Alireza's Resurgence & The 4 Million Dollars Chess Tournament (Is It Real??)

[@alexdinan9709]

I subscribed to this channel in the early days of it being set up and it’s insane to me that it doesn’t have a larger following than it does. It’s great to see it’s gradually growing, but it is by far the best insight into the Chess world from two of the best ambassadors in the game and it deserves so much more love.

[@elena__sh]

The whole 4 mil tournament hype started in a hilarious way: 1. Hans asked Wadim, why he didn't invite America's brightest talent? (Hans meant himself by brightest talent obviously) 2. Wadim proposes this 4 mil buy-in tournament 3. Wadim mentions Hans, saying sth along the lines 'as you wished, we also invited America's brightest talent Fabiano Caruana' 😇

[@gus8696]

I think he said ‘one of the brightest talents’ but yeah

[@davidjames149]

"Nodirbek is very hot" and Cristian saying "super hot right now" had me rolling 35:45

[@KarlMarxBR700]

he is tho

[@gerddensing8051]

Nice memory. Playing the Vlissingen Open back in 2007. I played there, too. Fabi won as a young small boy and IM ahead of a coupe of GMs. Since this time I am following Fabi's development and career and I am fan of him since 2007. ...😉

[@andrewr8144]

The $4 million tournament is the biggest news in chess and needs to be advertised everywhere. And as a poker player, I think it's hilarious that Fabi, the #2 rated in the world didn't think he could find someone to stake him the money for the tournament. He doesn't understand gambling 😂😂😂

[@ritikhans372]

yaah even i thought the same hahahah

[@Sough]

You say that like it's a strange or bad thing that he doesn't have a deep experience with or natural instinct about gambling

[@andrewr8144]

@@Sough I said its funny, read the comments and get off your high horse.

[@evzalxheladini1205]

Chess and gambling is shitty combination

[@Navs006]

The boyss are consistent, my wish came trueee🥺🥺🥺

[@GAMEKING51]

Fabi you could easily get staked 10M+ if you're significantly +ev in a highly publicised high stakes chess tournament

[@Evan-gl3vp]

I can't believe that tournament is real.

[@ZeCroiSSanT950]

Largest prize pool in the history of chess

[@Evan-gl3vp]

@@ZeCroiSSanT950 That part is not accurate. Fischer - Spassky (1992) was $5 million.

[@NichtWunderkind]

​@@Evan-gl3vp that match was a little bit illegal

[@sam9239]

@@Evan-gl3vp that soviet blood money be different xD

[@banihas22]

Alireza's ceiling is the highest in the new generation but his motivation and discipline especially in classical is what will hold him back.

[@markuswiig4707]

The tournament sounds very exciting

[@peinmilan]

Some 10 years ago I mentioned this buy-in tournament idea to Svidler as an anti-draw measure in chess. He did not really understand how would it work. Now I'm happy to see somebody else is thinking about it. :)

[@qilieun]

I love this podcast! Some feedback about audio: Cristian is often much softer spoken than Fabi and guests, and I have to turn the podcast up to hear him, and immediately down when others start talking. I think normalizing the audio can help with this. You could also use a limiter and adjust the gain.

[@pierrejackobs]

Faby is a cool guy. Knowledgable and very calm. The way he sees chess is as a professor. He should open a class. Chess and Philosophy.

[@epicchess2021]

the $4m tournament is nuts really hope it goes ahead so exciting :D

[@adamkemp1194]

Why would any strong female player enter the open if she can make the same money by playing weaker opponents in the Norway Chess scenario.

[@TechTessellator]

True, but we can't really fault them for not playing in open tournaments. Women top 10 are considerably weaker than most top contenders in open events. However, more money is good for any sport. Hopefully more Women can make a living playing chess full time and eventually play in open tournaments to get better at chess. I genuinely think its possible in the near future.

