Paul the Human

Good evening to all readers! The 12th game also ended in a draw and the Classical section of the match ended with all draws! This was the first time in the history of chess that such a thing came to happen. The Classical games are behind us. The Games will be played tomorrow ie. 28 November 2018 from 8:30 PM IST onwards. Here is the schedule of the games: 1.) 4 Rapid Games of 25 minutes +10 seconds increment 2.)2 games of 5 minutes+ 3 seconds increment 3.) 2 games of 5 minutes+ 3 seconds increment(again!) 4.) 2 games of 5 minutes+3 seconds increment(again!) 5.) Armageddon game where White has 5 minutes to Black's 4 and Black will become champion if the game ends in a draw. Tomorrow is the last day of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2018 which will decide the winner. Magnus Carslen is known for his excellence in faster time controls and has a good record v/s Fabiano Caruana in Blitz. Credits: Niki Riga Carlsen has won many playoffs in his career which and has a playof...

Good evening to all the readers! The 12th game of the World Chess Championship 2018 is going to begin in around 30 minutes. I here make my predictions for the openings of the Round 12 Games. I will update the Game 11 Report( which again ended in a draw!) after this game.   I have a strong premonition that the match is going to end today with a decisive result. I think that Caruana is today going to be the 17th World Chess Champion with a very strong game and hence also take over the World Number 1 spot that Carlsen has been holding for about 7 years now.  Here is how I think the opening battle is going to shape up: 1.) Caruana would like to go for some pressure with the White pieces having the momentum( because he drew rather effortlessly yesterday with the Black pieces in a Petroff Defense) and Carlsen's preparations for the World Championship have been severely put into question. I think Caruana is going to continue with 1. e4 for today's game. Playing 1. d4 is possible, ...

Good evening to all readers! We would be viewing the game 10 of the World Chess Championship 2018 being held at The College, London. Fabiano Caruana was playing White with Carlsen again retorting to the Sveshnikov Siccilian which he played in Round 8( although getting into trouble). I had predicted for Caruana to go for the Open Siccilian yet believed that Carlsen would deviate and not play the Sveshnikov Siccilian as Caruana would have something in mind there. All of this happened with Caruana getting a slight edge in the ensuing positions. My prediction score hence: 7/10! He repeated the lines though having found improvements over 12. Bd2 that had been played in Game 8. This time Caruana came up with a new idea: This is a theoritical novelty(played first time in a tournament game) according to the database! Pretty surprising for one to play a novelty at the World Chess Championships! Caruana tried to sharpen up the play and got another of his ideas into the game when it seems to ...

Good evening to all! Wish that all of you are having a good day!The heading pretty much sums up how the 9th round of the Championships went! Now let us look at the Round! Round 9: Carlsen v/s Caruana 1/2-1/2 Carlsen began with the English Four Knights Opening( as I had predicted) yet continued with 4. g3 instead of 4. e3 when I had suggested that any of these options can be good- based on where Carlsen has better preparations.  Carlsen showed a relatively new idea which however, Caruana had analysed in the comforts of his home: Carlsen played this relatively rare idea which quiet probably is not a part of  GM Avrukh's repertoire book mentioned in the Game 9 Predictions. This was done to get Caruana out of book( which did not manage to be the case) and to get a fresh position over the board and let the surprise factor guide him through for the rest of the game. Credits: Sagar Shah This is a rather typical move in the Siccilian Dragon with the Black pieces and hence Car...

Good evening all! The World Chess Championship 2018 is definitely heating up. There have thus far been 10 draws with two classical games still left to play. White has come out on top in the last three games in the opening tussle( controversial to say in the 10th game however, although White did have the Initiative at first). Carlsen according to me has the Initiative going into these last two games due to the following reasons: 1.) For the major part of the last two rounds, Carlsen has been the one pressing- whether it be round 9 or Round 10( with the Black pieces!). He does seem to have got the Initiative in both these games yet Caruana's tenacious defense helped him to remain solid. A report of Rounds 8 and Round 9 would be published very soon. 2.) Caruana did not get much with the White pieces in Round 10 while Carlsen repeated the Sveshnikov Sicillian. This initially looks a bit surprising considering that Caruana has won many of the opening battles in this year's Worl...

Good evening readers! The 10th round of the World Chess Championship 2018 being held in The College, London is heating up with all of the 9 games of the Championship thus far having been drawn! I was extremely happy to see Carlsen repeating the line I had predicted( The English Four Knights). He played 4. g3 although I expected 4. e3 if he had some more improvements there. As it transpired, Caruana had already seen this possibility back home yet could not remember the intricate details during the game although the position was equal. The key moments of the game and the Round 9 Report would be published yet here are the predictions:   Carlsen was happy with his position out of the opening but quiet unhappy with the fact that he could not make most of the opportunities he got. However, he seemed pretty displeased and unhappy in the press conference due to the missed chances yet for the first time, he got something tangible with White. Credits: Nikolai Dunaevsky 1.) Carlsen won...

