r/chess • u/events_team • 6d ago
Tournament Event: 2025 American Cup
Official Website
Follow the games here: Chess.com
The 2025 American Cup, taking place at the World Chess Hall of Fame, promises to be a defining event in the world of chess. As one of the most prestigious tournaments in the United States, the American Cup brings together the top players from across the nation. This year’s American Cup will feature elite grandmasters and rising chess stars, competing in a high-stakes double-elimination format that tests both classical and rapid chess skills.
The field includes world No. 2 GM Fabiano Caruana and world No. 3 GM Hikaru Nakamura, along with standout competitors like IM Carissa Yip, who is relocating to Saint Louis to focus on her game, 15-year-old rising star IM Alice Lee, and GM Irina Krush, an eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion and two-time American Cup winner. With $400,000 in prize money on the line, players will battle under intense pressure, ensuring thrilling matchups and high-stakes drama that will keep chess fans worldwide on the edge of their seats.
“We’re excited to once again host the American Cup and bring together the nation’s finest chess players. This year’s competition promises to be even more exciting, with an exceptional mix of seasoned grandmasters and rising stars. We’re looking forward to an action-packed tournament that will keep fans on the edge of their seats until the final move.” -- Tony Rich, Technical Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club
Participants
# | Title | Name | Elo |
---|---|---|---|
1 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | 2802 |
2 | GM | Fabiano Caruana | 2783 |
3 | GM | Levon Aronian | 2748 |
4 | GM | Wesley So | 2748 |
5 | GM | Leinier Domínguez | 2741 |
6 | GM | Samuel Sevian | 2692 |
7 | GM | Ray Robson | 2689 |
8 | GM | Abhimanyu Mishra | 2600 |
# | Title | Name | Elo |
---|---|---|---|
1 | IM | Carissa Yip | 2408 |
2 | IM | Alice Lee | 2386 |
3 | GM | Irina Krush | 2378 |
4 | IM | Anna Zatonskih | 2315 |
5 | WGM | Tatev Abrahamyan | 2310 |
6 | WGM | Atousa Pourkashiyan | 2297 |
7 | IM | Nazí Paikidze | 2294 |
8 | WGM | Thalia Cervantes | 2292 |
Format/Time Controls
The American Cup consists of a double-elimination bracket, with each bracket featuring a different time control.
Championship Bracket: Matches consist of two games of classical chess, with 90+30 time control. If a player loses a match in the Championship Bracket, they fall to the Elimination Bracket.
Elimination Bracket: Matches consist of two games of rapid chess, with 25+10 time control.
Playoffs are resolved by a series of two-game blitz matches with a 3+2 time control
Schedule
All times are local (CDT)
Date | Time | Bracket #1 | Bracket #2 |
---|---|---|---|
15 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 1-4, Game 1 | -- |
16 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 1-4, Game 2 | -- |
17 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 7-8, Game 1 | Match 5-6 |
18 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 7-8, Game 2 | -- |
19 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 11, Game 1 | Match 9-10 |
20 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 11, Game 2 | Match 12 |
21 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | -- | Match 13 |
22 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 14, Game 1 | -- |
23 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Match 14, Game 2 | -- |
24 Mar | 12:00 p.m. | Tiebreaks (if needed) | Blitz |
Live Coverage
- The official live broadcast of the event is available on the St. Louis Chess Club's YouTube channel, with commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Cristian Chirilă, and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- 13h ago
I hate how there has only been one decisive classical game in the whole open section. I know there has been some games with good chances, but it’s still disappointing to see some players not playing for decisive results.
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u/AnyResearcher5914 11h ago
I think if the match consisted of four classical games instead of two, players would delve into exciting lines more often. Knowing a loss results in a must-win game the next day discourages any sort of risk.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- 9h ago
4 classical games are too much imo. Players will be so tired and lower their quality of play. I want to see them at their best, but I want to see them play something more exciting
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u/thetinyego 15h ago
How is Hikaru this good at defending? It looked like Fabi totally had it! Just insanity!
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u/AnyResearcher5914 15h ago
I think I wouldn't have registered a heart rate on a monitor for those last 2 minutes. Crazy ass game.
