Chess

[Kieran]

Thanks buddy! With any game of chess I treat it as life and death so I always feel dialed in. With that said there definitely is extra excitement if I’m playing a big wig. With players that are better than me for the most part I feel the biggest difference is openings. So I do try to take more time in the opening against them than I normally do, and add to that the fact that it’s almost impossible to turn around a terrible position against a stronger player and it’s that much more important. I hate playing Oleksandr Bortnyk if you are familiar with him. He just plays so fast and then I’m down bad on time and quickly in trouble. I beat him the first time I played him and since then I have 2 draws and more than 10 losses. He is a good example of what I’m talking about, I rarely survive the opening in good shape and when I do I’m still down big on time.

Not sure if it let you play over the game I had with Short but I had a pretty mediocre but not ever a really bad position. I quietly opened up a dangerous attack with f4 and having active rooks. Short blundered badly with taking my Knight on h5, clearly missing that I could double up rooks on g file and it was game over quickly. With that said, I almost lost on time as I checkmated him with about 4 seconds on my clock and I was playing on my cell phone and it’s hard to move fast. I rarely play on laptop but have recently started switching over after a bad couple weeks of play, it definitely is better playing on that vs a phone. So to answer one of your questions, I do get nervous as hell if I’m beating a good player and am low on time lol. Would’ve been brutal to lose to Short on time with mate a few moves away.

Sorry for the delayed reply, brother!

Did he see the checkmate coming and hoped you’d run out of time? I don’t understand the game anywhere near the level you lads do, I do chess puzzles in the caff with the barista, but I’m always fascinated by the online games. You played on your phone but is it harder to be precise tapping with your fingers than clicking the mouse? Or is swinging the mouse around more time consuming?

Was he generous after? He looks like a miserable mouse.

What happened in the rest of the tournament? You face anyone interesting?

You following anyone in the tennis? Carlos is the closest to your boy Federer. We might be finally on the same team!

 

[DarthFed]

Sorry for the delayed reply, brother!

Did he see the checkmate coming and hoped you’d run out of time? I don’t understand the game anywhere near the level you lads do, I do chess puzzles in the caff with the barista, but I’m always fascinated by the online games. You played on your phone but is it harder to be precise tapping with your fingers than clicking the mouse? Or is swinging the mouse around more time consuming?

Was he generous after? He looks like a miserable mouse.

What happened in the rest of the tournament? You face anyone interesting?

You following anyone in the tennis? Carlos is the closest to your boy Federer. We might be finally on the same team!

Yes, he definitely saw the mate was coming a few moves before and gave up a rook to try to delay it long enough for me to run out of time.

Playing on the phone is wayyy worse than with a mouse. When time is running low people that are quick on the laptop premove dozens of moves at .1 second each move. So the real fast strong players can literally bust out 20 moves in 2 seconds. But playing chess on the phone is convenient during a break from work or just sitting around on the couch at night.

Against Short I just played the one game on a work break. We didn’t say anything before or after the game. That’s normal online now. Was different when I first started playing chess where people would chat more and would play a series of games against one opponent. If I lose I will of course want a rematch but you get pusses that are one and done. I grant rematches when I win but Short didn’t request one.

Yes, Alcaraz is fun to watch though I barely see any tennis these days. Crazy talent and we will see if Sinner keeps pace. But that is your only other player of note aside from a 38 year old Djoker. And hopefully Djoker is done. Decent chance Carlos is at 20+ before he is 30. It’s a different landscape as there are only 2 players instead of 3 or even 3.5 if you want to throw in Murray.

 

[Federberg]

Yes, he definitely saw the mate was coming a few moves before and gave up a rook to try to delay it long enough for me to run out of time.

Playing on the phone is wayyy worse than with a mouse. When time is running low people that are quick on the laptop premove dozens of moves at .1 second each move. So the real fast strong players can literally bust out 20 moves in 2 seconds. But playing chess on the phone is convenient during a break from work or just sitting around on the couch at night.

