Play with fire 🔥 | Alireza Firouzja vs Ian Nepomniachtchi | FIDE Candidates 2022

[@PowerPlayChess]

My Kalashnikov course is on sale at Chessable! The offer lasts till the end of the Candidates tournament! www.chessable.com/kings-kalashnikov-sicilian/course/78873/

[@Appelsientje284]

My trainer recommended this channel and I’m already addicted! Thanks a lot!!

[@brandondaniels9471]

IMO no one explains top level chess and positional chess more clearly than Daniel

[@nilsp9426]

@@brandondaniels9471 Daniel is also terrific at live commentary with co-commentators.

[@mwangikimani3970]

Daniel is the best in terms of giving a strategic (positional) angle from no less than a strong Grand Master. He is also good and confident enough to point out bad moves top Grand Master's without referring to an engine.

[@bhuvaneshkanumula1252]

Me too man

[@GMeazza]

I wonder how much Carlsen's comments about Firouzja being his motivation effected Firouzja in this tournament. Going into hiding before big tournaments never seems to help players either, look at Nepo in the last WC match. Whatever the reason (as someone said in another comment) playing bullet until 5am and binning off the tournament is very disrespectful and may skew the results. A real shame as I was hoping he'd win. If Firouzja wants an example of how to conduct himself he only needs to look at Nepo in the WC match; cracked and played dog shit for half the match, but did his press conferences like a gentleman and tried in every game.

[@Cyst11]

To be fair, Firouzja has blundered/played horribly in quite a few games now and given the full point to Nepo, Naka and Caruana (and given his current form, he'll most likely gift Ding Liren a point as well) so at the very least his impact on the leaderboard has arguably been neutral.

[@aleksandrailic5818]

Carlsen's recent comments have been quite disrespectful to the game of chess. They have also been detrimental to some players, such as Firouzja. It is not up to Carlsen to favor or disfavor certain players in his estimations. It is up to their results. And while his comments were made with the spice of humor and nonchalance, they turned out to be very, very wrong and slightly caustic.

[@onelove154]

@@aleksandrailic5818 Magnus Carlsen can say what he wants. Who are you to tell him how to behave? Focus on your own life.

[@funkalotz76]

@@aleksandrailic5818 jeez, how miserable are you?

[@Forest_Knight]

Nepo is on top form but he's got many presents in this tournament.

[@thesnackbandit]

Has he? I can only think of the game against Rapport as a true gift. Nepomniachtchi had to play incredibly precisely here to win the game.

[@Cyst11]

@@thesnackbandit Agreed, this was no more a gift than Naka received against Firouzja with the pawn capture. Or the gift Fabi received by blundering the exchange. Stretching it further - the gift Ding received when Fabi moved his bishop to the wrong square. The "Nepo is just lucky" narrative is getting pretty tired at this point - he has played incredibly well this tournament and punished every inaccuracy in his opponents (whereas the same cannot be said for the rest of the field - excepting latter half Ding Liren). If either Naka or Fabi had managed to beat Nepo following his inaccuracy I doubt the response would be that it was "gifted" by his error.

[@thesnackbandit]

@@Cyst11 Exactly. Every single player has been presented with opportunities and innacuracies. Nepomniachtchi is the only one who has capitalised on all of them, and has been incredibly solid under pressure.

[@Forest_Knight]

@@thesnackbandit I didn't say he didn't deserve his wins.

[@MrWuster]

Youthful bravado and inexperience on display. I expect this play by Firouzja would have also been refuted by every other candidate besides Nepo.

[@Opferschach]

Several days ago I was watching Niemann playing 3+0 games, and with a twist: he was playing troll openings, like the Crab or the Bongcloud. He dropped a lot of rating, and eventually he got paired with some FM and was able to score some wins. That was Niemann's preparation against Donchenko, whom he was playing the next day. The preparation didn't work, Niemann lost the game.

[@davidchang8428]

Firouzja is still a kid ... give him a few more years

[@nomoreblitz]

Great recap! g4 was premature; and 6:23 Danny shows a perfect picture of White's lagging development, which usually signals quite emphatically--"do not play g4 yet." Alireza is trying to cope with how terrible he feels. He also seems to be on a mission to prove that, in a Candidates tournament, he can't get away with any of the risky/immature practices that have been harmless during his other tournaments. (g4 doesn't make sense 6:16 and h4 & g5 all quickly transforms to the position at 9:15 and finally 13:37!!)

