The probably toughest tournament in the history of chess so far

Skybird · 09-10-14, 03:16 AM

... has been held in St. Louis, USA - the Sinquefield Cup. Only six players participated, but these probably formed the toughest and strongest field of competitors that ever have clashed at a chess tournament so far.

Winner was the new number 2 of the world ranking list, the Italian Fabiano Caruana. With 8.5 of 10 points, against this stiff competition his performance equals a tournament ELO performance of 3100, which is without precedence in the history of chess. For comparison, the individual player ratings of his competitors, amongst them world champion Magnus Carlsen who often is seen now as the strongest chess player so far, were between 2768 and 2877.

Since some candidates for the qualification to the world championship are preset by world rankings, Caruana has his ticket for the qualification to for the duel in 2016 almost secured. When Carlsen beats Anand in Sotchi again and defends his title, he will be the title defender in 2016 then. Which would make a formidable duel if there he meets Caruana, because both players are known for disliking the well-established routines of conventional opening theory, and finding new ideas in old or exotic variations and not being shy to take risks in a bit for breaking loose a sharp and open fight at the most unexpected moment. It could become a duel between two chess rebels fought with open visors and flaming weapons - one that has the potential to write history. Also, they are currently 22 and 23 years young. They will meet more than once in the future...

Looking forward to it!

P.S. Caruana defeated Carlsen 0.5:1.5 .

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/f...ve-tournament/

http://deadspin.com/the-most-compell...her-1627069245

GERMAN:
http://blog.zeit.de/schach/fabiano-c...ldcup-carlsen/

P.S.
If you are into computer chess and still have not heard of it, check out the engine Stockfish 5. It is an open source and GNU licensed project - and features one of thre two or three strongest engiones there are currently, maybe it even is ther strongest ever so fare. It is free, and can be bound into UCI-GUIs like chessbase, or Arena, the latter also be free.

Computer chess has changed chess tremendously, and unfortunately probably not for the better, but the worse, it has destroyed quite some of the nature and charms of what made chess "chess", at least at the competitive level of professionals and top players. The frustration and resignation of many top players is so big that many advocate that principle of having to start every match from a randomised position, instead of the known preset one there is now - just to avoid the more or less computer-analysed-to-death paths of opening theory that has been written newly by computers in the past 15 years or so. The influx of computer analysis even in midgame positions and midgame theory have had such an impact that it has changed the style and nature of chess to a degree - at pro and tournament levels - that is hard to understand for occasional hobby players, and it leaves footmarks bigger than that of a bear in the way and style chess is played at the pro level. Something that Carlsen is revolting against, which is part for of the explanation why he is so extremely popular. The audience does not want to see cold, emotionless perfection and merciless efficiency in pulling down boring moves that win the match - they want passion and emotion, cavalry attacks instead of lists of computer-calculated position evaluations , the clash of flaming enthusiasm and romanticism.

Kazuaki Shimazaki II · 09-10-14, 09:43 AM

I don't really watch chess and alike so much, but what you are saying is Science is winning over Art in chess.

Maybe this will lead to a long term decline in chess, and an increase in the popularity of games like Go, which supposedly are harder for computers to figure out ... so far.

09-10-14, 03:16 AM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,612 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	The probably toughest tournament in the history of chess so far ... has been held in St. Louis, USA - the Sinquefield Cup. Only six players participated, but these probably formed the toughest and strongest field of competitors that ever have clashed at a chess tournament so far. Winner was the new number 2 of the world ranking list, the Italian Fabiano Caruana. With 8.5 of 10 points, against this stiff competition his performance equals a tournament ELO performance of 3100, which is without precedence in the history of chess. For comparison, the individual player ratings of his competitors, amongst them world champion Magnus Carlsen who often is seen now as the strongest chess player so far, were between 2768 and 2877. Since some candidates for the qualification to the world championship are preset by world rankings, Caruana has his ticket for the qualification to for the duel in 2016 almost secured. When Carlsen beats Anand in Sotchi again and defends his title, he will be the title defender in 2016 then. Which would make a formidable duel if there he meets Caruana, because both players are known for disliking the well-established routines of conventional opening theory, and finding new ideas in old or exotic variations and not being shy to take risks in a bit for breaking loose a sharp and open fight at the most unexpected moment. It could become a duel between two chess rebels fought with open visors and flaming weapons - one that has the potential to write history. Also, they are currently 22 and 23 years young. They will meet more than once in the future... Looking forward to it! P.S. Caruana defeated Carlsen 0.5:1.5 . http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/f...ve-tournament/ http://deadspin.com/the-most-compell...her-1627069245 GERMAN: http://blog.zeit.de/schach/fabiano-c...ldcup-carlsen/ P.S. If you are into computer chess and still have not heard of it, check out the engine Stockfish 5. It is an open source and GNU licensed project - and features one of thre two or three strongest engiones there are currently, maybe it even is ther strongest ever so fare. It is free, and can be bound into UCI-GUIs like chessbase, or Arena, the latter also be free. Computer chess has changed chess tremendously, and unfortunately probably not for the better, but the worse, it has destroyed quite some of the nature and charms of what made chess "chess", at least at the competitive level of professionals and top players. The frustration and resignation of many top players is so big that many advocate that principle of having to start every match from a randomised position, instead of the known preset one there is now - just to avoid the more or less computer-analysed-to-death paths of opening theory that has been written newly by computers in the past 15 years or so. The influx of computer analysis even in midgame positions and midgame theory have had such an impact that it has changed the style and nature of chess to a degree - at pro and tournament levels - that is hard to understand for occasional hobby players, and it leaves footmarks bigger than that of a bear in the way and style chess is played at the pro level. Something that Carlsen is revolting against, which is part for of the explanation why he is so extremely popular. The audience does not want to see cold, emotionless perfection and merciless efficiency in pulling down boring moves that win the match - they want passion and emotion, cavalry attacks instead of lists of computer-calculated position evaluations , the clash of flaming enthusiasm and romanticism. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert. Last edited by Skybird; 09-10-14 at 03:41 AM.

09-10-14, 09:43 AM	#2
Kazuaki Shimazaki II Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1,140 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	I don't really watch chess and alike so much, but what you are saying is Science is winning over Art in chess. Maybe this will lead to a long term decline in chess, and an increase in the popularity of games like Go, which supposedly are harder for computers to figure out ... so far.