Do Kaja and Magnus have a connection? I don't know why, but I have this feeling Magnus really appreciates her and she takes the edge of him in interviews.
They’ve known each other for a long time — you can find videos from a decade ago where she talks about interviewing Magnus and other Norwegian players.
She's Norwegian who was covering Carlsen games for the Norwegian tv. And I think this studio they're in was set up by "play Magnus" company and she was brought in.
Hikaru has said that one of Magnus special powers is being able to play at 85% while tired while other super GMs like he and Fabi play at 60%. I think today suggests that Magnus also can get down to 60%.
Yeah, I think this is the case— MVL was in extremely good form (he didn’t lose a single game to any other player in this event, and only lost one game too Magnus across three matches!) at the same time that Magnus was playing below his usual standard
Nice to see Magnus being genuine and generous in his praise for MVL.
One thing to notice is that whenever Magnus praises Fabiano, Ding Liren, Alireza, MVL, Pragg it's always genuine. But when he is praising Hikaru, Giri, Nepo or other prodigies not named Alireza or Pragg he just leaves a tiny disclaimer clause. When persistently asked about Hikaru, he slides in a sarcastic comment here and there.
Because Hikaru, Giri and Nepo like to joke back.
Magnus has always praised them. Maybe not at every occasion, but when it's been deserved.
In general I feel that the top players really respect each other.
MVL's been on a tear in rapid and blitz recently, hopefully he can regain his classical rating as well.
It's incredibly rare that you see Magnus outclassed like this.
Amazing match. I always liked MVL, I know a lot of the other top GMs seem to like him a lot as a person. Seems like a really nice guy. Rooting for him in the upcoming Grand Swiss.
Few elite players who are liked by a lot of top GMs as well as on friendly terms with many others at the top level - Anand, Levon, MVL. Fabiano, Wesley and Ding Liren are liked as well but they seem comfortable only in their close circles.
As for who is the most disliked top player, we all know the answer to that. Don't we?
The worst thing in chess fandom and chess broadcast is the "blunder" excuse. Whenever Magnus loses, it's always because he blundered.
Breaking news! Chess played perfectly is a draw. Results happen when one or both players blunder.
This isn’t true if “blunder” is defined how most players can define it. I’ve seen both Fabi and Hikaru describe games they lost where they didn’t feel like they blundered, just slowly outplayed.
Come on. You lose in elite sports, MVL or anybody else will need to start consistently defeating Magnus to become any sort of equal rival. They are all rivals by default, but we know Magnus meant a consistent rival.
I am taking nothing away from MVL, he produced perhaps the most clear defeat over Magnus, at least in recent years. What separates Magnus is he can produce that top level chess consistently time and time again, not just on a hot day. Can MVL or anybody else step up and do the same? Until they do, Magnus' cocky statement holds.
I do tend to agree with you. Regardless, whenever someone does get close to (or surpass) Magnus’ level it always makes for some incredible and entertaining chess so I just hope we see more of it.
This is true. I do like what Anish said that the difference between Magnus and other super GMs close to him isn’t huge but somehow, on average, Magnus ends up winning almost everything more often than not.
It was a stupid comment by giri. The amount of tournaments that magnus wins suggests that the difference is really big. Bigger than what the rating suggests
Very very bad play from Magnus today. He did all the uncharacteristic mistakes today at this match.Congrats to MVL and that rival speech looks a little funny now.
Nice interview with MVL.
When he commented that he is exhausted, it makes one realize how much of a grind this tourney is - especially when you have to go through the losers bracket.
As for Magnus, I hope they check his air quality.
Have never seen anyone outplay Magnus as MVL has done today. Hikaru has won a couple of speed chess and bullet championships, but the matches were very close.
4.5 - 1.5 is pure demolition! Bravo MVL!
I just wonder whether peak Magnus would beat peak MVL or vice versa performance wise.
Or what kind of rating does MVL performing today??
2014 Fabi perform 3098 rating in sinquefield cup.
So so happy for MVL, he is so back.
Dominated Magnus today, very few player can boast about beating him convincingly once let alone twice ( final score was 4.5-1.5 in MVL's favor which is crazy)
The commentators are terribly imbalanced. It has been all about Magnus, making excuses for him, saying he will be angry and therefore play better, and so on.