[@anthonym1880]

This one of the difficulties of high level chess. When you "go for it" you usually just lose slowly and miserably. It can be quite frustrating; a game of patience and prodding

[@Gadgetify]

Very sad for Firouzja but seems the moment he is out of book he blunders. He played one decent game that he won but he could have lost to Richard and Radjabov in the first part. It's been a horrific event for him. Today's match was kind of inexplicable. Way too risky play.

[@ericvosselmans5657]

A far cry from last year's prodigy. He might have cracked or he is just not good enough at that level. We have seen it with many players. Wei yi for instance.

[@Gadgetify]

@@ericvosselmans5657 He is inexperienced. I think he tried to change too much. His openings ... I was kind of shocked when he said he was out of book after a few moves. And we have seen him pretty much blunder or get in time trouble the moment he is out of book. I am not sure what was their plan or preparation but I would take a closer look at that team and change strategy. The talent is there. Alireza can play. People say he tilted, and maybe he is now. But he could have lost to Richard and Teimour in the first part. It's more than tilt. Seems he is rusty, not comfortable with his openings, and who knows what else. We don't know what went wrong. But today was terrible. Worst I have seen him play in a long time. Maybe the pressure was just too much

[@Cyst11]

@@Gadgetify Agreed on all counts. Terrible prep, terrible time management, blundering basic tactics and just making strange moves. Today Polgar was chastising him for "not taking it seriously" - however, I think the fact he gave up online chess and such for almost a year suggests he was taking it very seriously it's just that the result of that, not playing any OTB tournaments for almost a year and whatever training he undertook with his team seriously damaged his play. Playing bullet the night before might have been "blowing off-steam", but it equally could have been his attempt to try to actually reconnect with how he used to play (though to no avail unfortunately). At any rate that coach and team need to be fired immediately, and hopefully he can psychologically reset after all of this.

[@geonerd]

@@Gadgetify I agree that he tried to expand his opening repertoire too fast, without developing real experience in the lines. I worry less about his raw ability than I do his coaching and mentoring program. IMO, he needs an experienced GM to better guide his preparation and training.

[@bobdole7292]

It’s sad for the chess world. No one wants to see nepo play another wcc

[@nickjackson6962]

Powerplay to 100k!!!

[@brandondaniels9471]

Ian's dominance in the Candidates has actually given me a FAR GREATER appreciation for Carlsen's competitive brilliance. Everyone's gunning for Ian and trying to shake him up by playing risky. Carlsen went with a different strategy to win the WC. *Carlsen, realizing that Ian is a pretty solid player and excellent at defense, decided to do it the hard way by wearing Ian down in extremely long games and in mostly boring/unexciting positions.* Against a solid defender like Ian, you have to make it a marathon _(not a sprint)_ and gradually wear him down and tire him out. Surprised none of the other players have figured this out yet. Carlsen will surely take this same approach again if he plays Ian in the upcoming WC match.

[@HunterBelkiran]

Honestly, I think Carlsen wore himself out too.. I wouldn't be surprised if he declined to defend his title, simply because playing that kind of chess must be laborious, exhausting and can easily lead to burnout, imo - even if it is Carlsen's speciality, so to speak.

[@ericvosselmans5657]

The other players might have figured it out, but like you are just not strong enough

[@ericvosselmans5657]

@@HunterBelkiran I agree. On top of that, nepo looks a lot fitter than he used to during his match against carlsen. In these marathon matches, physical condition plays a major part. Carlson might fear going up against a fit nepo.

[@brandondaniels9471]

@@HunterBelkiran Yes, and that's the brilliance of his match strategy. I think he realized he'd need to risk wearing himself out too, to get any kind of advantage. Love when they catch him falling asleep at the board the next day 🤣It's almost like a kamikaze strategy. This is also why I think he puts a lot of emphasis on athletics and staying in shape away from the chess board (kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2bEZqGBq6eNppI). I think he first learned this match strategy in his first WC against Anand. The first 3 games were drawn with: 16 moves, 25 moves, 51 moves respectively. Anand was tough to crack. Then the 4th game was drawn but went 64 moves. Carlsen finally cracked Anand in the 5th game: 58 moves. Then again in the 6th game: 67 moves. It was clear early on that Anand wasn't gonna be blown off the board. So Carlsen simply wore him out _(even at the risk of wearing himself out)._

[@brandondaniels9471]

@@ericvosselmans5657 Not really. Ian's either capitalizing on everyone's risks or making quick draws. No one's really dragging many of his games out like Carlsen probably would.

