23. Rxf2 then Qxf2+ (the Queen is backed up by the Rf8)

23. Qxf2 is not a legal move.

MAGNUS

I see, I was actually one move off (still had the white Q at e2) because I kept reading that the draw was forceable one move earlier. And it turns out that it is on move 20. Explanation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YHlLyiU8ps&t=234

Karjakin seems like a great guy - I'm Norwegian and obv a huge Magnus-fan, but Karjakin and his manager are just about the coolest people in chess atm based on what I've seen of them in this match.

I mean - Magnus is awesome. His tantrums when losing and his facial expressions and attitude is perfect for the #1 and GOAT. But Karjakin seems like a really great guy and he's been pretty impressively cool and collected throughout this match also.

Almost hoping Karjakin wins this one, obv setting up for an epic Magnus-revenge in 2 years.

Minusev, how do you feel about Putin? That's the main train to dislike sergey. The other Russian players seem alot cooler to me. Grischuk, Svidler. Nepomniatchi, kramnik.

Putin is the kind of leader Russia should've permanently grown out of after the Gorbachev-area, but unfortunately didn't. Before Trump won the election, he was top of my list of world-leaders-we'd-be-much-better-off-without.

I have no other reference for Karjakin than what I've seen of him during this match though and he just seems like such a humble and nice person.

His stuttering and yet constant attempts to answer every question asked of him with no apparent ego makes him seem really likable.

While I don't mind how Magnus acted after he loss with his '**** you all'-attitude and think it suits him well, it is a huge contrast to how Karjakin handled his loss, which must've been even tougher for him than what Magnus' loss was for Magnus.

Also - his manager gets a lot of time during the Norwegian tv-broadcasts and he's just brilliant too. He's basically a cult-hero in Norway these days.

It's hard for me to root for karjakin because he's Putin's man. I agree with everything you've said though. He is a seemingly lovable nerd who just wants to chess and do his best. He very humble and modest but I also think he's very uninteresting otherwise. But he's likely only in this position because of Putin's direct and indirect support.

Id like him much better as a top twenty player with no real champion chance. Which it seems is what he is. Except he has a super human mental resolve and along with likely extraordinary preparation, has been very impressive.

Obviously I don't care for Putin - it's just that Karjakin seems like such a sweet guy that I can't help but root for him.

I have chess heros like Nimzowitch, Kasparov and Magnus who are pretty much the exact opposite of Karjakin.

My favourite chess-story is Nimzo getting up on the table and shouting "Gegen diesen Idioten muss Ich verlieren!" when losing to Sämisch, and I love Kasparovs huge ego and Carlsens arrogance, because they so they back up their arrogance with skill and superiority.

So chess-wise, Karjakin is very unlike all the other chess-idols I have. It's just that he's such a sweet, lovable underdog of chess.

If you want humble then root for Wesley So then. That's what I do.

What an exciting conclusion.

Both players happy with a draw there. The chess equivalent of an intentional walk. Magnus must like his chances in rapid/blitz.

Live Ratings: Top Ten Rapid
1 Carlsen 2894.0
2 Nakamura 2839.0
3 Karjakin 2818 i
4 Nepomniachtchi 2812.0
5 Mamedyarov 2805.0
6 Dominguez Perez 2803.0
7 Anand 2802.0
8 Vachier-Lagrave 2795.0
9 Radjabov 2788 i
10 Kramnik 2778.0


Live Ratings: Top Ten Blitz
1 Ding Liren 2875.0
2 Carlsen 2873.0
3 Nakamura 2842.0
4 Nepomniachtchi 2830.0
5 Aronian 2830.0
6 Vachier-Lagrave 2823.0
7 Mamedyarov 2813.0
8 Radjabov 2800 i
9 Karjakin 2800.0
10 Caruana 2800.0



https://en.chessbase.com/post/newsbl...-2016-11-28-en

so if the 4-game rapid ends in a tie, the blitz portion is also on Wednesday?

^ Yes, in my understanding.

^^ K=20 in the rapid and blitz rating systems, and the sample sizes are smaller than in the classical time control. So the real skill differences might be significantly less (or more) than the 76/73-point handicap suggests.

Ultimately, this world championship has been better than the last couple. A lot more dramatic, but I didn't want it to go to a tie break.

My prediction for the tiebreaks:

Karjakin gets to the armageddon game, plays Black with 4 mins, and holds the draw to become the new world champ.

Here's the tiebreaks system if you don't know:

4 games at 25 minutes and 10 second inc
If 2nd tiebreak needed: match of 2 games at 5/3 (Max of 10 games)
If 3rd tiebreak needed: one game at 5 mins(w) and 4 mins (b) draw-odds

I'm predicting Magnus will win in rapid 2.5-1.5.

Armageddon games would be so much fairer if the players had to bid for the right to play black. Whites time is fixed and whoever is willing to play with less time for black, gets to play black

^agree.

The blitz-armageddon (5-4 mins) has the potential to become a very very messy time scramble. There was a tournament some time ago that, if I'm not mistaken, Karjakin won against Grischuk in an armageddon, and by the end players were moving pieces with one hand and hitting the clock with the other, pieces falling over, etc.

It's an interesting format, but definitely should not be used in a World Championship, ever. If needed I think they should go for 3+2 mini-matches until someone wins.

Rapid shouldn't be held in a WC ever, let alone blitz or armageddon, champ should retain if level. Then again if it wasn't such a ridiculously short match then maybe we wouldn't get this far

18-24 game match with champion retaining (a la combat sports) seems good.

Yeah, I'm usually in the polar opposite camp of whatever it is curtains (G. Shahade) proposes, but this time he's spot on.

On Chess24's stream Svidler just proposed playing tie-breaks before the classical match. Also viable, imo. Definitely better than the current system.

I'm going to throw a fit if Karjakin should succeed the likes of Alekhine, Tal, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov...

Svidler for FIDE president

Karjakin is using Grischuk's time management strategy in the first rapid game

Am I an idiot if I can't figure out on my own, what might be the reason/idea behind those incremental minutes and the standard as well as the faster games right now aren't just played with a fixed time frame just tickling down? Please keep in mind I am not an chess expert ...