Against Short I just played the one game on a work break. We didn’t say anything before or after the game. That’s normal online now. Was different when I first started playing chess where people would chat more and would play a series of games against one opponent. If I lose I will of course want a rematch but you get pusses that are one and done. I grant rematches when I win but Short didn’t request one.

Yes, Alcaraz is fun to watch though I barely see any tennis these days. Crazy talent and we will see if Sinner keeps pace. But that is your only other player of note aside from a 38 year old Djoker. And hopefully Djoker is done. Decent chance Carlos is at 20+ before he is 30. It’s a different landscape as there are only 2 players instead of 3 or even 3.5 if you want to throw in Murray.

someone will come along. That's what happens. Sincaraz are a target now, people will upgrade their games specifically to match them

 

[DarthFed]

someone will come along. That's what happens. Sincaraz are a target now, people will upgrade their games specifically to match them

But is that player on tour yet? If not, then that player is probably going to need at least a few years to improve enough to compete and there is nothing stopping these guys from reaching 75+% of GS finals the next 5+ years. And I do wonder if Sinner will keep pace. Alcaraz is probably going to end up breaking the record without much difficulty. It’s the way sports work and we all know how unique the Big 3 era was. If 1 of those three chose soccer instead of tennis the other 2 are at close to 30 majors. That could be what we see with Alcaraz.

 

[Fiero425]

But is that player on tour yet? If not, then that player is probably going to need at least a few years to improve enough to compete and there is nothing stopping these guys from reaching 75+% of GS finals the next 5+ years. And I do wonder if Sinner will keep pace. Alcaraz is probably going to end up breaking the record without much difficulty. It’s the way sports work and we all know how unique the Big 3 era was. If 1 of those three chose soccer instead of tennis the other 2 are at close to 30 majors. That could be what we see with Alcaraz.

What record would that be? Majors? You're kidding? Even if they go to NG YEC scoring, I can't see either Sinner or Alcaraz breaking that record; or any other for that matter which may take 10+ yrs.! The BIG 3 were extraordinary to stay relatively healthy & consistant for 20+ yrs. to achieve what they did! I can't see Sincaraz lasting that long! The only record they're breaking concerns being young w/ a lack of real competition for them! Fritz & Shelton in the top 6 doesn't bode well concerning the level of players competing!

 

[DarthFed]

What record would that be? Majors? You're kidding? Even if they go to NG YEC scoring, I can't see either Sinner or Alcaraz breaking that record; or any other for that matter which may take 10+ yrs.! The BIG 3 were extraordinary to stay relatively healthy & consistant for 20+ yrs. to achieve what they did! I can't see Sincaraz lasting that long! The only record they're breaking concerns being young w/ a lack of real competition for them! Fritz & Shelton in the top 6 doesn't bode well concerning the level of players competing!

Ah my old friend yes of course it is the majors record I’m referring to. He has 6 at age 22 and in 10 years Alcaraz will be just 32. Unlike players of 10-15 years ago that will still be his prime/peak. And in 16 years when he’s 38 that probably won’t be considered ancient in tennis or other sports anymore, and he likely will easily br a top player like Fed and Djokovic were.

What I do agree with is what you said at the end and that’s the point. Competition continues to be soft and the big factor is there is just two great young players right now. I will stick with that prediction of 20+ by age 30 for Alcaraz. And he probably finishes with high 20’s at least.

 

[Federberg]

lol! It never works that way mate. Someone will come along, or there'll be injury, or he loses interest. Check back with me when he's found some prime tail he can't get enough of. He's not had that kind of drug in his life yet. You know what I'm talking about. There are life challenges outside of tennis that haven't reached him yet

PS, and believe me... with his level of success and charm there will be prime PRIME tail

 

[Federberg]

Damn! Daniel Naroditsky is dead! I hope it wasn't suicide because of Kramnik's relentless bullying. He has become such an ASSHOLE!

RIP Daniel...