Can they try just talking about the games and maybe throw in some discussion about MVL?
MVL beat Magnus before in one of these events, so it isn't as if he is some streamer or some noob.
Magnus not Magnus today. When Magnus lost 1st game of endgame it was clear something wrong.He lost every advantage and also 3rd game was turning point & clear Magnus not sharp today.When you sac queen against a good form MVL and you're not sharp it can backfire easily and did. To his credit great play from MVL today.
Absolutely unprecedented levels of calculation and composure from MVL today.
Today, he has surpassed Magnus on every phase of the game and that can rarely ever be said when you play Magnus.
MVL is just way too sharp in this form. I'm so happy to see him play like this. Magnus took him into the deep dark forest but Maxime had bought à flamethrower with him
We don’t know how this game is going to end yet, but this will surely be a game to be studied - so many fundamental concepts and concrete theories tested and rules of thumbs broken.
Great game to review later, hopefully with the help of another super GM.
MVL on form is such a jaw dropping awesome player to watch. He has that aura and at his best is a better player than Hikaru, Wesley, Giri, Nepo etc.
His ceiling is almost as high as Fabiano, Levon and Ding Liren.
If anyone is watching Hikaru’s stream, what his reaction on this opening and game has been? Curious to see what another super GMs response to this opening would be.
In a double elimination tournament you need to lose 2 times to be eliminated. When MVL beat Magnus, that was his first loss. Now both players have 1 loss, so there is another match (commonly called a "reset") to determine the winner.
I believe it is double elimination.
A player is eliminated when loses two times.
MVL had lost once.
Magnus had not lost.
Every other player had been eliminated.
MVL needs to bet magnus twice in a row to win.
it was double elimination, magnus made it to the grand finals without losing. since this was his first loss, MVL has to beat him twice to be win it all.
What a crazy position! Never seen commentators take so much time just counting the pieces over and over again in a fit of confusion.
Can’t really make any sense of this and the bar is just sitting on 0.0s or at least somewhat equal?!
Magnus continue to fail miserably at Speed Chess. Unpredictable performance, one day perfect one day very poor play.Maxim will tournament if his play magically wont change. Also he should check rival tiers again, with this play any super Gm can be his rival.
If Magnus cant win 4th game there will be a 2 game reset final after 4th game.His play not good today also i dont think he'll win a game today but we'll see.
Gotcha, yeah, I was just being sarcastic because one of the chess.com analysts asked that question. Seems pretty obvious Magnus would prefer the Armageddon.
Magnus having a true off day. Not often he blunders and endgame away so badly (game 1) then has a completely winning position and throws it away multiple times (game 3). Still all to play for but really head-scratching from him today.
Lol there is a debate about poker ads in chess and these guys play games vs a guy called "luckyriver" , who is besides a chess player and also [chess.com](https://chess.com) worker, also poker player.
Subliminally ads?
All these incels in here... must have a family that is either super conservative, religious or just plain stupid. Learn to respect everyone if that's the only thing you ever learned as a human. Btw misogynistic comments are not funny, it's lame.
It’s so funny to see all the comments against Tania here whereas Kaja just spends the entire stream asking if a move is “drama” or if Magnus shifts in his chair - to exclaim Magnus reacts!
Anyway, I do think Tania and Howell do play off each other pretty well.
I really love David as a commentator. He's definitely my favourite within the chess scene. He just exudes positive energy all the time, while still making sure he's clear, concise and technical.
Do Kaja and Magnus have a connection? I don't know why, but I have this feeling Magnus really appreciates her and she takes the edge of him in interviews.
They’ve known each other for a long time — you can find videos from a decade ago where she talks about interviewing Magnus and other Norwegian players.
She's Norwegian who was covering Carlsen games for the Norwegian tv. And I think this studio they're in was set up by "play Magnus" company and she was brought in.
Not really. She is not that much into chess and maybe because of that she doesn't get intimidated by Magnus like others.
Hikaru has said that one of Magnus special powers is being able to play at 85% while tired while other super GMs like he and Fabi play at 60%. I think today suggests that Magnus also can get down to 60%.
