chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
Magnus Carlsen vs Yannick Pelletier
European Team Championship (2015), Reykjavik ISL, rd 5, Nov-17
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation. Hedgehog Defense (A30)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening
find similar games 9 more Carlsen/Pelletier games
PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: At the top of the page we display the common English name for the opening, followed by the ECO code (e.g. "A30"). The ECO codes are links that take you to opening pages.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

A COMPUTER ANNOTATED SCORE OF THIS GAME IS AVAILABLE.  [CLICK HERE]

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Nov-17-15  Luceana: Petrosianic & asiduodiego I disagree with both of you guys. Carlsen has been losing to guys rated in the 2500's & 2600's lately. The WC match is usually 10-12 games, and comes down to 1 or 2 wins per player.

Certainly, I still give Carlsen a very slight edge, is his match, but definitely nothing guaranteed.

For example, if he loses the first game or two, then it will be very hard for Carlsen to come back against someone like Caruana, or Aronian to win the match. Also, Carlsen doesn't have an aggressive opening repertoire, and relies too much on grinding out equal endgames.

Maybe I would give Carlsen a 55% chance of winning, but not much more, due to his shaky performance lately.

Nov-17-15  Petrosianic: Definitely nothing is guaranteed.

Aronian outplayed him, but today's loss was due to trying too hard to win.

And yeah, sure. If he lost the first game or two of a championship match (especially two), it would be hard to come back.

Yes, his repertoire is definitely his biggest weakness. It's like having Reshevsky as world champion.

Nov-18-15  EhsanBalani: How much time took Magnus to make the blunder (45.Rg8??)?
Nov-18-15  engineerX: Carlsen will win many games in a row for the rest of this tournament.
Nov-18-15  asiduodiego: <EhsanBalani> He took 40m40s in playing the fatal 45 Rg8??. And for that reason, I think it was an hallucination. Is a typical situation when you feel comfortable, you consider some plans and ideas, without checking if there's a hidden tactical shot there. It's a sad mistake, but it reflects more a lack of clarity of mind in the moment, rather than he's somehow "losing his chess powers" or whatever.
Nov-18-15  Petrosianic: <engineerX: Carlsen will win many games in a row for the rest of this tournament.>

If wanting to win were all it took, he'd be 3-0 now.

Nov-18-15  dumbgai: Carlsen's performance rating so far in this tournament is 2365. Let that sink in for a moment.
Nov-18-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Domdaniel: <dumbgai> Wow. I had a 2300+ performance rating in a tournament once. Can I be world champion now, please?
Nov-18-15  Sokrates: Carlsen seems to have lost his skis and now he's tumbling down the Norwegian mountains while bumping into trees he would easily have avoided a year ago. How could a world champion (with white pieces!) lose to a player 200 rating points below (with all due respect to Pelletier)? Could you imagine Botvinnik, Karpov or Kasparov doing that? He is both shaken and stirred and no Bollinger seems to be at hand for the moment. I wonder what is going on in his mind these times.
Nov-18-15  AzingaBonzer: Pretty sure Kasparov himself had some bad tournaments as well in the past.
Nov-18-15  maelith: <AzingaBonzer: Pretty sure Kasparov himself had some bad tournaments as well in the past.>

But as a word champion, I can't remember Kasparov losing to a 2500 player and blundering like that.

Nov-18-15  latvalatvian: Please note Carlsen is playing at the same level. What's happening is every grandmaster and his dog is studying his games day in day out. What can Carlsen do? He would have to ask himself "How would I go about beating myself?" But if he asks that then it could be detrimental to his psyche. It is safer to be yourself and lose then be three people and win.
Nov-18-15  Est2002: Magnus must be in love. He seems somewhat distracted and his form hasn't been the best this year. He lost to a fellow Norwegian player this year also, that must have been pretty painful for him.
Nov-19-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <Ulhumbrus: How about this explanation : He could have felt sorry for Pelletier following news of the Paris attacks and so played at less than full strength, although not intentionally.>

How about this explanation: <Ulhumbrus> just realised that Paris isn't in Switzerland. Doh!

Nov-19-15  Ulhumbrus: <MissScarlett: <Ulhumbrus: How about this explanation : He could have felt sorry for Pelletier following news of the Paris attacks and so played at less than full strength, although not intentionally.>

How about this explanation: <Ulhumbrus> just realised that Paris isn't in Switzerland. Doh!>

I stand corrected. I have looked it up and Pelletier was a member of the Swiss team, not the French team

Nov-19-15  kamagong24: Pulo y Gata: Maybe Magnus, after breaking some notable positive records, is now eyeing the opposite achievement (if you can call it that), most losses in a year for a reigning champ included. A man for the records.

a trademark crab mentality atittude, always looking to pull people down given the chance... beware!

so a world champ lost, he is human too!

https://youtu.be/-myPE8NGgKw

Nov-19-15  Pinkerton: < kamagong24 > way to stand up for your man Carlsen but you've got to have even just a little bit of sense of humor.
Nov-19-15  Pulo y Gata: Yes, a plateful of humor please! The comment quoted was made tongue-in-cheek in reaction to earlier comments.
Nov-20-15  galdur: I think "pulling people down" is a way too lofty term in this context. It isnĀ“t exactly like Einstein is pulling down Oppenheimer or anything like that. If you get my drift.
Nov-21-15  Luceana: <engineerX: Carlsen will win many games in a row for the rest of this tournament.> How is that prediction working out now?
Nov-21-15  pinoy king: Latvalatvian: latvalatvian: "Please note"... you literally sound like a pathetic Carlsen apologist begging to excuse his failures! Did Carlsen lose in the opening here? Middle game? No he dropped a piece in the endgame. What a silly thing you suggested. Carlsen knows no one is to blame for these losses besides himself, you don't know better.

As a side note, congratulations to strongest Norwegian player Hammer for an excellent performance so far. It looks like he will shatter 2700 this tournament.

Dec-16-15  kengol: This looks like one of those "trying too hard to win" games to me.
Dec-16-15  JoeBerylwood: I think Magnus likes giving his friends a gift from time to time is all.
Jan-19-16  yurikvelo: http://pastebin.com/3mSMnSw1

from +0.51 to -2.33 in 2 moves

Oct-15-23  Messiah: A very interesting cheat by Pelletier!
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC