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0 pointsmtlmtlmtlmtl2y ago0 comments

What are they supposed to do, not have a world championship?

It's happened before when Fischer refused to defend the title. And yet Karpov got the title without having beaten Fischer, who he probably wouldn't have beaten in a match even if Fischer was nutty bananas at the time. But at least he had played a match to win the candidates tournament at the time.

This time around, Ian hadn't won a match, and so the match made sense to me, because the world championship is decided by match, not tournament.

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matsemann2y ago

> What are they supposed to do, not have a world championship?

Perhaps change the format. Carlsen stepped down, because it's too much preparation year after year. And with him being the GOAT, everyone was always preparing defensively and hoping for a blunder, making it somewhat "boring" games (quotes, as in draws doesn't have to be boring).

mtlmtlmtlmtlOP2y ago

But doing that when Carlsen announced his forfeit after the candidates would be silly. If there's a time to change the format, it's now before the next cycle begins, not in the middle of the previous cycle.

Sesse__2y ago

Carlsen was pretty clear on this all along. He said there was a _slight_ chance of him changing his mind if Firouzja won the Candidates, which he was nowhere near doing. The announcement after the Candidates was just the final confirmation. Everybody playing knew very well that the second spot would give them a very real shot at playing the WCC, Ding and Nakamura included.

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jyscao2y ago

Carlsen is clearly better than his contemporaries, no doubts about it. But calling the GOAT is a stretch.

matsemann2y ago

Eh, like 2 others that could contend it. You might disagree, but its not a stretch.

ebiester2y ago

Are you saying that he isn't even in the conversation, or that it's too hard to push him past Kasparov, Fischer, and Capablanca relative to his peers?

(I can't reasonably put Morphy in this conversation, and I'm not sure anyone else has an argument.)

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Andrew_nenakhov2y ago

I am inclined to think that Karpov would have very likely defeated Fischer, and that Fischer was afraid of losing to him.

bionsystem2y ago

Yes, it's hard to imagine Karpov losing this match.

umanwizard2y ago

> What are they supposed to do, not have a world championship?

Yes, that’s a reasonable proposal. Title matches don’t have to happen on a fixed schedule like the Super Bowl, and in the past, they didn’t. They were ad-hoc and happened whenever a worthy contender raised enough prize money to challenge the current champion, who had a lot of leeway in negotiating the format and venue.

mtlmtlmtlmtlOP2y ago

That's not a reasonable proposal. Carlsen made his announcement after the candidates tournament was completed. So what, they just tell the players "hey that title you were playing for? Never mind, because Magnus can't be arsed."

Carlsen could either defend his title, or give it up. He chose to give it up. He didn't choose to keep it indefinitely or demand an opponent of his liking. Even he's not that unsporting.

This isn't the early 20th century anymore when world champions dodged challengers until one they knew they could beat appeared, and hasn't been for a long time.

kelipso2y ago

There's a reason the current format came about; lots of prima donna behavior from the world champions at the time.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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matsemann2y ago

> What are they supposed to do, not have a world championship?

mtlmtlmtlmtlOP2y ago

Sesse__2y ago

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jyscao2y ago

Carlsen is clearly better than his contemporaries, no doubts about it. But calling the GOAT is a stretch.

matsemann2y ago

Eh, like 2 others that could contend it. You might disagree, but its not a stretch.

ebiester2y ago

Are you saying that he isn't even in the conversation, or that it's too hard to push him past Kasparov, Fischer, and Capablanca relative to his peers?

(I can't reasonably put Morphy in this conversation, and I'm not sure anyone else has an argument.)

1 more reply

Andrew_nenakhov2y ago

I am inclined to think that Karpov would have very likely defeated Fischer, and that Fischer was afraid of losing to him.

bionsystem2y ago

Yes, it's hard to imagine Karpov losing this match.

umanwizard2y ago

> What are they supposed to do, not have a world championship?

mtlmtlmtlmtlOP2y ago

Carlsen could either defend his title, or give it up. He chose to give it up. He didn't choose to keep it indefinitely or demand an opponent of his liking. Even he's not that unsporting.

This isn't the early 20th century anymore when world champions dodged challengers until one they knew they could beat appeared, and hasn't been for a long time.

kelipso2y ago

There's a reason the current format came about; lots of prima donna behavior from the world champions at the time.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse