The Tragic Rise And Fall Of Alireza Firouzja

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Chess goes brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
#chesspuzzle #chessgame #chess

[@muyasir5505]

2:44 my subscribe button is glowing here

[@ChessNuke]

Yoo I just noticed that, so sick

[@luckyeris]

I clicked past the intro to 2:41, and as soon as I did, I noticed the subscribe button have a rainbow around it......... wtf I've never seen that berfore.

[@katieevans6017]

This aged well, 3 weeks later he's in a final with Carlsen...

[@WalterClements.official]

Yup this aged veery well lol

[@dysprosiumdead5078]

and he won xd

[@crbgaming6683]

And he won

[@milankotevski1663]

it's an online tournamnet. It'll be forgotten tomorrow. Real world results is what matters.

[@crbgaming6683]

@@milankotevski1663 be practical and don't jealous of alireza

[@jonassmith2378]

He's 20. Plenty of time to come back strong💪

[@ChessNuke]

I agree with this, it's too quick to say, but it does seem like he cares less about his results

[@killakame-3434]

Nah! Alireza is Done For. He has totally Lost it. Let's see how is DiNG Doing once we HiT November.

[@cawkecabdi7745]

Absolutely 💯

[@Wielorybkek]

Hikaru recently said that most of the chess players plateau after they pass 20-21. If what he's saying is true then Alireza has very little time

[@geert574]

20 is like 50 in chess age

[@SekiroEnjoyer123]

yeah, you're right. He just defeated Magnus and won $30K in an exclusive tournament. I mean WHAT A FALL!!!

[@Shadydoesit]

His career is far from over. His journey still has many more ups and downs to come

[@ChessNuke]

I agree but it's weird to have such a big dip at such a young age, I can't remember a promising junior that has had the same thing happen to him

[@hugovaz777]

@@ChessNuke all of the top gms know that ali has his mind on other endeavors such as fashion.

[@duydatyds]

The reason for his poor performance in elite chess is because he's a tactical genius which can spot any sort of tactic very quick, which makes him thriving in short time format (Rapid, Blitz, Bullet) but struggle in classical where preparation is a strong suit and it's simply not his strength.

[@ChessNuke]

I mean he just doesn't prepare as hard nowadays, he's very capable of playing classical at a high level, let's not forget he was 2800 elo two years ago

[@ammarkhan7371]

I also believe that candidates are really different from normal classical games because everyone wants to strike their wins for their country and themselves as a world champion. It's like Aussies not performing well in normal matches or IPL and then going on to win the World Cup. Like Ian Nepomniachtchi, he wasn't performing that well but he was undefeated in candidates, and he always is on top in candidates because they do a crazy prep for candidates with lots of engine lines that they don't play normally, so that it is also hidden, and the opponents don't expect them to play those moves, which will make their preparation more beneficial.

[@MonkeyDIvan]

Youngest player to ever reach 2800 ELO, was ranked World #2 - _"classical is not his strength"_ lmao

[@lennyvlaminov9480]

He is fantastic, I'd say some turbulence has been mismanaged by his team, that game VS Magnus eg. Also now with his father during that candidates. FIDE is to blame, still the management was wrong with aggression from his father, threatening with the police. Magnus father would never draw that card. Focus has to be chess. I hope he comes back with a vengeance, he has the potential to be one of the greatest ever.

[@lennyvlaminov9480]

Right on ​@@MonkeyDIvanRead my comment above

[@WorldCitizen333]

You can't be a part-time chess player and expect to do better than people who focus on chess 24/7.

[@ChessNuke]

True, I just hope he finds success in his passions, I really don't care if it's chess or something else

[@pineapplesareyummy6352]

Exactly. This is basically what happened to Hou Yifan, who despite rarely playing, is 100 Elo points higher than the next highest rated woman player. I believe it when people often claim that she could have been the greatest woman player ever (overtaking Judit Polgar) if she only didcated herself full time to chess, because her natural talents are clearly a class apart from her peers. Alas, she wants to do other things. And so it seems with Alireza Firouzja that he can't focus completely on chess, and wants a side career in fashion design. Well, that's his life and his call.

[@shinjishinjs6060]

he just doesn't care anymore. he said so himself. he wants to be in fashion working with that.

