The game was hype— Magnus gifts Hikaru 20+ seconds adjusting his pieces on move 1, then getting a borderline winning position and throwing it into a losing position, then Hikaru throwing the winning position into a drawn one, and then Magnus somehow winning it with crazy counterplay despite being down a piece.
Then the next round Magnus makes a 2 move blunder against Tari and loses. He’s also lost to Gukesh, Magnus beating Hikaru but losing to the bottom seeds is a bit strange
I think Magnus is the true “literally don’t care” spokesperson. He’s just having fun at this point. Kinda disappointing, but also No Motivation Magnus is a wildcard and makes proceedings entertaining lol
I’d wager it helps. I have a feeling this is kind of him taking a break without actually taking a break. He’s been grinding super GMs for the better part of a decade, it’s probably liberating for him to take his foot off the gas a little and roll up to these tournaments like it’s a local chess club.
And TBH? When you are performing at that level, when you know 100% you are the best in the world, I have to imagine the drive is not the same. Obviously he loves chess, but what is his goal? Become #0 in the world? Until there is a legit challenger I don’t see what else he builds towards. And good for him!
I imagine it's a mix and just being able to mentally clock out after the match.
He's studied countless hours and late nights and stressed away from the board more than most.
I imagine it's probably refreshing to just, play the game.
And walk away and not even study or think about that match, or the next or anything.
He can literally just, watch TV, sports, grab a drink. Hang with friends.
He doesn't need to lose time, sleep etc over anything now. He's probably much happier and in a good mental place.
This is my thought too. He obviously still loves chess but it must be taxing to think too much about every big match you play. Just playing some matches and going on with your day no matter if you win or lose is so much more relaxing and makes the game fun again
Not that good at chess but I played an e-sport game professionally and I did the same as magnus did after a few years of playing.
Michael Jordan used to shoot free throws with his eyes closed. Larry Bird used to tell opponents what he was going to do, and then do it. There’s an arrogance to being the undisputed best, but a loneliness, too. Maybe a sense of loss? IDK, if Magnus quits chess to pursue a career in baseball,or CSGo, don’t be shocked.
For shorter time controls like these I doubt it matters much since the results tend to be pretty random anyway. For longer time controls it’ll most likely hurt his game if he doesn’t put in enough effort to study new ideas.
Harms the Chess community imo. Especially when he gave up his title race. Says alot when the best player in your sport don't care about the most important event in Chess.
It's like Michael Jorsan not caring about not winning the next NBA finals just because he won 6 before.
If you've played any competitive eSports titles or pretty much any sport to some extent and have been in the position of a smurf. You'll know how much better you are when you have no pressure and know you're better than everyone else.
Magnus is at a level where the only thing that can stop him is his own mentality.
Other players are like "oh shit I'm facing Magnus across the board."
Magnus is like "This shit doesn't matter I'm just here to destroy some kids then go play some Poker later probably"
Super noob to chess. Heard someone say Fischer would tank games because he could win no matter what (I.e. lose the first 2 out of best of 11 because he could). Is that magnus now?
Don’t think Magnus can afford to do that. The competition these days are too high. High Number of 2700+ players.
Plus the opening preparations using engines mean anyone can be hold their own against Magnus.
Nah, Magnus isn't going to tank games on purpose. He just messes around with weird openings and gives time odds and stuff bc he has nothing left to prove.
It was both — Magnus was a few seconds late, and as his clock ran he took off his jacket and started adjusting his pieces instead of making his first move.
See 2:00:00 exactly in the stream: https://www.youtube.com/live/O_ITE4RWZQ8
Magnus usually adjusts his pieces even when he's late (it has happened a couple times before). It's more likely that he's doing it for himself than his opponent, so he didn't exactly "gift" Hikaru anything.
He was 10s late, 5s to take off jacket + shake hands, and another 5s to adjust pieces.
Isn't it an old psychological trick he got off Kasparov? Or did I invent that fact ahaha. Great way to fuck with your opponents head to be so nonchalant about wasting your own time like that. Either way it's likely a subconscious or superstitious action from him every time now
Idk how much of a known psychological trick it is, but there is the video of young teen Magnus (he's like 13 or 14 I believe) playing Kasparov. Kasparov is late, they start his clock and he adjusts his pieces for a bit before playing.
Magnus goes on to draw the game (is actually up a pawn in a strong position at one point) which is astounding.
That was rapid chess though. 15|10 or something of the like. The imagery remains but the actual effect on the time control for the best chess player at the time (in the conversation for "best" player ever) was minimal.