 

[Kieran]

Damn! Daniel Naroditsky is dead! I hope it wasn't suicide because of Kramnik's relentless bullying. He has become such an ASSHOLE!

RIP Daniel...

Was reading about that this morning, and Kramnik posted a tasteless tweet after the terrible news was announced:



I wasn’t overly aware of Narodisky from my casual vantage point of the game, but he was too young, and obviously highly regarded..

 

[Federberg]

Was reading about that this morning, and Kramnik posted a tasteless tweet after the terrible news was announced:



I wasn’t overly aware of Narodisky from my casual vantage point of the game, but he was too young, and obviously highly regarded..

I honestly think Kramnik has mental issues himself at this point.. It's not normal

 

[DarthFed]

I honestly think Kramnik has mental issues himself at this point.. It's not normal

Kramnik is just an egomaniac, and I feel that his witch hunts are an attempt to stay relevant in chess since he was clearly on his way down the rankings and decided to retire. Regardless of how Danya died; very likely suicide or an accidental overdose, Kramnik is largely to blame. Danya’s last stream was a day before he died and he was clearly on something and was having a mental breakdown. And apparently Giri, another attention whore, somehow decided to get involved very recently and may have made things worse.

It is so incredibly sad. I was watching Oleksandr Bortnyk stream yesterday, and he was like a shell of a human and could barely talk. He was one of Danya’s best friends and ended up being the one who found him after he became worried that Danya wasn’t responding to his calls and texts. I can’t imagine.

This one has hit me pretty hard. I watch top games fairly often on chess.com, so naturally that included a lot of Danya’s games. I don’t watch streams often but did see him stream a few times as well. But really what does it for me is that a guy who clearly loved chess…he was always playing on top of teaching, writing, commenting, etc., couldn’t find comfort in the game thanks to the baseless allegations. It’s easy to see how that can lead to the mental health issues he seemed to be having. While I have played a large portion of my life and play at a certain level, it is obviously not the same as Danya. And it makes me worried that one day even chess won’t be the great escape from everything the way it always has been.

 

[Federberg]

Kramnik is just an egomaniac, and I feel that his witch hunts are an attempt to stay relevant in chess since he was clearly on his way down the rankings and decided to retire. Regardless of how Danya died; very likely suicide or an accidental overdose, Kramnik is largely to blame. Danya’s last stream was a day before he died and he was clearly on something and was having a mental breakdown. And apparently Giri, another attention whore, somehow decided to get involved very recently and may have made things worse.

It is so incredibly sad. I was watching Oleksandr Bortnyk stream yesterday, and he was like a shell of a human and could barely talk. He was one of Danya’s best friends and ended up being the one who found him after he became worried that Danya wasn’t responding to his calls and texts. I can’t imagine.

This one has hit me pretty hard. I watch top games fairly often on chess.com, so naturally that included a lot of Danya’s games. I don’t watch streams often but did see him stream a few times as well. But really what does it for me is that a guy who clearly loved chess…he was always playing on top of teaching, writing, commenting, etc., couldn’t find comfort in the game thanks to the baseless allegations. It’s easy to see how that can lead to the mental health issues he seemed to be having. While I have played a large portion of my life and play at a certain level, it is obviously not the same as Danya. And it makes me worried that one day even chess won’t be the great escape from everything the way it always has been.

I'm so glad you mentioned Giri. I CANNOT stand him. You're exactly right. Attention whore. He tweets like a bitch and often I just want to slap him

 

[Federberg]

Kramnik is just an egomaniac, and I feel that his witch hunts are an attempt to stay relevant in chess since he was clearly on his way down the rankings and decided to retire. Regardless of how Danya died; very likely suicide or an accidental overdose, Kramnik is largely to blame. Danya’s last stream was a day before he died and he was clearly on something and was having a mental breakdown. And apparently Giri, another attention whore, somehow decided to get involved very recently and may have made things worse.