[@user-nr5fp6bc1z]

aged well

[@uncletom9321]

Guess who beat Magnus recently in a tournament final.

[@silverpassion3588]

I’m done with this Prima Donna over the shoe incident and threathen using police thereafter. I don’t appreciate childish behaviour. Just look at Gukesh and Pragg. They are equally young but acted so maturely

[@user-ni6vq7wu3v]

As much as he rose and fell, all we can say is, he had an impact in the chess world

[@ChessNuke]

That's true and he's still one of my favorite chess players

[@BobChess]

I think Firouzja focuses on winning too much. Too much pressure can destroy diamonds

[@ChessNuke]

I would say that was true last year, this year he seemed like he doesn't care for some reason

[@Elmirgtr]

@@ChessNuke Probably hitting the age of 20 and wanting to enjoy his youth. Nothing wrong with that, happens to a lot of chess players. He will have a nice and long career with more maturity

[@DAVIDXERXES007]

Gukesh also had a hard time last year in asian games (resigning in a drawn position against parham, which made Iran won the gold medal) and grand swiss and almost lost 40 ratings. These ups and downs happen for almost all players.

[@ChessNuke]

True but Alireza was 2800, Magnus picked him as his successor, there was soo much hype and he was supposed to be the next GOAT. There were different expectations for him and Gukesh

[@DAVIDXERXES007]

⁠@@ChessNukeAlso that hype put much pressure on him, that for a youngster such as Alireza was too much to handle. I think if Magnus didn’t say that he only defends his title against him, Alireza would perform better in 2022 candidate. In this candidate clearly he suffered from not having a good team around him. However, in his recent instagram post he showed his motivation to come back.

[@ccjccj6224]

​@@ChessNukehe has time enough

[@thebiglebrowski3695]

Gukesh is 17 not 20. It sounds insane but the progress difference between those ages is crazy. Alireza is screwed.

[@Rareme530]

​@@thebiglebrowski3695💯

[@SekiroEnjoyer123]

I was wondering if you were being stupid or just hating Alireza. But when you said Prag is "much younger" than him, I found out both were correct.

[@TheChessMasterBattleofWits]

I mean, i have seen many juniors but never seen such focus and discipline like Gukesh has, he is so nice, humble, calm, collected, focused absolutely no nonsense kind.

[@ChessNuke]

Gukesh really looked special at this Candidates, kind of like what people expected from Alireza

[@anisparkles3108]

1:02 and 3:29, Prag and Alireza look SO SO adorable ☺️. They’re so grown up now 😢 Edit: 27 likes! Can we get to 40?

[@ChessNuke]

Yea it's strange how time flies ....

[@anisparkles3108]

I never knew prag and alireza knew each other when they were young

[@SaeedAcronia]

It was getting into Fashion that led to his demise.

[@ChessNuke]

At least he did it with swag 😎

[@user-zk5md7gm9k]

​If he'll continuosly going to lose then he will loose he popularity i don't think he will get enough money to buy expensive dresses than😅 @@ChessNuke

[@gus8696]

‘Demise’ are you joking

[@WalterClements.official]

Welp, this aged badly.

[@milankotevski1663]

It aged so bad that Alireza went from world nr.2 to world nr.16. Lol.

[@WalterClements.official]

Now THIS aged poorly.

[@paraggugnani]

At his age, even fall feels like an achievement 🙌🏼

[@Tuh_qh90]

The real question is will he pick himself up or quit chess coz it is clearly hurting him mentaly. I think he is the type of person who wants to enjoy his life, not give up everything for chess. And he probably likes a complexity of chess in short formats just like magnus right now. Coz classical kills your life. He is playing classical like he plays others formats. Trying his talent to win but its not enough in candidates. I think all he needs is a catalyst, a win in a big tournament to bounce back. Otherwise he will end up quiting classical

[@The_Lahmacun123]

It's a good topic about a prodigy with 2800 elo at the age of 20 and his rise and fall i didn't see any type of content like this related to chess (rise and fall) keep it up it is really good content

[@ChessNuke]

Thanks, really glad that you enjoyed it, I'm really having fun making these more documentary style videos !!

[@GustavoMaldonado42]

ridiculous how y’all jump to conclusions like this. youngest ever to reach 2800, only 20 years old. give the man a break smh. what were y’all doing at 20? lmao. if he’s going through a bad period, let it be. part of life, he’s so young

[@venkat4167]

Not yet. He is in 20s and that’s a good thing because he will learn to handle failure.