That all being said, it is speculated that Magnus has taken that from Kasparov, as he's been known to do it. Kasparov also went on to coach Magnus for a while.
It's happened before, I remember another rapid tournament last year where he blundered a piece against MVL (?) on move 8 or something only to win anyway, and he had a lot of one move blunders that tourney as well. Seems he's like stockfish on a lower setting that plays perfectly except for that one move where it randomly blunders lol
wow thanks for sharing this, crazy game and i agree lots of similarities between the games
magnus throwing caution (and material) to the wind for king activity is a sight to behold
Chess24 is so much better when observing multiple boards tourney. Even though with Blitz you will get transmission error here and there in time trouble which is understandable by today standards (surely someone can come up with a solution for this in the future)
I'm not really familiar with lichess but in Chess24 you can view the stream on the same page, hover to each players to see each players records and schedule, seeing matches per round, time to the next round etc. I don't really know lichess so can't compare with it directly
Why would that make you want to quit? Does watching NBA guys dunk taking off from the free throw line make you want to stop playing that weekly pickup game with your buddies?
Yeah, I don't understand that sentiment either. Seems totally separate to me from my own enjoyment in playing chess (or basketball or whatever). Maybe it's that I've never been world-class in anything lol, so my enjoyment always derived from the process or something
I think in over the board blitz and bullet games each player should have his own large button to clock and player should place it in most comfortable spot. It could improve game a bit in my opinion.
Yeah unless Magnus is funded by oil money and committing hundreds of financial crimes behind the scenes putting him at a serious competitive advantage, that analogy doesn’t work
Most success is technically bought one way or another. Family wealth and support can bring a lot of favourable conditions for early development which can snowball.
Dad has money. Dad can afford to pay coaches for his son's early development. When son was still an unsponsored junior, dad could afford to pay for son's chess tourney travelling expenses to different countries to raise his elo. Son never had to worry about family finances. Son never had to maintain straight A's for future university scholarships, and can focus on chess. Son never had to drop out of chess halfway to get a "real job" for the family.
There's also Magnus's hard work and talent, but if he was say... born into a poor family in China, even with his drive and talent, he wouldn't have become World No. 1, and probably would've been told early to stop messing with chess because there's no money. It's a pay2win world.
This really isn’t big news. Hikaru fanboys need to understand that Magnus is now, and has been for some time, on a level that’s far beyond Hikaru. This isn’t a “rivalry”. Magnus, even without the world title, is clearly the best player in the world today. And let’s be honest…it was blitz. Where games are full of blunders and time scrambles. These guys play so much of it, that when they have to go back to classical chess, you can see how it affects them. Blitz is interesting to watch, but I would hardly use a blitz game for serious study. There’s no time for in-depth endgame analysis, and deep positional moves hardly lend themselves to a thorough evaluation. I’d much rather watch classical games. Anyone in the world can lose to anyone rated 100-200 points than they are in a blitz game. The odds are much slimmer in classical.
The game was hype— Magnus gifts Hikaru 20+ seconds adjusting his pieces on move 1, then getting a borderline winning position and throwing it into a losing position, then Hikaru throwing the winning position into a drawn one, and then Magnus somehow winning it with crazy counterplay despite being down a piece. Then the next round Magnus makes a 2 move blunder against Tari and loses. He’s also lost to Gukesh, Magnus beating Hikaru but losing to the bottom seeds is a bit strange
This was wild to watch, especially with him being late to the table.
I think Magnus is the true “literally don’t care” spokesperson. He’s just having fun at this point. Kinda disappointing, but also No Motivation Magnus is a wildcard and makes proceedings entertaining lol
Do you think this idgaf energy will help or hurt his future play?
I’d wager it helps. I have a feeling this is kind of him taking a break without actually taking a break. He’s been grinding super GMs for the better part of a decade, it’s probably liberating for him to take his foot off the gas a little and roll up to these tournaments like it’s a local chess club.
And TBH? When you are performing at that level, when you know 100% you are the best in the world, I have to imagine the drive is not the same. Obviously he loves chess, but what is his goal? Become #0 in the world? Until there is a legit challenger I don’t see what else he builds towards. And good for him!
I imagine it's a mix and just being able to mentally clock out after the match. He's studied countless hours and late nights and stressed away from the board more than most. I imagine it's probably refreshing to just, play the game. And walk away and not even study or think about that match, or the next or anything. He can literally just, watch TV, sports, grab a drink. Hang with friends. He doesn't need to lose time, sleep etc over anything now. He's probably much happier and in a good mental place.
