Fire 🔥 | Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Alireza Firouzja | FIDE Candidates 2022

Chess Grandmaster Daniel King examines Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Alireza Firouzja. Support on Patreon: 🔥 / powerplaychess ►Support via PayPal (💲): www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
►Support via PayPal (€): www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
►Support via PayPal (£): www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
Livestream with Ruslan Ponomariov June 24th, 6pm CEST: • From Ukraine with Love...
►Chessable: www.chessable.com/how-good-is...
www.chessable.com/how-good-is...
►My Kalashnikov course: www.chessable.com/kings-kalas...
►ChessBase DVDs: shop.chessbase.com/en/categor...
✔ SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/powerplaysubscription
👕 NEW MERCH: teespring.com/stores/power-pl...
Photos: FIDE/Stev Bonhage - candidates.fide.com/
📺 Candidates 2020: bit.ly/candidateschess
📺 FIROUZJA: bit.ly/firouzja
📺 CARLSEN: bit.ly/wcmagnuscarlsen
📺 BOBBY FISCHER: bit.ly/rjbobbyfischer
📺 BOBBY FISCHER BLITZ bit.ly/fischerblitz
📺 TATA STEEL 2020: bit.ly/tata2020
📺 FIDE Chess.com IOM 2019: bit.ly/FIDEIOM2019
📺 WOMEN CHESS: bit.ly/womenchess
📺 ALPHAZERO: bit.ly/alphazerostockfish
📺 CHESS CLASSICS bit.ly/chessclassics
📺 TOP 10 2018: bit.ly/TOP10GAMES2018
📺 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2018: bit.ly/worldchess2018
📺 SPASSKY bit.ly/borisspassky
📺 TAL bit.ly/mikhailtal
📺 KORCHNOI bit.ly/viktorkorchnoi
📺 CHESS CLASSICS bit.ly/chessclassics
📺 BRILLIANCY: bit.ly/brilliancychess
📺 TOP10 2017: bit.ly/top10chess2017
🎥 NEW: bit.ly/newchessvideos
💿 Power Play DVDs: bit.ly/chessbasedvds
►Facebook: bit.ly/danielkingfacebook
►Twitter: / danielkingchess
#powerplaychess #fidecandidates #candidates2022

[@PowerPlayChess]

If you ❤ my videos do *subscribe* bit.ly/powerplaysubscription and do checkout the *supporting* *options* through Patreon: bit.ly/patreondanielking or through *PayPal* (links in the description)

[@sterling19]

Really happy to see Nepo playing well again after the mare v Magnus.

[@azamat_bagatov69]

Same lol and what a mare that must’ve been for him. Shit even I still think about it 😂

[@madokakaname471]

what doesnt kill you makes you stronger

[@cankercanison92]

I feel like many people probably wrote Nepomniachtchi off after the match with Carlsen but he's extremely determined.

[@nickjackson6962]

Powerplay to 100k!!!

[@herenownow]

Wow, an absolute crush by Nepo. As a Najdorf lover as black, tough to see, but can't even be mad. Super surprising choices by Firouzja. Thanks Danny as always!

[@littlehorhey5285]

Tough to see? Haven't you been crushed enough in it for it to not be surprising.

[@TheDustAutumn]

I love King's commentary. Its shocking to me he has so few followers considering the quality of his videos

[@joseraulcapablanca8564]

A smashing win for Nepo. Thanks Daniel and keep up the good work.

[@kksrinivas54]

Omg, couldn't count the number of pins in this game and few side variations that were possible. Great knock-out punch by Nepo! Thanks Danny as always!

[@andreadiotallevi5780]

Great analysis and storytelling as always. Nepo played with such energy!

[@MattduCouloir]

Wow, makes me want to play 1.e4 and get into these crazy sicilian positions. What a game by Nepo and great recap also !

[@andrewhaldenby4949]

I just feel that Nepo will be stronger for the world championship experience, good luck to him

[@andrewroberts8139]

I'm surprised you didn't go for 'the end is Naj' as a tagline

[@PowerPlayChess]

I will bear that in mind!

[@nilsp9426]

Nepo definitely at home in these positions. There is so much to learn from that. Not that easy to fool him with prep.