[@ChessNuke]

I hope so, but just seeing all the young juniors from India do it better makes me wonder why can't Alireza do it

[@venkat4167]

@@ChessNukeIndian chess players have a great support system that helps them handle the stress. Alireza will bounce back if he considers his chess seriously next year. If he does not want to play, then it’s his decision that we have to respect.

[@rohitpaul805]

Hey man just stumbled across your channel and this video was fun to watch.. please make more of this storyline videos of other GMs

[@matthewglenguir7204]

Would've been interesting to see how different the tournament would play out if So played

[@ChessNuke]

Yea there is really no telling, but it was really sad to see Alireza almost finish last, I was rooting for him

[@antonioalexandercastro3520]

The US Chess Federation could have done something to help So, as was being rumored or talked about because of what Alireza did. But SO wouldn't have participated in an event that was clearly something to emulate what Alireza did.

[@pietromariabellei1446]

Taking part in two extremely small tournaments just to gain a few points and outrageously steal Wesley So's spot at the Candidates is actually WILD... And I LOVE IT!

[@Phymacss]

Not to mention the shoes drama and the “magnus speaking Norwegian to him” drama😅

[@ChessNuke]

Wait I know about the shoe stuff, but I never heard of the Magnus Norwegian drama 😂

[@venkat4167]

@@ChessNuke it’s a game where Magnus won because of the possibility of promoting a pawn to a knight after a time-out. Magnus swears in Norwegian in between.

[@dew9103]

I mean he kinda created shoe-gate for himself by tweeting it

[@vincentlyj8525]

Hmm.. he just beat Carlsen twice...

[@qttmeem]

good content bro keep going there is not a lot of videos like this very impressive

[@jennyohara4011]

No one rises and falls at 20

[@ChessNuke]

He literally rose from 0 elo to 2800 and then fell from world number 2 to World number 16. Preformed terribly in his 2nd candidates in a row. You call that what you want

[@user-qn9mb9dh6q]

I suspect he won't make the candidates for a while

[@upvotecomment2110]

@@user-qn9mb9dh6q Nahh, he'll inflate his Elo again towards the top. Why stop? it isn't illegal

[@user-qn9mb9dh6q]

@@upvotecomment2110 he'll be playing in other events as well, where some of the other candidates spot competitors will have something special prepared for ali

[@Karma-returns]

@@ChessNuke Everyone rises from 0 elo in chess world and everyone has ups and downs. Plenty of players have hd a fall worse than this and rose back. I think the title for this video is very click-baity and kind of misleading too. Why the rise and fall is tragic for example, if it is a normal part of chess world. The rise and fall title itself implies a beginning, a rise, and then a downfall which is the final end (with no hope of coming back). Clearly this is not the case here.

[@pathutchison7688]

I was thinking about this during the Candidates. He was better three years ago. His play was so exciting that Magnus would have defended his world championship had Alireza won the candidates. But this past candidates, he was a total afterthought.

[@debasishraychawdhuri]

Both Gukesh and Pragg qualified without playing specific events designed to send them to the candidates.

[@ChessNuke]

Not to mention Gukesh actually won the event ...

[@thegorn]

I want Gukesh to go all the way, then have Final Boss (Magnus) challenge him the following tourney

[@mhmdserhan9641]

Dang 30k subs? You grew up alot since last time i saw your channel , but im back to the channel bois the OG is back , and i realized your set up changed good improvements 👍

[@ChessNuke]

I've uploaded a lot less and changed my content style, so the growth has actually slowed down, but I'm really enjoying making the new videos

[@mhmdserhan9641]

@@ChessNuke glad to hear that from our favorite bald youtuber

[@GiuseppeTelatin]

He's clever enough to not waste its entire life playing only chess

[@user-zk5md7gm9k]

Oops farmer gets farmed

[@ChessNuke]

💀💀

[@emadhn]

This video aged like milk

[@Your_real_dad]

He young and he has all the time in world to come back.

[@ChessNuke]

True, but I don't remember any other promising junior that had such a big dip at such a young age

[@Mike-cp1tj]

what's more tragic is a chess beginner discussing a 2800 player's "fall", rejoin the work force dude

[@literallysweden]

You actually delivered again, now I really like your videos bro

[@ChessNuke]

I'm starting to like Sweden more and more, glad you enjoyed it

[@nathynorthy6916]

As with a lot of other people on this thread, the phrase "this video has aged well" immediately springs to mind, since Alirezja sensationally beat Magnus in the final of a tournament just a couple of weeks after it was posted.

[@Arcue1d]

This videos are amazing man, keep 'em coming please!

[@RenatoSantino]

love the new format. i just think you could have mentioned the hyper bullet all nighter he had against danya during the candidates 2022. many at the time thought that it could have had an impact on his game or, at least, showed a lack of commitment

[@ChessNuke]

Oh you were right, I don't know how that slipped in the script writing, also I'm really glad you're enjoying the new format, I'm having a lot of fun making it !!!

[@TrashTaster]

A lot of people were saying that its "Karma" (Mainly Filipino's) because he farmed rating near the end of 2023 to Surprass Wesley So so that Instead of Wesley he would qualify

[@ChessNuke]

I mean he had a bad score 2 years ago even without karma 😂

[@antonioalexandercastro3520]

Some GMs were also critical as well as others (GothamChess) were ciritical of the tactic by Ali. The fact that the event was named "Race to the Candidates" didn't hide the intent behind the tournament -- to help Alireza. It was so blatant. Alireza could have skipped some events when his ratings were falling, but he played on and on and lost and lost so it was all his fault. In Fact, not only Alireza was involved in the final seat -- Dominguez (Former Cuban No.1 now representing the US) also competed in an event as he was just a few points behind So for the last seat but it was a disaster for him and he didn't even finish the tournament.

[@nononsensegames]

What about the paper champion who never qualified for the candidates but farmed his rating in China after a certain Russian lost his place. The same Champion that failed to qualify for the final by finishing second in the candidates?

[@antonioalexandercastro3520]

@@nononsensegames He didn't farm his rating, he was leading the ratings qualifications. What he lacked was enough games to qualify.. He didn't have enough games to qualify for the candidates, so he farmed enough games, not ratings, to qualify.

[@upvotecomment2110]

Lesson learned kid, Inflating Elo isn't good once at the top Wesley So should been the one playing at the Candidate spot, it could have been WAAAYYY more entertaining and competitive.

[@lorenzoamoruso6793]

since this year's candidates me and my friends call him BLUNDIREZA firouzja ( he's obviously super strong but he stole the place to Wesley So and yet he never won a game in that tournament )

[@troller548]

This video didn't age well

[@sankyboi]

Why are so many people talking about Ali in the past tense??! He's a young man

[@d0m368]

when is next vid coming?

[@The_Lahmacun123]

I am addicted to the way you Say Alireza Firouzja

[@ChessNuke]

I say it way too much probably 😂

[@apennameandthata2017]

Losing motivation is fine. Cheating is not.

[@proguy22215]

Another absolutely amazing video, keep it up !!

[@ChessNuke]

Thanks a ton, really glad you enjoyed it !!!

[@dustinirwin1]

Ali is the chess version of the competitor who is always considered the future, until we realize that actually he isn’t that young anymore, and he never he lived up to the hype. It’s sad to see. The recent Candidates exposed how toxic his father is, and that toxicity may his undoing. Ali needs a healthy environment and mindset to further develop and achieve his potential.

[@ChessNuke]

I was thinking the exact thing, I was like oh he's the future, he's soo young, and then somebody that's 3 years younger than him won the candidates

[@jakekrajewski5300]

Qualifies for candidates, beats tournament winner, people say he’s blowing it. He will be in the top 10 for a long time

[@MrSquaky]

He's still only 20, #6 in the world, qualified for the candidates twice in a row and already broke 2800. Is there a real chance he'll never become WC? Yes but you can literally say that about everyone on earth except Magnus and Ding over the past 10 years.

[@tan2319]

alireza was really the new magnus but he had to face magnus for his success time and time again which truly led to his fall

[@ChessNuke]

This is also true

[@tan2319]

@@ChessNuke when video on gukesh?

[@user-ur1ci1wd6p]

I would like to see more games about chess bots like stockfish Leela and torch

[@tan2319]

Yeah same just a little recap of gukesh winning the candidates for when the bot content is dry

[@alpddar2518]

He plays for France, isn't he? He surrenders rather early.

[@antonyosifov466]

He is still the biggest talent among all these youngsters. He simply doesnt have a good team and i think he will improve that situation in couple of years. Such things can happen. If he wins just one tournament and 20 Elo points then this video makes no sense

[@ChessNuke]

This video is more showing the trend of his choices and his interest and motivation's in chess, rather than him playing poorly in the candidates

[@baradmemarkermani2184]

Iran has a really good potential for chess

[@ChessNuke]

Yea they had some good juniors

[@baradmemarkermani2184]

@@ChessNuke I myself live in Iran and I'm a chess player, but because of our bad government, it's really hard to get what you want

[@keto0303]

@@baradmemarkermani2184 Do you feel like you can write comments like that online while living there?

[@vedantmahajan5239]

​@@keto0303 Is KZbin banned in Iran, though?

[@keto0303]

@@vedantmahajan5239 Not sure, it doesn't have to be. The government can still track what people say.

[@adv4236]

just discovered your channel. Amazing videos

[@ChessNuke]

Glad you enjoyed it, I recently started this documentary style so more videos like this are on the way !!!

[@user-zk5md7gm9k]

Made a video on gukesh and abhimanyu mishra

[@ChessNuke]

Plan on it !!

[@HorrorGoofy]

this is result of not participating any other event in 2023,2024 whereas other playyers are grinding chess that whole year

[@ChessNuke]

Yea, which is fine if chess isn't his main interest

[@Cat-wu2yd]

8:30 he uses his dads zoom

[@ChessNuke]

Bruh how did you notice 😂

[@Cat-wu2yd]

@@ChessNuke idk lol

[@AM_-wg1hj]

I love this type of content, keep it up

[@Hussainzidane]

He let his haters zip it tonight 🤐

[@anisparkles3108]

Can you do a documentary about Ian Nepomniatchti and Fabiano?

[@ChessNuke]

It's on the list o7

[@anisparkles3108]

😊

[@ordinarryalien]

What fall? He's still young.

[@Ambattukam]

10:19 i find this clever

[@ChessNuke]

I mean he found a loop hole for sure, it's definitely more FIDEs fault then Alireza's

[@admiralaokiji7889]

he was the chosen one to take magnus's throne. He's talented enough to remain a top 10/15 player as is, but if he wants to truly become chess world champion he has to dedicate his life to chess. Esp with the recent talent blooming from india its going to be even harder.

[@douggieharrison6913]

He's 20 and the youngest ever to cross 2800. What's more important is that he found a true passion in fashion (bars), and he has the talent to fund this endeavor. He is very lucky to be able to follow his true passion instead of being forced into a life of only chess

[@Noah1377]

I don't think one can call the bad performance in candidate tournaments his "Fall", he's just 20 years old, if he now decides to put exceedingly more time into chess he has a ton of time to achieve far greater things than he has thus far...

[@jackeljacklogan2.0]

Bro nice video your better at editing than me

[@Liloink444]

Did you stop making the videos you used to do

[@ChessNuke]

yes

[@user-er1qw4vc8n]

Thsnk for this video bro...very good

[@ChessNuke]

Glad you enjoyed it !!!

[@AshutoshMishra-xi3il]

I never knew he did all these shenanigans to gain a spot , but his poor performance in candidates now makes sense

[@antonioalexandercastro3520]

Ian (Nepo) was also critical of what Alireza was trying to do and Nepo was consistent with his criticism of this tactic that Ding also employed in the COVID years when DING needed a certain number of games (he was way ahead in the rating lists) to qualify for candidates at that time. So the Chinese Chess Federation arranged games for DING to participate in just to get the necessary number of games to qualify. Ian already sounded the problem with "last minute" attempts to qualify back then, and it took the "Farming" technique of ALireza for FIDE to change the rules for future candidates qualifying.

[@MikeyTikey]

This video was really good and you only have 30k subs????? how

[@ChessNuke]

Well subs aren't really a good way to see quality right 😂

[@MikeyTikey]

@@ChessNuke yeah but generally people who have more subs have better content

[@benjaminroberts1496]

Safe to say this video is not aging well lol

[@Phymacss]

I think he’ll have a comeback. Even the best players have bad tournaments sometimes..!