[@osgubben]

Playing hyperbullet till 5 in the morning? Hmm, that is disrespectful to the tourney. Now his loss almost gave Nepo the first place. Ding could have a chance if Firo was more serious.

[@MrGuitarman8000]

Disky traitor. To his mates could have used common sense and said let's make a plan so you can win something instead he hangs Firusza out to dry bad decision on both of them bad // Firusza foolish for not preparing..

[@komaddog]

How is that disrespect?

[@thesnackbandit]

@@MrGuitarman8000 Naroditsky holds no alliegience to Firouzja so it's bizzare to think you would even label this as a bad decision on his part. Firouzja isn't a baby, he knew what the consequences were and still, he chose not to prepare. 100% his own fault, and he got what was coming as Nepomniachtchi played phenomenally.

[@emilmichor7855]

As daniel said at the beginning, maybe he did it to let steam off, because he was loosing 3 games in a row.... His biggest problem ist, that he hasn't played as much as the others, so he doesn't have same confidence as the others... Also, nepo is crazy in this tournament, a absolute beast 👍

[@CaradhrasAiguo49]

15:42 In this pair's (Caruana and Ding) last four decisive Classical encounters, Ding has won all of them: Norway Chess Jun 2019 Sinquefield Cup Aug 2019 Candidates 2020/21, round 3 Mar 2020 and now this Have to credit Fabi's fighting spirit and endgame skill though, as in the odd number of this set of games, he fought on past move 50 despite being down a piece

[@thishex]

How is Ding even in 2nd given how bad he's played?

[@beefboi9993]

@@thishex He just won 3 games in a row that's how. Also, no one else has been playing well except Nepo (and arguably Naka).

[@Dybbouk]

I don't think Young Keres, Young Fischer, Young Tal etc would have collapsed like that.

[@ericvosselmans5657]

Young Fischer perhaps not, but old Fischer went completely insane

[@geonerd]

Fischer had several meltdowns. Tal too, but most of those were legitimate health issues.

[@kacpermoney2820]

Making controversial statements does not equal to going „completely insane.”

[@royprovins7037]

Fischers first tries at the championship tournament didn't go well either when he was young

[@ericvosselmans5657]

@@kacpermoney2820 Fischer went beyond making a few controversial statements

[@russellgooding7475]

On another site, and pre the Candidates I said that I didn't think Firouzja would win it. I compared his first likely attempt at this level to Fischer at a very young age. Super talent no doubt. But as with Bobby at this age. The willey older players can spot his weaknesses for now, and once his confidence is knocked, he as withBobby couldn't come back due to that inexperience. Fischer only got himself (briefly) together in his later 20s to deliver on really deliver his talent circa 1970-72. This present guy is still super young, and I am sure if he develops well, just as Magnus thinks... He may well be the man later on. But at the moment, at 19 odd, for now, & as feared (and as per the Bobby precedent).... It's a bit too much for him sadly.

[@yorick021]

g4 and h4 are moves that you throw out in a bullet game. I think he was still in a bullet mindset

[@jjm1970]

Keeping up with the Stones references. I love it!

[@Matthew-bu7fg]

It's not the online bullet that's the issue, it's the fact that he played it until 5am local time. That's just insanity. It's like a musician playing in front of 80,000 at Wembley deciding to stay up until the early hours the night before, mashing the high score on guitar hero. Good rest means your concentration is good, it means you are more likely to be rational and patient. Firouzja played this in the manner that I would against a super gm. Thrust pawns forward in some hopeless, cavalier attack. The difference is I'm a lot lower rated than he is.

[@thishex]

The games don't start until 3PM local time. 10 hours is plenty of time for a good sleep and breakfast. People are overplaying this excuse.

[@thomaskember3412]

I have never played the Petrov , but after looking at this game I think I might give it a try.

[@jtdavis62]

"Never play f3." - GM Ben FInegold

[@karasu-chan]

Great as usual! Thank you Daniel

[@MrGuitarman8000]

Daniel only helped ION and flushed the other players down the toilet. I could see staying up late to help Firusza but it's the opposite..

[@nilsp9426]

10:39 what a variation - 5 pawns for the rook. White looks absolutely naked.