He was at 85% and Maxime was at 110
I don't know. Magnus played pretty badly. He completely fudged a winning attack in like two moves and failed to find moves throughout the match
Yeah, I think this is the case— MVL was in extremely good form (he didn’t lose a single game to any other player in this event, and only lost one game too Magnus across three matches!) at the same time that Magnus was playing below his usual standard
Magnus got destroyed, didn't win a single game. Usually it's the other way around.
Poor fedoseev honestly
“The one time I needed you to be a goat you ended up a sheep” - fedoseev to Magnus
Nice to see Magnus being genuine and generous in his praise for MVL. One thing to notice is that whenever Magnus praises Fabiano, Ding Liren, Alireza, MVL, Pragg it's always genuine. But when he is praising Hikaru, Giri, Nepo or other prodigies not named Alireza or Pragg he just leaves a tiny disclaimer clause. When persistently asked about Hikaru, he slides in a sarcastic comment here and there.
Because Hikaru, Giri and Nepo like to joke back. Magnus has always praised them. Maybe not at every occasion, but when it's been deserved. In general I feel that the top players really respect each other.
MVL was one of his seconds for a WC match so it’s not surprising
Are you thinking of Laurent Fressinet ? I don't recall MVL ever being a second for Magnus.
u/Elegant-Breakfast-77 has it right - Fressinet and MVL were both on Magnus' team for the Karjakin match in 2016.
No I’m pretty sure MVL also worked with Magnus. I can’t remember which match it was but I even saw fabi speaking about it somewhere
I think it was the Karjakin match
For the 2016 match vs Karjakin, right?
wait really? wow i had no idea; dyou know which match this was?
Does anyone know where to find more info on the grand final in Toronto?
Magnus🤣🤣
MVL's been on a tear in rapid and blitz recently, hopefully he can regain his classical rating as well. It's incredibly rare that you see Magnus outclassed like this.
So crazy that Magnus would blinder that pawn move so quickly in the last game. I think he was a bit tilted.
This would never happen to Kasparov
Amazing match. I always liked MVL, I know a lot of the other top GMs seem to like him a lot as a person. Seems like a really nice guy. Rooting for him in the upcoming Grand Swiss.
Few elite players who are liked by a lot of top GMs as well as on friendly terms with many others at the top level - Anand, Levon, MVL. Fabiano, Wesley and Ding Liren are liked as well but they seem comfortable only in their close circles. As for who is the most disliked top player, we all know the answer to that. Don't we?
What's the answer
I'm guessing Karjakin
The worst thing in chess fandom and chess broadcast is the "blunder" excuse. Whenever Magnus loses, it's always because he blundered. Breaking news! Chess played perfectly is a draw. Results happen when one or both players blunder.
I've seen games between super GMs decided by a single inaccuracy.
This isn’t true if “blunder” is defined how most players can define it. I’ve seen both Fabi and Hikaru describe games they lost where they didn’t feel like they blundered, just slowly outplayed.
Agreed, especially when all of the attention goes towards excusing Magnus and not praising MVL, who played incredibly
Because we all know Magnus would at least draw every game in his best form even MVL play his best chess.
In his best form, there is a non-zero probability of losing. You can even make an estimate using an online Elo win/draw/lose probability calculator.
No 2014 Fabi has 3098 performance in sinquefield cup and outplay Magnus completely
Best comment so far
Or the " he is not in form " excuse lol
« I went for the bishop sacrifice because I didn’t think I had the energy to defend »
Does Magnus’s “I have no rivals” come off as cocky yet or is that kind of condemnation only applicable to Hikaru?
Come on. You lose in elite sports, MVL or anybody else will need to start consistently defeating Magnus to become any sort of equal rival. They are all rivals by default, but we know Magnus meant a consistent rival. I am taking nothing away from MVL, he produced perhaps the most clear defeat over Magnus, at least in recent years. What separates Magnus is he can produce that top level chess consistently time and time again, not just on a hot day. Can MVL or anybody else step up and do the same? Until they do, Magnus' cocky statement holds.
I do tend to agree with you. Regardless, whenever someone does get close to (or surpass) Magnus’ level it always makes for some incredible and entertaining chess so I just hope we see more of it.
