Carlsen-Caruana Chess World Championship

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

He was already mentally unwell, it seems, at his peak. Amazing piece by the way, must reading.

http://www.thestacksreader.com/the-day-bobby-blew-it/

A priceless line: He wears a business suit about as naturally as a python wears a necktie.

I finally read the article Peter, thanks for the link. I always knew how hard it was to get Bobby to go to Iceland, but never read that much detail about it. I always thought he was afraid of losing.

His mental problems continued when the match started. He lost game one on a silly blunder, and forfeited game two when he refused to play. He claimed his chair was bugged with microphones, and there were cameras hidden in the florescent lights. His entourage thought he was having a breakdown and were ready to give up on the match.

After a few days he calmed down, and when he sat down for game three he proceeded to play some of the best chess ever seen. Over the final nineteen games he won seven times and only lost once. That is an enormous margin for players of that caliber.

It was also the last competitive chess he ever played. He never played another serious game for the rest of his life.

[Peter_Spaeth]

He was supposed to play Karpov in 1975 but his conditions were rejected.

He played Spassky in 1992. It was not for a title, but I think most people would consider it a serious match.

[barrysloate]

The 1992 match was an exhibition and not sanctioned. Fischer was 49 and Spassky was in his mid-50's, and the chess they played was mediocre. It was also what got Fischer banned from ever returning to the United States. IIRC, it was played in Yugoslavia and Americans weren't allowed there. The whole match was kind of sad as it reminded Fischer's fans of how he wasted his talents.

[barrysloate]

Magnus Carlsen won the first game of the tiebreaker and leads 1-0.

[barrysloate]

Magnus Carlsen just won the second game and leads 2-0. This one was a bit of a steamroller. Carlsen only needs a draw in the final two games to retain his title.

[barrysloate]

Carlsen won the third game and has retained his World Champion crown. My take is Caruana was unable to win even a single game, and Carlsen was undoubtedly the better player.

I am very disappointed with the result, but what can you do. I want to thank everyone who participated on this thread. As you may have noticed, I'm a chess junkie. I am also a big fan of Fabiano, and feel bad that he couldn't have played better.

[Peter_Spaeth]

What a difference a day makes. Complete domination of the rapids by Carlsen.