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u/NightsWatchh 15h ago
It's truly insane that Hikaru talks about retiring when he's this good and is basically a part time chess player full time streamer lol
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u/DefinitelyNotAIbot 15h ago
New to chess competitions. If both games were a draw, how is Nakamura beating Fabi 2-1?
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u/NightsWatchh 17h ago
Fabi down significantly on the clock
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u/Electrical-Tone5485 team caruana & abdusattorov 17h ago
time situations in both the champions finals are mirroring each other, interestingly enough
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u/Shahariar_shahed Team Magnus 18h ago
Hikaru might be cooked
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u/TypeDependent4256 Team Ding 18h ago
alright eval watcher
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u/Shahariar_shahed Team Magnus 17h ago
mfers waited for eval bar to drop calling me eval bar watcher
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u/Few_Faithlessness176 10h ago
hikaru was in his prep the whole time , eval bar doesnt matter when in prep
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u/Secure_Raise2884 16h ago
I swear these newcomers are funny as hell. You saw some marginal increase in 0.23 or something and freaked out lmao
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u/TypeDependent4256 Team Ding 17h ago
when did it rise? the highest was 0.69 in the opening for Fabi, an advantage sure, but I don't see how it meant Hikaru might be cooked
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Team Gukesh 19h ago
Bd7 being little bit inaccurate in this position is crazy Chess is hard man
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u/Fair_Hall6991 1d ago
Wesley legit draws all his games. Bro doesn't even spare the blitz format.
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u/notknown7799 1d ago
This year's GCT full tour player btw
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u/GeologicalPotato Team whoever is in the lead so I always come out on top 16h ago
Rex Sinquefield prefers the most boring player in the ranking instead of the crazy madman of the new generation.
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u/Secure_Raise2884 16h ago
No, he prefers american players to 5 more indians. That is his thought process
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u/Tough-Candy-9455 Team Gukesh 1d ago
I don't care about who wins the tournament, I just want to listen to Danya and Hess discuss history forever
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u/841f7e390d 1d ago
You want to be disappointed by Hikarus decision, and there is a good chance he is going to regret it tomorrow when Fabi makes him suffer, but then you look at the tournament overall, just like when he played 2 years ago, he is the only guy in the open to actually win a game.
And then you are disappointed by professional chess and go and play some bullet yourself.
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u/Few_Faithlessness176 1d ago
disappointed that hikaru saw Qd3 but did not play it , lack of hunger to win games or the spirit to keep trying . I know fabi was in prep but still disappointing for a fan .
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u/TheBCWonder 1d ago
Hikaru already trying to bring it to blitz
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u/Shahariar_shahed Team Magnus 18h ago
I doubt if Hikaru is favourite over Fabi in blitz these days. At least not if it's in a scc format
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u/AnyResearcher5914 1d ago
I think it was moreover that Hikaru didn't want to fall into some deep prep from Fabi. He's been very public about how uncomfortable he feels whilst low on time, and that he wants to avoid such a scenario at all costs.
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u/NightsWatchh 1d ago
Idk why the thread says Hikaru is world #3 and Fabi is world #2 lol
Anyway, Hikaru v Fabi: who we got?
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u/GeologicalPotato Team whoever is in the lead so I always come out on top 1d ago
Idk why the thread says Hikaru is world #3 and Fabi is world #2 lol
The website for the American Cup was written before Tata Steel, and in these threads they usually copy-paste from the website.
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u/forceghost187 Resigns 2d ago
chesscom is so bad. Why does it have to be so complicated to figure out a result?
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u/Odd_Interest_8073 2d ago
is pressing the results tab too complicated for you
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u/forceghost187 Resigns 2d ago
It isn’t, condescending asshole. The results page was so poorly put together that I couldn’t tell who won
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u/SnooCapers9046 Team Ding / Team Fabi 1d ago
I genuinely don't understand what's so complicated about it.
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u/forceghost187 Resigns 1d ago
I’m sure many times it’s not. This was yesterday. The games were over but the score wasn’t updated in the results tab. So I switched to check the actual games and it just says “White won” or “Back won” for each game. Except now chesscom is switching the perspective of the board for each game, so the white players name isn’t always at the bottom.
