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[Music] [Music] Thank you Thank you [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign Foreign To anyone All around the world are you kidding me The chess.com Global Championship offers The dream of playing against the best Whoa and hey have we mentioned there’s Also a million dollars at stake the Total pot is a million dollars know that It’s not a typo the prizes are Unbelievably generous we began with Thousands of players now only dozens Remain you you don’t just do this to Chakra in a critical game except Alexis Verona just did gorgeous chess he makes His way into the round of 16. The cgc Knockout phase has arrived There are those who played their way in And some are here thanks to their Well-earned reputations [Music] No matter who you are things are about To get very very real Judah on to the round of 16 Trip to the cgc finals and a clean shot
At the largest first place prize of the Year My friends it’s the cgc round of 32. who Will take the next step to Toronto Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the 2022 chess.com Global championship in Action-packed morning and we are here to Cover the afternoon shift we have three Unforgettable matches for you I’m your Host Grandmaster Daniel narrative skill Alongside me today the one and only Grandmaster Amman Hamilton I’m on good Afternoon to you three amazing matches On the docket what more could we ask for Hey Dania hello to everybody watching I Am very excited to get into this Commentary today you called it we have Three super exciting matchups and I mean When you you think of names like Carbonakamura yeah Napometian I mean these names on their Own are enough to be mouth-watering but Check out their opponents as well as the A competition Narrows Dania I mean every Match just becomes so competitive and Although we have favorites we don’t have Anything close to guarantees absolutely Not it narrows at nepos it’s Fiddlers Nobody has had an easy go of it thus far In the round of 64. not Hikaru Nakamura Not Levon aronian and now they’re path To Toronto become even more difficult Sicaro faces David Navara incredibly Strong Grand Master from the Czech
Republic it’s nepo against svidler and Lavon aronian faces multiple time RCC Weekend winner Maxi montlickoff and a Perennial annual super Grandmaster Incredibly solid player let’s go through These matches one by one starting of Course with the nepos Fiddler match Jana Pamishiaman is on fire whatever he Touches on the chessboard turns to gold Right now Yeah no nepo is having obviously a high Point in his career that’s for sure he Recently has been absolutely dominant And he’s up against Fiddler who I think Is that that wild card for everybody Everyone knows just how talented Peter Is Um but he’s been doing uh you know I Think I think Peter at this point is Just one of those players that nobody Wants to necessarily match up against Because they know how strong he is but He’s that little bit of a wild card so I Think Peter Fiddler is a player that has That you know 2750 plus ability that he Just kind of he plays so casually so Effortlessly and I think he’s a really Scary opponent for someone like nepo who Is in great form at the moment without Question that’s like seeing Michael Jordan in the park he might be you know 55 years old he hasn’t played in the NBA For 20 years Peter has been struggling It’s no secret he didn’t do great in the
Fisher random tournament he hasn’t done As well in his last few over the board Tournaments but he still has the Super Grand Master pedigree he’s won the Russian Super Final many times you don’t Do any of that by accident it’s going to Be a tough match for nepo and of course It’s going to be a tough match also for Hikaru Nakamura David Navara a name that I think most people in the chat have Probably at the very least heard of one Of the nicest people in the entire Chess World a Class Act but also a fearsome Chess player who’s been in and out of The 2700 club for the better part of two Decades Amman yeah absolutely uh David Navarro we remember his last match Against Michael Adams I don’t think I’ve Ever seen an Armageddon be so one-sided Uh as he he took that match down Effortlessly uh with the black pieces as Well so David Navara you know he has That uh demeanor like he’s such a a Great nice guy and well he is but he’s Also willing to stick it to you on the Chessboard as well Hikaru Nakamura a Clear favorite here Dania but when it Comes to navara’s style Deacon Absolutely I mean he’s a quick player he He trusts himself he has his theory he Generally knows his game plan going in So he trusts himself and he can play Quickly and he can keep up with Hikaru On the clock now as for the moves that
Remains to be seen he car was definitely The favorite but don’t sleep on this Match as Hikaru did not have a walk Through in his last match no very far From it actually I mean it was a tie Match after game one he could have lost Game one against the Chilean Grandmaster Rodrigo Vazquez so uh Hikaru isn’t going Into this tournament thinking that you Know Toronto is guaranteed nothing is Guaranteed in the cgc that’s why we’re Watching and that’s that is also why We’ll be watching the final of today’s Matches levana Roni and last but not Least faces off against Maxine matlakov Aronian has been all over over the place I’m on he’s been playing everywhere Online over the board everything you Could pot rapid classical blindfold Fisher random I mean he has had his Fingerprints over all of the top Tournaments he’s 39 years old Lavon no Longer a spring chicken but he still Plays like he’s in his teens he still Has that vibrancy that flamboyancy to His style so you know Maxime is gonna Have to bring the kind of form that Enabled him to win some of the RCC Weekenders otherwise you’ve got no Chance against an in-form LeBron yeah Absolutely uh Lavonna Rooney and I feel Is uh definitely surging right now when It comes to his his chest he’s always Been at the top I mean he’s a player
That if we look back on his chess career He was well into the the 2800 uh Category like one of the highest rated Players in the world so Lavon has has Really been up and down but always been In that top 10 of Chess and you say the Name of honoronian and he’s right there Um Matt lakov on the other hand is a Name that might not be as familiar but Of course uh for players that are Familiar with the you know the Russian Higher league and these kind of really Serious tournaments and of course the Chess.com uh rapid events as well I mean He’s he’s definitely a player that I Don’t think aronian is going to feel as An easy pairing or anything Um so I actually think that you know for All these matches uh this match that we We just talked about might actually be One of the closest ones and I certainly Think it’ll go to Armageddon Absolutely and we will be starting with Hikaranakamura we will take a look at The community prediction shortly but First let’s take a look at the overall Bracket all 64 players 32 invites and 32 Qualifiers are here a lot of them are Out a lot of them are in amazing form We’ve seen some incredible displays thus Far linear Dominguez uh yesterday Alexi Serrano put together a phenomenal match To defeat chakra Ahmad yarov I feel like I’m looking at the intro to Game of
Thrones where we see a map of the whole Kingdom and you know there’s the Nakamura Kingdom over on the top left And you know Jeffrey Zhang over in the Bottom left and as we zoom into the Brackets the individual kingdoms and Nations we have sub-story lines them on Uh that sort of headline each individual Bracket this bracket of course features The car Nakamura he is the one who has The X on his back and uh who leniere Dominguez is likeliest but not Guaranteed to face in the round of 16. Right as we have the you know the Brackets really start to shape up as There’s only a couple more spots to be Filled four to be exact and one of them Is uh right here hikaranakamura against David Navara it could be the All-American uh matchup Um coming up next and actually uh I Think you know most number one seeds are Actually advancing uh from what we’ve Seen in their respective groups and Another one of those is Yanda palmnushy Who you know made short work uh in the Past but now comes up against Pierce Fiddler who’s a lot uh you know more of A formidable opponent than uh previously But I just think uh Daniel the form and The way that nepo is playing right now Is just it’s too consistent yeah nobody Has been able to stop him I mean every Anything anybody throws at him uh just
Fails miserably I mean his opening Preparation has been impeccable he has Honestly he’s changed his style he’s Changed his opening repertoire and all Of it has been for the better and Finally today we will be contesting also The H bracket with Lavon aronian against Maxine matlockoff to determine who will Be facing the talk about on form a Sam Seville who defeated Rasmus Vain and Then who defeated mvl also in an Armageddon and also in an absolutely Crushing display so these are the three Brackets that we will be contesting Today and finally before we jump into The games let’s take a look at the Community community predictions Predictions here where’s the David Navara fan club yeah it’s uh well There’s 103 of them Um that yeah basically sums up what you Guys think about these uh these matchups And well you know maybe these are a Little bit lopsided Dania but you have To say you know Hikaru Nakamura yeah and Lavon aronian uh three clear favorites Going into today I didn’t expect that it Would be that much honestly we’re we’re The Peters Fiddler fans like I guess Nepo has won a lot of people over lately He really has 96 to four and I think These predictions are fair but obviously That is the nature of an upset you don’t Think it’s possible until it happens and
Uh so far the community has been pretty Accurate in predicting the results of The matches we’ve definitely had our Share of upsets I mean obviously Savvy And MBL or shook us out so you know it’s In the air it’s no question that is it’s In the air and it’s incredibly important For the favorites Aman to start with a Win in game one remember that it is a Four game match with a Time control of 15 plus two seat belts fastened Everybody we are about to begin I think We will start with Hikaru Nakamura and Then the next matches will start a Couple of minutes after that Hikaru he has to get get off to a better Start him on than he did against Rodrigo Vazquez because David Navarre is going To punish him Yeah that’s the thing um but for those That remember the last uh Hikaru Nakamura match that um Dania and myself Called in this chess.com Global Championship I don’t think Hikaru can be That careless and I think the person who Knows that most of all is Hikaru Nakamura he probably didn’t feel great About that match especially the way it Started Um he could have been in more serious Trouble and a guy like David Navarro if He gets an opportunity he knows what’s At stake here he knows how good Hikaru Is and if you keep giving the chances to
Your opponents small uh mistakes you Know a guy like David Navarro he’s gonna Pounce on it and the game has started And already a change from Hikaru Nakamura in comparison to game one Against Vazquez he basically goes for a Main line here he goes for a Mainline Nimso Indian E3 and Bishop D2 which is a Rather fashionable line that we have Seen in a high level chess recently so I Feel like David Navarro must have been Expecting what Hikaru has been doing Almost exclusively online Knight F3 B3 G3 and here we see sort of the Nakamura Vault going for uh principled one D4 Variations Yep and you know when we say that people Have prep when we use that word that Term Um there’s a few different kinds of Preparation that a player can have this For example what hikaru’s played this Isn’t what I would call dangerous prep This isn’t something where David Navarro Has to worry about being worse in a Couple moves or you know going down a Rabbit hole where Hikaru is going to Have this crazy computer line uh this Kind of prep is just you know oh I Generally know what kind of positions I’m getting into Um you’re probably going to be less Familiar uh you know from hikara’s Perspective he’s going to be more
Comfortable he’s going to know the plans Where the pieces go and it’s an offbeat Line less common than you know what is Played generally lately and you know It’s a trendy line so it’s still Developing not everything is figured out Yet and I tell you Dania if you look at What’s on the board right now if I was Like seeing a student of mine playing This in a tournament I might say E3 Bishop D2 what what are you doing man Blocking in your Bishop this looks like Beginner stuff but actually it’s very High level yeah gold learn a proper line Of the nimso but a couple of years ago I Know Sam my friend Sam shankland uh Started playing he played it against me And it’s hard to take it seriously you Know the bishop on D2 kind of looks Awkward but the the main point of this Move is that in the nimso you frequently See black capturing on C3 and here you Know white does not want to ruin his Pawn structure white wants to recapture With the bishop and what David Navarro Was thinking about is which setup he Wants to adopt like you’re saying him on It isn’t this isn’t about figuring out How to equalize it’s about figuring out Which type of position David Navarro Wants so the black pieces he goes for C5 Now you could continue striking at the Center with D5 or the line that a lot of Top Grand Master shoes is to fee and
Kettle the light squared Bishop on B7 And still ultimately end up trading off The dark Squad Bishop in order to Increase Black’s control of the E4 Square Yep and you you wonder why sometimes People spend time in the opening it’s Like how many moves could I play here as Black and they would be basically decent Or good moves I could think of probably Like more than six or seven that are all Fine for black oh yeah fine E6 D5 B6 Knight C6 rookie you know like the list Goes on and on Um so really I think Navara is as you’re Seeing trying to select which line he Wants to play and of course you have to Make that decision early Daniel you Can’t just make one move and then decide Later it’s like no the way you commit Your pawns and pieces now affects your Setup for the whole game it totally does And there’s that B6 move by David Navarre I’m expecting Hikaru to develop His light squared Bishop to D3 uh A3 is Also a trigger kind of a lever that White can pull whenever he wants to pull It but there’s generally no rush uh to Play a3n with a Pawn on C5 I have seen Uh players drop the bishop back to A5 Because B E4 does not trap the bishop That square is controlled by Black’s Pawn so so David will have the option of Keeping his light Square uh keeping his
Dark Square Bishop alive Yeah it’s a it’s a nice okay here we go Flexible option Bishop A5 but of course As we talk about it why would it happen Bishop takes C3 and we see the entire Point of Bishop D2 come to fruition Now The Bishop’s on C3 and uh you have to Wonder like you know how quickly does David Navarre want to deal with this Bishop sometimes you go for a slower Setup D6 Knight bd7 or Knight C6 or you Can try to force things right away with The move Knight E4 so you take on C3 Give up the bishop pair but then you’re Making a claim that well actually I’m Gonna get it right back well if you can Take on C3 play D6 Knight D7 and Knight F6 you’ve equalized completely with that Beyond a shadow of doubt the problem is That takes a while and white could Actually cause some problems on Black’s King side a move like Queen C2 is not Out of the question and and one Variation the black already has to Calculate not saying that this is what a Car is going to go for is Queen C2 Knight takes C3 Bishop takes H7 and then B take C3 you might say well I trap the Bishop but you have to evaluate the Bishop sack on G6 this doesn’t happen to Be good for white but you know you you Can’t just wave your hands around uh and And say I’m gonna make these five moves And I’m gonna equalize it is a pretty
Concrete position and the Evo bar seems To believe that uh Hikaru has a pretty Sizable advantage and this is exactly How you get it Queen D6 And I I was going to say like the way That white has played this opening it Definitely feels like Hikaru prepped That you know like this is a well-known Line the way that Navara played it is Not you know weird at all so I feel like He totally expected this so it’s Interesting that he’s probably well Within his preparation and there’s a We’ll get to the nepo game which just Started but there’s a big problem here If black tries to defend the C5 Pawn Then White’s Queen actually drops back To E5 forking the Bishop from the G7 Pawn David Navara might already be in Trouble and guess what I’m on Hikaru Found a way to punish him for delaying His Queen side development Queen D6 is a Really scary move and I think black is Just either losing a pawn or he has to Open the G file which is kind of out of The question so David Navarro already Facing opening problems we will leave Him to them let’s catch the start of the Yannapanushi Peter spitler game I’m very Excited to see what openings they are Going to bring to the table Yeah this this match uh getting underway Very very uh Curious myself and we we Actually have