[@popop143]

Thanks for actually giving some insight on why Firouzja played Nd6. A lot of people were saying that they didn't understand why he played the knight there, but after seeing your explanation of the threat of Nf5, I kinda see why Firouzja picked it as his "best" recourse. Really, pick your poison position and he picked the most dangerous one.

[@abhijitsarkar7257]

after qxb4 black is probably lost in pawn endgame,that is why it was +3 for nepo

[@popop143]

@@abhijitsarkar7257 I know that Firouzja was probably lost, but in most sites, people are saying that they couldn't understand Nd6 and it was a super ugly move that didn't make sense because it hangs the b4 pawn. Firouzja probably saw that when he took 40+ minutes thinking before Nd6, but his thought process was that Nf5 was a bigger threat than Qxb4. Of course we know that it isn't the case because we see the +3, but the players can't see that. Even the computer suggested Qc7 was super hard to calculate, involving a lot of only moves and an unclear piece sacrifice down the line for smaller advantage for white.

[@RudelTaktik1889]

Greetings from Spain (some guy who goes all the way from Spain to play a Congress at Hammersmith...😉)

[@marwanmg]

Very informative, I like your commentary all my life.

[@jonathanbrewer7072]

Thank you, Daniel.

[@greatpariscars]

Danny ewe da man! Love your commentary!

[@SLKCHESS]

Nice video

[@mutedflo]

You pronounce Firouzja's surname really well

[@PowerPlayChess]

Thank you.

[@Matthew-bu7fg]

I love that Nepo is playing well and this game was absolutely amazing from his perspective, punishing each of Alireza's small (or huge) inaccuracies That said, I will stick my colours to the mast and say that Nepo will NOT win the candidates. I have seen Nepo in this position too many times where he's +2 or +3 after 5/6 rounds and then tails off towards the end and this time he doesn't have a mid-tournament break to save him. I would absolutely love to be proved wrong... but I don't see it. Fabi still the favourite. Great video as always, Daniel!

[@ravenlord4]

Exactly! Last time the candidates tourney was in essence 2 separate 7 round events. This time stamina and endurance will certainly play a key.

[@quivalla]

I don't usually use TV references but its like the Seinfeld episode where George always tries and leaves on a high note as if he stays too long he will mess things up. I know nothing about Nepo personally but I wonder what is the cause of his inconsistency. He is an absolute beast of a player and I don't think anyone calculates at his speed when in top form. Could it be a decline in enthusiasm or fatigue?. Perhaps having a bad game creates a chain reaction. Whatever the issue is with him, it has nothing to do with chess and one would think it could easily be remedied when properly identified.

[@davidcopson5800]

Great game, great analysis. Nepo surprising us now.

[@postyoda1623]

The first move that firouzja was out of prep and memorization he made a mistake; this has happened in many games, he wiggles out with a draw in some of them, but against strong opponents this is a recurring theme that immediately after prep he makes a mistake. I wonder if people claiming him as like the greatest thing since sliced bread have actually looked at these games.

[@thishex]

A fair point. Danny himself has hyped Firouzja a lot. Remains to be seen if he can live up to it.

[@arshjhaj3609]

His 2800+ rating is also a joke. He simply hasn't proven himself against top players in classical chess. His best classical tournament was probably Norway Chess 2020, but if you look closely many of his wins were in armageddon not classical.

[@fravatel]

@@arshjhaj3609 that is nonsense: he played Tata 2021 and scored 8/11 against the world‘s best, won the grand swiss ahead of Caruana and he has beaten Nepo before in Norway Chess 2021 where he scored five wins to finish with 6,5 out of 10, a pretty respectable score.

[@knudkjlner2310]

@@arshjhaj3609 You're plain wrong about Alireza not having proven himself - and armageddon as you refer to doesn't count towards classical rating, only classical games do. But if you have a better method of calculating strength than the rating one.............. please, do share your deep thoughts with the rest of us. Subjective assessment is, however, not a valid option!

[@arshjhaj3609]

​@@fravatel Many of his classical wins in these tournaments were against unknowns and weak players like Tari, D Anton Guijarro and older past-their-prime guys like Harikrishna. While it is true that he has beaten some strong GMs like Nepo and Karjakin, what I have an issue with is how someone who's never beaten a 2800+ player in classical can be rated 2800+. That is just an absurdity. Alireza isn't a bad player. He's a super-GM. My point is that he's no better than an average super-GM like Duda or Rapport. He's not the next Carlsen like many claim.

