[caption id="attachment_177567" align="alignleft" width="455"]
Carlsen and Nepomnichtchi shaking hands after yet another draw[/caption]
Magnus Carlsen, the highest ranked chess player for the last decade and the World Champion since 2013, is currently defending his title in a best-of-14 contest against the Russian challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. At the time of writing, there is nothing to separate the two players after five hardfought games, yet there is more than just a murmur of discontent in the air. Why? The tone of the headlines after each game should provide a clue.
The first round ended in a “tense draw” after Carlsen sacrificed a pawn in the opening from the black side of the Ruy Lopez opening . The adventurous Carlsen played the Catalan Opening in the second game, sacrificing a pawn and even more, only to “scramble his way to a draw’ after an inaccuracy. Game three saw another Ruy Lopez draw where “neither player yielded in a tug of war”. In game four, Carlsen tried 1.e4, only to be met with the “bulletproof” Petroff Defence. Nepomniachtchi’s superior preparation gave him the initiative in game five, but “Carlsen defended passively to “escape with a draw”. Noticed the larger-than-average elephant in the room?
For all the talk of tense situations, pawn sacrifices and resolute defending, the bottom line is it’s been all draws. The fifth round game signalled the 19th consecutive drawn game in World Championships, so it’s been a while since someone won one.
In fact, the last time someone won a World Chess Championship game, Barack Obama was still the US president.
“Drawing” conclusions
After evaluating the moves from the opening five games, the all knowing computer engines have concluded that we are witnessing the most accurate world title match in history. (Big deal, right?) The game three, in particular, was deemed the most accurate game played in the history of this flagship event.
Let’s see what “perfection” looks like.
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Magnus Carlsen
Round 3 , World Chess Championship
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nf1 h6 12.Bd2 Bf8 13.Ne3 Ne7 14.c4 bxc4 15.Nxc4 Nc6 16.Rc1 a5 17.Bc3 Bc8 18.d4 exd4 19.Nxd4 Nxd4 20.Qxd4 Be6 21.h3 c6 22.Bc2 d5
[caption id="attachment_177569" align="alignnone" width="300"]
22...d5 was a key moment[/caption]
23.e5 dxc4 24.Qxd8 Rexd8 25.exf6 Bb4 26.fxg7 Bxc3 27.bxc3 Kxg7 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.Rb1 Kf6 30.Rxb8 Rxb8 31.Rb1 Rxb1+ 32.Bxb1 Ke5 33.Ke2 f5 34.Bc2 f4 35.Bb1 c5 36.Bc2 Bd7 37.f3 Kf6 38.h4 Ke5 39.Kf2 Kf6 40.Ke2 Ke5 41.Kf2 1/2/1/2
[caption id="attachment_177572" align="alignnone" width="300"]
The final position[/caption]
Let’s face it. Perfection from one player is all good and enjoyable, but when it comes from both sides, it’s just boring. This is Glenn McGrath’s perfect line and length meeting the perfect forward defence of Rahul Dravid in a test match, for all five days.
One of the reasons for the longevity of chess is the apparent impossibility of achieving absolute perfection. In fact, if black manages to completely neutralize white’s opening advantage, that’s it for the game. Chess will simply become an advanced version of Tic-Tac-Toe.
Why all the draws?
When the first official world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, lost his title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, out of 19 games only four were draws. In the twentieth century things started to change. When Capablanca beat Lasker in 1921, 10 of their 14 games were draws. Later in 1984, Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov played a marathon 48 game match with a record 40 draws, including 17 in a row at one point. In 2018, the last time Carlsen defended the crown against Fabiano Caruana, all twelve classical games ended up drawn.
So what happened exactly? The answer is simple. People (and their computer engines) got better at chess. There is no doubt they will continue to get even better.
How to save chess from itself
What compounds the “draw issue” is the sheer length of these “classical” games. This is nothing new. Chess has always ‘suffered’ from long-game-purism. In a way this is similar to how Test Cricket is viewed by the sports loving public. When asked about the format, Carlsen himself voiced his unequivocal displeasure with “When you have nothing good to say, it’s better not to say anything at all”.
With lots of new fans (thanks to the pandemic-induced chess boom) tuning in to watch this flagship event of chess, some entertainment in the form of decisive games is somewhat important. Moving ahead, the solution is perhaps to take a leaf out of cricket’s book and incorporate Rapid and Blitz chess, the chess equivalent of limited overs cricket, into these matches.
I mean who’d say no to having 120 rapid games of 14 minutes each instead of having 14 classical games of 120 minutes each? I know which one I’d rather watch. It could end up being the better way of determining the best player as well.