[@123amsterdan456]

Marketing

[@spurriousgod]

The problem with the URS is that there aren't enough FIDE-rated rapid and blitz events for GM's, so those ratings aren't as accurate as they should be. A lot of GM's only get their rapid/blitz rating "updated" once a year, at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships. There need to be a lot more FIDE-rated rapid and blitz events - and not just for Super GM's, like the GCT events.

[@BigFatSandwitch]

I am pretty sure Wadim is backing Nodirbek and that's why he was immediately in. Betting on Nodirbek will give the best ROI given his defensive skills and also the ability to win tournaments.

[@lollycopter]

Wadim probably has rich friends.

[@Najdorfc5]

Great job both of you!!

[@anoukadel6397]

Daniel Dardha performance rating at Sardinia World Chess Festival was 2685 ! His performance rating at Tata Steel Chess Challengers was 2708. So both of Fabiano's estimates were a bit off.

[@tanvirhasanshuvo2968]

Fabi wasn’t talking about PR, he was talking about the average rating of his opponents

[@danielhallback]

Excited to hear about this tournament! Glad to see a video about it.

[@sovjetonion6385]

In my eyes a lot of the problems with the rating system would be tackled if people lost rating over time if theyre inactive, but I never hear it mentioned

[@evelynn4273]

FYI, Jorden lives in the Netherlands. Not cheap.

[@armandomarin371]

🙂🙂i love your podcast guys, I love Fabi's tranquility, I feel a little identified.

[@crazykhespar8487]

18:10 And so paying for travel costs and like 20k for participating for 6th onward? That with nice flights and lodgings? The rest could easily go to the winners. If all top 30 show up in the world, that would be under 1 million for the 25 people that are 6th and onwards, leaving a little over 3 million for the winners.

[@katieevans6017]

Alireza had a good Tata steel, one bad tournament and idiots go crazy writing him off. The bigger question is whether this was a one off for Gukesh or if he'll springboard from this to greater things. Sadly, beating Ding is not looking like it is worth too much with his present form.

[@tanvirhasanshuvo2968]

One off Gukesh win? He finished shared first in WR, Tata. 3rd in Norway. First in Board one in Olympiad. Won Chennai masters on demand.

[@tristan7720]

Can someone tell me if the merch quality as well as the cut is good?

[@csqpod]

the best

[@MaryJoWright]

I have a T-shirt, excellent quality. Not a very long design though; which I don't mind at all but something to keep in mind if you're super tall, you might want to size up.

[@tristan7720]

@@MaryJoWright I like the design so that doesn't matter. I'm 6'2 and 200 pounds tho so would you say XL is enough?

[@MaryJoWright]

@@tristan7720 sounds like it but I claim no responsibility 😀 Edit to add: For reference I'm 5'10" and have a size M which is an OK length for me but I don't have a particularly long torso. I think you should be fine with the XL

[@MaryJoWright]

​@@tristan7720my previous reply seems to be lost... Anyway, you should be fine with that size! Should have clarified, by not very long design I meant the cut, not the design on the shirt. It's not short by any means though!!

[@jorgemontero6384]

The extra weight of rapid and blitz in that unified rating is easy to explain, as it fails just like the dow jones industrial average: It overweights the categories that have the highest numbers. Since the top elo in blitz is quite a bit higher than in classical, then blitz counts more, as getting to, say, 2800 blitz is far more common than 2800 classical. The lack of decay of inactive ratings is also a concern on all systems, as it's always been. I bet you can still farm some points out of yasser, just like anyone that plays Ding right now is outright farming.

[@thomassavage8581]

i never doubt alizera in that game against carlsen !!! in that match all i keep saying comes alizera you can do it!!

[@truthbetold1377]

Women's sports have been given breaks in the "load" they must bear in order to get equal pay with men. Pro tennis is a prime example, where they play only the best of three sets but men must play the best of five sets throughout a tournament. In chess they usually play less rounds than men and that should be corrected.

[@crazykhespar8487]

I fully agree, it stunts skill growth as well.

[@tristan7720]

Holy cow what are these negative comments here? You all know Fabi is a very respectful guy and he never intends to insult people especially not in this video.