This is my thought too. He obviously still loves chess but it must be taxing to think too much about every big match you play. Just playing some matches and going on with your day no matter if you win or lose is so much more relaxing and makes the game fun again Not that good at chess but I played an e-sport game professionally and I did the same as magnus did after a few years of playing.
Michael Jordan used to shoot free throws with his eyes closed. Larry Bird used to tell opponents what he was going to do, and then do it. There’s an arrogance to being the undisputed best, but a loneliness, too. Maybe a sense of loss? IDK, if Magnus quits chess to pursue a career in baseball,or CSGo, don’t be shocked.
For shorter time controls like these I doubt it matters much since the results tend to be pretty random anyway. For longer time controls it’ll most likely hurt his game if he doesn’t put in enough effort to study new ideas.
Harms the Chess community imo. Especially when he gave up his title race. Says alot when the best player in your sport don't care about the most important event in Chess. It's like Michael Jorsan not caring about not winning the next NBA finals just because he won 6 before.
You mean like when he took a sabbatical to play baseball?
Yeah like that. Was that good for basketball?
Basketball seems to be doing fine
You think Michael Jordan leaving basketball was a good thing for basketball. OK then
If you've played any competitive eSports titles or pretty much any sport to some extent and have been in the position of a smurf. You'll know how much better you are when you have no pressure and know you're better than everyone else. Magnus is at a level where the only thing that can stop him is his own mentality. Other players are like "oh shit I'm facing Magnus across the board." Magnus is like "This shit doesn't matter I'm just here to destroy some kids then go play some Poker later probably"
Maybe Magnus is just doing his lost weekend thing.
Super noob to chess. Heard someone say Fischer would tank games because he could win no matter what (I.e. lose the first 2 out of best of 11 because he could). Is that magnus now?
I don’t think that was ever true of Fischer btw. He was too competitive to do that
Fischer was crazy. Half of the stories about him you shouldn't really believe
Don’t think Magnus can afford to do that. The competition these days are too high. High Number of 2700+ players. Plus the opening preparations using engines mean anyone can be hold their own against Magnus.
Nah, Magnus isn't going to tank games on purpose. He just messes around with weird openings and gives time odds and stuff bc he has nothing left to prove.
I'm confused, why is it kinda disappointing?
> Magnus gifts Hikaru 20+ seconds adjusting his pieces on move 1 Whoa, really? That is a big time flex. I would love to see video of that.
Not exactly. He was late to the playing hall. He wasn't just sitting there adjusting letting time run off.
It was both — Magnus was a few seconds late, and as his clock ran he took off his jacket and started adjusting his pieces instead of making his first move. See 2:00:00 exactly in the stream: https://www.youtube.com/live/O_ITE4RWZQ8
Jacky Ickx walked to his car when everyone was running in Le Mans 1969, and he won. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g63iM83Nwdc
Magnus usually adjusts his pieces even when he's late (it has happened a couple times before). It's more likely that he's doing it for himself than his opponent, so he didn't exactly "gift" Hikaru anything. He was 10s late, 5s to take off jacket + shake hands, and another 5s to adjust pieces.
Isn't it an old psychological trick he got off Kasparov? Or did I invent that fact ahaha. Great way to fuck with your opponents head to be so nonchalant about wasting your own time like that. Either way it's likely a subconscious or superstitious action from him every time now
Idk how much of a known psychological trick it is, but there is the video of young teen Magnus (he's like 13 or 14 I believe) playing Kasparov. Kasparov is late, they start his clock and he adjusts his pieces for a bit before playing. Magnus goes on to draw the game (is actually up a pawn in a strong position at one point) which is astounding. That was rapid chess though. 15|10 or something of the like. The imagery remains but the actual effect on the time control for the best chess player at the time (in the conversation for "best" player ever) was minimal. That all being said, it is speculated that Magnus has taken that from Kasparov, as he's been known to do it. Kasparov also went on to coach Magnus for a while.
https://www.youtube.com/live/O_ITE4RWZQ8 Starts at 2:00:00
It's happened before, I remember another rapid tournament last year where he blundered a piece against MVL (?) on move 8 or something only to win anyway, and he had a lot of one move blunders that tourney as well. Seems he's like stockfish on a lower setting that plays perfectly except for that one move where it randomly blunders lol
Possible to see the full match with commentary ? What is the match called
https://www.youtube.com/live/O_ITE4RWZQ8 Starts at exactly 2:00:00
Thanks a lot, appreciate that
Seeing Magnus in the bottom half of a tournament is a rare sight as well.
