The third game between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana again ended in a draw hence making mockery of my predictions about the 3rd game being a decisive result! Fabi opened with 1.e4 which was replied by 1...c5 which I had completely dismissed in yesterday's predictions. I had not expected Carlsen to repeat the Siccilian as Caruana would likely have prepared quiet a bit in the Rossolimo or the Sveshnikov Siccilian while one of Carlsen's main strategies in World Championship Matches have been to limit opponent's preparations considerably. Seeing Carlsen repeating the Siccilian reminded me however of his two games v/s Vladimir Kramnik in 2014 and the other one in 2011: Carlsen played the Bogo-Indian following both the games till move 10 with Black finally diverging only on the 11th move. He also managed to score 1.5/2 against one of the best prepared players in the world. This also made me think that there may be a possibility of Carlsen repeating the Sveshnikov Siccilian. Also the Sveshnikov Siccilian was a subject of great study in the Mr.Anand- Gelfand World Chess Championship Match 2012. As far as I know, Mr.Gelfand is also not playing any chess tournament at present which makes me suspect he may be a part of Team Magnus as Mr.Gelfand was loyal with the Sveshnikov and faced the Rossolimo consistently in the 2012 match. Also, Mr. Gelfand plays 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 quiet some times- an opening played by Mr. Gelfand quiet some times. I would not rule out Mr. Gelfand being part of ' Team Carlsen' as Carlsen and him have worked together in the past as well- for EUCC 2015 and have excellent relations.
Carlsen is also not averse to seeking help from more experienced players as he seeked help from Michael Adams for the 2014 World Chess Championship: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/anand-s-seconds-on-the-match-in-sochi
Carlsen has so far made quiet a style statement for this World Chess Championship. Credit: Chess.com
Caruana's approach to the World Chess Championship can be very much inspired by the fact that he is extremely logical and balanced in his views, opinions and choices. This can be seen from his interview on the WCC 2014 between Magnus Carlsen and Mr. Anand: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/caruana-on-carlsen-anand-and-much-more.
I do suspect Mr.Gelfand on being part of 'Team Magnus' this time around. Coming back to the game, the game proceeded with Caruana deviating first with Carlsen coming with the novel 6...Qc7!? Caruana continued to play strong principled chess with which he deviated later. Caruana is known to be a principled player and this put the onus on Carlsen to prove his opening concept. 12..cb4! followed by 13...a5! proved Carlsen was mainly playing to prove equality while it is also quiet probable this was all a part of his preparations. However Carlsen saying he was dissatisfied with his openings may mean Caruana played something not in Carlsen's preparations. Caruana did have his chances( like on Ra5 instead of Bd2 where I think he underestimated .....Raa8!). Pragmatic match strategy usually is a draw with Black followed by pressing with the White pieces which is probably what Carlsen wants to do. I think that this aspect in Carlsen's character of playing in accordance to the demands of the situation is brilliant and something which has helped him get so far.
is something we are often going to see. Carlsen getting a dominant grip over Fabiano's hand is like his fiery 1.e4 meeting Caruana's solid Petroff. Credits: Chess.com
However, like I said earlier about Jan Gustaffson being part of Team Magnus, this is probably not true now: https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1062058200843894786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3Achess24com%7Ctwcon%5Etimelinechrome&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fchess24.com%2Fen%2Fread%2Fnews as noted by Chess historian Tarjei Svensen. Carlsen kept improving his position while Caruana was getting a little jittery. Carlsen got some edge yet he could not make much progress as the game ended in a draw. In the post-game press conference, Caruana admitted that Carlsen could have pressed him a little more while Carlsen said the laconic ' I did not see any much way to make progress'. A lot of people are kind of forgiving the gladiators for not pressing as much towards the end while what many World Championships tell us is that world class players are prone to make mistakes when one least expects it and their mistakes are often a result of sustained pressure. The game was hence drawn.
