Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Fabiano Caruana - 2nd Sinquefield Cup 2014

This is the 7th round game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Fabiano Caruana from the 2nd Sinquefield Cup chess tournament of 2014. Caruana looks to make chess history, entering this 7th round game with a perfect 6 out of 6 score. Can he run a perfect 7 wins out of 7 games in top level play or will Vachier-Lagrave be able to finally put an end to Caruana's perfect streak? The tournament was held in the United States - Saint Louis, Missouri at the Saint Louis Chess Club & Scholastic Center (Home of the World Chess Hall of Fame). This tournament's 6 competitors (Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Veselin Topalov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave) have an average rating of nearly 2802, making it the strongest tournament in chess history.
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[@ChessNetwork]

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Fabiano Caruana Thank you in advance for watching/rating/sharing etc... Enjoy! #chess #vachierlagrave #caruana #sinquefieldcup2014

[@iqless7313]

Great video as always. I liked the fact that you didn't rely at all on 'engine commentary'. All commentaries on this game I've seen so far were based on engine evals and the 'massive blunder' with Qa4 (I guess simply because white's score drops a lot at that point). You not only didn't do that, but gave us a possible explanation for why MVL could have chosen that move. You also do a spectacular job in evaluating positions in a very "chess fundamentals" kind of way as opposed to engine commentators who usually "explain" why moves are good or bad by showing rare combinations the engines come up with, as if it should be easy for the players to see these lines live over the board. Great job!

[@ralmoritz]

iqless I was watching this game live and immediately saw that Qa4 was a mistake as did others on the chess24 forum. It really doesn't take an engine to see that this is a bad move. I also thought that Qa4 was meant to cover d4 but someone pointed out that another idea is to prepare b4-b5.

[@JJony123]

Ralph Möritz Let's be honest now, if it wasn't for the engine you would have no idea if qa4 was good or bad

[@ralmoritz]

handballvid Speak for yourself. Believe it or not, people were playing chess before there were chess engines.

[@iqless7313]

Ralph Möritz Oh I don't doubt Qa4 would be seen at best as a dubious move by most chess players. However people wouldn't be so quick in calling it an "unforgivable stupid blunder" if they didn't have their engines running in the background that immediately showed them a negative score. If it wasn't for the engine, instead of labeling it a blunder and moving on, you'd first be trying to find out why he made that move, and whether there was a plan/combination behind it. The engine tells you immediately that there isn't. Let's be honest here. The guy's rating is 2800. He could have seen things in the 7 minutes it took him to make that move that you wouldn't be able to see in an hour.

[@Hereson]

Great round & Great finish. Thanks for posting this Jerry!

[@psjennings1]

SPOILERS!! I was wondering if Caruana's streak would be dampened by Vachier-Lagrave in this match, as I was expecting to see the streak end with an expected draw (top-level play after all). Not only was the game not a draw, but it was a spectacular win. Look at White's king by the end of the game!! And those proposed mass exchanges were spectacular, always leaving black with the advantage. Brilliant play, exciting conclusion. What has possessed Grandmaster Caruana?

[@juanmendezrt]

as usual, great work man. thank you very much.

[@hamishmclumsy816]

Great coverage, analysis and insights into this game, thank you Jerry!

[@ZenithRadProductions]

Caruana solved chess, let's wrap it up folks. :P Excited to see the Fabiano vs. Magnus later!

[@GermanKamikazi]

Top comment here? Kappa

[@zyffe]

GermanKamikazi This isn't twitch y'know.

[@ColinberryMan]

zyffe No way! PogChamp

[@TheDerkus]

Welp

[@eccostaller6298]

Hi Jerry, Thank you for commenting on the amazing proceedings in the Synq Cup. I very much enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work! Cheers, Ecco

[@ChessNetwork]

Thanks Ecco.