[@taljechin]

Has Magnus repeated that he will not defend his title? He said it just after the match vs Nepo, but that was probably out of fatigue and maybe even a little frustration. If you train hard for a match and then win crushingly due to your opponent's blunders, it might not be so satisfying... But I expect Magnus to be back in shark mode in a new match vs Nepo - or maybe Ding, if he keeps on winning. Firouzja needs time to toughen up, he doesn't have hundreds of classical games vs 2700s - yet. All eight participants came with high hopes but only one will not get his dream smashed.

[@LateCloser]

Someone tweeted the other day that Nepo was going to win the Candidates and he would bet that Magnus would be happy to play him. Magnus responded saying he wouldn't make that bet. No one knows what Magnus will do(not sure he does either), but clearly he is definitely considering retiring [as Champion at least]. Nepo winning the Candidates isn't helping with that. Second place matters, might be for a chance at the title.

[@taljechin]

Carlsen has a sense of humour and likes to troll a bit. He'll play Nepo again, but he refuses to be happy about it :)

[@Badbentham]

@@LateCloser Clearly, Magnus can "only lose" in a match vs Nepo: Everybody, including himself, expects a clean sweep, and it is far less exciting for him than a match against either of Ding (Magnus shows a lot of respect; - Ding is arguably the strongest contender when it comes to the pure understanding of the game, as seen again in the last few rounds) , or the "rising star" Firouzja. It might be kind of difficult to find great sponsors for the match against Nepo, as well. And, finally, should Nepo pull it miraculously off against Magnus: That would of course be rather devastating for Magnus.

[@kennethnewman5522]

Meh. Magnus just wants a new challenge. He played Fabi and Nepo. He knows Naka pretty well. Probably says no to playing any of those. He sees Firouza's potential and likes that. But Firouza's inexperience has held him back this year. And I also bet he'd play Ding, it'd be a great challenge. The others he's probably disinclined to play. So, assuming Nepo cruises to playing solidly for 1st, 2nd becomes very interesting. Fabi, Naka, or Ding; and right now, I think either of those 3 could finish in 2nd... but I think only Ding of those 3 could take down Nepo in a 1v1 multi-game match. So we'll see.

[@taljechin]

Well, if Magnus decides to quit the game and do something else instead, it would make sense. But if he intends to pursue the 2900 goal anyway, it makes no sense. He'll play the same "non-challenging" guys in all top tms anyway - only difference would be that one of them has the title World Champion... It would be like playing at Wijk aan Zee and say you'll only play those above 2700 and forfeit against the rest "as they are not a challenge"... There are so many promising young top players at the moment so it's really strange to single out just one player - in three years time one of e.g. Pragg, Erigiasi, Sarin, Niemann, Artemiev, Esipenko, Dubov etc etc etc may be the new obvious challenger and Firouzja may have done a Wei Yi... or maybe Wei Yi has reignited and gotten to 2800 by then, after all he's only 23. now.

[@huddunlap3999]

There is a saying that a change is as good as rest. It isn't like he came in and dropped a bunch of pieces.

[@med017784]

Very much desee es 90K. Congrat

[@RoyGazoff]

Big thnx for the videos👌👍

[@jonathanbush6197]

It's not inconceivable that Ding could still win this tournament.

[@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)

[@JPCPSeto]

How does that make you feel, Carlsen? Still think 'the younger the better' (which was always a dumb argument), or do you want to play someone that's actually playing well?

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

Playing 250 tough bullet games against Daniel Narodisky until 5:00 in the morning and then playing almost half asleep with constant yawning is a guarantee loss against players like Nepo and Naka. Alireza’s parents and his French team should never had allowed to stay up all night destroying his mind and body!

[@ericvosselmans5657]

He might just not be good enough to compete at super gm level.

[@Cyst11]

​@@ericvosselmans5657 His previous performances and his result at Norway chess and other tournaments clearly demonstrate he's "good enough". The kid is a prodigious talent, as every Super GM has said. However he's just played shockingly this tournament - terrible prep in unfamiliar openings, constant misuse of the clock (over an hour in his game against Caruana just to do a subpar development move), blundering basic tactics (ala losing the exchange against Caruana), and somewhat incoherent strategy. The lack of playing experience for 9 months clearly hurt him, and yeah - whoever his coach and team are should be fired immediately. This isn't his play being "punished by Super-GMs" and thus a continuation of that ludicrous narrative - fact is, this isn't his play at all - or at least, his play, in comparison to last year is barely recognisable.