[@vartananq]

So basically what Fabi is saying is that Anand possibly would have a better chance beating Gukesh than Ding

[@Nishki-v-Sharkata]

I did not expect to hear Plovdiv being mentioned ever in the podcast! 🇧🇬🇧🇬

[@sillagana]

"I'm a horse, and someone is betting on me"

[@Tymczas]

maybe there is some merit that Fabi is called "Italian stallion" by people who saw him in shower....

[@HexFent]

Do you understand how rhetorical language works?

[@baka1984]

16:20 The fact that a 2699 rated GM is treated like this blows my actual mind. I would have thought they were treated much much better but I guess even the top 0.0001% of players aren't worth it in organizers eyes.

[@hdmotivated]

Why? Chess is a niche board game bro

[@pankajparihar9557]

@Cristian Chirila...Please please speak louder and closer to the Mic in all your podcasts...There are times when you are clear but then you take your mouth away from the Mic and your words become muffled...At other times, you are close to the Mic but still muffle the words in order to complete the sentence faster...Also, please stop putting your finger near to your lips while speaking, which also muffles the words.. I have seen all your podcasts from the first one and this is a persistent issue in all of them. You may want to review 4 - 5 of your podcasts to understand what I am saying & try & raise the quality of your speech and voice. I, otherwise just love the podcasts for the content.

[@MaryJoWright]

Seconding all of this. I've listened to them all, I love them all!! Please consider pankajparihar's comments regarding the sound, he is not wrong.

[@Dreadscare]

Great episode. Would like to hear your guys' take on the Brandon ''viih sou'' ban.

[@nickc9375]

Given that the Candidates is played at a classical time control (excluding tiebreaks), what's the logic for including rapid and blitz results?

[@morningwombat]

Cristian kind of looks like Lomachenko. Maybe he should start chess boxing.

[@brewslidepark]

Haha, he does fr

[@lightofscorpio9396]

whoever's money that is, that is giving the money as an award, its up to them imo in how they want to allocate it. regardless of the difference in ratings. although, i do understand why anyone would question it. if chess players are winning big, its good for chess overall.

[@lightofscorpio9396]

seems like the fide points are just a hot mess...

[@charanraj2714]

Gukesh is not playing in Norway chess.

[@seinundzeiten]

Alireza finally shows us why he might be the next WC

[@jennyohara4011]

I cant work out why chess tournaments have such low prizemoney...Sharjah has only 52,000 dollars total prize money..Why doesnt Caruana himself contact Big Businesses amd get support from them..he then wears a shirt with their logo etc.

[@lukaswolek7294]

Yeeeeessssss! New Episode!

[@sembrey5709]

Jordan was right to bring this up, but I think he's spitting into the wind.

[@guest_informant]

I'm not anti-Hans at all, but this move will really make him put his money where his mouth is. In that company it seems like he'd be a distant last place. I can't see anyone backing Hans to the tune of $1m - unless his mum's got some Bitcoin. But now the idea has been floated, a different set of players, maybe with different stakes might happen sometime. It could be mayhem though. There's some amount of agreeing to draws in chess for the sake of peace and quiet in potentially controversial but relatively low stakes circumstances. If those circumstances become high stakes There Will Be Bad Blood.

[@Blue14Studios]

The anti cheating measures should be on top and the maximum security should impose at that money amount.

[@crazykhespar8487]

A pressure detecting seat for everyone, bootybeads are too OP

[@Blue14Studios]

I also think that if a cheating device can be hidden and "masked" with a plastic bag or other means to avoid detection of any metals, that should be checked as well. If that's possible, (if masking of metals is possible) it means that metal detectors which is the main body search method is becoming useless. It's just a theory and I feel it's possible to mask metal cheating devices with other materials. I might be wrong but it should be checked.

[@deleondaniels4572]

That’s a nice 2 million dollars donated to Fabi 😂

[@NaveShifroni-u2d]

Great Podcast! The only problem I have with it is the way Christian pronounces "women"

[@MeetTheBushes]

If you think Hans wasn't involved prior to the tweet, you're crazy.