[@andrewsalahudin]

Very instructive instructive game.

[@DG-ss2zd]

Great game - ups the pressure on caruana

[@DK-ek9qf]

3:07 I noticed that Stockfish also likes to keep pieces on the board. This move is computer style.

[@HunterBelkiran]

Firouzja's position was Nepo's pin cushion.

[@AroundWayOther]

😮😮fire game!

[@ticusdracula]

Regards from Transilvania von herby ☘️

[@RoyGazoff]

GG, definitely

[@LateCloser]

I do like seeing Nepo play well. However, in the back of my mind I dread him winning this tournament. I fear a situation similar to what happened to Shirov, long ago. Even if Magnus WANTED to play the match, which he said he doesn't, there might be a really hard time for FIDE to get any kind of sponsorship for a rematch. I'm sure FIDE is secretly rooting againt Ian. Sadly. Fortunately, there is a lot of tournament play left. Even young Firouzja is not out of it yet. Although, he definitely seems like he needs some more work to challenge. Maybe next cycle. I know he hasn't shown his best yet, but he's sure getting a lot of lessons from his older more experienced colleagues.

[@ticusdracula]

I played this line in a correspondence game

[@realdrummo]

Apart from Kh8 computer also says Nd6 is critical (rather than Bxf1 which is just losing)

[@brandonjoncas1582]

can u show some karpov kasparov so or tal games

[@fixpontt]

does somebody know Firouzja's team? i only saw iranian trainers around him and that's wont be good enough on this level, every major players i know at some point in their life had european/post-sovet trainers around them

[@postyoda1623]

He represents France now, his coach was Cheparinov for some time I believe and he worked for some time with Kramnik even. I think he can have anyone he likes in his team as a part of French federation.

[@huddunlap3999]

According to my database ( Hiarcs) 18. f6 is the new move. Black has a huge plus score after 18exd5.

[@coconutz247]

you said it...."convincing win". nepo landed punch after punch with no good answers.

[@yorick021]

Hard to criticize such a strong player but ..b3 seemed like a better try for black to rip open some lines against whites king. a3 just fixes the black pawns on dark squares and lets white close all files near the king without any possible desperado sacrifices. Games like these help me remind what a strong player Nepo actually is. Such a shame he could not find his form in the last WC.

[@michaelf8221]

I truly worry that Carlsen has absolutely no interest in playing Nepo again...

[@shashank22]

Alireza absolutely blown off the board in one of Nepo's pet openings. The kid hasn't watched the Daniel King DVDs has he?

[@bernardfinucane2061]

Will Magnus be willing to play Nepo again?

[@AlonsoRules]

Firouzja might have to crank out the King's Gambit if he wants to have a chance

[@tonyclements]

I always enjoy your recaps. What do you think of putting an eval bar with the board?

[@bbm6993]

Firouzja forgot the preparation

[@David-ee1pi]

Wonder of Firouzja might try getting out of theory early, like Carlsen, and trusting his ability.

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

When Alireza loses a game it causes such excitement and noise when he wins everyone falls silent and shuts up.

[@nilsp9426]

My favourite future timeline: Nepo wins the candidates Carlsen refuses to play him, as advertised FIDE intervenes and threatenes Carlsen with exclusion Carlsen does play Nepo Nepo blasts Carlsen off the board

[@chrisiver8506]

Well that took a twist lol

[@t00mgoos]

0% nepo 'blasts' carlsen off the board, did you watch the last WCC?

[@Matthew-bu7fg]

what are FIDE excluding Magnus from, out of interest?

[@MadmanGoneMad2012]

Abstain yourself from woolgathering.

[@nilsp9426]

@@Matthew-bu7fg in my hypothetical timeline: they threaten to exclude him from tournament play

[@DKarkarov]

Hoping Cuarana puts it together and wins this. I think Nepo has the number of most of his opposition here, but he doesn't have anything for Carlsen. Alireza is kinda showing that his run to #2 was helped a lot by not having to play anyone in that top 5. He still needs more time I think.

[@kennethgriffin5761]

Good video. Might wanna learn to pronounce Firouzja though!

[@PowerPlayChess]

I was given linguistic advice by my Iranian friends.