[@ericvosselmans5657]

@@Cyst11 The only one sitting in his chair and making the moves is alireza firouzja. So he literally is playing like himself. He is a prodigy, but there have been so many prodigies that just weren't good enough on that level for various reasons that had nothing to do with pure chess talent.

[@Cyst11]

@@ericvosselmans5657 Well, yes - he is still "literally himself", that is not my argument. Obviously the phrase refers to a semi-abstract concept relating to something one might expect from someone within a particular context - not really sure why you'd bother being so deliberately obtuse on that. At any rate my point is that he has already demonstrated he can compete on this level (Norway chess; Tata Steel; the fact that he qualified for the candidates). This tournament simply demonstrates that something went seriously wrong with his study or game in the last year - as the level of chess he is demonstrating is far below what he was showing 9 months ago in every regard (the kid has always been a tactical monster, and in this tournament he thought for twenty minutes and then blundered a three move tactic to Caruana). It remains to be seen how he will bounce back from this, and I hope he will - but declaring that he was "simply not good enough" is a pretty bad faith argument.

[@ericvosselmans5657]

@@Cyst11 I am not at all obtuse. There are perhaps a multitude of reasons ivanchuk, peter leko or Judith polgar never became world champion, too name but a few extremely talented players from the past, but in the end, they were not good enough to become classical world champion, considering all factors that come into play whatever these factors were. alireza had and still has a tendency to get a bit aggressive when things don't go his way, indicating that he cannot deal with pressure and/or losses. If he can't get that under control, then in the end he 'wasn't good enough.' Immense tactical prowess and enormous natural talent alone is not enough. Perhaps he needs a better mentor. Carlsen or kasparov come to mind. With 'not good enough' I mean considering all factors. In alireza's case, time will tell.

[@joseraulcapablanca8564]

Indeed the sacrifice was good judgement, he probably played it without calculating all lines. Indeed bad judgment by Firouzja too, however his style is somewhat reckless,sometimes it works beautifully for him not today. Caruana did a Carlsen desperately looking for a win which did not exist. More justification though, a draw was as bad as a loss for him. Thanks Daniel and keep up the good luck.

[@adb7834]

"the poke" is a great name for it!

[@sprcow]

Caruana should have stayed up all night playing bullet so he'd have a better excuse for losing again!

[@paulb6445]

i hope Magnus will defend his title

[@Zeitgeistpionier]

That's not a question a real sportsman asks himself.

[@paulb6445]

@@Zeitgeistpionier if not i just wanna know the reason

[@Zeitgeistpionier]

@@paulb6445 Magnus said in an interview, that he has already won against every contender of his generation and in his opinion the only fascinating challenge would be a match against someone of the younger generation like Firousja - every other constellation is considered boring according to his point of view. That's what all this talking is about. But that's absolutely not what I think and hope. I would love to see Magnus play against someone of Alexander Grischuks type. That would be great. But unfortunately there is no Grischuk close to be the challenger.

[@paulb6445]

@@Zeitgeistpionier i hope he will play whoever comes to challenge him, i think he owes it to his fans, personally i will be mad if he doesnt, thats just me sorry

[@SpartanThe300th]

I hope he will defend his title and lose it.

[@williamMaezawa]

I heard from so many people in real life and also on KZbin that Alireza will be the youngest chess champion in the world and look at where he is in the standing Death Last. I know that he is only 19 years old but people should just shut the hell up and wait to see what will happen instead of running their mouth making an absolutely ridiculous prediction.

[@jonbaker2102]

a brutal beat-down-Firouzja played like an amateur

[@mislavdomlija5189]

Incredible how can you get top quality content for free. Getting the khalasnikohv course when I find some free time just to support the channel. Keep up the good work!

[@andrewhaldenby4949]

I completely forgive Firouzja, it’s all got on top of him and he just lashed out. Not wise but very human. I think he will come back stronger for this experience just as Nepo appears much strengthened by the WC defeat.

[@PowerPlayChess]

People have been saying that Firouzja playing blitz all night was 'lacking respect'. I don't agree. As you say, 'Not wise, but very human'. He was letting off steam. However, his preparation and his choice of openings has been questionable. He is very inexperienced at this level, and he needs decent advice.

[@guest_informant]

Well said.

[@sam-lz6pi]

So it's official now - a repeat of Carlsen vs. Nepo. Not great cos Magnus will wipe the floor with Nepo again unless he just refuses to play (which he won't do, no way).

[@ericvosselmans5657]

The great oracle sam has spoken.