Um so is it uh yeah nepo has the white Pieces to start off here E4 very Standard for uh for these top guys Lately and you can see the uh sort of Slow pace to the uh the game so far by Peter and this is one thing that I Expected Daniel I’ll be paying attention To in this match nepo is so dang fast Like he he just doesn’t slow down even When he should even when it’s like very Complicated hey maybe take a minute or Two to evaluate nope he’s lightning Lightning quick and Peter is a little More measured tempered he takes his time And Peter is one of the foremost Specialists in the Marshall gamma nobody Plays into the Marshall anymore what I’m Talking about is the move C3 which used To be the main move at one moment uh but The Marshall according to sort of the Modern consensus just basically Equalizes there’s uh not much to discuss And so players have been going with These anti-martial approaches A4 they’ve Been throwing in D3 uh and this position Has been hotly disputed uh in top level Chess now for for well over a decade Yeah this is um I mean it’s so Interesting you see how Um Theory develops in chess because it’s Like how could the evaluation of Something change so drastically that the Marshall used to be like maybe what is This move C3 white goes for D4 all of a
Sudden black comes in with the Marshall And suddenly we’ve got to a point where Nobody even wants to deal with it so They’re playing all these anti-martial Moves A4 is one of them h3s another one And uh yeah as as we see in the game Here that’s exactly what’s happened I Still can’t get over the fact that nepo Is sitting there remember there’s only Plus two increment on these games and Look at nepo’s cloth he’s already up Three like two minutes right we’re still Like deep within Theory and this is what Really concerns me I’m on about Peter Svidler we saw the uh Wesley so Vasily Von shook match right we saw Ivonne Chick holding his own on the board but Just getting into Epic trouble on the clock every game I’m A little little bit worried that we Might see a similar narrative and Storyline in this match so let’s keep an Eye on Peter Fiddler’s clock he’s got to Make these opening decisions crisply to Leave himself with enough time to deal With nepo’s you know devilish middle Game style because you know nepa’s going To be causing you problems on every move Absolutely absolutely Um the guy is playing a bullet game I Wanted to talk about that A5 move for a Second might look a little weird uh for White to just I don’t know commit so Much at the beginning of the game to
Just pushing this a pawn for what you Know why don’t we play D3 D4 but if you Go to the position he moves back before White played A5 then I think it if you If you just put like you know D3 Knight A5 or something uh maybe D6 and then Knight A5 on the on the board Um black wants to use that square for Maybe their night and the bishop on B3 Can feel a little awkward and there’s a Lot of cases like horror stories where The bishop goes to A2 and exactly you’re Showing it something like Your partner Pawn takes C5 black rings That night back to C6 and the bishop on A2 once dominating the light squares Dominating the board is now reduced used To a total passivity a pile of just just A dumpster fire here on A2 so you often See white just desperate oh there’s Anything to open up the diagonal for my Bishop let me breathe I’ll give I’ll Give as many pawns as you want uh but You’re exactly right and so A5 fixes uh Stops 985 and also it fixes weaknesses On the queen side it’s a double-sided Coin yes A5 needs to be defended but so Does A6 you can see Fiddler there giving Away the A6 spawn but winning A5 in Return so my guess is that nepo is going To strike at the center with D4 uh but He’s gonna wait for black snide to move Away from C6 okay so we have another Game we have the lebonaroni and Maxima
God game shall we take a gander at that One yeah let’s let’s catch the opening Phase of that game as well see how Things started out here as uh I already See a position that well looks like it Has a serious likelihood of of just Neutralizing completely that’s my that’s My first impression as I get here Daniel Yeah I don’t think we’re going to spend Too long on this one Lavon played a Pretty creative opening he played a Bishop’s opening but at the end of the Day Maxim he played this E4 move Exploiting a pretty simple tactic d494 94 Bishop takes B3 everything is getting Captured and traded and after Rook takes C4 we get a bishop versus knight Situation but in this case I’m on with The center as wide open as it is I don’t Think that either side’s minor piece is Appreciably better I think this is dead Equal and you know I’m gonna assign this An 80 likelihood of of an of a first Round draw which would be a great result By the way uh for Maxine to hold them on So confidently with the black pieces Uh absolutely Um if you want to pull up an analysis Board and just go back to the move E4 Um because if Lavon is one or move 14 Yeah move one of course let’s break down All the whole tree here Um yeah this move right here if you’re Lavon and you’re thinking okay he can
Clearly calculate this de line he sees The full liquidation if he wants a Little bit more from this game you might Think about the move d4 kind of keep the Pawns together and I I think the idea Was like Knight A5 maybe to try to get On these light squares here the C4 Square and it’s just an interesting Standoff between these two Bishops on B3 And E6 nobody wants to take the other One so Black’s maybe even gonna play Bishop D5 you know just once again tempt You to take but I think this is a Position that was just well calculated By uh Matt Lacon he didn’t want Um I think to allow any position where The the two Bishops really breathe so he Neutralizes everything and he’s is Liquidated the whole board with E4 and Hey he’s playing with the black pieces Against the aronian you definitely take Uh all equality in game one Yeah and obviously the game is very far From over Lamont is going to try uh to Orchestrate some some Shenanigans down The defile he establishes his Rook on D5 But I think Maxime with no targets no Weaknesses in his position should be Able to hold the draw let’s go back to The Hikaru game I know a lot of fans a Lot of players eager uh to watch Hikaru Try to dismantle David Navarro and we Already have a very interesting position In game one nimso Indian Hikaru
Resolving the central tension to his Favor and he stands much much better Here oh my God David Devar ended up Taking on F3 Amman to preserve the pawn On C5 but look at this pressure on G7 Look at that Bishop sniping away at Black’s kingside There is nobody worse than Hikaru to Have this position against Yeah it really couldn’t be if if you Also look at the Knight coming into C6 Like if white even takes the time to Play F4 that Knight just doesn’t go Anywhere you know B4 D4 E5 all covered White’s just gonna go long castle and if Things weren’t going well enough long Castling for white also threatens Rook Takes D7 when the Knight moves so we’re Castling maybe the tempo then we’re Going Rook G3 and then it’s either Rook Other Rook to G1 pressure on G7 or Rook To H3 and the H Pawn is is loose so I Just don’t see black surviving here what Are the defensive resources yeah you Could you could see black losing this in Like two seconds E5 by David I mean yeah I get that it closes down the bishop but Look at the gaping holes that it creates In the center uh you pointed out the Move F4 and now this move could serve to Open the bishop back up in fact if if Hikaru plays F4 now could we just take It Well oh you take on f4 on E5 because I’m
Looking for like the same kind of I’m Wondering like how let me show so the Point is after EF you play Queen D5 Picking up the rook in the corner so Amaya’s proposing Bishop E5 and Hikaru Has played E4 but this was a fascinating Idea attacking G7 and threatening a fork On D5 I guess black has Rook F7 though No right no oh no oh What a tactic beautiful this would have Been an amazing mate but there is a Defense in this position and it is G6 Oh and after Queen D5 you say I’m Winning the rook in the corner right but If you calculate one move to the end the Queen is trapped Yep well there you go that’s how I would Uh lose the game with whites yeah no That way you saw the whole line and just Testing my ability to spy uh defensive Resources and Hikaru has indeed played The move F4 this game come on might not Last uh much longer this is a disaster It will Um you also look at the time Daniel and It’s like okay great you’re being Attacked this isn’t even a Blitz game Hikaru Nakamura has seven minutes to try To like orchestrate the right attack That is so much it’s really an eternity When no it’s defensive positions now When you’re playing NC car you’re at This point you’re not even looking at His clock he’s got time to calculate
Anything he wants to calculate how is The game likely to go well he takes F4 Is not possible D6 by Navara to defend The pawn on E5 it’s now plus five I mean I think the car is just gonna Castle yeah something as simple as Castling And after Knight D7 just to show you how Winning the system on even if you go Queen G4 Rook F7 and queen E6 forget the G7 Pawn forget checkmate Positionally black is busted as well Yeah it’s not a case where you’ve Sacrificed something for this black is Going to be the one down material yeah And it’s going to be the kind of game Where the engine’s gonna say oh it’s Plus five and the material could still Be equal but that’s how bad the position Is No every every move I look at for black Just loses the pawn on D6 or loses the Pawn on G7 and you get mated not to Mention uh let alone the ideas of f take C5 and then pushing the other Pawn to F4 Exactly uh to clear the diagonal no this Is over I mean this is basically Resignable for black Yeah I think I think you make a few Moves try to get your knight into the Game but once you realize that you’re Lost even with your knight in the game That’s when I think the towel starts to Be uh consider throwing that one in
You know it’s so rare in these lines uh When the Knight lands on e4 if we rewind Just for a second how did all of this Happen to David Navara when he played The move 94 he was not expecting Hikaru To give away what is often the greatest Asset for white in the position but Nakamura just sniffs these resources out So quickly and he finds them a hundred Percent of the time after Queen D6 the Situation was already pretty dire for Black And oh it’s on the board The line that I just showed that that’s A it’s a really nice line because it Shows that you’re not in any Rush you’re Not you know frantically trying to play F takes E5 upon F4 you’re not trying to Play Rook G3 Rook G1 it’s you’re just Playing with the queen and showing how One piece can just dominate a position In Hikaru takes that d-pawn and his Advantage only increase it Why not I mean F6 is going to be hanging Look at that pawn on C5 it’s a total Sitting Duck and once Hikaru wins this Pawn he’s gonna have a three on one on The on the queen side I mean I’ve seen Crazier things happen uh Hikaru isn’t Flawless in his conversion yeah but I Don’t think I have ever seen him you Know Screwing up a position like this with Six and a half minutes on his clock yeah
I just think that’s not uh this isn’t The part of the game where Hikaru is Going to be making a bunch of uh Mistakes uh the conversion phase for him Especially after like he chose to go for This it wasn’t just how things worked Out Um which sometimes is the case it’s just The best line happens to trade your Queens when you’re attacking but he Chose to go for this which means he’s Comfortable with it he you can already See the variations and I mean this Knight doesn’t go to maybe 97 or 95 but F6 is hanging right with the Rook on G1 White can just seriously think about Taking on F6 right absolutely could Think about taking on F6 maybe Knight F4 Is the way to muddy the waters I think Your car is going to miss the fork on E2 Yeah Fat Chance of that but Knight F4 rookie One is is game over no this is uh Barring barring some sort of a miracle Or a blunder as resilient as David Navarre is and he is an unbelievably Resilient Defender I mean we’re talking about Hikaru here This one is all but in the bag in the Meantime we have a lot of Transformations in the Jana pondichi Peter svidler game so let’s pan out to That one And update you all on what’s going on
There Wow no more Rook Simon we need Directions yeah exactly yeah really uh Interesting development very interesting Structure because Bishop on G2 is definitely a great piece Um but when it comes to like which Structure do I prefer you know at its Core probably I prefer a Peter Fiddler With the black pieces but it’s the way The white pieces are organized that is Just a little bit better than blacks the Bishop on G2 strikes the D5 Pawn the Knight on A5 feels a little aimless and The Knight on D4 is so well situated White’s Queen by the way hasn’t joined The action yet Queen D2 Queen A1 if that Queen gets involved in any way all of a Sudden the Knight starts looking silly Gotta move that piece around and I could Definitely see the the pot once the pawn On D5 Falls you’re very concerned that’s Black so you gotta hold on to that pawn For dear life and if you try to play on The dark squares whites light Square Pawns on the king side Dania that might Be the difference if Peter can somehow Arrange his Queen and maybe like Queen E5 as you’re highlighting Knight B7 Knight D6 just reroute the pieces Um that might be what he needs to go for So very double-edged game right now and I don’t think the engine is preferring One side or the other too much it’s just
Uh you know one of those positions where He made the better player win yeah the Engine just says I abstain I I don’t Want to break any sides here I’m going To stay unbiased but it is equal you Know I think if I I really like the look Of Queen E5 I think Peter has to play it Quickly he’s down to five and a half Minutes Napo of course is As hours left on his clock he’s got 11 Minutes or so oh yeah uh which is Totally typical Nepal could consider the Move C3 as a way of anchoring in the Knight on D4 but that creates another Permanent weakness uh so maybe he should Refrain from pushing any of his pawns And instead Focus as you were suggesting Uh on activating his Queen putting it Let’s say on D2 but uh your point is Well taken this is not just a dead draw Uh and I think the pressure is on Peter Given that he is the one down five Minutes but we E5 is on the board and Mr Svidler seems to be up to the task wait Nepal already played Queen D2 he had Basically pre-moved it he pretty much Did and I think at this point where Where there’s so few options on the Board nepo is one of the best players in The whole world I think at like thinking On his opponent’s time because he Already barely spends his own time so I Actually think if you pull up some stat Like nepo might do most of the thinking
In his game not on his clock which is Like a funny thing to think about but Hey when sfiddler is the one using all The time nepo’s sitting there he’s Calculating and that’s exactly what the You know the strong players do to put You under time pressure when you’re busy Spending five minutes thinking they’re Evaluating what move are you probably Gonna play what’s the best move what’s On your mind what’s the Practical chance And he’s got to move ready for it that’s The worst feeling in chess Daniel you Spend so much time and you’re like oh Yeah this is an absolute you know Wicked Move I know I got everything worked out Yeah yeah he sees every that’s where I Still think he sees everything this Guy’s a machine uh so many people have Said that of nepo uh I I’m considering The interesting resource B3 by black Trying to exploit the fact that the Queen is anchored to the knight uh so After B3 I actually think B3 is a really Strong move because if white plays C3 Your maneuver Knight B7 Knight C5 Knight D3 could end up being quite scary and of Course the fight takes on A5 black takes On D4 and again here white is actually In trouble because these pawns on the Queen side are incredibly weak so I Think after B3 if anybody has to be Careful it might be nepo but Peter Fiddler is taking
Eternities oceans of time on every move Here and in the blink of an eye he is Down to three minutes and Amman he’s Going to start getting nervous if he Drops below a minute Peter isn’t totally What he used to be in terms of his time Scrambling ability and he has to keep a Little bit of a buffer zone even if his Position is good he has decided on the Move C3 And I mean you’re not leaving many Options so as I was about to say you’re Going to see the reply very quickly here From from nepo because he doesn’t have Many things to consider Knight C4 is the Move often the difference Daniel between Two really really strong players Especially in a situation like this it Is the time right I just see two legends Playing in front of me and it’s like Okay what’s going to be the difference Between them well if you know one of the Guys can play to this position seven Minutes faster than the other that’s a Difference and that has to be you know Seriously considered as a you know one Of nepo’s biggest assets that he puts His opponents his very strong opponents Under time pressure and then of course Everyone’s gonna play moves that are a Little bit subpar for their standard When when you’re under time pressure he Just did the classic nepo like shaking His head from side to side look okay
Maybe uh Um and the sort of you know Michaela Moroney not impressed not impressed face Uh I I would imagine that he’s not too Impressed with his own play here I think Peter did a great job of solving all the Opening problems the big question in This game will is six and a half minute Time Advantage make its presence felt as We move on to the end game stage of this Game in the meantime in the meantime I Think lavon’s game is still pretty Balanced but Hikaru is about to win David nevara’s night so perhaps we Should catch the end of that game Yeah Um let’s move back to Or maybe not maybe it’s not as simple as I thought it was what’s going on here H3 Is definitely like that’s Hikaru Sniffing out the possibility of winning This Knight though you don’t yeah yeah You don’t play H3 unless on your mind I smell nice but what exactly is he Gonna do a knight takes H3 is it just Rook F1 Oh it is a tough one isn’t it and then The other room Yeah And look at that pawn enough for Restricting the knight from yeah that’s Pretty nice trading to G5 Does black have no here black has Nothing to do but somehow the evil bar
Seems to believe that perhaps black and Magically extricate the Knight Like maybe king f8 or something like I Feel like maybe we need a rook somehow Getting involved because the H Pawn is Gonna do nothing for you and now it’s up To plus four and the problem is that in Addition I’m on to rookie two Bishop B3 And Bishop takes E5 nobody canceled yeah The idea of just winning all of Black’s Pawns So yeah Rook V8 by David Yeah oh yeah it’s the it’s the lateral Defense right somehow getting Rook B3 to Save the Knight Yeah The Rook comes swooping in yeah I think even Bishop B3 here is Completely winning Bishop E3 you might Say oh but this lets the Knight Escape Back to E4 well yeah it does but after Rookie six you lose the C5 pawn and like I had said earlier the three on one is Going to be totally decisive so I think You guys got his choice of winning lines Here I I there’s something about like my my Brain really just doesn’t feel Comfortable allowing 94 Knight G3 and Like Knight takes F5 that’s the one Pawn That I that I can’t defend so I would be A little more attached to somehow Trapping this Knight and it seems like At least with this move he’s leaning Towards that but wow look at this Moon
Knight to H1 slippery piece and Amanda You called it Bishop E1 the idea is Rook B3 to pave the way for the knights Escape back to G3 and Hikaru is only up A quote unquote only up a pawn right now So if he doesn’t win the Knight he’s Kind of put all of his eggs in one Basket right Um the one thing that is a little bit Forcing is that with Bishop E1 so let’s Say you start with Rook D3 first Rook D3 Then H4 is forced because you have to Give the Knight an anchor square and Bishop E1 and it seems like eventually The Knight is gonna get to G3 right and You’re gonna take and you are gonna be Up two pawns there without black having Any inroads into the position I gotta Say this does look fairly convincing as Well so I think this is a nice option if You’re getting nervous as Hikaru like Oh I thought I was trapping that night uh You know when you’re starting to second Guess it’s nice to know that this is Available Yeah he’s down in two minutes so what I Wouldn’t do is take you know another Minute and a half to try to figure out How to trap the Knight and Hikaru is an Incredibly practical decision making Decision maker speaking of which this is Exactly what he chooses Rook D3 and Bishop E1 so depressing David Navarro Raises his hands up I got my night out
Well congratulations you have a rook end Game where you’re down two pawns and You’re down to a minute on the clock Yeah some prize Some prize so Knight H1 you know the Intentional Knight H1 we know that Knights are literally at their absolute Worst in the corner because they only Have two squares to move to you talk About the scope of knights why you don’t Place it on the side of the board and Certainly why you don’t place it in the Corner he has to play Knight G3 and yeah I just uh I think this should be Reasonably routine for Hikaru definitely Uh I think Navara I think he’s probably Got his best position in a really long Time but that doesn’t say much yeah no David hats off by by all means to David For the resistance that he’s put up here The issue is that he was just too lost To begin with this one’s not totally Over though I mean you could see a Scenario where black maybe gets The Rook Into H4 if David could get to hikaru’s Pawns on the king side then the Situation starts to complicate that’s Right but he’s not going to be able to Do that because the Rook on D7 for Example has to keep the E7 Square uh Under lock and key otherwise what’s Rook is going to infiltrate the seventh Rank and that’s a death sentence And I was actually thinking that Hikaru
Would have played like Rook e to G2 Perhaps on the previous move to try to Lock down a rook on that g-pawn because Now with Rook h8 if you need to defend G7 as black you can move the Rook up one Square to H7 Um I think if my intuition is correct They usually teach you to try to trade a Pair of Rooks here as white dealing with Two Rooks is is a little bit annoying There’s a lot of threats that can be Made and as white the Rooks are a little Superfluous you’re winning without the Rooks on the board so any reduction of Of pieces is simply gonna take away Counter play for black and just make it Easier for your pawns to push up the Board That’s totally true And Rook D2 to that end should be Seriously considered the downside of Playing Rook D2 is that after the trade Black can go and pick up the F5 Pawn but Perhaps that is a worthy price to pay to Be able to play before there’s a rook Trade Hikaru gives up the H3 Pawn but Look how smartly he’s done that and now The king is going to invade D5 and the Game is basically over Yeah that’s all called you got it that Was uh really really nicely done Um so I think as Navara here you’re You’re looking at maybe Rook H2 and Rook D2 to try to cut that King off but
Hikaru I think he just he’s gonna bring The Rook to the D file and make a bridge So to speak so oh and the king is great Execution Yeah this is over on the spot because The king is cut off you’ll never make it Past the e-file without trading Rooks And we know the pawn end game is lost so I think just BC and CC 6 is probably Winning Well there’s the calculation it’s Written on the ceiling so he’s just Gonna verify with it he takes C5 Right where the smoke detector is And yeah just doesn’t make it around in Time C7 King D5 and the worst part about This is that if there was no Pawn on C4 Daniel and you’re highlighting it maybe You can dream of those two pawns making A difference on the king side but as it Stands it’s gonna be a little bit closer Than people realize like Rook F3 G5 then Black’s gonna bring the king up and then The pawns start to move really fast but There’s no way that black makes it in Time I think actually Rook B3 might be The most precise move but then let’s see Eight the car with 30 seconds he’s got To be a little bit careful basically the Point here is that you want to buy Yourself as many Tempe as possible so That you can promote the other C Pawn But that takes some time as well Rook B3 Is on the board Rook C8 forced otherwise
Rook B8 I think uh I think strangely the That I would have gone for Rook F3 just Because the Rook does really well in Front of the pawns you can never Advance The pawns without the king at least Yep King D6 oh G4 he wants King E5 I think That’s right F6 needed to be Tried by Navara but then When you’re wasting a king move as black White just go C5 and you know it’s like Three moves till white gets a queen Yeah Lavon by the way is going to draw His game that was a completely colorless Game all the way but we need to flip to The Yon Nepal Nishi Peter Fiddler game Because that continues to become more And more exciting One game already in the book see Kara Nakamura scoring A victory in the first match game Against Navara here is the nepos Fiddler Position I think Peter has acquitted Himself tremendously despite his time Pressure He has and we see the time I mean he’s Come much closer to even here three Minutes a minute and a half yeah and After Queen Dick’s F7 both sides appear To have like perpetuals almost in the Back yeah black as Queen a wanted if Bishop F1 there’s Knight D2 and then Time for white to give the perpetual Yeah nepo has that he’s got that
Michaela Maroney face again he’s not too Impressed with his round one Does round one draw yeah me Okay this is a decent result but not not Amazing All of the games are now in the books Because the Iranian game has finished at Exactly the same time that one was Really a draw uh you know we kind of Could predict the results after 50 moves Or so yeah Since the start that was addressed since The start let’s review the scoreboard Three matches are in play three first Round games are concluded only one of Them is decisive Hikaru Nakamura wins is Around one game against David Navarre he Has a 1-0 lead and David will have his Work cut out for him as will the other Two underdogs who have to continue Playing in confident style all right we Are gonna go on a short break ladies and Gentlemen when we come back we will be Contesting game two of today’s afternoon Round of 32 matches here at the cgc Don’t go anywhere we’ll be back with More action in just a couple of moments Foreign Foreign [Music] Foreign Foreign Foreign [Music]
[Music] Foreign Akamura’s iconic orange wall in the Memorabilia behind him this is a Backdrop that we are all so familiar With the car Nakamura wins his first Game here in the round of 32 against David Navara I’m on a tour de force performance let’s Let’s be real about that David Navarra Basically had no chances in game one He didn’t Um he walked in to definitely opening Prep and I actually find it a little Ironic what I was saying I guess what I Meant was you’re really not supposed to Find Bishop D2 as dangerous you can lose The game in 10 moves prep but it was Exactly that Um the position was over not five moves After Bishop D2 was played so pretty uh Pretty scary stuff that’s hikaru’s game One prep what does he have in store with The black pieces we now wonder Yeah and I guess what does David Navarre Have in store for the white pieces Because he has some coming back to do The other two matches between nepo and Peter svidler aronian matlikov ended in Relatively Placid draws the spiedler Napo game was definitely I definitely Had a lot more meat on the bone let’s Put it that way uh I’m on but Peter Fiddler total kudos to him he held his
Own for that entire game he did he did Great He did fantastic by him he’ll be happy With that uh result and an aronian Matlock nothing much to say about that One not every single game is is gonna Have uh you know complete diatomism and Chances for both sides that was just a Well played game by both and Daniel when Chess has played at the highest level Well oftentimes it just looks like that It does indeed and here we see a look at The Players Navara he seems calm he Seems up to the challenge of coming back With the white pieces the opening phase Uh Amman is going to be critical Hikaranakamura’s Berlin the way he plays Against the Italian is basically Unbreakable if he has wanted to draw he Has made it essentially on demand let’s See what David Navarra has in store for Us in this Italian Yeah and I kind of Wonder is uh is Navarre going to be thinking which I Think this is always after a tough game One you always have this moment with Yourself do you take a bunch of risks as This is your first game with the white Pieces yourself are you comfortable with That draw and I think David Navara Especially against someone like Hikaru Needs to push here and the reason that I Think that is also because of the nature Of game number one that was only game
Number one hikara with the white pieces Here he’s clearly showing that he’s well Prepped he’s got a bit of a different Style some some different openings Prepared Um specifically against Navara and he Carves next game with white might be Just as lethal and tough to deal with so You know if you’re looking at a tough Game coming up next I think you have to Make a statement in this one if you’re David you absolutely dry do I’m not Going to say that drawing this loses you The match but being down you know a Point going into the final two games one Of which you’re gonna have with the Black pieces like you said given how Game one went yeah he absolutely needs To try to step on the gas pedal here And that’s what he’s doing this is a Good opening choice right the Italian is A pretty open-ended opening there are no Force draws there are no equivalents of The Berlin and David Navarra he’s got to Play what he’s comfortable with and I Think that’s exactly the approach that He’s trying to take now I’m on the Italian isn’t an opening that you play For an early opening Advantage you’re Not going for the quick knockout you’re Going for a long-term positional Struggle Yeah and it’s important to remember that A lot of chess openings the very best
Ones Um we even saw a good example um if you Remember last game uh or last round the Game between aronian and matlikov right That’s an example of a game that Navara Does not want at all in this round Something you know that just liquidates Quickly where it’s like easy easy ways To trade a lot of pieces and especially Open up the center so the Rooks just get Vacuumed off the board so that game is a Good example of what you don’t want and This game is the exact contrast right Now all of a sudden the center’s not Opened up yet the pieces are still Finding their homes no immediate trades Moves you know A6 and A4 have been Played to actually tuck those Bishops Back in on A7 on A2 that’s specifically To avoid trades you know H3 to avoid the Pin so just the nature the way these Moves are coming out there’s no Pawn Tension at the moment no pawns are Attacking one another and peace trades Are just hard to come by so I agree I Think this is what Navara wants not Saying this is an opening uh you know That has a big advantage and not saying That Hikaru has made a mistake to be Here but if you want to spice things up And give yourself a long game with some Chances no maybe you’re happy uh with The Vara here Oh I like I like the opening Choice the
Issue is that Hikaru is kind of an E5 Specialist and that’s how he has Fashioned himself in the last couple of Years he proved that once again in the Candidates tournamental though he lost a Game to team over a job of but by and Large yukara has been getting excellent Positions on the black side of of the Berlin Roux Lopez and on the black side Of the Italian so here we see the pawns On A4 and B4 as is the modern fashion Right this isn’t how people used to play The Italian uh I don’t think white Almost ever put the pawn on B4 but in The last couple of years white has Practiced the sort of Queen side Expansion the ideal scenario is Knight C4 followed by B5 and Amman you could See a scenario where this gets really Dangerous for black really quickly for Example let’s say after Knight C4 black Dilly dallies let’s make a random move After B5 ab5 ab5 no problem the bishop Is different but it’s okay after B6 you Can already resign so yeah we’re not Talking about some hypothetical play Here 20 moves Down the Line This is a Clear and present danger and so you Often see black players doing here is Trying to quickly go for King side Counter play either with a rook lift uh Or with you know Knight H5 Knight F4 Some sort of maneuver to muddy the Waters on the king side
Yeah and um the the funny thing about Your line there which I really enjoyed Was your random king h8 move it honestly Was not even that bad like you were Doing th8 let me make this awful move to Show variation Was like actually that’s pretty good Okay and Rigby won by Mr Navarro B5 is Being prepared uh he is not hiding his Intentions on the queen side and I am Very curious to see how Hikaru Nakamura Sort of arranges his pieces on the king Side here he goes for the typical Knight C6 to E7 to G6 maneuver which largely Kind of takes the sting out of the move B5 that move no longer comes with tempo And I think uh I mean it’s not a a Really serious idea but with the Rook on A1 if you play B5 you do have to watch Out for Bishop takes F2 Um and if if that happens to you you’re Definitely You definitely caught a little bit off Guard so Rook B1 just getting off the The a file B5 wants to happen Knight C4 But you mentioned it really typical idea Here I think everyone who plays E4 Watches these games Um you know definitely something to Remind yourself of white could do the Same plan Knight F1 Knight G3 Black’s Going for it with Knight C6 to E7 97 to G6 Yeah copying each other you often see at
Nights on F3 and G3 Knights on F6 and G6 Do we have here a pretty standard Italian position but Hikaru already up Three minutes on the clock we will keep A very close eye on this middle game but Right now let’s keep an eye on the Siddler nepo game it has just begun let Us make a quick tour of our remaining Two matches and Peter svidler with the White pieces one E4 and a Bishop’s Opening which is what Levon aronian Played against Malikov in their game one Yeah and this Bishop’s opening as we Call it is basically just the you know I I like to refer to it as the anti-petron Um you know when you when you play A4 E5 Uh Knight F3 Knight F6 black is playing One of the most you know equalizing and Dare I say boring openings in in chess Very symmetrical Um and Bishop to uh C4 The Bishop’s Opening this is designed uh against a Player that you already know plays the Petro off this way so you’re you’re Saying look I know if I play Knight F3 Then you’re probably gonna play Mad F6 And so Bishop C4 avoids that and gives You other options to continue playing The game but that in mind before Bishop But but they told me to develop my Nights before Bishops yeah they’re Exactly let’s not pretend that there is No downside to this opening right there Is no free lunch in chess when you avoid
One opening uh you open another entirely Different can of worms and the can of Worms that you have open here well There’s multiple the E4 Pawn is sort of Hanging there was a threat of trapping The bishop And just visually nepo’s position looks Great I mean he’s got the center uh Provided that he can keep the E5 Pawn Nicely defended him on it already Appears to me that he solved all of his Opening problems Yeah yeah absolutely and I think when You play moves like uh Castle here as Black first of all it shows that you’re Well prepped but there’s just so many Hanging Pawns in this position that Nobody seems to care about E4 hanging Yeah E5 hanging it’s like okay who’s Gonna blink first type of thing because Clearly some of these pawns can be taken And at least should be taken and Knight Takes E5 they aren’t happy to see it Let’s let’s see the uh let’s see the Proof Yeah Mr nepo uh your Pawn is hanging why Don’t you show me what you got And nepo says sure I’m going to show you What you got and what he’s got is Queen C7 attacking the Knight and if the Knight moves back to F3 then nepo Recaptures 94 let’s bring up an analysis Board uh delve a little bit into these Complications so after d takes E4 D
Takes C4 Knight takes C4 I don’t think white isn’t too white is In any trouble Amon but this could get a Little bit unpleasant rookie eight why It’s not castled yet and it’s obvious That nepo is not worse here so Peter Svidler F2 F4 a an ambitious move wow And uh he tries to keep the Knight Established on E5 nepo still recaptures The pawn 94. the one problem for nepo Here might be his lack of development Can Peter spitler punish Yan for Delaying the development of his entire Queen side what do you think And uh there’s there’s something that Seems a little bit interesting here Um if you pull up an analysis board Dania let’s say that White Castles Because we want to say all right we Don’t care about this Pawn I’m just Looking at the move A4 followed by the Move Queen B6 check and before you know It it’s like things could be going Really wrong here on the B2 Square now Still lots of counter play the other way But this is something that you just Don’t account for when maybe you Castle You just throw that move out don’t even See that hey there’s like a two three Move tactic incoming And I think that is precisely why Peter Svidler decided to start with Knight C3 That prevents A4 uh and obviously Queen B6 is not as effective and white is
Uncastled Peter in this position might actually be Thinking about just castling and Ignoring the pawn on D3 prioritizing his Development but I don’t really think That’s his style my guess is that he’s Going to recapture on D3 but the issue Amman is after Queen takes D3 Knight bd7 I mentioned that there’s no free lunch Well there’s no free lunch that pawn and F4 becomes a serious weakness in a lot Of these positions right if you move the Knight from E5 it’s hanging if you don’t Move the knight from E5 well black is Just threatening to take twice so it’s a Very tense position and I can see either Side getting into some trouble here if They’re not careful Yeah and you know this this is a really Interesting game we’ve got from the Bishops opening compare that to the Other Bishops opening game we saw so Just shows you um the the variation Selection that players make really Determines an opening uh it’s not like One specific opening is just boring in Every line uh I was gonna say might it Be interesting to see long Castle I know Short Castle is kind of the the move as Well but long Castle you know the Rooks Start to uh get to the middle and some Fun as Yasser would would say about long Castle you would say It’s legal
Yeah euphemism for uh Yeah I’m not so sure about that but and There are any dudes on the board look at You I’m on it is on the board Peter Svidler putting on his Mickey little Tall hat yeah Peter svidler I think met Michael it’s all when he was a kid he Was recently telling his story about That but didn’t quite have the you know The the courage to speak to him But here Fiddler’s intentions are clear And they are very bloody he wants to Checkmate Yanda Panda Street on the king Side perhaps with a Jeep on March up to G5 so my guess is he’s gonna take back With a knight and then send his Jeep on Down the board full send Black’s gonna Go B5 and we’re gonna get a good old School opposite side castling barn Burner so get yourself ready folks for a Violent game Yeah okay we should check the Lavon game By the way because crazy stuff is Happening there as well yep uh yeah Let’s head over to that game and Obviously there will be a lot to come Back to in this one But here Maxima lockup has sacrificed an Exchange the opening was a Catalan this Is a particular variation of the Catalan If we rewind where the Queens are traded Very early this is a very very famous Line and in this position black plays C3 Giving back the pawn in order to ruin
White’s Queen Side Pawn structure it Comes at a cost though the cost that it Comes at is the B file and the fact that White’s light squared Bishop is a whole Lot better than its counterparts so I’m On we had some maneuvering Maxime got His Knight to D3 Lavon put some pressure On E2 And then he won the exchange but Maxine Grabs V7 and now he grabs E5 and F7 is Also hanging has Lavon underestimated White’s compensation and maybe you can’t Even talk about compensation because White is technically up material Yeah it’s one of those weird things like Did you win material I don’t even know If that’s fair to say Um because this is one of the the spots Where you win something and it’s as you Calculated but then it happens and You’re like Um okay wait a minute why why am I the One that’s happy about this you know I Spent the time calculating this must be My variation how come you got a good Position You know those moments when you Underestimate something and you get to The position you say wait this was Supposed to be good and then you realize That none of the ideas you had in mind Actually work I think that Lavon Seriously underestimated maybe the fact That white has two pawns for the
Exchange maybe the activity of White’s Minor pieces I think the key for Maxime Here is to unfurl his remaining minor Pieces maybe go Knight B3 I guess first He has to decide if he wants to keep the Additional pair of Rooks on the board if You don’t though if you play Rook takes A7 I don’t know the evil bar seems to Like it I’d be really scared to make That move I mean after Bishop before There’s already a maid threat yeah I’m Very scared you know what’s weird about This position is that with the King on E1 My brain is like wait a minute how did Whites Rook from H1 just finish Like yeah is that possible yeah it just Fell off the the board a little bit it Just uh you know slipped off H1 and no One bothered to put it back it’s like Wait a minute what wait how did it oh Because white actually this is rare White Castle kingside and then brought His King manually back to its initial Position no I didn’t remember that I was Starting to investigate how it happened Yeah so strangely we actually have the King whose Castle The Rook was lost and Then yep marching right back into the Center and a lot of pieces are actually Pretty close to their starting squares I Totally agree with you Rook takes A7 oh I just there’s I can’t play that move it Looks so risky but
Um hey when you start picking up all the Pawns in the position the onus starts to Be on aronian it’s like hang on man at Some point you gotta prove something Because now that’s three pawns plus plus That monster Bishop from G2 on the A8 Square that eight Pawn gonna become a Queen in due course yeah that red carpet Is gonna be unrolled pretty quickly so a Big decision here for maxim I mean yeah I could totally see a case being made For for a trade of Brooks and the Knight P3 but the common wisdom is that when You’re down in exchange you want to keep An additional pair of Brooks on the Board because minor pieces aren’t always Capable of you know handling themselves Particularly well when there’s a rook Jumping from one side of the board to Another so you could have all the Pawns In the world but you’re often still Craving a rook so we’ll leave Maxine to Make this important decision we’ll check Back into this fascinating end game Pretty soon uh shall we fly on over to Nakamura International Airport take a Look at that Italian game what do you Think Absolutely yeah the uh we haven’t been There in a little bit and I want to see Uh what if any progress Navara has made Towards you know a semblance of an Advantage because I’ve been saying I Think this is a critical game for him
Um for example you hand a draw to Hikaru First of all Where is Hikaru I was gonna say like is He is he with us he seems really Distraught here and I was gonna say the Musician’s good has he blundered a queen Yeah is he down is he down a piece and No and no He’s dead I just wanted to make sure That I was counting the material right There because I was about to say hey Carl’s done a great job and then I Looked at Hikaru and I was like no way Okay maybe not maybe he hasn’t what’s Wrong here it’s funny that chess Player’s face is like almost never Correspond to the position that’s on the Board it’s like a very risky thing Whoa Oh that was such a cool move by David Look at that let’s pull up an analysis Report because it looks like he Plundered a knight but yeah you and I Were like in shock for a moment because There’s actually two ways to trap the Queen can you believe that he’s worth Before and Knight D2 and both of these Moves trapped the queen on C4 so Hikaru Saw that and he had actually pre-moved Knight take C4 It’s important by the way uh you know Really important just to establish that That dominance that if you play the move D takes E4 as white and as black if you
Don’t have Knight takes E4 pre-moved you Lose a lot of credibility as a grand Master because then it’s like oh ha ha You didn’t see that this was a trap it’s Like even if even if you can then just Play The Right Move Knight takes Pawn The fact that you pre-move it lets your Opponent know yeah yeah cool move buddy But I saw it as well this had no chance Of working yeah right it was it was not Even close mind freins Queen takes C4 Now is on the board of course the Landscape Has changed quite a bit that Queen still Has D5 and it also is attacking the C3 Pawn and David Navarro’s Bishop on A7 is Hanging so I would imagine That the natural move is to bring the Bishop back to D4 but then you have to Reckon with moves like Rook A2 you know These open Center positions Hikaru is so So dangerous and because there’s a high Risk of blundering something or missing A tactical detail uh but not if you’re Hikaru Nakamura again I think if you uh Take the Queens off the board I might Like that Bishop a little bit more but With the bishop uh and the Queen’s on The board something about the position Just looks so much easier for hikarana To play so I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Maybe Naka start pushing it really Depends what David does but you got this
Loose Bishop on A7 you highlighted it if That Bishop Retreats Rook A2 and these Are the tricky moves that need to be Played Knight to D4 everything is Hanging in this position what is Happening the engine is like guys it’s a Draw chill out stop making a mountain of A molehill it’s just equal Um and we are going to have some sort of Liquidation here but I’m trying to Figure out First of all how white restores the Material equality let okay I was going To say let’s bring up an analysis board But but they’re making moves so quickly Uh I think this is just gonna fizzle out Into a draw this is exactly the way that David Navara should play Knight takes C7 I think basically ends the game Rook Takes a seven Rook takes B1 and it’s Time to sign the Peace Accords That that was incredible how quickly and That’s just a testament to how well These two can calculate because they Were both on the same page but they were On a page that nobody else was on yeah They are on page 600 and we’re we’re Still you know reading the preface to The book Um is this just a Dedra does anybody Have any minuscule chances I don’t think So I don’t think either side is in any Danger of losing their respective beep On
Maybe I don’t know white has chances if Anything just feel like you can try to Bring the Rook around like Rook D1 d d a B8 exactly and like you can sort of Dream but the thing is there’s the Counter play the other way is always so Swift Rook A1 check Rook A2 And you just can’t defend everything no This Knight is perfectly placed you can Never play G3 because you drop H3 if you Play H4 then you create other weaknesses No this is Uh this is a 99 99 confident that this is going to end In peace and like you said a fantastic Result for Nakamura holding effortlessly With black or so it seemed he really was In under no pressure throughout the Entire game I mean I was comfy yeah that Was comfortable uh he drew from a Position of strength and he’s gonna have The white pieces and a chance to put it All away in the next game Yep I don’t think we will see this one Last too long so we can leave it at this And say this is a very very likely draw We need to switch to the Peter Fiddler Game because it is getting crazy ladies And Gentlemen let’s switch to our Opposite side castling barn burner in Swindler neponishi both minor pieces are Hanging look at what is happening Knight Back to E5 was the last move by civil There was a trade and nepo is he gonna
Move the Knight does somebody like nepo Do that no C4 counter-attacking the Bishop what is happening here holy Smokes okay well we we promised this Would be an exciting one to come back to And it certainly is the first move that You you should all be calculating I Think is Pawn takes Knight it’s the most Forcing it’s the one that deserves the Evaluation Um and wow I was about to say Meme D6 holy smokes so he really didn’t Like some of the complications there did Uh did Peter Yeah let’s let’s bring up an analysis Board I wanted to show first of all some People might be attracted to Queen G5 Unstoppable mate uh Unstoppable made the Other way the problem is that CB opens Up the C file so I I can’t blame Peter For disliking this position the pressure On C2 is really really annoying so Instead he chooses Queen D6 and I guess The idea I’m on is that after Queen Takes D6 you have to take with the Rook You have to keep contact with the Knight Obviously What worried me initially is the move Knight to E8 is spidler gonna take a Page out of Mexi matlikov’s book and Sacrifice an exchange in the end game I Think he is yeah that’s awesome you know He also has the idea of Rook d8 Um and then Knight B6 I don’t know if