[@artpak2761]

Gukesh is not playing Norway If you have 10 double round robin you have 6 players max no?

[@flipina]

Who is backing Fabi????

[@lollycopter]

Sounds like he has signed an NDA.

[@Micleprechuan]

Probably Rex Sinquefield, but who knows

[@lollycopter]

@@Micleprechuan I highly doubt it's Rex but I'll refrain from speculating further here.

[@chinmay4331]

For the WR tournament, are Nepo and/or Nodirbek being "sponsored" by Wadim himself? If that's the case then do you perceive any conflict of interest?

[@TerriblyNice_Not]

Christian's argument on the Opens seems weird. This is a well known economic fact outside of just chess. Prize money in everything from TV game shows, sports, and beyond has not grown in 20 years. With accounting for inflation, the value of prize funds has dropped significantly in that period, on top of the cost of travel and stay increasing also with inflation. Just bizarre argument he seems to be making.

[@gunesanacak9452]

yeah they did not count inflaton when talking about it at all.But fabi made a very good point that as there are more high rated players because of the circuit points organizers are not giving accomodations as much so it becomes harder to win prize money and you might have a very good chance of spending 1 week AND losing a money worth of 1 week holiday basically

[@jb95467]

Where are they expecting this money to come from for open tournaments? Like, if you're an already over the hill 2650, maybe it's time to start coaching. No one's gonna pay to watch you play when there are 20 younger, more exciting talents also available.

[@rhysgriffiths9675]

Exactly. There should be no entitlement to get paid for playing a board game. It's not a charity. Do some coaching instead.

[@UponthePath]

lol at the picture they chose for Magnus @1:47

[@maxmustermann5590]

Why would niemann screw himself out of a million dollars lol

[@Saltywengiell]

Well its not classical. he has chances tbh.

[@11batterista11]

he'll be buzzin

[@lollycopter]

@@Saltywengiell Except Niemann's best otb rating is in classical. Now look up his head-to-head results against Fabi.

[@hashcr2]

Hans is getting smoked.. XD

[@Jimjammcblamblam]

if alireza can have these flashes of greatness more consistently/regularly I think he could surpass magnus as best in the world

[@YRMW1983]

Just a reminder that just because someone say's they're objective doesn't necessarily mean they ARE objective...

[@crazykhespar8487]

Im objective. I look at things as objects. Goodbye.

[@benharris3285]

£5000 in 2012 is way less than £5000 in 2024. When you look at real terms earnings it’s definitely getting worse

[@alexgabriel5877]

15 minutes with no increment OTB? damn its gonna be cancer, pieces flying, flagging, potential conflicts

[@VaRag98]

I support Fide circuit, as I would like to see these 2750+ GMs go against 24/25/2600 rated players and win on demand or lose rating by drawing (not an easy choice). That's where the entertainment is, as a spectator. I want to see courage on board. World's best 15 competing against each other, all the time, gets boring for us.

[@LasCosasDeBrunin]

The problem is that opens are very tiring, the prizes are nothing special, and the risk of just making one or two draws and seeing your rating collapse, which may cost you invites to closed tournaments, is too high. I'd like to see it, but many changes would be needed.

[@chrisf5828]

re: Artemiev #6 URS. The URS top 10 is very sensible and expected except Artemiev. Classical is weighted most and blitz least so why is Artemiev high? Based on URS method we can deduce that Artemiev has the most momentum -- that his early career games are very weak and he has played much better more recently. He may be a fluke of the method just as Ding snd Annand being top 10 is a fluke of the Elo method. The URS devalues older results. Recent meteors like Wei Yi and Nodirbek rate high. Annand and Ding are down to 16 and 17. Presumably zooming Arjun will also soon rate very high. URS looks as valid or invalid as Elo on balance, but a dufferent focus -- it punishes decline and inactivity faster. Both are flawed. Choose your poison.