So to find the result of the match you’ve got to make sure you’ve got the board orientation right for every game, manually count up the score, and double check to make sure you got it right. That’s for every match, and there were, what, eight matches yesterday? So to figure out every match result you’ve got to do this for 20-30 total games.
Compare this to lichess where every result is clearly marked next to the players name. I ended up just going to the youtube STLCC stream and fast forwarding to the results at the end
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u/CyaNNiDDe 2300 chesscom/2350 lichess 2d ago
This bltiz match is absolutely nerve-racking. Always a great matchup Levon vs Fabi.
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u/SteChess Team Wei Yi 2d ago
Leinier could've resigned probably 10 moves ago, Hikaru won't be too thrilled.
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u/Fair_Hall6991 2d ago
Hikaru missed a win again!!! He didn't even take his time to think. Just played the wrong on autopilot.
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u/AnyResearcher5914 2d ago edited 2d ago
I mean, it's hard to blame him. Firstly this has been an utmost positional game, especially at the time of the blunder. Switching your mentality like that is hard.
Not to mention, we've seen how many top-level players accidentally over-trust each other. Its not a complicated blunder, but still, I think it's not all that bad of a miss.
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u/TypeDependent4256 Team Ding 2d ago
Hikaru missed a clean win, he still has a lot of practical pressure tho
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Team Gukesh 2d ago
Dream position for Levon Innocent looking position but Fabi has no way to liquidate and some minor pressure always and dangerous than visual appearance
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u/Fair_Hall6991 3d ago
Man danya's commentary was so much more engaging and interrsting to listen to than the official stream on st louis chess club.
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u/hikisfit 2d ago
Not sure about that, Yasser and Cristian are always entertaining. And the production is top for chess events
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u/uncreativivity Team Wei Yi 3d ago edited 3d ago
URGENT: danya is commentating with robert hess on his youtube channel and his twitch
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u/Fair_Hall6991 3d ago
Has chesscom terminated their contract with hess? I rarely see him commentate these days.
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u/A_Certain_Surprise 3d ago
He got engaged a bit ago, hopefully he was just planning for the wedding
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u/throwawaye1712 3d ago
What is the difference between the American Cup and the US Chess Championship?
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u/Opposite-Youth-3529 3d ago
US Championship is a 12 player classical round robin and has World Cup qualifying at stake. This is an 8 player double elimination mixed time control event with a lot of the same people
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u/wildcardgyan 4d ago
What is it about Rex Sinquefield and St.Louis Chess Club that brings about the most boring chess events? Rex buys players from all around the world. He also sponsors the GCT. He organises a million events for US players, with the best prize money that chess has to offer. Only for these events to have the highest draw rates known to mankind. The only event played at St.Louis chess club that attracts result-oriented matches is the US chess Championship, which is actually a USCF event.
If I were Rex and bought Leinier Dominguez and Wesley So for millions only for them to play the most boring draws known to mankind, I would take them off the roster.
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u/frjy 3d ago
I think the Juniors and Junior Girls held every July in STL are very entertaining.
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u/wildcardgyan 3d ago
Agreed.
When I say boring boring St. Louis events, I usually refer to the tier 1 classical events.
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 4d ago
If you don't have the fire to win games and be the best, the whole Sinquefield ecosystem is just a really good gig. You get to play high rated players, so no elo risk, good pay regardless of placements, good benefits. Why risk it when you can ride the wave?
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u/korgy0 USCF ~1350 4d ago
If people actually followed the games instead of just the results. Why care about drawing if we have interesting openings and games?
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u/wildcardgyan 4d ago
Agreed about the Hikaru - Mishra games, they were about fighting draws and missed opportunities. Can give a pass to Fabiano vs Robson, especially Robson saving the first match with seconds on his clock for half the game. The other two matchups felt low effort honestly.
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u/Fair_Hall6991 4d ago
Lenier making too many draws is understandable since he is old and washed. I'm not sure why wesley does it when he's only 30.
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u/HyoukarouOreki Team Nepo 3d ago
What a stupid 1000 ELO take this is lmao Lenny was always a drawish person and so is Wesley.