That works but uh looks like something Knight B6 Definitely Maybe you could start with Knight B6 instead of Rook d8 I’m not too Sure but yeah this idea of like trying To win that piece back so it looks like He’s got options which is very nice he’s Spoiled for Choice here but I think After Bishop takes C4 I wouldn’t want to Have like this position in a rapid game With black this seems so much easier and More fun to play with white unless you Lose the D6 spawn but that doesn’t seem To be uh even a remote possibility at This point so nepo has an important Decision to make after Queen D6 Queen Takes D6 is not forced But if you don’t take on D6 what do you Do where do you put your queen Because ef6 and queen takes have fate Becomes the big threat Yeah I guess you know you could do Rook A seven Um to defend the queen that’s that’s one Idea but I’m I’m looking at this Position I’m seeing once again tail of The tape Janda palmnushy with a huge time match And the thing is while it evens up Towards the end of the game What Yan does is he he’s doesn’t take a Lot of time with decisions that are not Very critical and he leaves himself with That mountain of time on his clock to
Evaluate the stressful positions like This like the ones that need attention And in this position you see svidler He’s only got three minutes in change He’s probably even making the move Queen D6 because of the time pressure And he needs Clarity in the position he Needs it very quickly because you’re not Going to survive 10 more moves of Anarchy and Chaos with less than four Minutes on your clock but you’re Absolutely right nepo’s time management Gives him the luxury of you want to take Five minutes on a move absolutely by all Means he can do that and still have the Same amount of time that Spiller has Yeah which basically means he’s up five Minutes that was a very long-winded way Of saying that but you get the point Rook takes D6 is on the board the Queens Are off the board And now the big question do you go 98 or Do you play the simpler C takes B3 e Takes F6 When the Smoke finally clears And it’s hard to say who’s got the Slight upper hand probably it’s hard to Say Um I think it’s black I I think that Um I think that the Knight on A4 really Wants to play Knight B6 and and trade For something because if you get a Position where
Um black captures the bishop and loses An end in F6 I think that position is is really Uncomfortable for nepo with Queens Without Queens the pawn can be captured I know it looks bad to open up your king But when it comes to the end game you’re Not as scared about that and black will Use the C file Bishop somewhere like F5 Rook C8 totally White’s King is a little bit Uncomfortable And that by the way is another benefit Of the Moon Knight B6 the fact that it Covers C8 but your earlier idea of Rook A7 Rook C7 could circumvent that Potentially Gosh there’s still so much going on There’s three separate pairs of Pawns That are staring at each other okay B Take C2 is straightforward And Okay now the ball is firmly back in Fiddler scores he might want to grab on G7 just to rid himself of this headache Instead he goes Knight B6 Jeez The Sparks are still flying even though We have very few pieces left on the Board Yeah I think that was the right call by Swiddler Um just all things considered do you Keep this Knight because I’m not sure
Taking is the way to go no cause that Well then black takes in defense C2 Exactly and actually winning that pack Is gonna be a nightmare because B3 is Coming in yeah oh God don’t even don’t Even start with that but actually if you Look at the eval bar we’ve somehow come Back to parody here and maybe Fiddler Keeps the Knight with Knight D5 the Clock evening up I think dare I say Could this be the same as game number One headed towards a draw after a huge Middle game scramble which Fiddler would Not mind at all the lower rated player Always wants things to boil down to one Critical game that raises the Probability and the possibility of Something crazy happening okay so it Looks like the smoke has more or less Cleared we are more or less expecting a Draw here uh Knight D7 maybe but Spiller Still has to be very very careful he is Down a lot of time on the clock okay the Navara Nakamura game has not ended yet And David Navara is down to 30 seconds The levonne aronian game is heating up As well which one should we go to next Well let’s just have a look at where Hikaru’s game stands because sure I Think we’ll be able to tell with that Time pressure you know is this a real Push for either player yes or are we Basically wrapping this up this is a Real push for either player and it’s a
Real push for black And the either player is the either one Named tikaru the one the one who’s got The black pieces here yeah um this is Not the situation you want to be in and Icaro definitely created this position With just the skills that he has as as a Speed chess player because the the eval Everything about the position screamed Draw Um but if he car was able to win this Game Daniel that might just put this Match away not officially but He blooded his Knight wait the Knight is Just hanging I think after Rook D.A I Think Rook da wins and he plays it it’s Over rookie King D7 King D7 goodbye see Amazingly you need the square that your Pawn occupies Ace or you needed A7 That’s why Rook A7 was a blunder the Knight had only one Escape square and it Was A7 both games I’m on David Navara Gets his Knight trapped essentially And he’s he was just betrayed there by His own uh his own pieces both of them The pawn and The Rook took both squares This is going to be a vintage Chicago Nakamura when you get an end game that In which 90 of players would just agree A draw and not only does he win it it’s Not some 60 move Affair you know oh he Gets Navarre to time pressure and milks It for 30 moves just wins the night on Move 40. the game is over he is up to
Zero when he comes he’s Unstoppable even If he didn’t win that night he was gonna Probably win that game so yeah it I feel Like it just accelerated things but with 20 seconds in a tough position Hikaru Looked like he was doing You know already vintage girl stuff Where he was gonna pull away and now With the 2-0 lead he just needs to draw Dania and he certainly looks like he’s In great form in this match nobody has Made a 2-0 comeback in the cgc if Somebody does it for the first time and It’s against the car Nakamura then You know the universe will practically Explode an impressive display in the First two games and David Navarra is Doing his best but his best is not good Enough against the karanakamura’s good Form I flipped to the molokov aronian Game where you might remember that white Sacrificed in exchange for two pawns That’s right and right now the position Does look pretty dynamically balanced we Have a repetition of moves will aronian Go along with it I would be okay with the repetition Maybe for either side like one of the Fairest repetitions in chess right here You’re watching it because I definitely Think that if you don’t go for it you Just might be immediately worse no Matter which side you are I think for my Scene Bishop takes before in King C3 I
Could see a case being made for because This bishop is really active you have This idea of going e594 but I agree with You Oman look at that apron black can Push that pawn to A3 creating an anchor Point for The Rook on B2 so you could See this going astray really fast Totally totally understandable decision Yeah and another draw in game two this Match is tied 1-1 and that means we only Have one other game remaining that is Right swiddler against nepo here we go Very even match between aronian and Matlikov so looking forward to the rest Of those games there but in terms of Games that are still ongoing We have one that you know the eval bar Is not given any credit here but as time Starts to tick lower and lower these Players especially spitler I wonder is there going to be anything Between them White’s position appears to Be Solid no this is just a draw nepo really Has one threat and that is Rook A2 so I Think similar could do well to evacuate His King from under these con from the Confined space into the center where it Has uh plenty of Real Estate Spot the repetition okay well one of Them is okay King F6 King C2 Some sort of like Roque 2 King D3 Rook C8 Maybe
But that’s not really a repetition I Think this is gonna go on actually I’m On for maybe another 10 15 moves at Least King C2 Rook C8 King B2 Rook okay Uh I’ll submit that into evidence wow Okay you’re a lot better I see why you Proposed this game you knew you were Better at this game I I already knew What I was gonna submit as my winning Answer and I’m just hoping that I could Get you to play along nepo’s going for It he’s gonna go Rook A2 I know Jan he’s Going Rook A2 he won’t be able to resist The temptation you’re you’re correct to Shay my friend it’s wonderful so now now We’ve uh now we’re 1-1 in our match Rook C8 Threatening Rook C3 which would win the Pawn on G2 so No now once again White’s Rooks are a Little funny because if you check with Either one of them the king moves and And attacks of Rook so you can’t just Check forever Yep Yeah the king the king would have moved To E6 Rook D4 is a classy move by Mr Svidler I think after Rook C3 King E4 You’re gonna get Mutual liquidation White’s gonna take B4 Black’s gonna take G2 And White’s actually not worse there I Mean White’s the one with the passer In that position I think it’s time for
Nepo too Uh to to bring this one to an end Rook e 2 King I mean do you have to go King F4 you can Go King D5 also but then I would take on G3 and take on YouTube then then you Lose a couple Pawns So you should probably go King F4 and Maybe spot the draw attempt number two Right Rook F2 King E4 rookie two King F4 Yep Okay Thinking but ziddler I have to say he’s Still over a minute a month he has done A fantastic job the end game was Relatively simple but he’s not letting Himself drop to like two seconds on the Clock you know he’s not doing the Grishek No you don’t want that Don’t want that Not at all Rook F2 King G4 the thing is After Rook F2 I don’t think there’s any Interest for Peter to play games before He’s gonna play King E4 for sure yeah You don’t want to press your luck there No nepo’s still going for a rook C2 okay Rook takes B4 I think you take that pawn because even Though you can grab G2 as black white Will just move the H Pawn uh to safety And there’s also Rook B6 check Yeah I like how nepo’s nepo’s probably Thinking about throwing in Rook F2 and
He does And Fiddler’s like all right Jan let’s Just you know let’s take our break yeah Let’s finish this show up Brook takes You two and King H3 is a draw the funny Thing is even without White’s B and H Spawns this would still be a theory yeah That is that is a good point that people Should know this is a theoretical draw With the h f bonds so white actually Doesn’t need any of the pawns and he has Two Although making that draw is like when I Get a piece of Ikea furniture and it Comes with this card that shows you how To assemble it there’s no words on it There’s just 15 symbols and like you Know screws appear in various places I Know I’m never gonna do it Yeah you know not to mention a very very Happy caricature that’s succeeding every Step It’ll be done oh it just takes 10 Minutes drawing F and H is really Difficult but drawing this position is Not we end in peace two of the matches Are incredibly even two draws neither Side really having an advantage at any Point throughout no any of these four Games in neposvidler and Iranian Matlock Of them on this is gonna really come Down to the wire which is good for the Lower rated player it is I mean this is Going to be super exciting uh granted
Hikaranakamura is very close to closing Out his match he’s gonna have the white Pieces in game number three that’s about To happen but in the promise she’s Fiddler it’s been so even we’ve seen Time advantages for Yan what’s Fiddler Coming back defending well every single Game aronian Matlock I think has been The closest match of all of them Dania So really excited to see what happens Next me too and before we go on break we Want to remind you that the 2022-23 Collegiate chess league in partnership With Nace Starly begins Saturday September 24th that is today sign ups Close today for students so make sure to Sign up at go.chess.com CCL to represent Your school in the Premier chess league For college students and on that note we Will be taking a short break you are Watching the chess.com Global Championship we’ll be back with game Three of these fascinating random 32 Matches on the other side of this short Break [Music] Foreign Foreign [Music] Oh yeah [Music] [Music] Foreign Foreign
[Music] Foreign To anyone All around the world are you kidding me The chess.com Global Championship offers The dream of playing against the best Whoa and hey have we mentioned there’s Also a million dollars at stake the Total pot is a million dollars know that It’s not a typo the prizes are Unbelievably generous we began with Thousands of players now only dozens Remain you don’t just do this to chakra In a critical game except Alexis Verona Just did gorgeous chess he makes his way Into the round of 16. The cgc Knockout phase has arrived There are those who played their way in And some are here thanks to their Well-earned reputations [Music] No matter who you are things are about To get very very real Moves on to the round of 16 Trip to the cgc finals and a clean shot At the largest first place prize of the Year My friends it’s the cgc round of 32. who Will take the next step to Toronto A look at the legend himself Grandmaster Peter svidler with a pristine genteel Bookcase made of ancient wood behind Them huge wizard too Says that Fiddler is in an ancient
Library it certainly looks that way well Peter spieler is taking inspiration from The books and the memorabilia behind him And he has brought his A-game to this Match against the Underpants here at the Cgc round of 32 GM Daniel nerdinski Giamamon Hamilton bringing you coverage Of the round of 32 as we pull up our Savidler nepo match-up cardamon Yeah I think it’s just pure irony that Of course it’s huge wizard that lets us Know about uh svidler’s Lair that he’s Got there I mean I think they might be Practicing some sort of Witchcraft Together I saw a few spell books in the Back but he’s uh certainly doing a good Job so far in this match uh on a serious Note because uh he looks comfortable He’s definitely down on time but who Isn’t against the Palm machine you can’t That’s not even something that I can say It doesn’t hold any weight everyone is Down on time against this guy I think When it comes to the matches Nepo is managing the time the way that He wants to but I think svidler is as Well like he’s never been in a situation Where he’s needed significantly more Time than he has No you’re totally right he’s done a Great job on all fronts so has Maxine Malikov Let’s uh not forget that he is Also an underdog he’s a serious Underdog And he has held his own completely
Especially in game one but also in game Two one could argue even putting some Pressure on Lavon uh the only Underdog Who has not had the same good uh good Performance is David Navara he’s done His best but Hikaru Nakamura has been Utterly Unstoppable that last game was a Heartbreaker David Navarro blundering a Knight in an equal Rook end game Although by that point already he was Slightly worse yeah he needs the miracle The Comeback of the Millennium if he can Come back and win two games and then win The Armageddon this will probably be the Greatest comeback of all time It it absolutely will there’s no Question about it Um this isn’t even two games that could Have gone either way these have been two Hikaranakamura domination games Um and even in the last game which was So equal he cars still managed to use Something that he had earned over the Course of that game which was a time Advantage he used it well and he still Came out on top so up two games he Carved with the white pieces we saw how Well that first game went the car was Now going for Queen C2 and Daniel is This influenced At All by the fact that He knows he only needs a draw nah why Would you be saying that am I not Queen C2 it’s not really known as one of the Most solid openings against which it’s