Carlsen and Nepomnichtchi shaking hands after yet another draw[/caption]
Magnus Carlsen, the highest ranked chess player for the last decade and the World Champion since 2013, is currently defending his title in a best-of-14 contest against the Russian challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. At the time of writing, there is nothing to separate the two players after five hardfought games, yet there is more than just a murmur of discontent in the air. Why? The tone of the headlines after each game should provide a clue.
The first round ended in a “tense draw” after Carlsen sacrificed a pawn in the opening from the black side of the Ruy Lopez opening . The adventurous Carlsen played the Catalan Opening in the second game, sacrificing a pawn and even more, only to “scramble his way to a draw’ after an inaccuracy. Game three saw another Ruy Lopez draw where “neither player yielded in a tug of war”. In game four, Carlsen tried 1.e4, only to be met with the “bulletproof” Petroff Defence. Nepomniachtchi’s superior preparation gave him the initiative in game five, but “Carlsen defended passively to “escape with a draw”. Noticed the larger-than-average elephant in the room?
For all the talk of tense situations, pawn sacrifices and resolute defending, the bottom line is it’s been all draws. The fifth round game signalled the 19th consecutive drawn game in World Championships, so it’s been a while since someone won one.
In fact, the last time someone won a World Chess Championship game, Barack Obama was still the US president.
“Drawing” conclusions
After evaluating the moves from the opening five games, the all knowing computer engines have concluded that we are witnessing the most accurate world title match in history. (Big deal, right?) The game three, in particular, was deemed the most accurate game played in the history of this flagship event.
Let’s see what “perfection” looks like.
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Magnus Carlsen
Round 3 , World Chess Championship
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nf1 h6 12.Bd2 Bf8 13.Ne3 Ne7 14.c4 bxc4 15.Nxc4 Nc6 16.Rc1 a5 17.Bc3 Bc8 18.d4 exd4 19.Nxd4 Nxd4 20.Qxd4 Be6 21.h3 c6 22.Bc2 d5
[caption id="attachment_177569" align="alignnone" width="300"] 22...d5 was a key moment[/caption]
23.e5 dxc4 24.Qxd8 Rexd8 25.exf6 Bb4 26.fxg7 Bxc3 27.bxc3 Kxg7 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.Rb1 Kf6 30.Rxb8 Rxb8 31.Rb1 Rxb1+ 32.Bxb1 Ke5 33.Ke2 f5 34.Bc2 f4 35.Bb1 c5 36.Bc2 Bd7 37.f3 Kf6 38.h4 Ke5 39.Kf2 Kf6 40.Ke2 Ke5 41.Kf2 1/2/1/2
[caption id="attachment_177572" align="alignnone" width="300"] The final position[/caption]
Let’s face it. Perfection from one player is all good and enjoyable, but when it comes from both sides, it’s just boring. This is Glenn McGrath’s perfect line and length meeting the perfect forward defence of Rahul Dravid in a test match, for all five days.
One of the reasons for the longevity of chess is the apparent impossibility of achieving absolute perfection. In fact, if black manages to completely neutralize white’s opening advantage, that’s it for the game. Chess will simply become an advanced version of Tic-Tac-Toe.
Why all the draws?
When the first official world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, lost his title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, out of 19 games only four were draws. In the twentieth century things started to change. When Capablanca beat Lasker in 1921, 10 of their 14 games were draws. Later in 1984, Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov played a marathon 48 game match with a record 40 draws, including 17 in a row at one point. In 2018, the last time Carlsen defended the crown against Fabiano Caruana, all twelve classical games ended up drawn.
So what happened exactly? The answer is simple. People (and their computer engines) got better at chess. There is no doubt they will continue to get even better.
How to save chess from itself
What compounds the “draw issue” is the sheer length of these “classical” games. This is nothing new. Chess has always ‘suffered’ from long-game-purism. In a way this is similar to how Test Cricket is viewed by the sports loving public. When asked about the format, Carlsen himself voiced his unequivocal displeasure with “When you have nothing good to say, it’s better not to say anything at all”.
With lots of new fans (thanks to the pandemic-induced chess boom) tuning in to watch this flagship event of chess, some entertainment in the form of decisive games is somewhat important. Moving ahead, the solution is perhaps to take a leaf out of cricket’s book and incorporate Rapid and Blitz chess, the chess equivalent of limited overs cricket, into these matches.
I mean who’d say no to having 120 rapid games of 14 minutes each instead of having 14 classical games of 120 minutes each? I know which one I’d rather watch. It could end up being the better way of determining the best player as well.