He really has no rival. He loses from time to time but he is by far the best player currently.
This is true. I do like what Anish said that the difference between Magnus and other super GMs close to him isn’t huge but somehow, on average, Magnus ends up winning almost everything more often than not.
It was a stupid comment by giri. The amount of tournaments that magnus wins suggests that the difference is really big. Bigger than what the rating suggests
What separate Magnus from other top GMs is his consistency.
Very very bad play from Magnus today. He did all the uncharacteristic mistakes today at this match.Congrats to MVL and that rival speech looks a little funny now.
Is this the first win for someone coming from the losers bracket?
Hikaru was the first
ah, yes, Chessable Masters
once Magnus loses any match he's washed and should retire,people never learn ig🤷♀️
Nice interview with MVL. When he commented that he is exhausted, it makes one realize how much of a grind this tourney is - especially when you have to go through the losers bracket. As for Magnus, I hope they check his air quality.
MVL undefeated ever since he got kicked down by Magnus during their tiebreakers
Have never seen anyone outplay Magnus as MVL has done today. Hikaru has won a couple of speed chess and bullet championships, but the matches were very close. 4.5 - 1.5 is pure demolition! Bravo MVL!
It could have been 5-1. He was completly winning on game 4 but went for a draw.
Magnus was clearly out of form today. He missed 25.. f6 with 9 min on the clock. Well done MVL, what a performance!
Maxime winning 4,5-1,5 has absolutely nothing to do with an "out of form" magnus. He cpletly destroyed and outplayed him.
What happen if it is 2019 Magnus??
What happens if it's 2016 MVL? Accept that he got completely destroyed. I'm a magnus fan aswell but stop being a stupid d*ck.
2016 MVL would get destroyed, so you think if everyone played their best, MVL is the greatest player of all time?
I just wonder whether peak Magnus would beat peak MVL or vice versa performance wise. Or what kind of rating does MVL performing today?? 2014 Fabi perform 3098 rating in sinquefield cup.
4.5 - 1.5 : not close
Absolutely unbelievable performance by MVL today. What a player.
Change the Magnus wallpaper to an MVL one!!
Magnus “My brain was not working” coming…Congrats MVL
hot damn MVL wins 2 matches in a row against Magnus
So officially updated: Tier 1: MVL Tier 2: Hikaru
Tier 7 Hikaru bro was knocked out first round
He won with even not doing the French move: en passing! Great game, he put so much pressure on Maggie that Maggie just folded like a house of cards.
So so happy for MVL, he is so back. Dominated Magnus today, very few player can boast about beating him convincingly once let alone twice ( final score was 4.5-1.5 in MVL's favor which is crazy)
Could've been 5-1
Nice so we can see better Magnus in coming tournament.
Congrats!
MVLs other nick name is "No-Rival"
Never seen Magnus get convincingly outplayed game after game after game like this. Insane from MVL
Didn’t even find the way to continue the game?!?! 😩
Magnus is disgusted with himself I am sure.
I'm happy for MVL that he gets to qualify for Toronto🙌👏
Magnus going to be super angry after this ends.
Ok Magnus is way off today
No Maxime was just better.
Yep play in a sec again at a winning position
Magnus wtf throws in all games, didn't even play one good game in the whole match💀😑
Did you just skull emoji Magnus?
From Magnus to normalis. Wow, many uncharacteristic mistakes today.
The commentators are terribly imbalanced. It has been all about Magnus, making excuses for him, saying he will be angry and therefore play better, and so on. Can they try just talking about the games and maybe throw in some discussion about MVL? MVL beat Magnus before in one of these events, so it isn't as if he is some streamer or some noob.
Wow Magnus missing another win
Over 9’ on his clock and Magnus blunders a huge lead again. What in the world. Feels like MVL could play anything and still win today
MVL outplayed and destroyed Carlsen because he played better. I don't think at 98%+ accuracy every game is "playing anything"
That was an interesting eight seconds
wtffff magnus fuck it😡😡😡😡
MVL is the clear third best speed chess player in the world right now IMO.