[@alikhanmenseitov5158]

Is anyone going to watch Norway chess in person? I’m going by myself so thought could meet some people!

[@Seforis-er2oc]

Here is your one million dollar. Now go, win, and give me 1,9 million back. If you don't, then you own me 500,000 dollars.

[@TheBlackChessAuthority]

The money may make it interesting, but it depends on who is playing in the tournament. The Millionaire Chess Tournament didn't go over well.

[@alisolo4083]

Norway chess is stronger than candidate

[@SeunDr]

Someone finally says my mind

[@danielhallback]

30-0 challenge!

[@edwarddewit43]

1 hour of discussing "hot guys"

[@duda-eg5ww]

Disrespect towards ding 🤦‍♂️ . He will prove you wrong sooon fabi will definitely beat you in norway.

[@chinmay4331]

Open tournaments in Europe ARE in fact weaker than tournaments in UAE. This is not a valid comparison!

[@dragosbalan1738]

among the 4, I think that nodirbek is the big big favorite, then fabi fights with nepo for the 2nd place, but there is a big but... hans can catch a good signal and destroy everyone.

[@Deerjason]

Yeah idk who’s funding 1M for Hans who has the lowest chances

[@thebiglebrowski3695]

You think that Nodirbek is a big favourite over Fabi and Nepo? That's bold. He is lower rated than them in all three time controls. In the faster time controls I would make Ian the favourite, Fabi 2nd, Nordibek and then Hans. In a normal rapud tournament Fabi and Nodirbek would be a toss up but in such a high stakes tournament Fabi would likely go all out with his prep and we all know what he can do when fully prepped.

[@dragosbalan1738]

@@thebiglebrowski3695 I don't think, I know he is better, maybe you forgot he is world champion in rapid. I would go further and say that fabi is not in the same category. nordirbek plays with anyone from equal to equal in rapid chess... in classical chess a different story, there Fabi certainly has an advantage, not a big one, but it does

[@IamPain190]

In rapid I'm taking fabi, blitz nodirbek ​@@dragosbalan1738 we have seen nodirbek hot and cold. Fabi was cold for 11 months from his start of career

[@thebiglebrowski3695]

​@@dragosbalan1738 He isn't, Magnus is. He was in 2021 but then Magnus won it the next two times. He didn't even finish top 3 in either of the last two ... Fabi did, though. Outside of that one tournament, when nobody really respected him as a genuine threat yet and got blindsided by him, he hasn't done much in rapid. His overall body of work in rapid is weaker than either of the others.

[@chinmay4331]

BTW, on whether Peter is better than Vincent... I would argue Peter's rating is lower than what it should be because he is gaining rating points in every tournament he plays. Him and Vincent actually played recently in TePe Sigeman and the game ended in the draw. Peter ended up joint 1st before the tiebreaks with Nodirbek and Arjun while Vincent finished 6th. So it is entirely possible that a rating system may rate Peter as being better than Vincent right now. Artemiev's rating is high in URS because since 2022, he hasn't had chance to play too much Classical and basically most of what he plays now is Rapid and Blitz where he performs very well. URS gives more weightage to most recent results than to previous results so his more impressive and recent rapid and blitz results overcome his less impressive but older classical results.

[@misomiso8228]

It would really be interesting to hear what Fabi thinks the best STRATEGY for playing an open is. What I mean is opening selection, and if and how you vary your openings throughout the tournament, if you prepare for some of the best players by doing research of their games, if you do a lot of physical training before the tournament so you're in good shape etc. Many thanks

[@8964TS]

Since Norway is an invitational rather than a true open, not all the normal arguments against equal pay apply ("Women can just enter the Open" is the standard argument, which is valid most of the time, but not here). But one thing that isn't different is the ratings. There are about 300 men higher rated than Ju Wenjun and about 280 of those men never have the opportunity to win the sort of prize money offered to women's only events in chess. Male chess players have more to do to make a living at the game.