Caruana has so far impressed in all the three games with tenacious defense and good Black preparation contrary to my prior expectations. Credits: Chess.com
The score is 1.5-1.5 while people are already believing that Carlsen would have a good chance in case of tiebreaks( 4 games of 25+10) before a Blitz Playoff. This however, I find questionable. Caruana defeated Nakamura in St.Louis Rapid and Blitz Showdown once while Nakamura had long been World No.2 in both Blitz and Rapid and is one of the strongest Blitz players in the world. Caruana believes himself to be a quality rapid player and also played exceedingly well in the PRO Chess League 2018 also drawing with Magnus. He also started very well in the St. Louis Rapid And Blitz 2018 starting with 3 wins v/s elite opponents. He also defeated Wesley So in play-offs in Rapid Segment while Wesley So is one of the strong Rapid players in the world. I do believe that Carlsen has a much clearer advantage in Blitz while Rapid is more balanced than most people assume. I think it is definitely going to be a very exciting match!
Thanks!
Carlsen is also not averse to seeking help from more experienced players as he seeked help from Michael Adams for the 2014 World Chess Championship: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/anand-s-seconds-on-the-match-in-sochi
Carlsen has so far made quiet a style statement for this World Chess Championship. Credit: Chess.com
Caruana's approach to the World Chess Championship can be very much inspired by the fact that he is extremely logical and balanced in his views, opinions and choices. This can be seen from his interview on the WCC 2014 between Magnus Carlsen and Mr. Anand: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/caruana-on-carlsen-anand-and-much-more.
I do suspect Mr.Gelfand on being part of 'Team Magnus' this time around. Coming back to the game, the game proceeded with Caruana deviating first with Carlsen coming with the novel 6...Qc7!? Caruana continued to play strong principled chess with which he deviated later. Caruana is known to be a principled player and this put the onus on Carlsen to prove his opening concept. 12..cb4! followed by 13...a5! proved Carlsen was mainly playing to prove equality while it is also quiet probable this was all a part of his preparations. However Carlsen saying he was dissatisfied with his openings may mean Caruana played something not in Carlsen's preparations. Caruana did have his chances( like on Ra5 instead of Bd2 where I think he underestimated .....Raa8!). Pragmatic match strategy usually is a draw with Black followed by pressing with the White pieces which is probably what Carlsen wants to do. I think that this aspect in Carlsen's character of playing in accordance to the demands of the situation is brilliant and something which has helped him get so far.
is something we are often going to see. Carlsen getting a dominant grip over Fabiano's hand is like his fiery 1.e4 meeting Caruana's solid Petroff. Credits: Chess.com
However, like I said earlier about Jan Gustaffson being part of Team Magnus, this is probably not true now: https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1062058200843894786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3Achess24com%7Ctwcon%5Etimelinechrome&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fchess24.com%2Fen%2Fread%2Fnews as noted by Chess historian Tarjei Svensen. Carlsen kept improving his position while Caruana was getting a little jittery. Carlsen got some edge yet he could not make much progress as the game ended in a draw. In the post-game press conference, Caruana admitted that Carlsen could have pressed him a little more while Carlsen said the laconic ' I did not see any much way to make progress'. A lot of people are kind of forgiving the gladiators for not pressing as much towards the end while what many World Championships tell us is that world class players are prone to make mistakes when one least expects it and their mistakes are often a result of sustained pressure. The game was hence drawn.
Caruana has so far impressed in all the three games with tenacious defense and good Black preparation contrary to my prior expectations. Credits: Chess.com
The score is 1.5-1.5 while people are already believing that Carlsen would have a good chance in case of tiebreaks( 4 games of 25+10) before a Blitz Playoff. This however, I find questionable. Caruana defeated Nakamura in St.Louis Rapid and Blitz Showdown once while Nakamura had long been World No.2 in both Blitz and Rapid and is one of the strongest Blitz players in the world. Caruana believes himself to be a quality rapid player and also played exceedingly well in the PRO Chess League 2018 also drawing with Magnus. He also started very well in the St. Louis Rapid And Blitz 2018 starting with 3 wins v/s elite opponents. He also defeated Wesley So in play-offs in Rapid Segment while Wesley So is one of the strong Rapid players in the world. I do believe that Carlsen has a much clearer advantage in Blitz while Rapid is more balanced than most people assume. I think it is definitely going to be a very exciting match!
Thanks!
Comments
Post a Comment