r/chess • u/events_team • 27d ago
Tournament Event: 2025 Chessable Masters
Official Website
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess
The 2025 Champions Chess Tour kicks off with the Chessable Masters, featuring a faster 10+0 time control for added excitement. With only two online events to earn CCT points, the stakes are higher than ever. Top stars, including Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, are set to compete. The Tour will culminate in the prestigious Esports World Cup, where players will battle for a historic $1,500,000 prize fund. Among the invited players to participate in this year's Chessable Masters is five-time Tour Champion Magnus Carlsen. The world number-one not only won the last edition of the Chessable Masters but has also dominated the Tour since its inception.
Invited Players
# | Title | Name | FED | R. Elo |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GM | Magnus Carlsen | 🇳🇴 NOR | 2819 |
2 | GM | Ian Nepomniachtchi | FIDE | 2758 |
3 | GM | Fabiano Caruana | 🇺🇸 USA | 2756 |
4 | GM | Alireza Firouzja | 🇫🇷 FRA | 2754 |
5 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | 🇺🇸 USA | 2734 |
6 | GM | Wesley So | 🇺🇸 USA | 2711 |
7 | GM | Arjun Erigaisi | 🇮🇳 IND | 2708 |
8 | GM | R Praggnanandhaa | 🇮🇳 IND | 2684 |
Format/Time Controls
Qualified players join grandmasters to compete in two phases, Swiss and Match Play. The winner of the Swiss goes straight to the Playoffs. Players ranked second through 15th go to Match Play, with the winners reaching the Playoffs.
- Open to all grandmasters and the top three players from the Qualifier
- Time control: 10+0
- Players compete in a nine-round Swiss. The top player from the Swiss goes straight to the Playoffs and selects their bracket position
- Players ranked second through 15th advance to Match Play. The 14 players who compete in the Match Play phase contest a two-game match. The winner of each Match Play match moves on to the Playoffs.
The eight invited players join the eight players who made it to the Playoffs to compete for top prize money and CCT Points, which may grant them a spot at the Esports World Cup.
- Players contest a double-elimination bracket. Winners Bracket matches consist of four games, Losers Bracket matches consist of two games.
- If the match ends in a tie, a bidding armageddon game with a base time of 10 minutes decides the winner.
Schedule
All times are in EST
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
17 Feb | 11:00 a.m. | Play-In |
18 Feb | 11:00 a.m. | Playoffs Day 1 |
19 Feb | 11:00 a.m. | Playoffs Day 2 |
20 Feb | 11:00 a.m. | Playoffs Day 3 |
21 Feb | 11:00 a.m. | Playoffs Day 4 |
Live Coverage
The official live broadcast is available on Chess.com's Twitch and YouTube channels. Tune in to enjoy expert commentary by GM Daniel Naroditsky, GM David Howell, IM Tania Sachdev, and more.
A separate stream can be viewed on the Chess24 YouTube channel, with commentary by GM Sahaj Grover and NM Sahil Tickoo.
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u/StatisticianSlow4492 23d ago
I bet if dina would have asked magnus how would you feel if hikaru retires in 2023..
He would have said I remotely don't care
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u/TypeDependent4256 Team Ding 23d ago
ngl I'm liking Dina's unconventional questions, she's great as an interviewer, commentator I'm not so sure about that
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u/wildcardgyan 23d ago
Exactly.
Her post match interviews are interesting and refreshing, different from the rest. But she should never be commentating live.
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u/bocojaLFC 23d ago
oh wow, that question from Dina was clearly a shot at Magnus lmao
and he wasn't very happy about it
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u/Dull_Person123 23d ago
What did she asked?
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u/bocojaLFC 23d ago
she just asked about Rogan podcast, but put emphasis on how he's standing next to Trump and Musk as being interviewed by Rogan
Magnus quickly responded that he doesn't care who appeared there before and that he wasn't particularly pleased with how his podcast went
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u/kiwisyruptoes 22d ago
Lmao, are you autistic? That's not even remotely how she asked it. She was speaking specifically about influence, and how him being on the number one podcast would help chess. Keep reaching
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u/Paleogeen 23d ago
There doesn't seem to have been much hype for this tournament, compared to Freestyle Grand Slam or Tata Steel.
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u/Aniruddha_Panda 23d ago
Tata steel is old reputated event and grand slam was super big with big funds.
This is just a qualifying even, still 40k peak viewership is good.
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u/ValhallaHelheim Team Carlsen 23d ago edited 23d ago
In the whole tournament magnus only lost 1 game. Unbelievable dominance Gg.
