For those who missed it, after he had played 25. gxh6, he went to the booth and did this:

(Can't find a .gif, but that's literally all he did)

I was leaning towards rooting for Caruana in the upcoming match, but how can you not love Carlsen?

That was pretty exciting

Caruana not claiming the threefold was a nice **** you in the end.

I don’t get it.

I cannot be sure that I am right, but I can tell you how I've interpreted it.

Magnus is a maaaaaaaaaaasssive NBA fan. "Shushing" the crowd, as you know, is a go-to move of many star/superstar/legend caliber players in the NBA, especially when playing in the opponent's arena, and especially when the general public deems that opponent dangerous. In our situation, Magnus = superstar, Fabiano = opponent, St. Lous = Fabiano's home court, and general public has been pretty vocal about Fabiano having good chances in their match. So, when Magnus felt that he showed his class and has a winning position, he went in there to shush the crowd and the general public. That's my interpretation of it, at least.

Except that, you know, the NBA stars shush the crowd AFTER they win or hit a dagger or w/e, not before that... Now it just looks a bit silly and unprofessional, IMO (I absolutely love it, though! more fire to the match!)

It's not specific to the NBA. Football players often do the same after they score a goal in an away game. And Carlsen is (afaik) a West Ham United fan and does follow that sport pretty intensely in general (I remember him watching a Real Madrid game while in a chess.com blitz battle against MVL).

I love it. A little banter can never be a bad thing. And the way he handled it in his post game interview was absolutely fine as well.

I absolutely love the banter aspect of it, for sure.

I meant it does look a bit silly in a way all premature celebrations look silly in sports Like if someone shoots a three and raises his arms to celebrate just to see it rim out, or a cyclist raises his arms to celebrate just to get passed in the last few meters, stuff like that. It's SORT OF what Magnus did!

No risk, no fun.

It looks doubly cool if you actuall DO make [thing you cockily celebrated before actually making it].

Pro tip when solving puzzles that are presented for the casual crowd (like the ones in the breaks of the Saint Louis broadcasts).

lol shushaments

Pretty sure it has something to do with Klay Thompson

Magnus: Klay you need to work on your endgame.
Klay: Magnus you need to shhh Fabiano.

Yep, that's probably what happened.

Wow, great call. Although in Magnus' case it seems a bit more like a case of the Swaggy P than Klay Thompson.

i wish for a magnus appreciation thread. he might be the one true god.

eta- my favorite moment of magnus was in a documentary. might have been '60 Minutes'....carlsen reveals he's able to look at a chess position, and if it's from a game he's seen before (> 10,000) he can recall the game it's from.

They showed me on the board, the engine barometer went crazy, but I still have no clue about why Qe7 was crushing. I've come a long way in the past few years in my chess ability (especially tactically), but I just can't wrap my head around the seven hundred centipawn difference Qe7 makes in that position. I guess the position does look a bit like a tactics puzzle in the sense of "if that rook weren't guarding g7 it's checkmate, so how can I force it away", but can I?

What's the threat?

Of course they said the threat is h2-h4-h5.

But what's the threat?

Link the position?

I mean, he is lost (and he knows it obviously), but thinking for 4+ minutes about how to defend after you have made the sole legal move you have in the position seems to be the most -EV decision by Nakamura here. Move or resign, imo.

EDIT: the second I hit the reply button, he shook hands.

Position before Rd8 is triple zeroes (low depth chess24 engine, mind you. Haven't checked with my own computer yet). Here that same engine gives Qe7 as +7 for white.

I didn't understand either, so I investigated with an engine. The fundamental problem with Rd8 is that it ties the queen down to the defence of the rook. White's basic aim in the position is Rf6, threatening to remove the defender of g7, and if the rook moves elsewhere on the g-file there's Rxh6 and Rh8 mate. Rf6 can be achieved either by supporting it with Qe7 or by playing h4, h5.

If the Black queen isn't tied down then there's Qe6 either challenging the queen on e7 or allowing Qh3 (which will be check as things stand) to pick up the White h-pawn. After Rd8 this is no longer possible, so Qe7 just wins. Black is helpless and most accurate is h4, h5 after whatever he plays but the immediate Rf6 also wins.

I guess I "get it" now, but I'd never even come close to finding it.

Well, Grischuk didn't see it, so its probably difficult.

It is, of course. He was under a minute, though, playing a naturally looking move (developing your unmoved Rook, connecting it to your Queen) on instinct mostly.

"Levon's Rxf7 was one of the most gangster moves I've seen in my life."

- Fabiano Caruana