Chess

[Kibitzer]

The WC match ended in a 6-6 tie. *sigh*

Now comes the rapid/blitz tiebreak. Just like in the Anand-Gelfand match, I feel there's something wrong with what is essentially a classical (time control) world championship match being decided by rapid chess, much less by blitz, if necessary.

I would rather they first play two game block tie-breaks or maybe just sudden death, with the first person winning a game declared the winner (even though someone would have an advantage as white at the start). If after another 6 or 12 games it's still undecided, then maybe rapid/blitz or some other tiebreak system.

 

[vanzandt]

Stupid quick question....
Would it not be a good strategy to castle the king and then move it into the corner as that minimizes the number of directions it could be attacked? It seems like putting the king in a corner should be a top priority early on. It also eliminates one bishop from a potential check.

 

[dealmaker]

Stupid quick question....
Would it not be a good strategy to castle the king and then move it into the corner as that minimizes the number of directions it could be attacked? It seems like putting the king in a corner should be a top priority early on. It also eliminates one bishop from a potential check.

Castling is a good defensive idea but if you castle to early than you allow your opponent to concentrate their forces on one spot and overwhelm you...

 

[vanzandt]

Castling is a good defensive idea but if you castle to early than you allow your opponent to concentrate their forces on one spot and overwhelm you...

True. But if the king is in the corner... its eliminated 2 directions from which it can be attacked right? Easier to defend. And you take one of those damn bishops out of the equation.

 

[dealmaker]

True. But if the king is in the corner... its eliminated 2 directions from which it can be attacked right? Easier to defend. And you take one of those damn bishops out of the equation.

If castled too early you especially become vulnerable to bishops. I am all for castling but at the right time, not just any time.

 

[vanzandt]

If he's in one corner... its "bishop", not "bishops".
We'll see. I have a new tough adversary and I was going over strategies.
I just think a corner is a safe place to be from the standpoint of defending. The downside is you also restrict yourself to three moves to get out.
More to follow. Wish Nitro was around still.

 

[vanzandt]

If castled too early you especially become vulnerable to bishops. .

See thats the whole idea. If you take out one of his bishops early on, and then you go to that corresponding corner (black or white) it seems like the odds would statistically shift immensley.
I'm lookin' ... more than likely its a stupid play.

 

[Xela]

Wish Nitro was around still.

This is true ... what's happened to Nitro?

 

[dealmaker]

Peter Thiel's FIDE ranking is 2199 as per his wiki page. Just like SPX there has been inflation in FIDE rankings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel

 

[777]

If you go to http://www.2700chess.com/ you can see the top players in each category in which world championships can be won. You can sort any of the three categories and the other two will also display.

From this, it is not too hard to predict that the strongest classical chess player also tends to be the strongest Rapid and Blitz chess player. On the other hand, the other direction I think is much less predictive, with outliers occasionally making it to the top, especially in the faster time categories.

As far as historically, Capablanca

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is probably the greatest speed player that ever lived, giving his peers astonishing time odds and consistently winning. Consider also that when and old and sick Tal

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played in a massive blitz tournament with all the top players participating including the then World Champion Kasparov, he won the tournament. In contrast, when Fischer

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played all the best players in the world in blitz, including a Tal at the height of his powers, he beat them by a huge margin.

Magnus is on par with these players, but he is closest to Capablanca, pure effortless chess. Tal is a chess player from another world. And Fischer is, well, as close to a computer as a human being can get.

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Something common runs among these players that separates the genius chess players from the mere brilliant players - not just World Champions, but The Immortals - I don't know anyone can say what it is that makes them shine so bright on a chess board, but you know it when you see it.

Nice the way you smoothly weaved pictures into your post.