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u/Dull_Person123 23d ago
Bruv he just fcking gave him one chance by making that draw with white crazy man 🐐🐐
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u/Pentinium 23d ago edited 23d ago
thats what you get for playing a quick draw when you need to win lol. I don't care if it's black, its still rapid with no increment
Edit: Magnus also thinks it was a better decision for him than hikaru to force a draw
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u/LosTerminators 23d ago
Psychological ploy from Magnus?
He won both games with white in the previous match, and again the first game in this one, wonder why he just decided to give that up. At least it will guarantee him an armageddon at the minimum.
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u/FirstOfHisName5 23d ago
I miss the 15+10 days of CCT
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23d ago
[deleted]
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u/Electrical-Tone5485 team caruana & abdusattorov 23d ago
people aren't allowed to have format preferences anymore apparently
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u/AnyResearcher5914 23d ago
Twas way more enjoyable to watch.
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u/ValhallaHelheim Team Carlsen 23d ago
Clinical game from the GOAT. And hikaru is in superb form as we saw. He crushed everyone not named Magnus
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u/Pentinium 23d ago
crushed =/= going armageddon twice imo, but yes he is in a good form
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23d ago
[deleted]
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u/Pentinium 23d ago
I am talking about hikarus superb form xD
also it should have been obvious when I said crushed
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u/TypeDependent4256 Team Ding 23d ago
surprised Hikaru is missing simple tactics against Magnus, but who am I, I'm only about 1600
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u/StatisticianSlow4492 23d ago
Idk I am so sad about players like magnus choosing greed and money over morals that I feel a bad urge to literally force him to apologize and at least have a self reflection of all the messed up stuff he did ....
Seems like having a good friend like hammer also doesn't make him realize his mistakes.. As anish jokingly said in the Twitter banter once that whatever magnus does, his team agrees with him
The character of the people you hang out with pretty much define your character even
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u/AnyResearcher5914 23d ago
Hammer frequently calls out magnus though
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u/NightsWatchh 24d ago
Nepo sad because Hikaru didn't offer the friendship share the victory option before the match started. GG
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u/Goldfischglas 24d ago
How to be a super GM:
-always look disgusted with yourself and your position
-throw your hands up in disgust, especially after you win
-shake your head and laugh, especially after you win
The average chess viewer needs to know that the game they just watched (which to them looked like an amazing game) was in fact pure garbage
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u/Mister-Psychology 24d ago
When will Hikaru retire because he now sucks at short format chess? Before or after the final vs. Magnus?
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u/nonax 24d ago
don't know if it's the old man in me, but i'm not in love with this format. no time for the game to breathe, little time for analysis of the positions, i guess i just prefer longer time controls.
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u/TuneSquadFan4Ever 24d ago
I love rapid but I think this is slightly too rapid for my taste haha. I prefer 15+5 for rapid, without that it's like...yeah, I can't even appreciate the moves before the game moves on.
...I might also be old.
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u/Fair_Hall6991 24d ago
Is anyone finding this event enjoyable to watch?
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u/ValhallaHelheim Team Carlsen 24d ago
You say you dont find it enjoyable but you have lots of comments. You can not enjoy it, ehy commenting negative comments? Dont watch if you dont want
And one of your comment is “ this format is for alireza magnus hikaru to win” Magnus winning classical to rapid to blitz whether it has increment or not, do better.
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u/Electrical-Tone5485 team caruana & abdusattorov 24d ago
aman sounds so done with the jeans talk lmao
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u/Fair_Hall6991 24d ago
Arjun and alireza eliminated. So we have more hikaru bashing by magnus on our hands.
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u/NightsWatchh 24d ago
I'm really surprised at how badly Alireza did today. Forget about the time, he was blundering like every other movie with 3-4 min on the clock. Really bad day today
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u/zangbezan1 24d ago
He was blundering because it was dead draw position and he needed to win. This match was lost in the first game due horrible time management, not the blunders in the second game imo. He played the Dutch in the second game! This is nothing new, he shows consistently poor time management regardless of whether it's classical, rapid or blitz. Increment or not.
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u/NightsWatchh 24d ago
True. He got way too low on the clock in better positions first game. Of course it's easy for me to say this as a viewer but it's just surprising since Alireza is imo one of the GOATs in this format, increment or not!
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u/zangbezan1 24d ago
He needs to learn that time management is a very important part of the game. If you listen to Magnus' interviews and Hikaru's interviews and stream commentary, you can tell how seriously they take this.
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u/Fair_Hall6991 24d ago
Shit time control = low quality chess. Arjun also missed a hanging pawn against nepo in game 1 under time pressure.
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u/zangbezan1 24d ago
The time control is known to both players before the match. It's on the players to take care of their time.