[@ralmoritz]

Great video as usual. I just think you could have highlighted some of white's mistakes which led to the rapid deterioration and collapse of his position, e.g. 14.Qa4 seems to have been a mistake. I was watching live on chess24 and immediately thought WTF when I saw this move. Personally I would have just gone for 14.dxe5 Qxe5 15.Qc2 Rf6 and 16.O-O but some people said just 14.O-O was also playable. You did highlight how 15.g3 left white's K-side weakened on the light squares though and that does seem to have been the bigger mistake. Keep up the good work. I really feel like I learn something from each one of your videos.

[@ldeans5620]

I love the intricacies of this game and the eye opening commentary. I just hope the insights I've gained last a while

[@elbay2]

For my level (~1500-1600 or so), your commentary is perfect; keep up the good work, I'm learning a lot!

[@Timberbreak1]

you're doing an amazing job jerry! Thank you, from switzerland :)

[@yablecki]

Caruana is killing it! Keep up these awesome analysis videos, Jerry!

[@tjmmz9843]

Nice video. Shorter than some of the other (verbose) ones on this game...and yet, more informative! Thank you.

[@anuv2500]

Your efforts would definitely promote chess,your analyses are wonderful. May God reward you, you have wonderful voice

[@DudekGamingPL]

5:40 There's exf4. If recapture, the bishop can go to h4, and then there's bishop for bishop and knight loss, not only bishop for pawn loss. The queen is close to white's king but shouldn't be so dangerous. What do you think about that?

[@emanuelhathaway1895]

Hi Jerry, curious as to why you started reviewing games with White always at the bottom instead of from the point of view of Black if 0-1. Better suspense? Neutral POV? Either way I am beginning to enjoy this format more. Thanks for the informative videos and your contribution to chess.

[@ChessNetwork]

Emanuel Hathaway Thanks Emanuel. Yes, I like to keep a neutral POV. I'll sometimes show a game from black's perspective though.

[@jamessaunders5923]

On move 7 for white if CxD4, couldn't white play his knight to b5 then after the c pawn advance to c6, play bishop to c7 protected by knight which would kick queen and if queen plays to e8, that knight could position himself to move where the bishop is after a drop from bishop and queen and rook are forked? Just an idea, somone please tell me if it works. Thanks jerry, great video once again

[@ThatOneScienceGuy]

What will Caruanas ELO rating be after this tournament?

[@MkaBulgaria]

At 4:51, as white, why not just take with the knight immediately? Black would be forced to take with the d5 pawn. Wouldn't that be a bad structure for black? Why go through all the trouble to challenge with the bishop? Because of the c5 pawn, there should be no check moves from black.

[@TubeFish7]

Go Fabiano! I have always liked Caruana after watching him play bullet on chess.com. Well-mannered, good-natured and humble.

[@gwenshirebros4883]

Pieter Picasso agreed

[@RanjithRamachandra]

Very exciting match. Full of tactics and direct play

[@danielmanahan692]

@ 8:00 Queen to a4 looked horrible, I thought cxd was necessary here.

[@ralmoritz]

Agreed. Some people said just O-O was also good.

[@tennisblood]

What's Caruana personal score against Carlsen?

[@BlackPawnMartyr]

thanks jerry, like it!

[@trenibul1]

Queen a4?! I guess he didn't consider that Caruana didn't have to take the pawn. That's probably resignable right there. Great video Jerry :)

[@tf2happycrabber586]

Jerry you messed up Caruana's name in the description :P

[@ChessNetwork]

Good eye. Thanks! :)

[@fredludd]

Not quite "never seen before" -- Fischer blowing away Taimanov and then Larsen, 6-0 followed by 6-0, in the 1971 Candidates matches was also damned impressive. But Caruana's performance here definitely makes him the next Magnus Carlsen, even while Magnus is looking on.

[@travboat]

Was move 6 (Rc1) a mistake for white? It seems odd to move the took so early, especially since the white king ends up running in that direction.

[@DonSunsetAtDawn]

Nah, it's actually still theory, not the most prominent in the QGD (which they were still in) but not very obscure either. Like the video explains, it keeps the options open for both the KSB and KSK. Just because a move isn't the flavor of the month doesn't make it a mistake :-) you're not castling queenside either way when you enter a QG game, so moving that rook doesn't matter very much.