It is so incredibly sad. I was watching Oleksandr Bortnyk stream yesterday, and he was like a shell of a human and could barely talk. He was one of Danya’s best friends and ended up being the one who found him after he became worried that Danya wasn’t responding to his calls and texts. I can’t imagine.

This one has hit me pretty hard. I watch top games fairly often on chess.com, so naturally that included a lot of Danya’s games. I don’t watch streams often but did see him stream a few times as well. But really what does it for me is that a guy who clearly loved chess…he was always playing on top of teaching, writing, commenting, etc., couldn’t find comfort in the game thanks to the baseless allegations. It’s easy to see how that can lead to the mental health issues he seemed to be having. While I have played a large portion of my life and play at a certain level, it is obviously not the same as Danya. And it makes me worried that one day even chess won’t be the great escape from everything the way it always has been.

oh my goodness, I didn't know that about Bortnyk. I thought Danya was married for some reason...

I loved the tweets from Zemo. And I agree there should be sanctions against Kramnik, his behaviour has been too egregious

 

[DarthFed]

oh my goodness, I didn't know that about Bortnyk. I thought Danya was married for some reason...

I loved the tweets from Zemo. And I agree there should be sanctions against Kramnik, his behaviour has been too egregious

Oh I like Nemo too…multiple reasons. I hope there are some legit sanctions and FIDE apparently has “launched an investigation”. With that said I don’t think they will be able to hurt Vlad too bad, he isn’t playing any tournaments and I seriously doubt they strip his GM title over this, but I hope they do!

The thing that really sucks is fact that he can and has still been very damaging even without having an online chess account. He posts on X, still has a lot of influence due to his name, and can keep making his BS allegations as much as he wants. Just being absolutely hated across the chess world won’t really matter to him much.

 

[DarthFed]

lol! It never works that way mate. Someone will come along, or there'll be injury, or he loses interest. Check back with me when he's found some prime tail he can't get enough of. He's not had that kind of drug in his life yet. You know what I'm talking about. There are life challenges outside of tennis that haven't reached him yet

PS, and believe me... with his level of success and charm there will be prime PRIME tail

Hell, since I’m here I may as well bump this one lol.

I don’t really see Carlos going all Safin or JMac but you never know. I do think, barring injury he’s going to beat Djokovic’s record and a lot earlier than people think, like age 32 or 33. Carlos is likely going to have 20+ before 30. I don’t think that’s a crazy prediction given he has 7 at age 22, and there is no real competition aside from Sinner who I just don’t think will keep up when all is said and done.

 

[Fiero425]

Hell, since I’m here I may as well bump this one lol.

I don’t really see Carlos going all Safin or JMac but you never know. I do think, barring injury he’s going to beat Djokovic’s record and a lot earlier than people think, like age 32 or 33. Carlos is likely going to have 20+ before 30. I don’t think that’s a crazy prediction given he has 7 at age 22, and there is no real competition aside from Sinner who I just don’t think will keep up when all is said and done.

I keep bringing this up, but for some reason NO ONE seems to take it into consideration! The physical aspect has to be put into the equation when it comes to these records I think will live on long past the ones achieved by Borg, then Sampras! Federer knocked Pete off his pedestal in less than 9 yrs. w/ his 2009 Wimbledon win over Roddick! IIRC, that was #15 & he was off and running until he slowed down at #17! It took him over 5 yrs. to gain those last 3 to make #20 & it took the absence of Djokovic in 2017-18 to do that! It looked like Novak was done in 2016 until he got over what was ailing him in 2018; going on a run for the ages after turning 30! Covid almost derailed him, but he still won 3 of 4 majors twice as an old dude in '21 & '23! I just can't see this crop of players being able to hang on that long; esp. w/ the speed and physicality of the game today! I won't live to see it anyway, but even if I last to 100, I doubt anyone will overtake Djokovic in any of his records; 8 YE #1's, 24 Majors, 40 Masters, 7 YEC's, 428 Wks. as #1, or any other # that took 20+ yrs. to achieve!