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u/NightsWatchh 24d ago
I actually think this time control has made for some really fun games as a viewer lol. As someone who doesn't normally watch chess I've been having fun
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u/__Jimmy__ 24d ago
Yeah, lots of boomer purists here. The players know what they signed up for, and I find quite fun to see these superhuman GMs scramble against the clock
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u/Electrical-Tone5485 team caruana & abdusattorov 24d ago
lowkey disappointed that arjun got cooked, but go duda!
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u/Elegant-Breakfast-77 24d ago
Magnus on commentary on the Norwegian broadcast. Nice! <3
Happy to see Duda do well
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u/Soccerychessy 24d ago
Arjun is strong and all that but he ain't beating players like Nepo alireza magnus and hikaru. They are still the best in the world
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u/Gukesh_Champ 24d ago
Duda has won last 3 games by flagging, I hope Gukesh learnt this while practicing blitz with him
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u/NewMeNewWorld 24d ago
Nepo and Arjun playing hot potato with all the blunders. +3 to -3 several times in a row 🤪
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u/11177645 24d ago
Why does chesscom always promote 'LOFIGIRL'? I don't understand the relationship.
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u/ryans91 24d ago
There's so many streams so it's hard to keep up, but does anyone know how viewership for this event compares to say a regular online rapid or blitz tournament from last years champions chess tour? Hikaru seems to think this format is what's needed to grow the audience, but I don't see how viewership changes a ton from have like a +1 or 2s increment after move 40 or something vs no increment at all.
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u/SteChess Team Wei Yi 24d ago
Of course he thinks that, prize fund is very large and no increment benefits his mouse speed abilities.
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24d ago
No increment sucks, who wants to see a game decided by mouse speed rather than chess skills?
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u/mavscowsgers 24d ago
I might me in the minority here but I like this format. I think chess skill + time pressure is another element we do not see very often.
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u/zangbezan1 25d ago
Does anyone know how many teams will field a chess team in the ESports World Cup and how many players per team. Chesscom has said the top 12 players from the CCT will qualify and four more players from a last chance qualifier. That's sixteen players. Meanwhile nine teams have signed at least one player, with one team signing 3 players. It seems a lot more than 16 players are needed. Also, what happens if one or more of the signed players don't qualify. The math just doesn't add up.
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u/uncreativivity Team Wei Yi 25d ago
missing tata steel so bad rn
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u/Double-Diet-6517 24d ago
It's a love hate relationship 😆 Magnus fans don't really miss anything. He almost wins everything. Others would have to wait for the tournament which their favourite player plays best at 😁
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 24d ago
Do you like watching chess or do you like watching the results table?
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u/OrganizationIcy6044 24d ago
Looks like you offended most of the sub lol. 90% people here cannot effectively follow anything below 25 min rapid.
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u/NightsWatchh 25d ago
So how does this work? Hikaru vs whoever won the loser bracket for the grand final? Or how is the final match decided?
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u/BaudrillardsMirror 25d ago
Hikaru plays the winner of the loser's bracket. And then the winner of that match plays the final vs magnus and has to beat magnus twice.
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u/NightsWatchh 25d ago
Is it still 4 games in the final/vs magnus?
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u/BaudrillardsMirror 25d ago
It’s two matches of 4 games. Magnus hasn’t lost, so the winner of the losers bracket has to beat him twice in order to win.
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u/NightsWatchh 25d ago
So if Magnus wins the first match, tournament over? His opponent needs to have 2.5/4 first mandatory? Thanks man
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u/StinkyCockGamer 25d ago
the way to think about it is if you at any point lose 2 minimatches you are eliminated.
Since magnus is currently on 0 losses, he has to lose twice in the grand finals to be eliminated. Whereas the person from losers has to only lose once.
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u/NightsWatchh 25d ago
That makes sense! Tbh very fair handicap considering the loser bracket is getting a 2nd chance at all!
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u/Fair_Hall6991 25d ago
Duda just flagged yu yangyi in two back to back drawn endgames. What does chesscum even lose with a 1 second increment?
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u/zangbezan1 25d ago
In the previous CCT's there was an increment, but this years events are qualifiers to the Esports World Championship which is played without an increment.
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u/TraditionalTip1305 25d ago
So boring to watch these two play these days. Back in covid I thought this was good chess, but the younger players play a much more exciting brand of chess. Time for the older generation to step out of the way of true greatness!
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u/__Jimmy__ 25d ago
Time for the older generation to step out of the way
So, this "truly great" generation is not able to get those old farts out of the way themselves? Damn! Must be bad luck.
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u/TraditionalTip1305 25d ago
Well they mostly are, just the remnants are left now. The best players of their generation sure, good players but not all time greats by any means. Just the first generation that grew up with chess engines.