[@Matthew-bu7fg]

Danny is one of the few chess commentators who actually researches how to/asks players how they want their name to be pronounced.

[@kennethgriffin5761]

@@PowerPlayChess i was wrong. your pronounciation is correct and every other commenter's is wrong.

[@huddunlap3999]

I really don't want to see Ian as the next challenger.

[@philipstevenson5166]

firo nowhere near carlsen yet; nor is anyone really

[@ninonucaro8539]

Nice match, very weak Ferouzja

[@geonerd]

"Very weak." FFS, dude. FFS!? By definition, he's playing the strongest people on the planet.

[@julianpoletti6182]

We should change the rules of chess. When players want to resign, instead of saying "I resign" and reaching the other player for the handshake, they should say the magic words: "There's absolutely no defense"

[@JohnSmithEx]

The rules have already been changed. When players want to resign, they just click the "Resign" button. No handshakes no nothing.

[@kingjunior7898]

I don't know, regardless of his play here I still wouldn't want Nepo to win after his World championship showing.

[@the117man]

The Najdorf is pretty much debunked at the +2750 levels. Firouzja should have known better than to play this defense

[@cankercanison92]

Completely not true, still one of the best openings you can play after 1.e4 even at the super elite level. Nepo was just much better prepared

[@the117man]

@@cankercanison92 Oh right, that is why it such a common defense in the recent world championship matches

[@cankercanison92]

@@the117man Players in world championships seem to be happy with draws a lot of the time, e5 is better for that style of play.

[@Badbentham]

The Najdorf is High Risk- High Reward: Thus, at its very best in Open tournaments, with some significant issues in 2700+ Round Robins. And, generally extremely unwieldy in a Match setup, where White has literal ages to prepare for his ideal setup. - "Objectively" one of the strongest openings; but Black has to study it multiple lifetimes to get it right :P

[@warnaoh]

@@Badbentham Dunno. I can't remember Nepo's last win and MVL got outprepared so many times it's laughable considering it's (was) his only opening vs e4. The opening is theorically sound but pratically I dont know.

[@ninonucaro8539]

@PowerPlayChess IF NEPO GONA WIN, MAGNUS GONA DO WHAT HE ALREADY HAS ANNOUNCED, THAT HE MAYBE WON'T PLAY THE FINAL, BOYCOTTING NEPO AS HE IS A RUSSIAN. ANOTHER VOMIT DECISION BY A WESTERN BRAINWASHED PUPPET. CARUANO LAST DAY COMMENTED ON THAT, BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT NOBODY UNDERSTANDS WHAT MAGNUS IS TALKING ABOUT, I BET ON THIS, THAT IN CASE NEPO WINS THE CANDIDATES, HE WILL REJECT NEPO AS OPPONENT. WHAT A SHAME AND TO WHAT LEVEL AND DEEDS THE NATO COUNTRIES UNDER THE US LEADERSHIP HAVE REACHED, BOYKOTTING CHESS??? THEY WILL DO IT WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT, AS THEY WERE ABLE TO STOP ALL RUSSIAN ATHLETICS, THE OLYMPIC GAMES ETC ETC. YOU CAN NOT FALL DEEPER, BUT YES, YOU CAN GET EVEN A BIGGER THUG, AS LONG IT FITS THE WESTERN NARRATIVE. I HOPE ONE DAY THOSE COUNTRIES WILL LOOSE THEYR POWER TO INFLUENCE THINGS, THAT TILL 10 YEARS AGO WERE UNTOUCHABLE, IT'S DISGUSTING.

[@SpartanThe300th]

@Nino Nucaro spot on. It's very poor of Magnus to say he would refuse to play Nepo based on his nationality.

[@horymir001]

If you would listen to what Magnus said, he is not refusing playing Nepo because of his nationality. He is not refusing to play Nepo or Russians in general. As I understand it, he refuses to play the opponent if his or older generation, because he played way too much such matches already.

[@Matthew-bu7fg]

@@SpartanThe300th he's never said that. Stop eating his lies

[@SpartanThe300th]

One can't pick and choose challengers. That's why we have candidate matches. Imagine how it must be feeling to win the candidates, only to be told condescendingly, "I won't play you" (for whatever reason).

[@SpartanThe300th]

@Matthew so what exactly did he say? There's another comment that also mentions Carlsen's intention to not play Nepo should he win the candidates.