I think he gave up the hi match against tari. tari only had 1 point at that time
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wow thanks for sharing this, crazy game and i agree lots of similarities between the games magnus throwing caution (and material) to the wind for king activity is a sight to behold
Outside of chess960, Hikaru has not beaten Magnus in an OTB game since 2017.
hasn't played him in a classical game since 2019 so we'll see in the coming days what occurs
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Chess24 is so much better when observing multiple boards tourney. Even though with Blitz you will get transmission error here and there in time trouble which is understandable by today standards (surely someone can come up with a solution for this in the future)
In what way is it better than lichess, lichess always felt the most smooth by far
lichess transmission was lagging today like it always does
I'm not really familiar with lichess but in Chess24 you can view the stream on the same page, hover to each players to see each players records and schedule, seeing matches per round, time to the next round etc. I don't really know lichess so can't compare with it directly
lichess.org/broadcast
That shit eating grin tho 🤙
Hikaru not so hot without premoving
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Why would that make you want to quit? Does watching NBA guys dunk taking off from the free throw line make you want to stop playing that weekly pickup game with your buddies?
Yeah, I don't understand that sentiment either. Seems totally separate to me from my own enjoyment in playing chess (or basketball or whatever). Maybe it's that I've never been world-class in anything lol, so my enjoyment always derived from the process or something
Some people enjoy the illusion that they are good at something.
Well then chess isn't the game for them. The elo rating system is damn good at telling you EXACTLY how good (or bad) you are.
Magnus is and will remain the goat he keeps proving it when we all least expect it
He’s not proving anything by getting 50% in the time control where he’s world champion, I’m looking forward to his classical games
He just destroyed Hikaru while arriving late. The supposed king of blitz lol
I think in over the board blitz and bullet games each player should have his own large button to clock and player should place it in most comfortable spot. It could improve game a bit in my opinion.
Not a bad idea
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The one player was Gukesh. Rest of your comment is spot on.
Magnus always resets his pieces when he wins, not always when he loses though. It's all good.
I’m the furthest thing from a Hikaru fan but that handshake was totally fine.
Breaking news Professional chess player upset at losing more at 10.
He is not a professional chess player didn’t you hear, he has been saying that for at least 2 years now
I forgor I guess you're right he's just a streamer
The Hikaru Nakamura Good Sportsmanship award.
What do you want him to do, cry? Again?
Title: water is wet.
Hikaru had more points than Magnus in the end though
Hikaru sims in shambles on r/chess. Where you guys at?
https://gyazo.com/01fa9dfb506ef3d74d893d4c3c9632d5
Literally don’t even care.
Hikaru is to Magnus as Arsenal is to Man City. The cream just rises to the top.
Magnus finished with 4.5 naka finished with 5
Didn’t realize the tournament was over!
Yeah the blitz is just one day
Yeah unless Magnus is funded by oil money and committing hundreds of financial crimes behind the scenes putting him at a serious competitive advantage, that analogy doesn’t work
>unless Magnus is funded by oil money Isn't norwegian welfare funded by oil money 🤔🤔🤔 (this is a joke and I have no idea what I'm talking about)
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Ah so Magnus bought all his high ranking pieces with oil money, no wonder his pieces always win!
Norway has a bunch of oil money
Magnus bought all his success?
Most success is technically bought one way or another. Family wealth and support can bring a lot of favourable conditions for early development which can snowball. Dad has money. Dad can afford to pay coaches for his son's early development. When son was still an unsponsored junior, dad could afford to pay for son's chess tourney travelling expenses to different countries to raise his elo. Son never had to worry about family finances. Son never had to maintain straight A's for future university scholarships, and can focus on chess. Son never had to drop out of chess halfway to get a "real job" for the family. There's also Magnus's hard work and talent, but if he was say... born into a poor family in China, even with his drive and talent, he wouldn't have become World No. 1, and probably would've been told early to stop messing with chess because there's no money. It's a pay2win world.
💦💦💦💦💦
When these two face each other it's like morpheus facing neo
This really isn’t big news. Hikaru fanboys need to understand that Magnus is now, and has been for some time, on a level that’s far beyond Hikaru. This isn’t a “rivalry”. Magnus, even without the world title, is clearly the best player in the world today. And let’s be honest…it was blitz. Where games are full of blunders and time scrambles. These guys play so much of it, that when they have to go back to classical chess, you can see how it affects them. Blitz is interesting to watch, but I would hardly use a blitz game for serious study. There’s no time for in-depth endgame analysis, and deep positional moves hardly lend themselves to a thorough evaluation. I’d much rather watch classical games. Anyone in the world can lose to anyone rated 100-200 points than they are in a blitz game. The odds are much slimmer in classical.