Heck of a game. Brilliant sac by Carlsen, I think without it, he’s not doing well. Then an inaccuracy (…Bxf3 can’t be good) and Naka took over. Wondering if Houdini can win that endgame.
The scary thing about Carlsen is, it’s apparent that he has not even come close to having peaked yet! Hopefully the same is true of Nakamura.
A final round victory after McShane blunders in time pressure apparently. The other games were all drawn. Kudos on Carlsen’s victory.
One’s class (understanding, nerves, fighting spirit) matters more than the number after one’s name. But Hikaru’s number is back.
Nakamura will be a title contender for the next decade. I wouldn’t say the same about Radjabov, Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk, Svidler, Morozevich (though I’m big fans of the latter three and would love to be proved wrong). Anand will have one shot left; Topalov, maybe one if he’s lucky.
Kramnik is in peak form and will be serious competition for Carlsen. In the next couple world championships, look for Aronian (clock ticking), Karjakin, Caruana, and Nakamura, with maybe Wang Hao, Giri, and a couple newbies, to be the new WC candidates.
Nakamura is doing fine.
Early in the year, I thought Aronian was on fire. For a little while, he was showing even more than Carlsen. But his results have gotten inconsistent. I don’t know, I read between the lines in his interviews, and I may be way off base, but he seems to lack that intense, driving desire that it takes to become the world’s champ. This isn’t a criticism, maybe it’s a life choice. But his games are brilliant, and then, pretty not-so-good, and he doesn’t really seem that concerned, unless his personality is that laid back.
I'm a loyal Nakamura fan, but I'm not so sure he can achieve the top spot either. To me, he seems more interested in playing interesting games than becoming champion. And for that, I deeply admire him, not criticize him. He gives the fans and the game a real shot in the arm. You're hard-pressed to find a single GM draw of his lately. He will always be invited to these top tournaments. This may seem contradictory, but one might say he loves the game too much to be champion. I get the feeling, for example, that he'd rather play certain lines more for the fun of it than the thought of winning. I'm digging his play, I thought his style was long-gone from modern chess, but was I wrong!
These are just the impressions of an amateur. In a way it's good these two guys play the way they do. The chess world needs this. We don't need more Anand-Gelfand (first half of the match) play.
Those people who thought Naka was through because of ONE lousy tournament, well, I guess these are the people whose idea of long-term investing is holding a stock through the weekend..... He's not back, he never was gone. The players are so tightly packed in ratings, that one loss can shove you down 4 positions or more in the list. Big deal. The tourney that just concluded in London was more indicative of his results.
I second those emotions :mrgreen:
I agree that Ivanchuk, Svidler, and Morozevich are ultimately non-contenders, as they are likely past their prime.
Mamedyarov will be top-20 for the next ten years, but not consistently top-5.
However, I think you’re wrong about Radjabov – I suspect he will be consistently top-5 or so for the next 10 years.
Topalov is so over.
Anand is (not) enjoying his last year as world champion.
One more thing about Ivanchuk… I cannot imagine him slowing down. I suspect 35 years from now, Ivanchuk will be emulating Korchnoi and the Energizer bunny, in that he keeps going and going…
A (hopeful) disagreement on Topalov!
Wishing herr Nakamura success in the Tata Steel event. :mrgreen:
I think Hikaru is great for U.S but for him to get better he must remove himself for U.S tournaments and play all major super tournaments in Europe. Also if Hikaru keeps on progressing he might want to transfer federations. The U.S needs to produce another Super GM to challenge Hikaru because Gata Kamsky is just not enough.
We have already produced Caruana. Both Nakamura and Caruana are likely to be in the 2016 Candidates.
Willing a genius into being is hard: Russia found it easier to recruit Karjakin-even they don’t have a genius younger than Grischuk. So a federation creates the environment & crosses fingers
If Kamsky and Caruana play in the next US Championship (Caruana indicated he might), I fail to see why Nakamura should “remove” himself from that tournament. That would be about 3 of the top 15 players in the world playing in it. And the other guys are certainly no slouches either.
As far as I can see he already IS playing in most of the major tournaments, and does quite well. Not easy getting "better" when you're already in the high 2700's!
The last I heard was that FIDE rules prohibit Caruana from playing in the US Championship in May because it is a Zonal (qualifier for World Cup). Caruana is Italian as far as FIDE is concerned.
Michael Aigner
But couldn’t USCF get a dispensation so that Caruana could play hors concours with respect to World Cup spots? He is already in by rating.
I think the Caruana situation goes like this. (If I have any part of this wrong, I apologize in advance.)
Caruana would have to switch federations from ITA to USA to play in the US Championship this year. Citizenship is not an issue. However, FIDE rules require him to not play for Italy for two years before switching. Since he played the 2012 Olympiad, he couldn’t switch before 2014. He would also have to sit out the World Cup for the next few years, which would be a rather expensive proposition.
There is, I believe, one way to get around this. He could pay 5,000 Euros to switch before the two-year period. However, the Italian federation would also have the right to demand a fee of their choosing from Caruana before approving the early switch. Given Caruana’s prominence, it is reasonable to surmise that this fee would be rather large.
So, it seems highly unlikely that such a switch will happen, unless some well-heeled and benevolent US chess fan who would like to see the US with three top-20 GMs on its Olympiad team decides to crack open his checkbook.
But if he’s playing without competing for a World Cup slot, what difference does it make (other than lost cash to FIDE)? Britain has allowed Commonwealth players to play in its championship. Caruana, a US citizen, could still represent Italy in FIDE play while playing in the US championship.
No, because the 2013 U.S. Championship is also the Zonal Championship and, therefore, is governed by FIDE rules for the World Cup cycle. Only players whose FIDE Flag is U.S. may participate in our Zonal Championship. Just to be sure, I discussed this situation with the FIDE leadership, and the Commission for World Championships and Olympiads ruled accordingly. Yes, GM Caruana will get one of the 18 rating positions anyway (for the World Cup), but if he was to play in the Zonal Championship, without taking one of our spots, he will affect the standing of those who he plays. I also discussed this with GM Caruana. His intention was only to request participation in the U.S. Championship, not to change FIDE flag. Of course, the same situation (a player who will qualify based on rating) also applies to GMs Nakamura and Kamsky, but since their FIDE flag is U.S. they are eligible to play…
Whenever the U.S. Championship is not also the Zonal Championship it is a different story and FIDE rules for the World Cup cycle do not apply…
Franc
Zonal President
FIDE made Gareev sit out two years. I don’t think they would treat Caruana any differently. And, from what Mr. Guadalupe has noted, they won’t.
It also appears that Caruana simply intended to play the US Championship, while remaining an Italian player for FIDE purposes. There has been some grumbling that Caruana shouldn’t get a spot in the US Championship ahead of a player who has lived in and actively represented the US. I reserve judgment on whether I agree with that view, but I think it’s a fair argument.
As for Mr. Brock’s reference to the British Championship…if memory serves, the British Championships were open to any resident of a Commonwealth nation until 2003, when GM Kunte won and complaints surfaced that the tournament wasn’t really servicing British players. Since then, the ECF has restricted entry to British Isles subjects or those with British Overseas Dependent Territories Citizenship.
Apparently herr nakamura made about $275K in 2012 and or 2013
From 5/8/13 thru 5/18/13 Hikaru will battle Carlsen,Kramnik,Aronian,Radjabov,Karjakin,Anand,Topalov,Hao,&Hammer in Norway
Good luck Mr.Nakamura :mrgreen:
How do you know or suspect that?
If so, good on him! It’s great to see chess paying.