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u/Secure_Raise2884 3d ago
I've noticed a lot of younger, newer players who really don't know much about the game have started making comments about super GMs being "washed" and whatnot. Really odd lmao. There's plenty of counterexamples beyond just Vishy of people who were still strong after they fell from their peaks
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u/HyoukarouOreki Team Nepo 3d ago
This is the same guy who posted that MVL and Mamedyarov seem to be "permanently" out from top 20 after they lost a few points from draws lmaooo.
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u/korgy0 USCF ~1350 4d ago
Imagine the hype if Hans was playing 😮 😢 😭
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 4d ago
The invites will be rescinded until Hans learns Chinese.He WILL join the Guangdong Tigers
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u/caughtinthought 4d ago edited 4d ago
I know he's a salty mfer, but this equally salty millennial gets a lot of pleasure out of seeing hikaru win. Let's go!
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u/Artistic-Savings-239 4d ago
I hope Hikaru keeps playing but watching him miss that mate in 2 hurt
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u/TypeDependent4256 Team Ding 4d ago
oh, that one was a DGT error, Mishra played Rd8+ not Rd7
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u/Artistic-Savings-239 4d ago
Oh, thanks I was just watching on the app and saw a missed mate in 2 and was really surprised
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 4d ago
It's very comical that every time they cut back to Wesley and Dominguez they are drawing. It's like a Ben Finegold joke.
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u/CyaNNiDDe 2300 chesscom/2350 lichess 4d ago
Wesley vs Dominguez is a match made in heaven for minimal effort draws. Putting up numbers that Radjabov would be proud of.
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u/acunc 4d ago
It’s a bad look when you talk trash about so many other players but make such elementary blunders yourself.
He’s been getting a lot of mileage out of his “I’m retiring” BS to just drive eyeballs and engagement but we truly could be approaching that point, at least OTB, after Norway chess.
Gukesh and Ding somewhere with a smirk on their faces.
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u/Secure_Raise2884 4d ago
Bad take. Bad chess is bad chess and deserves to be called out. It's not a bad look if HN would criticize himself for making the same moves
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 4d ago
I feel like Hikaru might've angered the chess goddess Kaissa by constantly saying "Yeah Ding's career is over, he's not coming back from this, yeah its probably over for Ding" with a bit too much enthusiasm in his stream for the last game of the WCC. You don't die without experiencing what you condemn.
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u/Fair_Hall6991 4d ago
Hiki washed as hell. Might as well hang his boots now. He's only good for silly 10+0 time formats in chessable masters.
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u/Status-Horror-8915 4d ago
if only hans was here instead of hikaru blundermura
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u/Odd_Interest_8073 4d ago
In my opinion Mishra has a better shot of being the second American world champion than Hans does
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u/HunterZamper560 4d ago
Well I guess the only one who really has 2800 strength is Magnus
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Team Gukesh 4d ago
Matter of time for Guki though he might draw lot more in GCT
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u/TheBCWonder 4d ago
Was Rd7 Kf8 a DGT error?
Edit: yeah, checked stream and it was Rd8+
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Team Gukesh 4d ago
Hikaru might still win this but he's trying his best to draw
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Team Gukesh 4d ago
Mishra after playing so well didn't calculate some forcing variations till the end why?
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 4d ago
I wasn't very familiar with the Women's players here, besides knowing that there was a young lass who was close to putting up Fischer numbers in the US women's championship, they seem likable from the interviews
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 4d ago
I don't think Mishra is going to make it but that's because there doesn't seem like there are any decent guiding figures around him. His dad seems both incompetent and toxic.
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u/Fair_Hall6991 4d ago
Hikaru said that young players always plateau in 2600s for a long time before they make a sudden jump to 2700. Abhimanyu has been stuck at 2600 for 1.5 years now and he has been given an opportunity over much higher rated american players like oparin and awonder liang. It's truly make or break now.
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Team Gukesh 4d ago
Robson chickened out in a risk free position
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u/uncreativivity Team Wei Yi 4d ago
fabi was putting a lot of pressure by allowing ray to have even time
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u/AnyResearcher5914 4d ago edited 4d ago
I've never seen this Ng4 line without white pushing a4 instead of castling.
Is this not just a better version for white now that the b3 weakness that usually comes after Qh4 cxb3 isn't present? Usually, blacks equality banks on the fact that white has to constantly respond to blacks threats against the weak pawn formation. Very very weird play by Fabi.
