen all the chess.com speed chess championship matches, Caruanas stream and watching him play online. Regardless, Carlsen is truely exceptional at faster time controls and if it goes to tiebreak Caruana's probably gonna get thumped :p |
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| Oct-31-18 | | Jambow: <Hikaru> Would have probably not been my choice for a second vs Magnus, as I don't think he quite comprehends Magnus's game. Giri seems to get Magnus more than most but his style is really too passive for Caruana, although he might be able to impart the ability to hold a draw in the bag. Carlsen and Giri both do this exceptionally well. Carlsen can hold that draw while getting his opponent to create weaknesses, albeit ones that even elite grandmasters don't get. My guess is Caruana would do best with engine analysis and to learn the nonhuman tactical nuances in the middle game that Magnus would most likely miss. That to me is his best opportunity and something I think he and So both excel at already, or that is my impression at least. Stockfish maybe Alphazero I don't know. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | ooda: I shouldn't drink and post, at least I wasn't being too obnoxious, just making arrogant statements. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | SugarDom: I hope chessbookie will come up with some betting on the results, like +1, +2, by tiebreaks, etc. It would be fun. |
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Oct-31-18
 | | AylerKupp: <ooda> I'm sorry if I came across too strong. But I see so many posts where the poster makes statements that seem to just be opinions and do not seem to be backed up by any facts. But I readily understand, nay, encourage, drunken assertions. At least you hopefully were having a good time while making them. :-) And I have no quibble with your observations, that's just the way things are. But as I stated above I don't necessarily think that Caruana will be crushed at the faster time controls. For one thing he's been getting better; in the last year his Rapid rating has improved from 2735 to 2789 and improved from his recent low of 2700 in Aug-2017 and his Blitz rating has improved from 2709 in Jul-2018 to his current 2767. Still nowhere close to Carlsen's current 2880 Rapid rating or 2939 Blitz rating but at least he has been improving, and that should help his confidence. Besides, as I mentioned earlier, the small number of games in the tiebreakers at Rapid time control (4) and Blitz time control (at most 10) means that the likelihood of an upset is greater than if a larger number of games were to be played. We'll just have to wait and see. And, of course, it assumes that Caruana will not beat Carlsen in the Classic time control portion of the match and to me that's what the pollsters would label as "too close to call". |
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| Oct-31-18 | | Lambda: <The hotel fees alone in one of the most expensive cities in the world to put up the entire FIDE circus will be astronomical.> As a chess fan, I feel having the world championship match be a proper test of who the best player in the world is is more important than FIDE having a circus. It doesn't <need> to be all that expensive to put on. They just like doing it that way. <These people who are harking on and on and on about how wrong it is should stand for election and change things, posting here will change nothing.> What if it's important to someone, but not actually the most important thing in their life? Some people care about more than one thing in their lives. I suspect that most of the people posting here actually know it's unlikely to make much of a difference. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | SugarDom: Hi Lambda, been looking forward to your odds and the running odds. I was just about to call you out and here you are... |
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| Oct-31-18 | | Everett: What’s Leela chess zero? |
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| Oct-31-18 | | nok: http://blog.lczero.org/2018/10/lc0-... Sadly she hasn't a page here. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | Howard: It's a chess engine of some kind. |
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Oct-31-18
 | | Sally Simpson: ***
"....and if it goes to tiebreak Caruana's probably gonna get thumped." Team Caruana could planning 12 draws whilst their man is doing nothing but Rapid games. At Rapid Fabiano will have a chance but blitz makes Magnus hot favourite. Planning to make it down for game 4 or 5. Hope I don't pick a boring one. *** |
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Oct-31-18
| | Sally Simpson: ***
Stamps from the Maldives of Carlsen and Caruana calling them the highest and second highest rated players in the world. https://www.redhotpawn.com/imgu/blo... At the moment they have that correct. Unlike the Central African Republic. https://www.redhotpawn.com/imgu/blo... Who have Larsen and Paterossian (sic) mixed up.
also here:
https://www.redhotpawn.com/imgu/blo... The position on the Steinitz stamp is from Spassky - Smyslov, Bucharest 1953.
