Chess

[DarthFed]

And Caruana does win the OCB endgame. Pretty inaccurate stuff from Naka after trading off rooks. He never got g6 in and allowed all Fabi’s remaining pieces to target the f7 weakness. Also 62. Ke7 instead of Kc5 is kind of a bizarre choice.

 

[Federberg]

The tournaments started today and Sindarov already won. Turned around a pretty crappy position against Episenko. Caruana has Naka on the ropes and it looks like Giri is about to go down.

Naka made an interesting and I believe accurate observation about the tournament. Mainly no one truly has a big chance as it will require a +4 or +5 score to win, but there are 4 players that could win it; Naka, Caruana, Pragg, and Sindarov. Episenko and Bluebaum clearly have no chance in this field, and Giri obviously won’t win enough games, his ceiling coming into today was probably +3. I’d say Wei is a darkhorse and then the remaining 4 Naka mentioned are the true contenders.

I for one was delighted that Pragg beat Giri. It was double pleasure. I like Pragg and his game, and I find Giri irritating. Thought that was a great win for Fabi, as Naka has seemed to have an edge over him in the last few years. So impressed with Sindarov. He's DANGEROUS!

 

[Federberg]

I re-watched the Pragg - Giri game. Thought Pragg was so smart to play that line against Giri. It's the sort of messy unstructured position that must have been a nightmare for Anish to deal with. Whoever came up with that plan for him was clever

 

[DarthFed]

Not seeing a whole lot of compensation for the two pawns Wei is down to Fabi. Sure, Caruana is behind in development but tough to exploit it. Still a lot of work to do but this would be a magnificent start to the tournament if he wins today.

That Pragg-Sindarov game is going to have some serious fireworks too!

 

[Federberg]

yup Fabi just won. This should help him settle into it. Wonder how much the odds have changed. Far from over of course. But if there's one player you expect could hold a lead in this group it's him. Pragg seems to have gone wrong somewhere..

 

[DarthFed]

And Wei blundered big time. Losing in 19 moves in the Candidates tourney…that’s brutal.

 

[DarthFed]

yup Fabi just won. This should help him settle into it. Wonder how much the odds have changed. Far from over of course. But if there's one player you expect could hold a lead in this group it's him. Pragg seems to have gone wrong somewhere..

Pragg must have missed e5 after Qc3. I don’t see much good beyond e4 in that position and now he’s clearly worse.

 

[DarthFed]

Given the opposition to start I’d say Fabi becomes a decent favorite at this point, but very good chance he’s tied with Sindarov or Pragg after today as that game will likely be decisive. Sindarov had a dream draw to start but this would be a statement win.

 

[Federberg]

wondering if the time controls could end up being a factor in the Hikaru game. If Anish is forced to speed up in the race to move 40 it could lead to something decisive

 

[DarthFed]

Pragg went down quickly. Hikaru and Wei are already 1.5 points behind Caruana and Sindarov and Pragg now 1 point back. Still a long ways to go with 11 rounds left but that’s a solid lead out of the jump.

 

[Federberg]

Sindarov is a beast. Who would have thought there would be someone else from the same country other than Nordibek who's a natural born killer?

 

[DarthFed]

I know the women’s tournament will get less attention but they’ve had some crazy games so far. My girl Kateryna Lagno could be sitting on .5 points but saved a terrible position in round 1 and won an absurd game today, so she is tied for the lead with 2 points.

I will be rooting for Lagno since I’ve played her a bunch and to my knowledge haven’t played any of the other girls. And her looks don’t hurt either. Felt lucky to go 2-8-2 against her as she is pretty damn strong at blitz. It sucks that she choked the championship match badly a few years back, only needed a draw as white in the last game and she lost miserably.

 

[DarthFed]

Fireworks coming up big time in Sindarov - Caruana and I’d say Fabi has the less comfortable position as he isn’t going to be able to castle anytime soon.

 

[DarthFed]

And really isn’t going to be able to castle, period. Fabi will be looking to exchange a lot of pieces on the queenside.

 

[DarthFed]

Fabi down a pawn and forced to castle by hand kingside. Sindarov does have weaknesses though, not easy to win this. But maybe biggest factor is Caruana has 6 minutes for 18 moves and isn’t the strongest blitz player.

 

[Federberg]

Fabi down a pawn and forced to castle by hand kingside. Sindarov does have weaknesses though, not easy to win this. But maybe biggest factor is Caruana has 6 minutes for 18 moves and isn’t the strongest blitz player.

I'll be super impressed if Fabi can hold this. 6 minutes with 16 moves to play? This would take a Magnus/Alireza level speedy defence for him to pull this off

 

[Federberg]

and it's done! Sindarov takes down Fabi. I get more and more impressed with this young man every time I watch him. He's formidable. I think he has more intuition in his game than Nordibek. He might actually be a stronger long term prospect. But it's close

 

[DarthFed]

Sindarov has so much confidence at this point that he doesn’t know that he’s not supposed to win the candidates on his first try. Still a long ways to go of course but I don’t see him collapsing. Fabi and others are going to have to take it.

I naturally like him as he’s very aggressive/tactical. Textbook example of playing the game on his terms vs Caruana.

 

[DarthFed]

Wei now in trouble out of nowhere against Naka. If he loses today his tournament is over.

 

[Federberg]

Wei now in trouble out of nowhere against Naka. If he loses today his tournament is over.

Hikaru hasn't stopped the King from using g3 though, so perhaps it's not quite over. But is Wei Yi in the frame of mind to take the opportunities given?