Almost impossible to win Nah nah totally not good thinking about It at all But yeah Queen C2 of course but okay in The very reputable variation uh How David Navarro will create winning Chances in this position is big question Yes because white is incredibly solid in This line Big question no answer Um I I think this line has been playing Players probably from both sides I mean White’s winning chances have always been A grim I think here and Black’s winning Chances have uh been few and far between Yeah I mean so so we should point out That D5 by David isn’t necessarily the Main move uh I think most people at this Point Castle but that allows white to Play the move e2e4 fight really wants a Draw E4 basically seals the deal I mean There’s a long theoretical line that Results in a drawn opposite color Bishop Position David going for the immediate D5 and A3 by Hikaru early A3 a month That’s definitely not the main move I’m Checking opening Explorer just to Confirm Bishop G5 is almost automatic uh In in the vast majority of top level Games so Hikaru deviating early And forcing David to make a decision With his dark squared Bishop Yeah and I’m I’m I was gonna say I Wonder what choice he’ll make here
Because David also has to keep in mind That it’s a must-win game so he might be Thinking from the perspective of Imbalances yes you can Retreat that Bishop maybe to D6 maybe to E7 but There’s so many uh available options There for white to just get a solid game I think taking the Knight is the right Call now you have a position where yes You’ve handed over the two Bishops but You don’t care which side of the Imbalance you have you just want to have An imbalance the pawn structure is in Balance maybe a move like you know A5 A4 Later for uh for black we might see King Side castling so look it might not be a Greatest but I think Navarro’s on the Right path with creating an imbalance And and just creating it early Yeah he’s gotten the kind of position You want to get I agree completely he’s Developed his light squared Bishop to F5 Uh posing out a dilemma to Mr Nakamura Now you sometimes see players these Types of positions pushing the pawn That’s F3 I know Ben quiet down uh the Point of this move is to control the E4 Score but the downside apart from Weakening the king side is that you’re Depriving the Knight of its sort of Rightful developing Square so if Hikaru Wants to play this in a more sort of Milk toast kind of fashion then he can Play Bishop G5 E3 Bishop D3 sort of the
Same old stuff and given that he needs To draw I think Hikaru is more likely to Err on the side of being overly Conservative Agreed I I think that what you Highlighted is a really interesting way To really neutralize things now there is A there is a sort of uh I guess a known Thing in the community of uh chess us Chess players Daniel when you try too Hard to trade all the pieces off and go For a draw you usually end up losing It’s a bad way to play chess chess you Need to be objective at every point and Playing Bishop G5 as white taking the Knight straight away uh playing Bishop D3 just just vacuuming all the pieces Objectively not the way to play so you Have to be careful every decision you Make that you know is just not quite the Best move and you know it eventually That adds up to an advantage that you Might regret later so Hikaru you know The player that he is and how familiar He certainly is with what I just talked About Bishop F4 probably E3 Knight F3 He’s just gonna play the game as it’s Supposed to be played and uh he’s got a Got a great position certainly uh looks Just about equal here two I mean Bishop Pair no Targets in White’s position Yeah and as as you know there there are Unbalances here the pawn structure is Interesting there’s some meat on the
Bone but there there isn’t too much of It I I think hikara was off to a good Start in this game And you know something something crazy Will have to happen here for David Navarro to win this he he will he might Have to push C7 C5 at some point but Right now the C7 Pawn is hanging you Can’t play C5 and please C6 a month that Just leads to a kind of insipid position That he’s gonna have a hard time winning Maybe something spicier like 94 can be Considered yeah I don’t know if you can Get away with a pawn sack at a juncture This early with your develop and still Not complete yeah that’s a good point A Lot of times you can sack this Pawn but Usually there are other pieces on the Board and we’re not quite in uh in that Position at the moment so navara’s got a Weird decision to make because Pawn to C6 as you highlighted if you ever go for Castling then suddenly your dark squares Are a lot weaker you went for casting Immediately which means and boy am I Happy to see it uh there’s an option for Your car to take that pawn Dania Instinct is he gonna take it no Instinct This is gonna play E3 yeah just not even Bother right not even also he’s going to Calculate it car is not one of those Players who just trusts anything that His opponent does he plays F3 huh H5 by Navara whoa
Okay those moves are in my mind I would Never predict those two moves This is very very surprising uh first of All that’s three when you only need you Know a certain a certain result a draw It’s just seems unnecessary but then H5 Straight away I mean I feel like I’m an H5 I feel like I would even consider Maybe like C5 there something like Really really direct after seeing F3 and Before we go to the nepo game which just Started uh The idea of going G4 it is scary but I’m On it’s not something that I would take Such drastic measures against okay white Plays G4 you dropped the bishop back to E6 it’s not the end of the world and Guess what guess what I don’t think Hikaru would play G4 uh without a good Deal of thought weakening his King side Like that H5 creates a gaping hole on G5 Like an entrench a bishop onto that Square if he so desires I feel like that was a rash that was a Hasty decision by David and now Hikaru Is quickly going to complete his Kingside development And I I think White’s better here Agreed Okay so we have the other two games are Underway levana ronian repeating his Opening from game one The Bishop’s Opening will go to that game shortly but First let’s check in as is our tradition
To the smidler nepo game oh Juice for that Let’s check in with Fiddler nepo I Believe because that game that we just Saw right there we can’t predict any Moves of Dania so let’s head somewhere Where we can actually call the moves a Little bit better than that one because Look if if you’re putting me in the Commentary booth and you’re saying yes Uh the next couple moves and it’s f3h5 Queen East I look I’m sorry I’ve not cut Out for this so uh look I’m happy to be Here Dania e45 nice I’m covering yeah This is the traditional well-known you Know plain vanilla Roy Lopez position Yeah the kind we all feel comfortable in Now What bitters Fiddler has uh carried out Here is a line that has become Significantly more popular in recent Months I know Magnus Carlson has been Testing it out it’s this weird thing Where if we rewind a little bit Bishop C5 is totally normal this is I think the Archangel but in most cases Traditionally black plays B5 into six Who needs D6 I’m on who needs to open up Their light squared Bishop at all eh That’s what that’s what the old guys do The cool kids don’t do that anymore Bishop C2 and D5 in one Fell Swoop Finally there it is such an important Move to play uh for the minor pieces and
Blacks but just getting things open up That d-pawn stuck on D7 is uh is simply The worst so many times you see in this Opening if white gets to play D5 before Black does then you know it’s uh it’s Kind of trouble Um but what we see here is definitely a Position I would say well especially After CF6 that I’m happy with if I’m Nepo Has Peter svidler infected whatever has Plagued tikaru and David whatever that You know that condition is where it’s a Compulsion to move your kingside pawns What what is it is this Theory wait a Minute Fiddler is the one in 15 minutes Okay I’m kidding let me say that again Smidler has 15 minutes Napo has 13 Minutes Yeah the first time you said it I Legitimately didn’t believe you you Repeat that you can do you confuse your Pronouns like did you mean to say Nepal Where you said Spindler no no there’s The one in 15 minutes this must be Preparation must yeah Yeah no doubt about it Um now that being said this is the kind Of preparation that sometimes you even Need to be a little bit careful with Like it’s the kind of preparation as Black that I would go over you know with The the magnifying glass maybe five six
Times just to make sure that I know what I’m doing after because the thing with Preparation is once it ends you don’t Want to be clueless you don’t want to Get to this position and then you know Nepal plays Knight D2 and you’re like uh Okay great I did my prep right this was This was correct I did it okay but I Don’t love the position I’ve got a weak D-pawn on D6 a Target on the open file I’ve got weak light squares because I Played G5 you know if I play G4 the Knight might slide into H4 into F5 so I Think this is a position that uh Spiddler definitely needs to have looked At before I’m sure he has so he’s just Taking his time and and establishing What he’s gonna do next but honestly This plays really nicely for white Yeah I mean it’s so easy to be Influenced by the evil bar you see the Zeros and you say this is a dead draw no I mean there’s a lot of imbalances the Biggest asset for black arguably is the Bishop pair and the fact that this dark Squid Bishop is so nicely tucked in on A7 it’s safe it’s secure and it’s Controlling a lot of key Central squares So I think that white really needs to Try to step on the gas pedal in the next Couple of moves while black still is Sort of completing his development Getting the Rooks into the game you’ve Got to try to put that I-94 you’ve been
Indicating some of the ideas here Quickly go Rook do you want to go after The D6 Pawn because that is the only you Know concrete appreciable Target in Black’s position so I think we’re going To see 94 by yawn on the next move or Maybe Knight C4 and Peter’s gonna try to Figure out how to arrange where to put His other Bishop first of all E6 or G4 And and how to arrange the Rooks do you Put them on dude E8 or do you find uh Something a little bit more creative Here Yeah I that’s a pretty good summary Honestly because I I think both players Are calculating exactly that at the Moment Fiddler the one spending time and Nepo the thing is like Knight bd2 is his Last move he’s got the easier game he’s Got the target he knows where his pieces Belong I think Fiddler is the one that Has more to prove in this position so Even though this is preparation from Svidler I have to say like I’d be pretty Happy as nepo here No I would I would be totally satisfied nepo likes Positions in which he feels comfortable He feels that he knows the ideas Um another idea by the way which Peter Could be contemplating is the move D5 as Brazen as it seems to just push your Weak Pawn even further down the board As I talk about it he’s just amazing not
So Brazen it restricts the night the Night no longer has access to these two Squares and Bishop B3 was nicely met With Bishop E6 that’s why nepo instantly Plays rookie one covering the E6 square And the battle is going to rage over Winterfell over that pawn on D5 Yeah and again it’s that classic Frustration rookie one played and it’s Like the movie We’re counting on next Probably Bishop E6 immediately stops so It’s just that little bit of frustration There Bishop G4 I think has the Intention of just guarding the d-pawn With the rook and maybe bring that Bishop around the other way like Bishop H5 Yes And if black can get D4 in and a good Version then we won’t even be talking About a potential pull for white we Might be talking about uh a position That is to be preferred for black Because Miller still has that Bishop Pair that’s right that’s right yeah D4 Is really what has to be contained here By Napo Bishop G4 also doing an another Important job which is it’s kind of Stopping the move Knight B3 Knight B3 White wants to maybe Shuffle that Night Out cover the D4 Square play Rook D1 and Establish a knight there but Bishop Takes F3 could be thrown in those pawns Do not look great and that could end up
In immediate liquidation and a draw Which at this point in the match nepo Really really does not want I mean think About it three draws he’s gonna have the Black pieces in the final game anything Can happen in one individual game so Something like Knight B3 Bishop takes F3 Is something that NEPA will only resort To if he really does not find any ways Of you know keeping keeping some meat on The bone in this position Uh talk about a lack of meat on the bone I’m going to be totally honest here I’m On the levonne aronian match has been a Little bit underwhelming we haven’t been Spending as much time and it’s not be Out of disrespect to Lavon or Maxime These are amazing players but every time I look at the position they’re in some Sort of an end game so let us go to that Game just to update everybody on the Position but it is yet another Uh Knight versus Bishop end game what do You make of this maybe this one is a Little bit better for white Right Um you know is it the amount of Betterness that is needed probably not Um but it does look a little bit better I would have to agree Um solid Pawn structure for white he Just got rid or he’s in the process of Getting rid of his third Pawn Island so What will remain are just the two Pond
Islands the H3 G2 pawns and ones on the Queen side and yeah I was gonna say Interesting choice of which Pawn to win Yeah because you could oh actually maybe You couldn’t you probably could have won You could have played Rook F5 and taken On E5 but then the structure would be Really symmetrical at least now there’s A bit of an imbalance here Yeah I I was actually expecting Rook E1 And uh if King E7 Rook F4 but instead He’s he’s kind of gone for taking the C7 Pawn and saying look the e-pawn is still Weak I can win that one whenever winning The C7 Pawn would have been impossible To do later and you know you took the Only opportunity he had uh to grab it While he could and black is experiencing Some logistical Some logistical problems here if you Play F6 let’s bring up an analysis word Real fast just to show that it’s not all That easy for black to keep all of his Pawns protective keep his bases covered Rook C6 bang bang Hates that move but This is not an easy position to go for Last time I checked black is down a pawn Here Uh yeah that that’s this is just a case Of the you know the engine being so Comfortable being down upon its full Counter attack I guess And look at this line Rook D2 let me try
To win White’s Queen side bonzers Rooks The eight check dropping that Rook on AJ These are the consequences of not being Fully developed even though it’s the end Game white still has an initiative Because his pieces are more actively Positioned I think this is a big Opportunity for Lavon he’s up five Minutes on the clock or so he’s got Definitely without question an end game Pull And things seem to be getting worse for Maxime who drops the pawn on E5 and sees Nothing better than To just acquiesce to a pawn down and Game I’m on this is trouble for for Mr Malikov and Rook DT Rook E2 first move That I think of here just to cover the Second rank watch over that C2 Pawn There’s always going to be pawns hanging Take a look at the H6 pawn and the B6 Pawn in Black’s position some Rook C6 Move is you know later down the line It’s gonna hit both of those pawns uh I Think uh this position is trending in Aronian’s favor I think there hasn’t Been much between them in this match Dania which it actually it just Heightens it makes this every individual Game means so much if you can get a win Here as aronian the way the match is Gone that’s a huge Edge that’s not just Like a turbulent match where both sides Are winning and now it’s your turn this
Is a dead even match hasn’t been Anything between them so one win that’s Enough to maybe win the whole thing yeah You just get the sense that the players Have not been able to create too many Chances with the white pieces you’re Absolutely right Lavon is up upon he’s Going to continue Milking and pushing this position in the Meantime the Hikaru Nakamura David Navarro game continues uh to get crazier And more heated so I think this is a Perfect opportunity to jump back to that Game And this is what we currently have on The board so navara’s task this game was To unbalance the position create some Intrigue I think he’s done that the Problem I’m on is that he’s unbalanced It in the sense that he’s worse white Has a center in Black doesn’t Yeah you have the advantage and I don’t And so the game is in Balance now Um Mission success what do they say task Failed successfully something like that Just fail successfully yeah exactly I Think here Um you know if the match was in a Different situation I would be talking a Little bit more about oh you know Hikaru’s done a great job he’s got great Chances on the king Side based on the Match it’s it’s actually the advantage That I think Hikaru has that is gonna be
