Magnus Carlsen back in the World Championship cycle

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7602

Is Carlsen back or is he not back? Someone asked where I was when they were discussing "Kings and Pawns". Ha! Ha! Ha! I don't need to voice my opinion of the "Kings and Pawns" and "skeeters" of the online chess world.

Back to the subject of real chess talent and not online chess clowns, Carlsen favors tournaments and has indicated he might be back.

Originally posted by kopatov
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7602

Is Carlsen back or is he not back? Someone asked where I was when they were discussing "Kings and Pawns". Ha! Ha! Ha! I don't need to voice my opinion of the "Kings and Pawns" and "skeeters" of the online chess world.

Back to the subject of real chess talent and not online chess clowns, Carlsen favors tournaments and has indicated he might be back.

I actually agree with his decision. The candidates short match knock out system just encourages cagey chess. Too many of the pairings were decided on blitz which is just ridiculous. Carlsen has proven he is clearly the strongest player repeatedly over the last two years (Nanjing 2009!) Not having him in the competition makes the whole thing ridiculous. With all respect to Gelfand, he's not the true candidate for WC and everyone knows it.

Hey,

probably a stupid question, but how does a WC cycle work?

I also would like to know about the way, a world champion is decided upon. Is the next match scheduled already?

Originally posted by tharkesh
I also would like to know about the way, a world champion is decided upon. Is the next match scheduled already?

Anand is scheduled to defend his title against Boris Gelfand in 2012. Not sure on the date but chessbase.com will have details somewhere.

The challenger has traditionally been choosen by having a candidates tournament. Some of the players are selected by rating, the rest have to qualify by winning specific tournaments (3 players qualified for the next cycle by placing 1-3 in the recent World cup knock out). Every World championship cycle seems to have a different selection process. All through the 90's the title was in turmoil, the various regulations are always contested every World championship cycle, most recently by Magnus Carlsen who pulled out completely.

There is a very detailed wiki you might find interesting here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_world_championship

Alternatively there is another detailed history of the title to be found here (you can also play through every official game as well, from every contest since it's inception, highly recommended!)

http://www.chessgames.com/wcc.html

It would be good for chess if he came back.
The publicity would not do the game any harm at all.

Just a very small question about what he would be like in match play.
He lost his only candidate match to date a few years back in a blitz tie break
with Aronian. He will have learned from that.

I'd say his talent should see him though but match play is different
from tournament chess.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
It would be good for chess if he came back.
The publicity would not do the game any harm at all.

Just a very small question about what he would be like in match play.
He lost his only candidate match to date a few years back in a blitz tie break
with Aronian. He will have learned from that.

I'd say his talent should see him though but match play is different
from tournament chess.

I actually played through all the games from that match just the other day. Magnus was only 15 when he played Aronian but he performed brilliantly! His score was W2-L2-D2 in the classical, D2 in rapid only losing two in blitz.

Here is a list of all his games from the 2005-2007 World championship cycle.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1011749

I recommend them as a very entertaining way to spend an evening!

I think Carlsen has been using a very solid strategy against the top 3 (Aronian, Anand, Kramnik) in major tournaments over the last couple of years. He doesn't take any questionable risks with these guys at all. He does take risks against lower rated players though. Most of his tournament wins come from beating up the little guys. A round robin tournament suits him right down to the ground! No one else is better suited to win such an event, Carlsens record speaks for itself. Whether he can take Anand in a match? Anand is already past his best, how will he look in 3 or 4 years? He only narrowly avoided last place in Bilbao...Carlsen is still yet to peak i feel.

Originally posted by Marinkatomb

Alternatively there is another detailed history of the title to be found here (you can also play through every official game as well, from every contest since it's inception, highly recommended!)

http://www.chessgames.com/wcc.html

thanks for that! will find a tea, coffee or wine to go with it, once in a while...

Originally posted by tharkesh
thanks for that! will find a tea, coffee or wine to go with it, once in a while...

Not a problem. I've made something of a pact with myself to go through each World championship over the next few months. Lot's of very interesting games and the history of the sport is quite fascinating once you get into it. If you are unfamiliar with past champions, might i recommend ...

Fischer v Spasky match (Probably the most famous match in chess history)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54397

Tal v Botvinnik (Tal is arguably the most exciting player of all time, Botvinnik one of the greatest champions)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54299

Kasparov v Karpov 1985 (This was a rematch after the 84 match was controversially called off. Look into the whole battle between these two, truly two of the greatest players of all time!)

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=55016

I also like the brilliant play in Kasparov's defence in this game: Anand vs Kasparov 1997.



But I also found some very stange Q play by Anand in this game, and why he didn't accept the Q exchange I have no idea! Any thoughts as to why not?

-m.

Originally posted by mikelom
I also like the brilliant play in Kasparov's defence in this game: Anand vs Kasparov 1997.

[pgn][Event "It (cat.19)"]
[Site "Linares (Spain)"]
[Date "1997.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Garry Kasparov"]
[ECO "B84"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "82"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 ...[text shortened]... cept the Q exchange I have no idea! Any thoughts as to why not?

-m.

I think it's because so many of his minor pieces are tied down to defence. By exchanging Queens he resolves blacks issolated d-pawn problem and opens the d-file, which black is better placed to capitalise on.

21.Qxc5 ..dxc5
22.?

What is whites plan?

22.Rfd1 ..Rfd8

Whites Nc3 is pinned, black is threatening ..Rxd1 and ..c5. At least with the Queen on the board he has something to move, once the Rf1 is exchanged he's almost in zugzwang..