[@ultrainstinctshaggy669]

Under an hour gang, rise up

[@thomasdequincey5811]

That 1 mill buy in tournament sounds stupid. P.S. The key to Gukesh winning was Magnus deciding not to play. Because that decision led to Abasov taking his place and it was how Abasov played that determined the winner.

[@buzztube1738]

Then what other players were doing? They could've stop gukesh

[@imnobody642]

where is Hans gonna come up with a million dollars?!?

[@rhysgriffiths9675]

And who is stupid enough to bet on him?

[@lollycopter]

@@rhysgriffiths9675 Maybe Elon.

[@evelynn4273]

Everyone is low-key pushing for chess gambling so they can make more money. More money always cures everything. RIP chess.

[@lesarnolfinis6775]

The 4 millions dollar tournament feels like milking Niemann unless the stakes make Niemann play unaturally good chess. Not a good idea in any case.

[@gunesanacak9452]

yeah it is kind of but tbh ı think everybody has a chance of winning between %20-30 it is a 1 day event with no increment and in rapid so everything can happen

[@jeffreyforbes7650]

Pretty easy to get to 3200 Fabi😢

[@iatin1883]

Ding being not top 10 is so cap fabi cmon bruh. fabi you are facing him right soon lets see if you can manage to beat not a top 10 player, as an number 2 player.

[@prcbras]

seriously, it feels so disrespctful. Magnus is still by far the best player and the last time Ding played him in Grenke he drew him twice. So, bad form or not Ding can still keep up with the best in the world. Seems unnecessary to take shots at him all the time.

[@artpak2761]

35:45 Nordibek is very hot 🙃

[@IamPain190]

Haters are coming for Fabi these days. We are growing then ❤😂

[@flatbread42]

While I have issues with the FIDE Circuit, I disagree with Fabi when he says you don’t have to perform consistently to win. Gukesh’s final score was equivalent to getting first place at 5 events with an average rating of 2674 which I think is pretty impressive. However, that ignores the fact that Fabi technically won the FIDE Circuit. His score was equivalent to getting first in 5 events with an average rating of 2737. I don’t but the idea that you don’t need consistency to win 5 2740 events when only 15 people are rated about 2740 to begin with. Am I missing something?

[@adifferentusername999]

The problem is that for open tournaments, the average rating of the event is calculated by the top 8 in the standings at the end. This can result in the event being counted as a 2700 average, even if the winner played an average of 2500-2600 players

[@AyushBahuguna]

I think Fabi has discussed this before with how the Circuit system's weighting of tournaments is poor, with weaker players doing well in weaker tournaments were valued equal or better than good performances in harder tournaments. I also find it braindead that rapid and blitz tournaments also contribute to the Circuit score to decide a candidate for a classical world champion. And I honestly don't think that ruling was because they correlate to strength in classical or anything, but rather because FIDE didn't want the top players prioritizing classical tournaments during the Rapid and Blitz championships. Magnus is very much a statistical anomaly in that he dominates all formats, but I don't think any other player can stake a claim for being a candidate just because they did well in short time formats.

[@noahbaker-kang5148]

I agree with Fabi -- the more money in chess the better. However, unlike physical sports, I don't see the reason for having separate divisions in chess. It's actually quite patronizing if you think about it.

[@D.U.D.E-]

I agree, however, I don't think the majority of women chess players would agree.

[@FellowHuman18]

That's why Judit Polgar was extra amazing.

[@u.v.s.5583]

"Fabi is a mean bully." Probably Predke, 2024

[@sambarbasa1643]

Hans Niemann is at a disadvantage with his opponents. He gets gets nothing on the last place. Pity on him. He is going to be a fertilizer for players. He is 0-5 on Caruana on classical

[@patheticpear2897]

When women start competing in the Open tournaments will they be described as playing at higher than the highest level?

[@glenrocha3377]

Why Fabi always Clowning on Ding lol Ding has a plus score against Fabi lmao

[@lollycopter]

Because Fabi has been paying attention to his recent game quality and results.