Enough To get him a draw uh he only needs a Draw and just because he’s actually Pushing here I think it’s going to be too much for For Navara to uh to handle and you know Even E5 Knight D6 here Is doing exactly that and C4 by the way It’s just hanging yeah hanging Queen G5 Is about to magically appear on the Board oh this is this is nasty this is Disgusting I mean I again let’s not Forget that David has to somehow win This position that’s not happening this One’s over so it it looks like Hikaru is In a great spot in this match it the Position unless a you know draw or Perpetual kind of presents itself it Might not even really be possible or for Trotta even happens so we might just see Hikaru actually win the third game and Win the match we have seen a little bit Of 3-0 in this competition right Dania In the global Championship we have seen Some three O’s not too many granted Every match has been pretty close but it Does happen and uh oftentimes the third Win is just a product of you know that Player needing desperately to win and so Taking more risks than usual and it’s And it’s a statement that you’re making For for subsequent rounds I mean not That Hikaru has to make any additional Statements everybody knows who they’re
Up against yeah uh but but he’s gonna Play the board he’s not gonna go out of His way to liquidate into an equal end Game when he’s winning in the middle Game right he’s not afraid of having the Queens on the board uh no all of a Sudden no he’s not so did David’s still Trying that 94 you know threatening the Pawn on E5 so Not to suggest that white doesn’t have To be careful here if you play Queen G5 You might run into G6 and I mean Obviously there’s some smothered made Ideas so still still some clouds that Ikara has to navigate through Yeah yeah this one is not over but Hikaru is rather technical when he needs To be and you know he Smells that he’s got the edge and there Might be a tactic that that he should be Looking for I mean generally he’ll Spot It No 100 percent Um okay well we can leave him Uh to continue converting his Advantage Which of the other two games do do you Have the Jones for uh I think we should Check back to this into this Fiddler Again because we have some really Interesting developments there Yana is Worse Yeah so I think I’m just gonna say this Is I was gonna say that one as well so We’re on the same page let’s oh Queen G5
Played and before we do that hang on a Second we gotta respect the eval bar It’s uh it’s telling us to stay at least For one more move right because really Crucial where or how the car reacts to This move G6 no no 100 I think I think We will all be forgiven for sticking Around a little while longer H3 now it Might be the case that Hikaru has Spotted some sort of a liquidation into A draw exactly what I said he’s unlikely To do if he sees a slam dunk way to get A position he knows he won’t lose yeah Uh then he’ll do it Knight takes E5 I Think Knight H6 check Or Rook takes D5 and Knight h6s is What and then just because he’ll just Grab the the C Pawn at the end Oh yeah and it’s just a draw Knight H6 Queen takes E5 and Rook takes C4 yeah Great decision making why not yeah a Great example of playing the match Rather than always trying to play the Board Um Hikaru is you know an expert at that he Doesn’t need more than to draw and he so This is kind of what I was alluding to Earlier I was saying his position is so Good that I always see him making a draw Or being equal if he needs to be so he Used that that edge that he had and he Basically gave it away in exchange for You know a bunch of pieces flying off
The board and suddenly it simplified so Much that the draw is essentially Imminent It is and Rook takes C4 is on the Horizon perhaps sicaro contemplating an Initial check on effort to send the king Back to G7 I don’t think it makes a Critical difference b-a-b-a Queen B1 by The way is a total paper tiger the king Always has a nice Escape score on H2 it Always seems like Hikaru has made lufts I don’t even remember when he played H3 And yet it always seems like he’s got That move included precisely when he Needs it to be included exactly Magically there Everything is perfect he actually just Played it by the way to attack the Knight on G4 so of course all in stride From Hikaru and well I think we can Safely say this looks like two and a Half Target score will be reached at Minimum which is enough to win this Match and knock out David Navarro from This competition indeed it is we will Keep an eye on this game and let you Know when it officially finishes but now I think is a good time to jump to this Fiddler game In which Peter svidler has not only Managed to eradicate the weakness on T5 But he’s managed to make the most of his Bishop air he is most certainly in the Driver’s seat in this position but not
Necessarily more than that I don’t think That nepo will have too much trouble Holding his own here still scary scary Stuff for yawn Yeah I think it’s very great you know uh Nepo’s nepo’s backseat driving still a Little bit uh Peter offers a draw though Well I uh I think it’s an interesting Decision considering a few things Dania Uh and I will use this moment to be ever So slightly critical Um there’s not first of all I don’t Think we’ve seen the time uh this even This late into the game so he’s still Got five minutes and change lots to play For it Um the other thing is it’s one of the Best positions that he’s had all game And you know when you when you work that Hard to get there and then just offer a Draw you’re not really you’re not really Celebrating properly Um when you have the best position that You’ve had all game you should probably Play it out a little bit because Well you know logic would State Daniel That if you have the best position You’ve had all game your opponent Probably has the worst position they’ve Had all game and in that situation I’m Going to switch by the way to the irony Game as you as yeah let’s switch go Ahead let’s switch uh because that Game’s done but go ahead honestly like I
I think in in that situation You just can’t do your opponent any Favors it’s the worst thing in chess Like you have to think nepho’s probably Sitting there not liking his position at All and you’re just gonna repeat moves To give him a draw you guys over the Moon he said oh thanks like my position Was actually starting to really be Unpleasant and you uh you know smack me With a draw offer right when that Happens it’s a good feeling I’d only Should be that kind to your uh your Opponents that being said it’s not a Terrible result of course but I think I Think he could have done a little bit More it’s not like he was up against the Wall time pressure or anything like that I I agree I think that’s uh that’s a Good explanation of why you think uh Playing would have been the more prudent Option the speed with which nepo took That dropper is another indication of That nepo does like not accept raw as in Equal positions right he only takes them If he feels there’s imminent danger As you’re saying so okay obviously the Match situation is really good for Peter Right absent is all of these Considerations if you came up to him and Said Peter We can make this four game match into a One game match in which you have the White pieces basically like an
Armageddon game maybe we’ll have an Actual Armageddon game he would accept That offer with open arms so this is the Most danger that nepo has been in match Was in the cgc obviously and in the RCC And really the last like seven Tournaments that he’s played so We are in for a treat ladies and Gentlemen but first will levonaronian Convert his extra Pawn I think the Answer is increasingly looking Like it will be no what do you think Rook uh E6 Knight C4 and yeah you’re Kind of pointing to A4 being the move I I’m gonna take the contrarian view and Say like no I know imagine imagine us Being on the contrarian view where is Our unified front I’m telling you Dania Look I I’m ready to have your back but When it comes to the Von aronian I just Find him to be so Technical and you know He just squeezes the life out of Everything aronian is not the kind of Guy I think to To have this game end very quickly so The very least I think we’ll try to play It out and with a minute and a half for Matt lakov anything can happen No of course I in all seriousness I do Agree I think point five is a serious Underestimation of the Practical chances That Levon holds in this position Because it’s not like if Maxine defends For 10 moves then magically it’s already
A draw Lavon can torture him add Infinitive you can play 50 moves if you Want to play 50 moves you can play 50 Moves and then push the pawn to F4 That’s right so so Maxime is in for the Long Haul he’s going to have to avoid Missing Forks you think 2700 missing a Fork well that Knight on E5 we’ve seen Crazier things happen than a GM missing A fork with a minute left on his clock After an already strenuous period of Defending so I’m gonna give this a 50 50 chance I Think I can see Maxine holding this but I can also see a blunder happening or Maybe Lavon finding a way to get his Pawn eventually to F6 let’s Buckle in Strap ourselves in and Watch the show King will come back to G4 To defend the pawn Obviously I’m on I’ll finish by saying That the ideal scenario is where black Gives up the bishop for both of White’s Pawns but that ain’t gonna happen Levon’s not gonna allow that to happen No and as you say that he actually Cements one of his pawns onto a dark Square and that will ensure that that Basically is never possible Um Bishop E6 and I mean first thing that Comes to mind in my head is like pinning That that bishop and the other thing That I’m thinking about is can we Actually pin the bishop and get a
Position where black runs out of Moves Like Rook A6 Rook A7 check H5 I want to Get my knight to G4 Yeah Knight G4 Is a very unpleasant Prospect if black Loses H6 even if a rook trade happens I Think it’s lost Wait what happened there is it winning Oh Rook A6 Yeah oh my God I’m on Rook a16 G7 hg4 Sorry we should break up an analysis Board here this is winning Rook g6h5 And if Bishop takes G4 the pawn end game Is lost So Unintentionally like I just kind of you Missed it I said those moves Knight G4 H5 Rook A6 but I didn’t realize they Could all be put in the pot right now I Said all of them we didn’t realize that Was the that was the recipe Daniel it Didn’t occur to me come on but this is He’s got to see that Rook A6 is obvious Right you’re pinning the bishop what he Missed what he missed was obviously Knight G4 exactly but he’s got to see That he’s got plenty of time That’s and he’s a really really big Miss From both players but yes more so on Lavon with the extra time and you know He’s the one trying to win Um he’s got to be on the lookout for Those it’s tougher as a Defender to spot
Everything I don’t get it I mean LeBron This is precisely the kind of trick that He’s trying to set up he got got it Served on a golden platter and he just Stubbornly keeps this Rook on the Seventh rank giving Maxime a new lease On life for malachov the strategy is Just basically to wait on the sixth rank Uh and you know wait for Lavon to pose Concrete threats white can push the pawn To F4 right that’s not a problem but how Are you going to get that pawn any Further than F4 that might have been the Golden opportunity yeah something tells Me he’s gonna get another one Yeah it just I think in in positions Like this what you want to do as Lavon Is pretend like you’re trying really Cool ideas and that pretending you know Takes 30 seconds off both of your clocks And then everything that you were Previously doing is magnified because The time is lower No totally Yeah everything is Scary or every threat More deadly with 30 seconds and Maxime Is burning through his clock right he is Not breaking even with that two second Increment that’s right okay Those last couple of moves came a long Way though Um there’s maybe knight c293 uh Knight’s Kind of good there as for this Rookie seven rookie five is it I was
Gonna ask you is it out of the question I asked you first yeah yeah it’s Unfortunate oh I asked you back but I Was told To answer a question with a question Yeah let’s pass that one over the chat There Um my my instinct is uh is that I Wouldn’t do it because I don’t need to And if I’ve played 40 moves moved upon If I played 40 more moves and it’s a Long game I might do that later but I Don’t need to commit to that right now That alleviates maybe a lot of the hard Work that I want to make my opponent do I love that feeling when you’re Defending for forever like some Pawn Down Rook end game and finally your Opponent just like goes into a Philadelphia position which is basically A draw for that relief you feel like now I know how to draw this lavon’s not Gonna give Maxi Malika the luxury of That feeling until another 50 moves have Passed exactly this is what I was Talking about earlier with this Fiddler Game I was saying don’t be too nice to Your opponents they’re not going to be Nice to you uh and when they’re in a Tough position don’t let them out of it With a draw offer or no repetition or Trade uh keep them in those tough Positions because they don’t want to be There I can’t believe you Mr Rook A6 I I
Usually I almost always give the player The benefit of the doubt we’ve all been In this situation we know how hard it is To find a resource on demand we know That when the eval bar screams plus Seven it’s so much easier But all of that aside that was an Elementary move and you know you can’t Normally miss these types of chances in The cgc and expect to get away with it Agreed but maybe he will Rook A3 great Move Yeah really powerful actually and when You move those pawns up to dark squares I think the issue becomes well all of a Sudden the bishop on the light squares It just controls everything and there’s No restricting that Bishop any longer No this is I think just a dead Drive I Think Lavon has to take on H3 because if He tries to go the other way which he Did uh you’re actually gonna end up Losing the Knight after King E4 Bishop G2 he literally at this point is out of Options he’s gonna try to win the H6 Spawn so we might actually get an f and H Pawn Rook end game which I mentioned In a previous game after all I don’t Remember in what context I think it was The swiddler nepo game Um it was actually that game and we were Saying like oh it’s gonna be a draw but Actually if you take every Pawn off the Board it’s still a draw
Nice and little cafe it’s much easier But still not great I wouldn’t be Shocked if black loses this game Rook C6 And King F5 is on Deck come on yeah and It’s unpleasant Oh Okay so Rook A3 right not attacking the F Pawn so all of a sudden white says Okay sure we’re okay four may be as Accurate I don’t know Three Two seconds The thing is as black you don’t even Have to win the pawn right you could Just play Rook G3 there and I think You’re still drawing exactly you have a Safety a safety net even if you blunder H6 you’re okay but you’re not going to Because F4 cannot be easily defended Yeah this is uh well done here Maxim Declines the repetition Yeah good you’re playing on for the win Of course Maybe Game Gear six King G6 Though King G6 is it feels too easy for Black allowing that No Lavon is going to be heartbroken when He figures out The chance that he missed back to G7 Goes mountlakeoff and the side checks Them on are always so so annoying to Faces the attacking side yep from the Long side as well what You can repeat F5 what is that move what
Is work H5 that’s an insane Rook C7 and F6 and the king is pushed back to the Back rank this is what how could you do That I don’t understand just lost his Ever loving mind F6 is coming it’s over He had to draw he’s right in front of Him he was playing it three-time Repetition literally what did he just do Oh my God to promote it’s a win Rook G8 And it’s only sunk in now but he’s got Two seconds for that reality and look at This Zigzagging his way down to E2 this Is unbelievable at the last hurdle all He had to do was repeat make that same Move He already did the hard work of finding The move he’s already got it just do it Again G6 that’s it no more way to Progress I think Lavon would literally Have taken the draw Yeah honestly there’s nothing else to do No H5 no F5 but why are you suddenly Going for this meaningless Pawn the Entire point of this end game is to Prevent the progress of the F1 that is Precisely what he doesn’t do with that Move I can’t believe what we just saw That is a shocker Dania because he it’s Not like even if Rook H5 was also Drawing why you’ve already founded your Your drawing method just keep doing it I’m I’m absolutely Blown Away by that Move and he might have just cost himself
