The world has its youngest challenger for chess champion
April 22, 2024 6:21 AM Subscribe
17-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju has become the youngest challenger for the world championship title in history by winning the open section of the FIDE Candidates 2024 (previously). Other highlights of the tournament including Tan Zhongyi steamrolling the women's section, and Vaishali Rameshbabu winning five games in a row to lift herself from last place to shared second. The saddest moments came after the draw between Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi that gave Gukesh his historic victory: "I'm very sorry." "My fault."
There were a LOT of good interesting games in this tournament. It's probably more exciting than the actual World Championship, simply because of the varying styles of the players and the sheer number of games played.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:01 AM on April 22 [3 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:01 AM on April 22 [3 favorites]
Context on the "I'm very sorry" video.
Caruana had a winning position earlier in the game. If he won, he would be the challenger. But he made a mistake, and came down to offering a draw, which let Gukesh in to the final. And it is pretty hard to watch.
posted by Windopaene at 10:05 AM on April 22 [2 favorites]
Caruana had a winning position earlier in the game. If he won, he would be the challenger. But he made a mistake, and came down to offering a draw, which let Gukesh in to the final. And it is pretty hard to watch.
posted by Windopaene at 10:05 AM on April 22 [2 favorites]
If he won, he would be the challenger.
As in many competitive events, he also had 13 other games to accumulate points. as hard as it will be for him to know what could have been against Nepo, a formidable opponent, he also could have been more assertive against lesser players against whom he only managed a draw. His play seemed underwhelming throughout the tourney. solid, but not inspired, whereas Gukesh balled out, especially after his loss.
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:00 PM on April 22
As in many competitive events, he also had 13 other games to accumulate points. as hard as it will be for him to know what could have been against Nepo, a formidable opponent, he also could have been more assertive against lesser players against whom he only managed a draw. His play seemed underwhelming throughout the tourney. solid, but not inspired, whereas Gukesh balled out, especially after his loss.
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:00 PM on April 22
It's been a fun tournament! The alignment of the pairings and the narrative on the final round was wonderful.
A particular quirk of the format was very important, and probably made the difference in the Caruana-Nepomniatchi game. In classical chess, each player gets a certain fixed amount of time to use on their first 40 moves. After their 40th move, they get more. Players often end up with a scant few minutes left as they near move 40, and this is often the most complicated phase of the game as well.
The time scramble to move 40 between Caruana and Nepomniatchi was fascinating, especially with the expert commentary on stream. They had just analyzed the position, showing all the ways in which Caruana had a strong advantage and all the lines that would preserve it. Analysis is a slow, deliberative process that happens while the players are thinking between moves. And then with just a few seconds per move, so too fast for analysis, Caruana's advantage evaporated.
It got me thinking about how some players excel at fast play, like Nakamura, and others at deliberative play, like Caruana (who is also known for deep preparation in advance). Both can be at the top of the game, but the difference can make for interesting, dynamic games.
Carlsen is so good partly because he excels at both; I think it's commonly accepted that if you're going to rapid tiebreaks against carlsen you're going to lose. I think that's why his games have a reputation for being less interesting; there's less room for back-and-forth when one player dominates all phases of the game.
And also, the chess24 interstitial music was way too horny. Wtf
posted by dbx at 1:48 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
A particular quirk of the format was very important, and probably made the difference in the Caruana-Nepomniatchi game. In classical chess, each player gets a certain fixed amount of time to use on their first 40 moves. After their 40th move, they get more. Players often end up with a scant few minutes left as they near move 40, and this is often the most complicated phase of the game as well.
The time scramble to move 40 between Caruana and Nepomniatchi was fascinating, especially with the expert commentary on stream. They had just analyzed the position, showing all the ways in which Caruana had a strong advantage and all the lines that would preserve it. Analysis is a slow, deliberative process that happens while the players are thinking between moves. And then with just a few seconds per move, so too fast for analysis, Caruana's advantage evaporated.