The position on the Spassky stamp is from Zukertort - Steinitz, America 1866. Maybe if Caruana wins the title America might get around to doing a chess stamp. The have Morphy, Pillsbury, Marshall, Fischer... *** |
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| Oct-31-18 | | Olavi: <AylerKupp Besides, as I mentioned earlier, the small number of games in the tiebreakers at Rapid time control (4) and Blitz time control (at most 10) means that the likelihood of an upset is greater than if a larger number of games were to be played. We'll just have to wait and see.> This is true, but I still think that there is the paradoxical possibility that it's actually worse for Caruana that there are tiebreaks as opposed to the champion keeping the title with 6-6. He might not 'gamble' when absolutely necessary and end up in a hopeless playoff. But I don't believe this. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | LameJokes: Twelve game match – Most leading, contemporary GMs have expressed preference for this format. On the contrary, most chess fans prefer 16-game match. Whom do FIDE listen to? Super GMs or chess fans? The current format provides for 12 classical games with 6 rest days and an extra day, in case, the match enters tie-breakers. That’s a sum of 19 days in all. Modern chess lays utmost emphasis on preparation. Contestants spend all their spare time on game days as well as all rest days preparing themselves to the teeth. They are exhausted stiff at the end of 19-day ordeal. Similarly, 16-games match would extend to 25 days. Chess fans don’t need a great reserve of stamina to watch the games. A long length of the match doesn’t affect them. Needless to say, contestants would need 6 days of additional stamina to sail through this version. They, naturally, opt for the former. FIDE ought to listen to Super GMs instead of chess fans. Since a quality match, with players in fine shape, is much better than one decided by blunders due to exhaustion. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | PhilFeeley: Rapid and blitz ratings are regularly published by FIDE and Chessbase. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | diceman: Id like to see the time put aside
for blitz/playoffs devoted to classical chess.
14 to 16 games.
If tied at that point, a computer evaluation of their match play will decide. At least that prevents folks like Naka or Magnus having a "blitz"
advantage.
It's real simple, if you don't like that, <WIN!> another game! |
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| Oct-31-18 | | diceman: <LameJokes:
The current format provides for 12 classical games with 6 rest days and an extra day, in case, the match enters tie-breakers. That’s a sum of 19 days in all. Modern chess lays utmost emphasis on preparation. Contestants spend all their spare time on game days as well as all rest days preparing themselves to the teeth. They are exhausted stiff at the end of 19-day ordeal.> Makes you wonder how Fischer survived
23 rounds at the Palma Interzonal? |
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| Oct-31-18 | | jphamlore: Carlsen has shown he can set problems for Caruana with either color. This is a terrible matchup for Caruana, and contrary to everyone being so polite, I expect Carlsen to defeat Caruana rather easily. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | LameJokes: <diceman: Makes you wonder how Fischer survived 23 rounds at the Palma Interzonal? > Not only Fischer, all those contestants who played 24-game matches. I salute them all. No, I don't think they were on dope. They either prepared less or took few easy draws along the way. I was trying to explain the perspective from the POV of contemporary Super GMs, who prefer 12 games. This is a contentious issue for chess fans (16 games). Curiously, chess journalists never ask them why they prefer 12 games? Is exhaustion the factor? Do they think the 12-game length is long enough to ensure deserving champion? |
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| Oct-31-18 | | jphamlore: Caruana's wins as White against the Gruenfeld were in the Exchange Variation, a relatively long time ago. Carlsen may well be employing again MVL as a second, MVL who happens to be the world's greatest Gruenfeld player and who probably has run almost every plausible line in the Gruenfeld Exchange Variation well into the endgame. Also Carlsen's trainer is Nielsen who seems to insist on his clients being well-prepared to play a Gruenfeld, even when they shouldn't, such as Anand right off the bus versus Topalov in 2010. Now Karpov could switch to attacking Kasparov's Gruenfeld and win against it, but I am not sure Caruana is that flexible. And if Caruana is going to avoid the Gruenfeld such as his recent battle with Carlsen, this is going to lead to problems in the Kings Indian where White has little advantage and is walking right into Carlsen's wheelhouse. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | Olavi: <diceman: If tied at that point, a computer evaluation of their match play will decide.> With all due respect, the most bizarre proposal on the subject. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | Olavi: <LameJokes: I was trying to explain the perspective from the POV of contemporary Super GMs, who prefer 12 games.> It would nice to have some sort of source, this is news at least to me. For me, it is not only about ensuring a desrving champion - 12 games may be long anough for that - but ensuring the match unfolds interestingly. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | jphamlore: I don't know why everyone has dismissed Karjakin as the (almost) perfect match opponent for Carlsen. To me the first requirement is a player needs to be able to grind through endgames, and there is almost no one better at defending slightly worse ones than Karjakin. It's just that Karjakin had zero help from anyone in Russia such as Svidler, Kramnik, or Grischuk who knew anything about top level openings. I'm not convinced that over a 12 game match Caruana will be able to do the same to even salvage an even score by the end vs Carlsen. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | LameJokes: <Olavi: It would nice to have some sort of source, this is news at least to me. For me, it is not only about ensuring a desrving champion - 12 games may be long anough for that - but ensuring the match unfolds interestingly.> I am not good at quoting the link. I have read interviews of these players on chess24 and chessbase. Especially, after Carlsen Vs Karjakin match. I would be thankful to our kibitzer friends, who might help in quoting the link. |
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| Oct-31-18 | | James Demery: Will Chessgames.com be allowed to carry the match? |
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