Carlsen-Caruana Chess World Championship

[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.

[barrysloate]

Complete domination indeed.

The first game Caruana was behind but looked like he could draw. Then he missed a move and lost in the endgame.

In the second game Caruana had a reasonable initiative and attack, but miscalculated and lost very quickly.

Needing a win only in the third game, Caruana pressed for victory, but sometimes when you press too hard in an even position you lose. That is exactly what happened.

Carlsen showed today, and throughout the match, that he is still the best player in the world, until proven otherwise.