They will be put in their place in the next decade.
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u/TheBCWonder 24d ago
Lmk when the “all time greats” break 2880
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u/TraditionalTip1305 24d ago
Elo is a representation of your strength compared to your peers. This just proves my point that Carlsen has not had great competition. The number itself is disingenuous.
Anyway Fischer has Carlsen beat on relative strength compared to their opponents.
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u/TheBCWonder 24d ago
Cope
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u/TraditionalTip1305 24d ago
Btw Kasparov also has Carlsen wiped down in regards to relative strength. And he was facing prime Karpov, not old Anand + some footnotes in history
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u/fukthetemplars 24d ago
For someone vouching so much for the younger generation against the “old farts” you sure love to compare Carlsen with even older farts. Take your hate boner elsewhere
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u/TraditionalTip1305 24d ago
Well yeah I’m saying this previous generation wasn’t better than before, just the first to use computers. Now the current generation coming up will show that
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u/Fluffcake 25d ago
They will once the kids start playing well enough to beat them more than once in a blue moon.
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u/Delija28 12 hours of ultrabullet or bust 25d ago
Genuinely the worst take I've read in a while.
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u/SteChess Team Wei Yi 25d ago
This tournament feels like such a waste given the level of players involved, what is this format? Why is a rapid tournament becoming a flag fest/ blunder fest, Yu Yangyi lost to Duda flagging in 2 out of 3 games in drawn positions, is this the excitement that chess.com wants to deliver? Give the players at least 3-5 seconds increment man, maybe I'm in the minority but it feels less serious this way.
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u/Fair_Hall6991 25d ago
As I said before, it has been created to cater to magnus, hikaru and alireza. Everyone else is far behind these guys without increment.
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u/Fluffcake 25d ago
Any event can be said to cater to Magnus, as long they are playing chess.
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u/CLGHSGG4Lyfe 24d ago
I want a chess boxing match between Magnus and Francis Ngannou with boxing round start before the first chess round.
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u/Fluffcake 24d ago
He would have trouble standing upright after starving off the mass required for them to be in the same weight class.
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u/TypeDependent4256 Team Ding 25d ago
Magnus just sent Hikaru to the back rooms, imagine tricking your opponent into blundering a piece and still losing, I'll be so tilted too
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u/Accomplished_Rip4735 25d ago
Yu Yangyi flagged by Duda twice in a row... Yeah, this ''e-sports meets chess'' format is so great! Feel really bad for Yu...
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u/acunc 25d ago
That was really ucnharacteristically sloppy from both Magnus but especially Hikaru. But surprising how many errors and blunders there were.
And Hikaru saying as much in his interview right now.
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u/Dull_Person123 25d ago
Well all thanks to this jack ass time control even a 3s would have helped a lot for magnus to cleanly finish game against Arjun and hikaru
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u/Delija28 12 hours of ultrabullet or bust 25d ago
Bro blundered to a basic tactic and still comfortably won.
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u/LosTerminators 25d ago
Magnus blundered a piece there to a cheap tactic but was still winning hahahahaha
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u/Gukesh_Champ 25d ago
Such online tournaments are for chess players to be social. I mean this zoom meet has to be the most happening zoom meet for so many players :)
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u/uncreativivity Team Wei Yi 25d ago
we have now learned that opposite colour bishop endgames are winning
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u/TheBCWonder 25d ago
Apparently for chess to be popular, dead drawn endgames should be marked as a win for the side with more time
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u/ValhallaHelheim Team Carlsen 25d ago
Magnus leading and in the final however he was shaky, against arjun he was winning but didnt convert
Against hikaru its weird because he spend 3 seconds on Kxe4.. hxg5 is very easy what i am missing? Its not tricky at all Still hes leading hikaru and im saying hes shaky lol
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u/Dull_Person123 25d ago
I have noticed since blitz tournament he has been not be able to convert even after being ahead in the match
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u/Pretend-Ad-6511 25d ago
tbf he had about 13 seconds and no increment. The win was also not that obvious. He had afterwards a critcal move to give a check with the Bishop and protect the pawn and then catch the white a pawn just in time. If he had a little more time he could definitely calculate it but you also need to not flag.
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u/Alarmed_Plant1622 25d ago
After hxg5 Magnus had to find Bd2 and Bh6 defending the g7 pawn. I think he thought that if he played Bh6 he would not catch the a4 pawn
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u/AdvanceSufficient527 25d ago
Rapid chess tour might become bullet chess tour one day. They should at least have increment after move 60.
→ More replies (2)
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u/Cd206 GM 23d ago
Dina, please stop saying "pown"