It got me thinking about how some players excel at fast play, like Nakamura, and others at deliberative play, like Caruana (who is also known for deep preparation in advance). Both can be at the top of the game, but the difference can make for interesting, dynamic games.
Carlsen is so good partly because he excels at both; I think it's commonly accepted that if you're going to rapid tiebreaks against carlsen you're going to lose. I think that's why his games have a reputation for being less interesting; there's less room for back-and-forth when one player dominates all phases of the game.
And also, the chess24 interstitial music was way too horny. Wtf
posted by dbx at 1:48 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
dbx: And then with just a few seconds per move, so too fast for analysis, Caruana's advantage evaporated.
Ah, but wasn't it even more interesting than that? It was on move 41, just after he had gotten his extra time, that he gave away all of his advantage with Ka1. It was as if he had stayed dialed in through each of the moves where he had only a few seconds, and then once he got the extra time and was able to relax, he let it slip away.
...and then he built up another big advantage over the next twenty moves, and then let it slip away on move 59.
...and then he built up another big advantage that he gave away on move 66.
...and then they ground it out hopelessly until move 109.
"Here Ka2, first of all, yes?" "Yeah, of course, I... I don't know why I rushed after the time control..."
posted by clawsoon at 5:57 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
Ah, but wasn't it even more interesting than that? It was on move 41, just after he had gotten his extra time, that he gave away all of his advantage with Ka1. It was as if he had stayed dialed in through each of the moves where he had only a few seconds, and then once he got the extra time and was able to relax, he let it slip away.
...and then he built up another big advantage over the next twenty moves, and then let it slip away on move 59.
...and then he built up another big advantage that he gave away on move 66.
...and then they ground it out hopelessly until move 109.
"Here Ka2, first of all, yes?" "Yeah, of course, I... I don't know why I rushed after the time control..."
posted by clawsoon at 5:57 PM on April 22 [2 favorites]
Cool link clawsoon. Having them narrate is pretty cool.
I'm not much of a chess player, and despite having, well, more games than you, I can think of very few non-abstract games when I know, "you are going to lose". And Nepo clearly realizes Caruana is fucked, and can't win. Despite having dominated. And knows what is at stake, and is clearly so bummed out about having to do it...
But very cool to see they can do a commentary together after that.
posted by Windopaene at 7:57 PM on April 22
I'm not much of a chess player, and despite having, well, more games than you, I can think of very few non-abstract games when I know, "you are going to lose". And Nepo clearly realizes Caruana is fucked, and can't win. Despite having dominated. And knows what is at stake, and is clearly so bummed out about having to do it...
But very cool to see they can do a commentary together after that.
posted by Windopaene at 7:57 PM on April 22
My friend GM Ben Finegold featured Gukesh in his "Great Players of the Present" lecture series. He predicted Gukesh would be fighting for the World Championship by the time Gukesh was 18-19 -- which was technically incorrect because Gukesh won't be 18 for another month.
On the one hand as an American I was really hoping an American would challenge this cycle. Hikaru and Fabi would bring a lot of visibility to the game in the United States and hopefully bring in some big name sponsors to support the professional chess scene.
On the other hand Gukesh is the kind of player I love as a fan. He plays principled, aggressive chess and seems to play to win every time he gets to the board. The trend in classical chess at the top level has been for cautious play and lots of draws.
posted by interogative mood at 7:40 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
On the one hand as an American I was really hoping an American would challenge this cycle. Hikaru and Fabi would bring a lot of visibility to the game in the United States and hopefully bring in some big name sponsors to support the professional chess scene.
On the other hand Gukesh is the kind of player I love as a fan. He plays principled, aggressive chess and seems to play to win every time he gets to the board. The trend in classical chess at the top level has been for cautious play and lots of draws.
posted by interogative mood at 7:40 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
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posted by clawsoon at 6:24 AM on April 22 [4 favorites]