[@prcbras]

if I had a negative score against a player I wouldn't criticize them all the time, the way Caruana tends to do about Ding because it could look like bad sportsmanship. I don't think Caruana got over that Ding was the one who came second in the 2022 candidates instead of himself. He wants to be world chamion so bad but he hasn't been able to do it, and Ding did it. I get the vibe that irks him

[@rams2702]

when do they talk about alireza? dont have time to listen to whole clip. thanks!

[@Chessdummy]

Yet the best in the galaxy will not be there, go figure.

[@efthymiosn3381]

Nepo wins that tournament.

[@Dezu123]

everyone staked is kinda weak, putting half of net worth on the table on a few blitz games is the play

[@lollycopter]

Look up their World Rapid Championships results history and rapid ratings/rankings.

[@Dezu123]

@@lollycopter ? my comment means that not playing with their own money is not that hype to me

[@Young-ep8ik]

Ding vs Fabi: 6W 9D 2L. Ding vs Gukesh: 2W 0D 0L.

[@prcbras]

that's right. Ding has beat Fabi 3 times as much as fabi beat Ding. That's what I think about everytime Fabi talks about Ding's chess

[@johnelias4175]

Elon Musk ( Neuralink ) as juicer ?

[@vaibhavrajput2284]

Coming to the Durarbayli comment, I believe he is just being a sore loser here. Only Arjun (and may be Nihal, Raunak) are sponsored. So these are only 3 out of may be 50 Indians who are participating. So his analysis is complete bullsh*t. Another point is that, he believes that he should be able to get a separate room and negotiate starting fees. The guy is not even in top 50. How can he demand such conditions is beyond me. What is happening is this: Indian players who are rated 2500 to 2650, are extremely strong for their rating and are NOT sponsored, are not allowing players like Durarbayli to win such open events. And why should anyone offer players like Durarbayli easy money? These Indian players are working hard, again without sponsorship, to reach that strength. So overall, may be Durarbayli's intentions were good, but his point of view was wrong

[@adifferentusername999]

Prag and Gukesh are also sponsored, as well as vaishali, and others I believe such as Vantika Agrawal, Savitha Shri, Shubhi Gupta, Saparya Ghosh, Charvi, and Ilamparthi. It only takes a quick google search lmao and a lot of these players are not even at the very top, such as llamparthi being sponsored by the Pravaha foundation despite only being 2440. Do your research.

[@biswarupdas1861]

@@adifferentusername999 They are not playing in the Sharjah Masters. Also, how does getting sponsorship make you a villain?? It is not their fault that Azerbaijani companies (or any other companies) are not sponsoring Durarbayli.

[@adifferentusername999]

@@biswarupdas1861 I never said that they were playing Sharjah? The original commenter just said that only a few of them have sponsors, I was just combatting that. Also of course it doesn't make you a villain, I hope more countries start putting more money into chess like India does.

[@jessiejess-sj8pv]

Fabi is always speaking down to Ding and Alireza, it’s quite strange, don’t forget you’ve lost two candidates in a row, finishing behind Hikaru, Ian and Ding multiple times, maybe slow down on the shade you’re throwing Fabi.

[@adifferentusername999]

He's not speaking down on Ding, just saying he's in bad form right now, which is undeniably true, and he also praised alireza a lot idk what ur talking about

[@miroslavjanecek9993]

He's not. He's being very objective. Ding, for example, has been playing badly for a while, it's not "throwing shade" on him to say so.

[@robertopimenta9340]

Fabi was leading the candidates in which ding finished in second. Fabi was leading with Ian and had to risk everything for first place, otherwise he would’ve finished above Ding. Let’s not forget about that.

[@orccen]

I think fabi is perhaps a little competitive, but I don't feel like he's trying to talk down to them, possibly inadvertently if you wanna hear it that way

[@PytorDukiv]

7/8 people lose the candidates.

[@jorgecondorchoasupa3411]

Pensé q pasarían alguna partida comentada pero es puro bla bla bla