Good afternoon to all! Wish that you all are having a very good day! The World Chess Championship Match 2018 is nearing it's completion with both players tied at 4-4 games a piece with 4 rounds still left. Today is Game 9 which will begin at 8:30 PM IST. Carlsen is White and here is why I think he has an advantage in the upcoming battles: 1.) Carlsen has a very good Tiebreaker score. This for me indicates that Carlsen choses his openings very accurately in accordance to his opponent which poses more practical problems to them and Carlsen puts consistent pressure hence getting the most of the situation. Carlsen has an enviable record having won Tiebreakers against : (Maxime Vachier Lagrave twice won 1.5-0.5; once last year and once in late 2015, won against Anish Giri earlier this year 1.5-0.5, one World Championship 2016 on Tiebreakers 3-1, won against Karjakin, once won against Caruana in 2012 2-0, won against Yu Yangyi 2-0 in Qatar Masters 2015, won against Naiditsch in Grenke...

Good afternoon to all readers! The eighth game of the World Chess Championship 2018 being held in The College, London again ended in a draw as Carlsen admitted ' he felt he got away with murder.' Hikaru Nakamura, one of the top players commented during the game that Caruana should go on to win as he is very good in positions wherein there is only calculation wherein also conceded that Caruana would reproach this game particularly if he does not go on to win the World Championship. He also predicted that Carlsen would win the World Championship if he gets away(draws) this game. We would have to see if his prophecy turns out to be true, yet one must admit Nakamura for his straightforward honesty at all times.   You can have a look at the post-game press conference here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z0eMoMDT94&t=507s . You can follow the live games of the World Championship here: https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2018-wcc Caruana again opened with 1. e4 with Carl...

Good evening all! Today is Game 8 of the World Championship with the scores being tied 3.5-3.5. In the 2016 World Chess Championship Match, Sergey Karjakin won Game 8 (with the Black pieces!) and gained the lead. He almost dethroned Carlsen as the World Chess Champion. Caruana now has White and this game will be a testament of the trajectory of this Championship. Here are the reasons for this: 1.) Caruana is White with this being the second consecutive day when the players are playing. Carlsen has already been looking a bit weary after 4 hours of play and this gives even more reason for Caruana to press for more. 2.) Carlsen admitted in the Press Conference after Game 7 for him not being happy about the turn of events yet it not being a big burden on him as Black thus far has held quiet well with the Black pieces. His psychological framework however would considerably be distraught due to not being able to make much of his two White's. 3.) Caruana has already put Carlsen...

Good evening to all readers! The seventh round of the World Chess Championship 2018 being held at The College, London again ended in a draw. Carlsen could hence not make appropriate use of his 'two Whites' with both of them ending in a draw with Carlsen having to suffer quiet a bit in his first White game in Game 6. Carlsen started with 1. d4, similiar to game 1. I had predicted that Carlsen should ideally go for the 2.c4 e6 3. Nc3 move order if he wants to play 1. d4 as Caruana has prepared the Queen's Gambit Declined extensively for the Match, as can be seen from the 'Videogate incident' detailed in the Round 4 report. Carlsen followed Game 2 however{wherein he had also played 1. d4 and diverged only on the 10th move playing 10. Nd2 instead of 10. Rd1 ( as appeared in that game).}  Caruana was however, well prepared and retreated his Queen back to d8 with 10... Qd8!?in order to avoid uncomfortable positions with Nb3 next move. This is a relatively new idea playe...

Good afternoon to all the readers! Today is the 7th round of the World Chess Championship 2018 with Carlsen having the second straight White game. As was noted in my Round 5 Report, Carlsen would try to make use of his second White game as this time he would have to play with the Black pieces in the reverse game. This looks difficult for Carlsen because he has appeared to be a little exhausted in the Press Conferences thus far and mistakes are creeping up in his games especially after the 4th hour of play. A rest day yesterday would mean a revitalised Carlsen and this makes it difficult for him being tired. However, there is little doubt he would try to get the maximum of his second White game in a row. I see Carlsen playing 1. Nf3 today( Curiously again going for a different first move). The point mainly would be to lead to 1... d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. 0-0 0-0 6. c4 dc4 7. Na3 c5 8. Nc4 cd4 9. Nd4 which quiet possibly is part of Caruana's preparations for the mat...

Good afternoon to all! Wish that you are all having a good day! The sixth game of the 12-game World Chess Championship Match between Carlsen and Caruana again ended in a draw with Caruana pushing with the Black pieces. The Champion was on the verge of capitulation but was saved by a study-like fortress. The game again ended in a draw. My prediction for the game again ended up being correct!😃 I predicted Carlsen to play 1. e4 only if he had an 'opening bomb' which could not easily be exploded by Team Caruana. I had already told earlier about Carlsen being extremely street-smart and his opening choices being a result of a thorough examination of the opponent's ideas. Carlsen allowed the Petroff and played a variation which was not given in the 'Caruana files' in the now infamous 'Videogate incident' . My guess is that Carlsen wanted to play 1. Nf3 in Game 6 converting to the Fianchetto Grunfeld as discussed in the game 4 report yet was not convinced of the p...