For the third time, Carlsen has been tied in the traditional format by opponents. So, in fairness to the others earning the right to challenge the “world champion” they should get
some sort of co-champion recognition. Especially Fabiano in this cycle, who drew Carlsen
in each and EVERY traditional game.
So congratulations to the new/old rapid chess king- Magnus Carlsen !!
Perhaps a better idea would be that the current champion simply has to defend the title,
and 6-6 is a valid defense, thus dispersing with the charade of rapid.
For, folks this is rapid deciding the world championship is happening far too frequently.
If Carlsen and Caruana are equal in classical chess and Carlsen is stronger in rapid and blitz, then doesn’t it make sense to say that Carlsen is the all-around stronger player? I have even heard some say that the faster time controls should be part of the regular WCC match and not only used for tiebreak. It would certainly liven things up a bit.
Knock, Knock - this was NOT the Blitz World Championship, NOR was it the RAPID world Championship, it was supposed to be the TRADITIONAL world championship that has for
a fact devolved into something far, far, far less.
We should congratulate Caruana for his performance, and give him the respect a world
co-champion deserves, for in fact, this is what he is.
If two players tie for first in the 200 meters, do they run a 100 meter race to see who is overall the faster runner? Why not run a marathon to determine that instead?
Is the game called “chess”, or is it called “clock”?
The only problem with that is that it could turn into Karpov-Kasparov '84 all over again. There has to be some limit to the number of games (although I agree it should be more than 12) – and if it’s still drawn, I see 3 plausible options (rapid/blitz tiebreaks is not one of them): (1) The pre-match champion retains his title (draw odds); (2) the two players are declared co-champions; (3) the championship is declared vacant, and both players are seeded into the next candidates tournament. The top two finishers in that tournament will play a new match for the title.
As for this notion of Carlsen being the “Rapid” champ only: No. That’s just sour grapes. The conditions of the match (including the tiebreaks) were known to both players beforehand, and agreed to by both players. I’m pretty sure both players would agree that Carlsen is still World Champion – period. No need for any qualifiers.
If you want to do away with rapid tie breakers then Carlsen would still be World Champion, because under the old system a drawn match means the champion retains his title.
I knew I was going to get push back on this, but I don’t think it is a bad idea to make rapid and blitz a part of the title match. It would be like the decathalon, where your total score is based on how you place in different events. Or, instead of replacing the WCC there could be another all-around title that includes classical, rapid, blitz, bullet, maybe even Chess 960 and Bughouse for good measure. Don’t laugh, I think that would be fun.
You meant four players, but there is a two player / one board version where you return each piece you capture to the board. A number of checkmates are made by capturing a piece with check and using it to occupy the last escape square the king has.
There is another two player / one board version (half bughouse) where captured pieces stay off the board, but where any piece still on the board (except the king) may move to any vacant square.
Dentonchess must have missed recent Chessbase article: Vintage Vishy wins blitz and hearts at Tata Steel Chess in Kolkata
by Sagar Shah
“The strongest chess event on Indian soil was held from November 9th to the 14th, 2018 with three days of rapid chess and two days of blitz.” (en.chessbase.com/post/vintage-v … in-kolkata)
First-class players lose to second-class players because second-class players sometimes play a first-class game, especially when playing rapidly. – Siegbert Tarrasch
– Siegbert Tarrasch