[@travboat]

Thank you for the explanation, that makes a lot of sense to keep the options open.

[@Axartsme]

Fabi is just wrecking :) how excited are you for Fabi v Carlsen tomorrow?

[@zyffe]

I would like to point out that this is not the greatest in history, although it is the best score since Korchnoi's 8/8 at Wijk aan Zee in 1968. Let's hope he gets 10/10! :D

[@tubewatcher38]

Historic performance for Caruana. Looking forward to some great chess the next few years from all of the stars.

[@danielm.3832]

That game was brutal!

[@FromTheMountain]

11:32 Look at the time difference!

[@dreamdamons4576]

ur gr8 man,,,,very straighforward no bs....love ya farzad from iran your fan

[@ppomele]

Somebody please, who can give an rough estimate of Caruana ELO rating after all those wins against such high rating players. "ProtagonistNonTheist" posted the same question already but nobody answered. Thank you all!

[@danielmanahan692]

Is Caruana automatically candidate for the world championship in the next candidates?

[@Daggerfall40]

I believe so. #2 and 3 were seeded into the candidates this year but the next cycle isn't until 2016 so anything can happen.

[@Checkm8isFEELINGood]

No

[@jatelviss]

No, they had a candidates tournament earlier this year and I think Vishy Anand won

[@danielmanahan692]

Jatelvis Sharpe did you read the word 'Next'? lol

[@jatelviss]

ahhh my bad.. I was reading if that makes him the next contender for the Championship title *****

[@Daviszinho]

Why not 15. dxe5?

[@CallamKirby]

do more chesscube streams

[@beholdthebanana]

At move 16, couldn't black just take on c5 with the knight? The white pawn on d4 is in a pin because the white queen is unprotected

[@beholdthebanana]

nevermind, just rook takes knight

[@IsaakDeMaio]

Jerry has crossed many roads that he has not gone down.

[@ChessQuizToday]

EPIC!

[@Woosterfan1954]

love your video's, great commentary. Seriously though, this is the strongest tournament ever? These ratings just prove how over inflated they have become over the years and mean nothing when compared to those of years ago. Does anyone really think any of these guys other then Carlsen could compete with the likes of Fisher, Karpov, Tal, Kasparov etc? Get these guys away from their pre programmed computer analysis and they would be lost.

[@supriyo7303]

very funny

[@anubhavgoel9302]

disz a cool game

[@dhushy63]

Fabi is a machine for sure

[@Jabbazuki]

Great video but honestly a little too long for my taste... Wish your videos were 10 min or less.

[@aericwinter]

Caruana is on fire!

[@Ijjigunzhack]

Caruana is really looking strong, just been growing these days

[@enginekid88]

Did Caruana just trump Fischer?

[@dannyboy12357]

Can't wait for Carlsen!

[@Weldras]

rise caruana !

[@aklar_45]

Carlsen will surely show his superiority tomorrow

[@JamesBu11]

This is not certain anymore. Also Carlson himself says that he is not playing well at the moment

[@ralmoritz]

I think it really depends on the opening. Carlsen is excellent at grinding down his opponents but will Caruana give him the opportunity?

[@trenibul1]

Magnus couldn't stop laughing at this game :)

[@yedidsion8013]

Hey guys, last year I said watch CARUANA to destroy your beloved CHESS PROGRAM.

[@ThatOneScienceGuy]

Caruana is a beast. Good grief!

[@deepdivemax7802]

I think you have the best like dislike quote of high youtube

[@maapata]

Lol, one frenchman watched the video.

[@KAMIKAZECHESS]

fabiano is next world champion

[@jenserikbech]

The games you comment are drowning in too much commentaries. Could You not restrain yourself a bit?

[@The_Scouts_Code]

Bad game...

[@RanjithRamachandra]

Very exciting match. Full of tactics and direct play