| Jun-23-22 | | Fanques Fair: That only goes to show that Firouzja is not as strong as his rating suggests, and insufficiently experienced for a competition at this level. His rating is clearly inflated by oportunitties that he had and others didn´t. Wesley So, MVL, Giri and others would be better candidates in 2022. And the system of qualification is clearly inadequate. |
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| Jun-23-22 | | dehanne: I can see why Carlsen wants to play Firouzja. |
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| Jun-23-22 | | ILikeKeres: Caruana chooses an interesting line in the Catalan. I think if Firouzja stopped going for exchange sacs, he might have a better chance. 21...f5! seizes the initiative for black. 22 Re1 is probably better, as is 27. Rd6. I do admire Firouzja's cavalier play, but it's not his tournament. |
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Jun-23-22
 | | LRLeighton: While I would completely agree with the statement that the system of qualification is inadequate, I don't think that has anything to do with Firouzja's play so far. In every CT, there is someone in very poor form, and everyone says that they don't belong in the tournament. But if you look at Firouzja's losses, it is evident that he is losing because of horrific blunders -- he clearly is miscalculating or "hallucinating". If he didn't belong, he would still play like a 2700 player, getting ground down by 2780 players. But instead, his mistakes are the sort of moves that most 1800 players would avoid. He's just out of form and is probably suffering from nerves in his first CT. |
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| Jun-24-22 | | Saniyat24: agadmator describes with precision...https://youtu.be/mIJPXv5x9TQ |
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| Jun-24-22 | | Saniyat24: without Fabiano's precise defending, that game could have gone haywire...I don't think Alireza is out of form, just that the caliber of the other players is equally high...! |
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Jun-24-22
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: Never could figure out White's play in this game; 6.Qd3 and 12.Qg4 looked strange. After 16...Nb4 Black has the lead in development and a lovely invasion square at c2. |
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Jun-24-22
 | | Atterdag: <dehanne: I can see why Carlsen wants to play Firouzja.> Carlsen said that when Firouzja had a steeply rising curve of great results promising a new genius on the stage. Ask Carlsen today and it's likely he has changed his viewpoint. |
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Jun-24-22
 | | perfidious: Had the internet existed in those days, on playing through Fischer vs Keres, 1959, <Fanques Fair> would doubtless have written off the young grandmaster as a future titleholder. |
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Jun-24-22
| | Atterdag: <Saniyat24: without Fabiano's precise defending, that game could have gone haywire...I don't think Alireza is out of form, just that the caliber of the other players is equally high...!> Exactly. As I've said before: When a new upcoming Aladdin enters the elite, he benefits from the element of surprise, because he's underestimated. After a while, he gets the attention and respect from the "old" elite, which now whet their weapons when they meet him. Suddenly, things don't run as smoothly anymore, defeats arrive, disappointments follow in the wake of success, and there is not so much magic in the "lamp" as before. Of course, this doesn't mean the end of Firouzja's rise to the stars. He just experiences the ups and downs familiar to any of his competitors. His talent plus the tough but valuable experience of losing to great players will further his path eventually. |
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| Jun-24-22 | | Ulhumbrus: The commentators indicated that the exchange sacrifice 20 Rxd7? was a miscalculation and that after 20...Qxd7 21 Bh3 f5 22 Bxf5 Firouzja had overlooked the resource 22...Qe8! removing the black queen from the skewer with tempo by attacking White's queen and in a way that would enable Black's rook to leave the skewer as well after 23 Qxe8 Rc8xe8 Perhaps Firouzja forgot to look for a move for Black that would remove a piece from the skewer with tempo. To quote Capablanca, not even the greatest players are immune from such oversights. |
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Jun-24-22
 | | tamar: At age 19 Fischer had already played in one Candidates, but experienced a shaky start in Curaçao 1962 when he entered as a favorite. Like Firouzja, Fischer was riding the crest of dominating victories particularly Stockholm Interzonal where he ran away from the field. Fischer lashed out, writing that the Russians had fixed world chess, and withdrew from the cycles for awhile. Will Firouzja do something similar? |
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Jun-24-22
 | | saffuna: Good point. In his first Candidates (age 16) Fischer finished -3. His career managed to survive that result. |
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Jun-24-22
 | | Williebob: Given the kibitzing (less so the game itself, though Caruana is now 3-0 against the upstart), my pun suggestion: "You're Only As Good As Your Last One" |
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Jun-24-22
 | | moronovich: Or "You only last, as long as you are good" |
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Jun-24-22
| | Williebob: It looks like <perfidious> was ahead of my pun idea, over at the Candidates' Match page.
FIDE Candidates (2022)
The pun may lack legs
But the point you understand
They're fair weather fans |
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Jun-25-22
 | | HeMateMe: How does black end it? Q-c2-d1+? |
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Jun-25-22
| | moronovich: <HMM>
-h5+followed by Qe2+or -Qd8 mate. |
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| Jun-26-22 | | jerseybob: <tamar: At age 19 Fischer had already played in one Candidates, but experienced a shaky start in Curaçao 1962....Fischer lashed out...Will Firouzja do something similar?> I don't see that happening, thank God. Alireza's obviously not ready to be the challenger this time around, despite Magnus' hopes of facing him. But like Bobby at 19, he's tremendously strong, and hasn't yet reached his peak. |
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| Jul-08-22 | | DouglasGomes: After 11... Bf6, White cannot hope for more than equality.
12. Qg4 Bd7 allows white to challenge Black's knight on d5 with 13.Nc3 (with equality). So does 12. Qc5 Bd7 Nc3.
Less desirable is 12. Qd3 Bd7 13. Nc3?! (but 13. e4 with equality) Nxc3 14. Bxc3 Ba4 where White's structure could prove to be weaker.After the correct 13. Nc3, The placement of White's queen is a minor detail. Being on the fourth rank might prove to be useful (or at least not harmful). 13. Nd2?! is pointless and cannot be recommended. However White can still try to balance the game with 14. e4 Nb6 Qe2 (with the threat of e5) |
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Kibitzing
