Caruana will be world champion

@lemondrop said
disappointing
world championships ain't what they used to be
does anyone think that Bobby Fischer would ever offer a draw or accept a draw in a similar situation or for that matter most past champions
just my two cents

I saw Bobby Fischer's ghost headed to London with a crossbow

@lemondrop said
disappointing
world championships ain't what they used to be
does anyone think that Bobby Fischer would ever offer a draw or accept a draw in a similar situation or for that matter most past champions
just my two cents

@marinkatomb said
I really feel it is a very bad sign for Magnus to be doing that. in 2013 he would have NEVER done such a thing! He has always played with the attitude that he is the best player in the World. Offering a draw in that position is sending out a signal that he isn't sure about that any more. There are so many ways he could have played safely, what can white really do? Wait an ...[text shortened]... raw is a good result, SO WHAT! Win the game!! If he loses on wednesday he has only himself to blame.

There is that. But it was a definite strategy, get the draws over with so they can go on to blitz and now Magnus is up 2-0 in that part of the match.

It seems the WC match is going to turn into a blitz match, so they should just go directly to blitz and forget about the long games😉

@BigDoggProblem
On top of that, he resigned one game without even showing up to play in the initial match. The positive, superficial Fischer references people give make me smile a little- Fischer could play hard, but he could also "quit hard".

@sonhouse
I was thinking the same thing as you, but I rationalize that if we had stopped the match after 12 games with a 6-6 tie, the World Champion would have retained his title anyway, without the tiebreak games.

However, if Caruana had won the tiebreaks after 12 Classical games, I would be much more circumspect. Would we really let a World Champion lose his title after being undefeated in 12 Classical games, but only losing some rapid games at the end?

I think the chess world was a little lucky in the philosophical sense.

Some people. Judging Carlsen for playing within the rules. If Caruana had won the Rapid then he is the next great champion. Carlsen does it just like in 2016 and he somehow is not worthy.

@meat-puppet said
Some people. Judging Carlsen for playing within the rules. If Caruana had won the Rapid then he is the next great champion. Carlsen does it just like in 2016 and he somehow is not worthy.

@marinkatomb said
I don't think anyone said he's not worthy, the format of the match awards vicotry on certain conditions, he met those conditions to win, fair enough. I had an issue with him offering a draw in the 12th game simply based on the position. Caruana had very little time and needed to get to the 40 move time control. Carlsen had a no risk position with real chances to put press ...[text shortened]... er. Given how tight the match was, to just give away an advantage like that just seems very strange.

@sonhouse said
Well it's over and done with now, the crying will go on for a while yet then we will get over it. I guess neither one gained even one rating point though.