 

[DarthFed]

I keep bringing this up, but for some reason NO ONE seems to take it into consideration! The physical aspect has to be put into the equation when it comes to these records I think will live on long past the ones achieved by Borg, then Sampras! Federer knocked Pete off his pedestal in less than 9 yrs. w/ his 2009 Wimbledon win over Roddick! IIRC, that was #15 & he was off and running until he slowed down at #17! It took him over 5 yrs. to gain those last 3 to make #20 & it took the absence of Djokovic in 2017-18 to do that! It looked like Novak was done in 2016 until he got over what was ailing him in 2018; going on a run for the ages after turning 30! Covid almost derailed him, but he still won 3 of 4 majors twice as an old dude in '21 & '23! I just can't see this crop of players being able to hang on that long; esp. w/ the speed and physicality of the game today! I won't live to see it anyway, but even if I last to 100, I doubt anyone will overtake Djokovic in any of his records; 8 YE #1's, 24 Majors, 40 Masters, 7 YEC's, or any other # that took 20+ yrs. to achieve!

It’s the opposite my old pal. When Federer was 30 that was considered old in tennis as well as most sports. Carlos is 16 years younger than Djoker and about 22 years younger than Fed. By the time he’s 30 it’s likely that tennis players won’t be considered past their prime until they are 35, and more and more elite athletes will be playing into their 40’s as long as they stay healthy. Djokovic may hold onto some of his records but I’d be surprised if Carlos doesn’t beat the big one and handily at that.

 

[Federberg]

We just never know. This doesn’t become a serious discussion until he passes Pistol in my opinion. Hell he hasn’t even won 3 slams in a year yet. Let’s not crown him goat just yet.

I mean what next are we going to be putting Erdogmus forward as better than Alekhine right this moment? Remember Wei Yi in his teens. Talent must meet execution, execution must meet consistency. That takes time

 

[DarthFed]

We just never know. This doesn’t become a serious discussion until he passes Pistol in my opinion. Hell he hasn’t even won 3 slams in a year yet. Let’s not crown him goat just yet.

I mean what next are we going to be putting Erdogmus forward as better than Alekhine right this moment? Remember Wei Yi in his teens. Talent must meet execution, execution must meet consistency. That takes time

I agree with some of this as you never know. It’s still a long ways away and who knows, maybe a couple younger supernovas appear and Carlos struggles to win multiple slams per year. And of course health is a factor too but if he does stay relatively healthy he rather obviously will be able to play at a high level until mid to late 30’s at least. And then the math works for him at this point before we even predict sustained dominance.

But as it stands there is only one real threat to him and even if they split slams for awhile like last year we will be seeing Carlos way north of 10 before he turns 26.

The chess examples don’t work for a variety of reasons but the main thing is Wei and Erdogmus haven’t even been anywhere near the best player in the world (obviously the latter has a lot of time to get there). Carlos is the best player in the world at 22, a slight drop down to #2 and then the Grand Canyon down below both of them before you get to the rest.

 

[Federberg]

I agree with some of this as you never know. It’s still a long ways away and who knows, maybe a couple younger supernovas appear and Carlos struggles to win multiple slams per year. And of course health is a factor too but if he does stay relatively healthy he rather obviously will be able to play at a high level until mid to late 30’s at least. And then the math works for him at this point before we even predict sustained dominance.

But as it stands there is only one real threat to him and even if they split slams for awhile like last year we will be seeing Carlos way north of 10 before he turns 26.

The chess examples don’t work for a variety of reasons but the main thing is Wei and Erdogmus haven’t even been anywhere near the best player in the world (obviously the latter has a lot of time to get there). Carlos is the best player in the world at 22, a slight drop down to #2 and then the Grand Canyon down below both of them before you get to the rest.

Re Erdogmus that’s fair. I was being slightly facetious. But… he’s the best player of his age ever.. for each of the last few years. Got the stamp from our Norwegian friend