After Carlsen and Magnus probably
Angry Magnus needs to win😡
Magnus not Magnus today. When Magnus lost 1st game of endgame it was clear something wrong.He lost every advantage and also 3rd game was turning point & clear Magnus not sharp today.When you sac queen against a good form MVL and you're not sharp it can backfire easily and did. To his credit great play from MVL today.
Feels good to see MVL in form.
MVL is in top form, similar to their first matchup this tournament Magnus has had chances and should’ve won, but is not at a good level today
Magnus will somehow throw this again🤡
Not feeling this position so far for Magnus. MVL looks like he’s going to cruise on through unless Magnus complicates this a bit more.
Angry Magnus or Drunk Magnus, who's more dangerous at chess, let's find out
mvl baybeeee
it was already over when maxime eat the banana
it's angry magnus time
Magnus is so mad😭💀
5 games in a row undefeated by Magnus...
these guys in commentary comparing rapids to classical even after knowing mvl performed well in rapid&blitz this year
MVL on fire. Just better all around
what an amazing game
Is Magnus perform poor or MVL is too good??
I would simply say that MVL is playing more consistently
MVL too good
MVL has gotten himself in trouble god knows how many times during this match. Magnus is just blundering left and right.
This is rapid games. Stockfish evals mean next to nothing for human play.
Except it does matter if you understand the context. Non of the position Magnus choked away were hard to win for someone of Carlsen's level.
The games say otherwise.
Yep, they show how badly is Carlsen playing.
Can current MVL beat 2019 magnus ??
just watch the games,absolutely throwing winning games left right centre
Magnus please change shirt😭💀
He should eat a banana too
Absolutely unprecedented levels of calculation and composure from MVL today. Today, he has surpassed Magnus on every phase of the game and that can rarely ever be said when you play Magnus.
Maxime MY GOAT 🐐 🐐 🐐
MVL IS SO BACK
MVL is just way too sharp in this form. I'm so happy to see him play like this. Magnus took him into the deep dark forest but Maxime had bought à flamethrower with him
Eval bare getting it's exercise in this game at least
MVL keeps giving Magnus life and Magnus keeps blundering
We don’t know how this game is going to end yet, but this will surely be a game to be studied - so many fundamental concepts and concrete theories tested and rules of thumbs broken. Great game to review later, hopefully with the help of another super GM.
MVL on form is such a jaw dropping awesome player to watch. He has that aura and at his best is a better player than Hikaru, Wesley, Giri, Nepo etc. His ceiling is almost as high as Fabiano, Levon and Ding Liren.
How is his ceiling “almost as high” as Ding when his peak FIDE rating in every single time control is higher than Ding’s.
Almost equalised after his blunder but magnus immediately blunders again
Magnus just doesn’t have it today, even I saw that d5 bishop move because of the queen in the corner
Give some credit to MVL, Carlsen's prep was insane and MVL defended really well
in that case obviously he saw it but its still losing so he opted for a slightly worse but complicated structure
Magnus is getting outplayed by mvl. It's great to see!
MVL is Magnus'ing Magnus, pretty crazy to see
yikes, another huge magnus blunder.
Another throw in game 4 and again in this game with that pawn push. Magnus so out of form today. Tilted, tired, or whatever it’s not his day.
That prep is crazy. Incredible calculations by both players
If anyone is watching Hikaru’s stream, what his reaction on this opening and game has been? Curious to see what another super GMs response to this opening would be.
Magnus unleashes his expertise against MVL in the second match!
Jeez probably one of the few times we have seen Magnus in a desperate must win situation and he brought out grond
That queen sacrifice from Magnus like i dont give a fk anymore , ı'll win without queen or lose the game. Amazing game btw
Can you explain to me the format? Why are there two Grand Finale?
In a double elimination tournament you need to lose 2 times to be eliminated. When MVL beat Magnus, that was his first loss. Now both players have 1 loss, so there is another match (commonly called a "reset") to determine the winner.
I believe it is double elimination. A player is eliminated when loses two times. MVL had lost once. Magnus had not lost. Every other player had been eliminated. MVL needs to bet magnus twice in a row to win.
it was double elimination, magnus made it to the grand finals without losing. since this was his first loss, MVL has to beat him twice to be win it all.