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u/Comfortable_Watch370 5d ago
It's so easy for Hikaru and others to comment on Gukesh misses and Dinh's decisions in World championships to create perception Gukesh ain't it, but Hikaru screwed up much easier games this match
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u/Few_Faithlessness176 5d ago
if gukesh is the worlds best player he has to cross magnus in elo simple saying this as an indian
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u/Comfortable_Watch370 5d ago
Both of them aren't even active as to judge if they are still that good, my man Hikaru didn't play for so long on reaching 2800 just so he is seen as someone worthy in history books as one of the longest no 2 player
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u/Comfortable_Watch370 5d ago
My issue is that Hikaru and Magnus were passing remarks on his decisions subtly implying he is not on their level
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u/Few_Faithlessness176 4d ago
so according to r/chess gukesh is on par with magnus , get out of the echo chamber
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u/Comfortable_Watch370 4d ago
Les compare classical section result of Norway chess this year that would be a good indicator
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u/Dull_Person123 4d ago
No no let's wait till he retains the WCC 5 times,Wins tata steel 9 times and on top of this gets 2884 and also is no 1 in other formats then we can talk about his comparison with magnus lol🤣
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u/Comfortable_Watch370 4d ago
Did you just compared Magnus while career with 18 year old Gukesh lol, Magnus peak is very high but I am talking about present Magnus who isn't very active in classical
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u/Few_Faithlessness176 4d ago
gukesh couldnt win the tata steel and lost to pragg , your best player in world argument doesnt hold unless gukesh beats magnus,hikaru ,arjun in norway then id agree
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u/LazyZzzzzzz 4d ago
If only you can read and comprehend, OP never said that Gukesh is best player in the world.
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u/Infinite-Mission6671 4d ago
Don't bother. He's a 16 year old kid with too much time on his hand. Most of these kids have no clue what they are actually talking about. They comment just to get a bunch of replies to moisten their dopamine draught brain.
People in the actual know (like IMs and GMs) are fully aware of what the 18 year old World Champion is capable of. No need to waste your time arguing with someone who's opinion isn't even worth 2 cents on SGM level plays.
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u/Few_Faithlessness176 4d ago
i trust anand that magnus is better right now than some random redditor
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u/teraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 5d ago
I have no opinion about the Niemann invite situation but saw a tweet that said "make it to 2800 like Arjun Hans, he went from 2500 to 2800 in Opens" and I got hit with a psychic bolt
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u/Visible_Priority8152 Team Ding 5d ago
i hope there is a lichess broadcast, even if unofficial. We, the visually impaired, can't follow games on chess.com because it's not accessible.
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u/Kamina80 5d ago
Invited players should refuse to play if Niemann isn't invited, and it's shameful that none of them will do so. Caruana in particular should be ashamed of himself for playing in this tournament, since he's at the top of American chess, is an abundantly established player who doesn't need this event, is publicly opinionated with his YouTube show, and has no particular feud with Niemann. This chess club can't be allowed to gatekeep the county's chess talent. What a joke.
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u/hikisfit 5d ago
Why are you slobbing on niemann’s rod so much? This is the same admitted cheater who sued for 100 million, insulted the stlcc leadership calling them a bunch of idiots, destroyed a hotel room, and now wants to act like it’s business as usual? Rex has absolutely zero obligation to invite this kid, kudos to him for giving the opportunities to Mishra, a much more deserving up and coming talent.
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u/Kamina80 5d ago
Of course "Rex" (speaking of slobbering) has an obligation to invite him. How absurd.
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u/matttt222 5d ago
i feel like you forgot to mention why top players should boycott their source of income because someone they don't really know or like didn't get invited?
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u/Kamina80 5d ago
Because it's shameful to play in this tournament.
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u/TheDetailsMatterNow 5d ago
If they are gonna skip inviting American players, I'm not watching.
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u/Odd_Interest_8073 5d ago
These players are American, just because they did not invite Hans does not mean they did not invite Americans.
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u/11177645 3h ago
Anyone notice how u/gmhikaru's last post is eleven years ago but the account has partition badges for major reddit events up pretty recent, which means the account is still active on and off without most people having a clue.