[@ChessNuke]

Yes players have dips all the time, the strange thing is that almost none of them have a dip at such a young age, but also Alireza just looks less interested in chess (which I think is perfectly fine)

[@Phymacss]

@@ChessNuke true! I hope he rises back! Also, I absolutely enjoyed this video, really great content you are posting.

[@mehdikarami2261]

Who asked? Firo haters are always out there

[@moseszulu2975]

I STARTED PLAYING CHESS 6 MONTHS AGO AND IM TEN. IVE ALREADY STARTED PLAYING FOR CLUBS

[@roshawnseeny2531]

What a poor video just making claims trying to get views, alireza deserves respect

[@akshajpatil]

i think because of fashion industry he is not getting enough time to study chess like other top gms the downfall was going to happen and it happened pretty early

[@ChessNuke]

Could be true, but maybe he just doesn't care as much

[@Liloink444]

You should do one for Hikaru Nakamura

[@ChessNuke]

I mean I do plan on doing one in the future !!

[@voltical1201]

just recently got back into chess. I was wondering myself why Alireza was underperforming in the candidates, compared to when I last saw him in 2023. This video helped a lot.

[@VictorSivtsev]

I reported my own comment for violating the site rules

[@ChessNuke]

Banger

[@thebcwonder4850]

Only in chess would a 20yo in the top 50 players in the world be considered washed

[@staticx1324]

Bro waited so long to be able to post this video 😭

[@fahmifarizi7242]

BECAUSE he did not prepare enough in candidates. i know he has the quality to atleast being on the top 4 in candidates. but the preparations are a vital point in candidates.

[@haizaz8916]

Alireza's games are more exiting than a drawing player like Wesley. I'm a huge fan of alireza and the candidates with him were like fireworks

[@The_Lahmacun123]

Can you make a video about the rise and fall of Russian chess?

[@ChessNuke]

Thanks for the idea, I'll put it on the list !!

[@lobstered_blue-lobster]

The thing that killed off Russian chess is simply cause of the fall of the Soviet Union where chess wasn't state funded anymore and there wasn't this narrative about being superior at chess to the rest of the world. Besides, I wouldn't even argue that chess in Russia really even fell off like there are plenty of Russian talents and doesn't Russia have the most number of grandmasters in the world? But also alot of the Soviet Union's best chess players themselves weren't ethnically Russian but from the other Soviet states like Tal was Latvian and arguably their best player ever, Garry Kasparov, is actually Azjerbaijani (actually Armenian by ethnicity but that's kind of a whole different political thing that I wouldn't like to get into), so in that sense, Soviet chess never truly fell off, just look at the amount of talent that exists from ex-Soviet countries like Nordierbek Abdussatturov or Shahrikyar Mamedeyerov and I could go on and on.

[@phonixnova]

Grrat video . Keep doing what you are doing and don't be afraid to takr shots at big guys like hikaru / levi ,i feel like hikary sometimes gets a lil bit salty is some situation,levi is fine tho.

[@generalvn1939]

It’s quite hard to conclude anything as he is still young, really hope that he haven’t reached his peak yet

[@ChessNuke]

Same, he's one of my favorite players, but it just seems like he lost interest, which is also fine

[@sahandehteshami7404]

Hes finished, other iranian players will overtake him soon

[@beebit_]

This didn't age well

[@snrao6823]

Suspicions are getting stronger and chess is not immune from manipulations. But fortunately there is no short cut to the top rung of the ladder.

[@horaciomlhh]

Really nice summary, very precise and interesting

[@ChessNuke]

Glad you think so!!

[@nolanb4165]

Sad to see such a promising career shatter to pieces so fast

[@ratnamani8228]

Alireza didn't look prepared at the Candidates. Although i felt like Hikaru wasn't even Prepared either. I don't know what Happens behind the Scenes with his Family, but i hope that he wasn't Pressured into Playing Chess.

[@jzzquant]

carlsen has in some destroyed ferouza by that one statement that he would be champions if firouza wins candidates. He went on a complete trip of high expectations since then and los tcompletet control. Not sure if carlsen played a mind game there

[@rohitduda6702]

yeah he just won the chess champions tour, winning two armageddons against magnus carlsen. trash take.