[@ericvosselmans5657]

@Afalku me too. Time for another russian world champion

[@the117man]

Nooo, Nepo vs Carlsen 2 now seems inevitable. Nepo can tie his last three games, all the while Ding will need to win his last 3 to catch up. Hoping Nepo's mental stamina is firmer for this upcoming WC

[@ericvosselmans5657]

Its more about nepo's physical condition. It improved greatly.

[@allykid4720]

So you wanna have collapsing Fabi or irresponsible Alireza instead in WC?

[@lazyatthedisco]

Alireza playing hyperbullet all night long is in my opinion totally irresponsible and disrespectful to other players, the audience and himself really, makes me wonder if he even has seconds or coaches and why they didn't tell him it was a terrible idea. It's kind of sad to see the top promise of chess and supposed Carlsen heir, wasting his energy like that in the middle of the biggest tournament of his life so far.

[@komaddog]

Supposed Carlsen heir my foot. Don't mention him and Carlsen in the same breath.

[@kennethnewman5522]

No, not irresponsible at all. Someone said he still had 10 hours to sleep/rest. Look; this isn't his tournament. I don't have an issue with the bullet games. Look at Naka. Streaming, recaps, etc. etc. But, you bet he respects his chess AND the tournament even if he only cares that he plays well. Firouza's last game indicates to me that he has quit trying to play as if he were 1/2 point out of first. Nothing to do with playing bullet. Everything to do as to where he is today in his life and chess career, and in this tournament. He'll figure it out the next few years.

[@vincentsimbol7251]

@@kennethnewman5522 Finally, a sensible person in the comments section

[@geonerd]

Tal would stay up all night playing blitz, while blitzed!, and then go on to win tournament!

[@MrWuster]

Tal was… Tal.

[@Eleuthero5]

Carlsen threatening to resign his title, to me, is a horrible statement about the state of the game at the highest levels. In the 1950s to 1970s elites played until they were 60+. Lately, we've seen Kramnik and Kasparov give up tournament chess at age 42. Engines are ruining the game and players, especially Carlsen, play like engines because they use them in their opening prep. Online chess is giving some life to the game but only to the more trivial forms of chess from bullet to blitz.To me it is telling that the classical world championship has rapid tiebreaks which is sinful. A classical crown should be given for winning a classical game. Chess is in big trouble.

[@proflaxis6968]

know

[@fixpontt]

Magnus was right Nepo does not play fantastically or even well... every of his opponent falters, usually immediately in/after the opening... big time. This is the weakest candidates i have ever seen in a my life and by a long shot, unacceptable quality. This candidates is a free gift for Nepo. Absolute joke.

[@kennethnewman5522]

Nepo is friggin stronger than people realize. Only his mental stamina has been questionable. In the last championship, Magnus was worse in most of the initial games until winning game 6. Now, imagine if Nepo had managed to win one earlier, I highly doubt he would have melted down like he did. But Magnus is Magnus; and he found a way to crack Nepo, and after that, THAT is when it got embarrassing. Did Nepo learn from that? Well. He's wiping the floor with the 'less than Magnus' crowd. At this point, I think only Magnus can beat him in a several game format. And Magnus may not even bother to if he's not interested. We'll see.

[@margaret9314]

It feels like an insult to Nepo and of course we only want the best to win but he would not be my choice to attempt to beat Magnus.

[@proflaxis6968]

Boo. Still no knighthood for GM King. GM Danya should no better than encouraging the kid to disrespect the tourney.

[@PowerPlayChess]

I’m looking for the short-cut to sainthood.

[@LateCloser]

Really disappointing for the event how Firouzja handled this game. Basically, gave the game to Nepo. Maybe he'll give wins to the rest of his opponents. Regardless, it may not matter as Fabi has lost his 2018 form, Naka is good but not good enough, and Ding has rallied to show his class but too late. Maybe Nepo winning pushes Magnus to retire and he has to play whoever finishes second. Will Magnus allow the two challengers a chance to claim the throne? Are they worthy of wearing his crown?

[@geonerd]

I wouldn't mind a Ding / Nepo title match.

[@Ulujmf]

His prep sucks

[@geonerd]

From a certain POV. The opening lines are OK, but they 'drop him off' in positions where he lack experience and deep understanding of what is going on. He's done this before, mixing up plans in the Lopez and other openings. Give it time, he'll get there.

[@Luxflux777]

Firouzja getting stroked... Shameful performance really... Too much talent?