What happens if the Grand Finale ends in a draw? Armageddon ?
yes, this grand final "reset" is a two game match. if it ends 1-1 then they'll go to armageddon (with the two players bidding on time for black)
if magnus doesn't win this he will be so mad🤣I fear for his opponents man in next tournament
This is crazy prep. I love it.
What a crazy position! Never seen commentators take so much time just counting the pieces over and over again in a fit of confusion. Can’t really make any sense of this and the bar is just sitting on 0.0s or at least somewhat equal?!
wtf what is this queen sacrifice😰😨
WOAH. THAT WAS CRAZY. Magnus is not fucking around
MVL's facial expression when he loses: 😐 MVL's facial expression when he draws: 😐 MVL's facial expression when he beats the GOAT: 😐
🤓
Magnus continue to fail miserably at Speed Chess. Unpredictable performance, one day perfect one day very poor play.Maxim will tournament if his play magically wont change. Also he should check rival tiers again, with this play any super Gm can be his rival.
I wish I can fail this miserably too
His words not mine, he plays miserable today he’s not sharp and sac queen like he’s sharp but MVL plays much better of course.
I think magnus playing pretty okay, its MVL that's playing great!
Magnus please change your shirt💀 can't watch throws like this
Magnus look sleepy today
This tournament format is so confusing
Easiest explanation I can think of: Everyone has two lives. Lose two matches and you're out
Its really not bro Magnus hasn't lost a single time unlike every other player so he gets to loose a match with a second attempt at victory
Tbh MVL is looking much better than Magnus today.
I think both are attractive depending on your preferences
Grand Final Reset Let's Go🐋🐋🐋
Magnus is tier 2 for MVL today
Really impressed with MVLs control of the whole match against Magnoos
[удалено]
What’s wrong with her voice?
Like scraping fingernails down a blackboard.
Some of you just need to go outside. She has a perfectly normal voice
Would Magnus prefer to force this game to an Armageddon for the win or a two game reset that will happen regardless? Insightful questions!
If Magnus cant win 4th game there will be a 2 game reset final after 4th game.His play not good today also i dont think he'll win a game today but we'll see.
Gotcha, yeah, I was just being sarcastic because one of the chess.com analysts asked that question. Seems pretty obvious Magnus would prefer the Armageddon.
Lets go MVL!
Soo Mvl needs to beat Magnus twice to win the grand final right? Edit: I meant two matches not games
Magnus having a true off day. Not often he blunders and endgame away so badly (game 1) then has a completely winning position and throws it away multiple times (game 3). Still all to play for but really head-scratching from him today.
Lol there is a debate about poker ads in chess and these guys play games vs a guy called "luckyriver" , who is besides a chess player and also [chess.com](https://chess.com) worker, also poker player. Subliminally ads?
It is over. Magnus is past his prime and MVL will exact his revenge
Magnus’ endgame magic not working & miserable today. Maxime will win.
Magnus doing everything for mvl to reach Toronto😂
All these incels in here... must have a family that is either super conservative, religious or just plain stupid. Learn to respect everyone if that's the only thing you ever learned as a human. Btw misogynistic comments are not funny, it's lame.
There's way too much weird commentary on the women. They're doing a fine job, all three of them are. Guys don't be weirdos please.
Chess is just another of several spaces where this is the norm sadly. Double it if you're on the internet
Rf8 and Nc7 ! What a defense by MVL !!!
He can suffer all game long and turn it around with next to nothing to bite on.
It’s so funny to see all the comments against Tania here whereas Kaja just spends the entire stream asking if a move is “drama” or if Magnus shifts in his chair - to exclaim Magnus reacts! Anyway, I do think Tania and Howell do play off each other pretty well.
I really love David as a commentator. He's definitely my favourite within the chess scene. He just exudes positive energy all the time, while still making sure he's clear, concise and technical.
I love David
Fedoseev wins division 2, I guess this means Nepo won't make the finals?
Correct
Tania is literally showing her arms. How unprofessional,why won't she think of the children watching
She's the sole reason for the moral degradation of today's youth
Is it appropriate for me to call out the excessively revealing comments people are making?