His spot in this competition as he’s now Down we bring up these scores for the Matches he’s now down to LaVon aronian In a match where you could hardly find Anything between these two players and Now there’s a full point and now not Only do you have to recover mentally but You have to win on demand against Lavon Which is hard even if you are in the Best of moods and the best of mental Places this is going to be a Ridiculously tall order I can’t believe What we just saw and it’s just another Day here at the cgc this has been epic And the greatest part is that we have an Amazing game between nepo and siddler Coming up that matches all tied up and We’re gonna see if Maxime matlokov can Recover after this shocking shocking Blunder before we go on break we wanted To remind you that if you are a product Manager if you’re at work and watching Chess right now on company time then First of all shame on you just kidding Uh we need you we need you to help Coordinate events like POG Champs the Speed Chess Championship the cgc and More Type X clamp p-m-o-e exclaim P-m-o-e in chat for all details and Combine your passions in the love of Chess on the world’s greatest scene be a Product manager for chess.com and right Now be strapped into your seats because Game four and smidler nepo and aronian
Malikov is coming right up here at the Cgc stay tuned for game four on the Other side of this short break [Music] [Music] Foreign Foreign Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] Thank you [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] ER here on a beautiful Saturday Afternoon watching the 2022 chess.com Global Championship alongside the one And only chess brought Grandmaster Amman Hamilton it’s been a barn burner in all Three of our matches one of them already Concluded big surprise him on the Hikaru Nakamura seals the deal after only three Games against David Navarro the other Two matches have been very close a Shocking blunder by Maxime he goes down A point nepo against Fiddler is our Marquee matchup it is all tied up and it Goes down to the wire who Amman will Make their way to the final eight in
Toronto Yeah it’s a great question I mean at This point we know Hikaru has done a Great job he’s informed in this Tournament he dispatched with of David Navarra two and a half to half and you Know it I feel like sometimes I say it Really didn’t paint the picture this Time I feel like it did Hikaru was Dominant on top start to finish and you Know uh he’s done after three games as He deserves to be playing like that uh The Palm machine’s Fiddler it’s been Even the whole way we might even go to An Armageddon so we’ll be closely Watching that match up and finally Lavon Aronian will take that gift from his Opponent Maxim matlikov and now he can Put things away with with a draw and if He puts things away Daniel of course he Gets even closer to that that first Place uh prize fund of course we’ve got The uh overall one million dollars in Total prizes and two hundred thousand Dollars for the champion this year Dan Yeah David Navarra he will take home ten Thousand dollars so The Losers of the Other two matches but two hundred Thousand dollars is the top prize so It’s not just five thousand dollars That’s on the line it is potentially 190 000. that final eight will be contested In the great City of Toronto Canada In November early November it’s gonna be
Epic you are not going to want to miss It and it is going to feature all of the Greatest and brightest nicest most Handsome faces on the chess.com team November 2nd through 7th will be the cgc Championship I know a certain Canadian Grandmaster will be there Nobody else lives in Toronto and I’m Easily the most famous person here so oh It’s absolutely my city No it’s nothing else is happening I Can’t recognize any of the other faces Particularly not that I don’t know why That guy’s so big the one in the blue Shirt get him out of here he should be As Tiny as Lawrence Trent is in this Photo Exactly yeah no we need more prominent Feature for that guy right in the middle That guy in the back clearly being Modest Um you know letting letting everyone Else shine Oh my goodness well the games we have Two games remember the Hikaru game the Hikaru match is over they will not play The fourth game so we have nepo Fiddler And aronian matlakov we saw Maxie Malikov on camera there during the break He is in there we see him on camera now Fuming upset I do not know it is beyond Me how you push that crazy blunder away From you especially after you survived You know giving Levon a chance to play
Rook A6 you survived that and then you Wonder at the last hurdle heartbreaking No it really is Um this game will be I mean it’s tough To bounce back that’s the thing it’s one Thing to need a win you know under the Gun you’ve got the white pieces at least But it’s quite another when you’re still Reeling hopefully he’s not from the Blunder that you just made to put Yourself in this position you shouldn’t Even be here in your mind Yeah this would be a time match you’ve Got the white pieces that’s a great Situation This changes everything like seen with An early A3 That is not a move I have seen in this particular position Now I’m on it’s a very typical idea to Prepare D take C5 followed by B4 that’s Not atypical but to do it here is kind Of odd It certainly is like A3 is such a modest Move but it actually has a bit of a Punch to it and I have never seen this Setup G3 E3 A3 B4 Knight bd2 Yeah that’s that’s a lot of stuff but I Guess the the more you see of it the More you can kind of understand at least What is being prepared here but dc5 B4 Is what medlock’s trying to trying to do But E5 byronian is probably stunned him
A little bit because he’s been preparing C4 He’s been preparing C4 now that move is Impossible So the for Maxime the general strategy Of getting a non-theoretical position With a lot of pieces on the board that’s All that you can possibly ask for with The white pieces and they must win game But with C4 impossible does he have to Resort to maybe D take C5 and E4 or Maybe B4 followed by E4 hard to say Which Pawn he’s going to push to the Fourth rank Yeah but he he does have to lay claim to Some space Um if he doesn’t I mean he’s just gonna Have no chances in this game now the the Choice is actually back on Lavon because If he closes things up with the move C4 All of a sudden it hands over E4 to White which is not possible now because Of depression on the receiving end of That I hate it like I hate playing C4 And then E4 E5 and I feel like my Center Is collapsing That’s right no it’s really Uncomfortable I think Levant would Prefer to play moves that you’re Highlighting like the deal with the B-pawn without playing C4 Queen V6 A6 Um even potentially something like B4 All those moves make they make a little Bit more sense than C4 to me while C4
Might be a good move I think that he Doesn’t really want to commit that Structure yeah no you’re absolutely Right he plays actually C takes D4 first And now the move A5 of course the pawn On B5 is no longer hanging because uh of The Tactical Knight takes D4 so uh Lavon Is more than happy to leave this Pawn on Pre for the time being and the point of Flying A5 I think is prophylaxis against Uh the solidifying move C3 now C3 is Going to encounter B4 and with the queen Side exploding like that white could end Up being saddled with a serious weakness On C3 you sometimes see this in the Karo Khan uh you see this Pawn structure in Quite a few openings and I think Lavon Is doing a great job of choosing an Ultra solid setup with no weaknesses Which is going to make it so hard for Maxim uh to press this to Victory Exactly Um it’s hard not to play C3 so I think You will end up doing that yeah he does And we see that we see the move C3 just Because B4 is intended doesn’t mean that This can’t be met this way uh one Interesting way that you could play is C Takes B4 so if you want to pull up an Analysis board like C takes B4 a takes B4 uh A4 and then look it’s like not Great but if I can claim that I’ve got This passed on for later in the game That’s at least a permanent advantage
And I can try to play around it Um hey this is a must win game for Maxine so I would always be on the Lookout for permanent things that I can You know save for later yeah back we go To the live position he’s basically done The same thing on the other side he’s Put a b a b and C4 rather than c b a b And A4 And this also looks very sensible to me If I had to assess the position I would Assign definitely a pull a pull to White Even though black is incredibly solid uh You know the Bishops on E7 and D7 don’t Exactly make the you know the most uh I Was gonna say impressive impression uh But they don’t exactly breathe fear into Uh maximum outlookov’s mind here and I Think if he goes B3 and Bishop B2 and Maybe 95 maybe I spoke too soon maybe it Is very much possible to start squeezing Black in the center here C5 though Committal but also totally Understandable establishing a protected Past Pawn no question that white is Slightly better here Yeah absolutely Um the one thing about this position as We see Brook A8 is it all comes down to You know can black play the move E5 Eventually or Target the d-pawn for White and anyway because if that d-pawn Falls uh moves gets traded anything all Of the above the C Pawn you’ll notice is
Just a Sitting Duck that’s C Pawn for White needs the pawn on D4 and the pawn On D4 therefore needs all the attention All the pampering right gotta hold on to That yeah it’s and uh you know and Without it you’re you’re dead this is Like the pawn on C5 is like me doing uh Labs and high school science like I I Knew how to do a good write-up and so I’d get a good grade but you know who’s Doing all the work you know who’s doing The actual experiments it’s that pawn on D4 that’s what’s really keeping the Engine running here yeah and that is Exactly why Maxine positions his Knight On V3 a purely defensive posture uh but Like you’re saying it is critically Important to a defend D4 and B make sure That you’re controlling the E5 square And preventing a central breakthrough Yep the other thing that the Knight does Really well is it covers A1 so white has Ideas like Bishop F4 Bishop E3 uh and Rook slides over to A1 to take over the A file so I think it’s fair to say Dania That madlikov has got a good position All Things Considered uh he needs a win In this game at all all costs I think he Set himself up reasonably well yeah but Now he’s got to push aside that regret That voice which tells him hey if I had Drawn that previous game and I had this Position I would have already been on the cusp
You know of maybe winning getting to the Round of 16. now even if he wins he Forces an Armageddon so all of those Negative disappointing thoughts we all Have them after a disappointing result But so far he’s done a great job of Avoiding tilt playing objectively you’re Gonna have to keep that going as Lavon Threatens the Knight on B3 the nepo game Will be starting momentarily and once it Does we’ll bring you the opening from That game as I speak it has begun so I’m On with your permission let’s switch Over to the nepo game Uh uh you have it now all right you were Thinking about it okay And in English bye mistress Fiddler Who yeah as you mentioned this probably Did factor into his decision in the Previous game to take that draw because He knew okay I’ll be heading into the The last game and uh I’ll have the white Pieces which is always Pleasant for Anyone as we see the English opening Very trendy line these days and it’s It’s actually kind of feels like a uh You know accelerated hyper accelerated Dragon like the opposite the opposite Colors well we saw Sam sebion defeating Maxima Sheila grav in a beautiful American game precisely in this line Although I think they’ve already Deviated from that game you said it this Is all the rage everybody’s playing this
Line now Yeah D3 hitting the the pawn on e4 and Already there’s stuff hanging right D4 If if you’re looking at the Knight on D4 Well right now it’s actually hanging Completely it is White’s turn but that’s A serious threat Yep but you can take it now anyway and a Lot of people Would probably wonder why black can’t Just tried everything I think it has to Do with giving white the bishop pair in An open position right yes white will Have an isolated Pawn on D4 but giving Away the dark squared Bishop this early With the center being wide open it’s a I’m not saying it’s bad but it’s very Committal and Jan commits to it yeah I Think this is heading toward a draw come On We see it on the board this is exciting Uh I I generally like what black does in These Bishop E6 Knight D7 D6 yeah You know it’s really really equal but if I had to pick a side I would probably Take nepo and Um I I guess this brings me to another Point which I’m curious what you think As well but you know this isn’t like one Of those matches where you play Four Games of one time control and then maybe Tie breaks in a shorter time control and Then maybe a shorter time control and Then Armageddon this is for games
Straight to Armageddon and it really Feels to me like the higher rated player Might not want to go into this whole Armageddon bidding process like kind of Wild decider Um do you feel like it’s it’s something That they should be considering or are You okay with the idea that the the Armageddon game which feels like more of A coin flip than the other games it Seems like they’re just walking into it I don’t think it’s possible to debate That the Armageddon produces more upsets And is more of a coin flip Peter Offering a draw with the move Bishop G5 Though so I think that’s totally Consistent with his strategy he wants a Coin flip he knows he’s the underdog he Wants this uh to get into a crazy Armageddon time scramble where anything Can happen Jan is contemplating it so From Nepal’s perspective going Knight Bd7 and saying let me make a couple more Moves let me try to decide this in an Orderly fashion makes a lot of sense and There he goes Knight bd7 the draw for is Declined but I’m on Pablo pencaradov he Upset vishian on where Armageddon Sammy Where did he beat MBL Armageddon so Armageddon breeds uncertainty it breeds Crazy results and I think both players Are operating consistent with their Strategy yon wants to make a push Peter Wants this to get into an Armageddon but
If I’m honest I don’t see yon winning This game white is just too solid you’ve Got the bishop bear you’re basically Ready to play D5 and liquidate all of The minor pieces off the board Yeah that that’s what I was gonna point Out oftentimes you’ll see like a move a Draw for it declined and then maybe That’s okay and then the other guy’s Like all right okay listen that draw for Totally you know we misfired there we Actually do want to draw this game Yeah I always remember a a regular at my Chess club in San Francisco he was about 2100 he always had the weirdest way of Offering draws like you wouldn’t just Say Alfred draw he would basically he Would say something like all right you Want to call it a day All right let’s go grab some coffee Shall we and that would basically mean Let’s call it a draw and he would do That even if he’s worse so he would try To rope people in to accepting draws Yeah because it sounds more friendly Like oh yeah let’s grab a beer after the Game like yeah exactly exactly yeah a Lot of people were in fools but I think Nepo is probably seriously considering Reciprocating that draw for right about Now yeah literally in this moment Because he sees D5 coming it could be D5 Right away it could be Bishop takes Knight and then Pawn to D5 point is I
Don’t think you can stop the move no And just to give you okay maybe H6 is The most prudent option otherwise if you Get a bishop versus knight situation Then White’s gonna be the one declining The drive we bring up an analysis report Let’s say black castles you play D5 CD Knight T5 Knight T5 Bishop D5 you trade Everything All of a sudden NEPA will be will be Asking himself why exactly did I not Take the drug here I am worse the bishop Is better than the knight in an open Board so You know it’s important to be smart here For nepo Indeed he’s like he’s a he’s a very Talented player but maybe sometimes not The most uh objective or practical Because uh you know he’s just got that Confidence instilled in himself someone Offers him a draw immediate reaction is Like no get that out of my voice what Are you talking about no wait you want To draw well now I don’t you know it’s Like when you hear your sibling oh and There’s the draw for is it a draw for by Uh let’s give ourselves another pat on The back we like called that retired Psychological sequence we are in their Heads they are in each other’s heads and They are now going to an R Maia done We broke that down nicely Go team
Um but yeah that that honestly is Probably what was going on and we are Going to see uh what should be an Extremely exciting Armageddon game but Not before the uh the other match that We have ongoing Um you know wraps itself up indeed and This one will go to Armageddon if Maxine Matlikov wins this position on demand He’s got the white pieces he lost in a Heartbreaker if you’re just joining us In the previous game he did everything To draw a losing Rook end game only to Stumble at the very last moment when Lavon had already acquiesced to a Repetition to move so what’s going on Here Maxime is trying to get 92. oh I was are you as surprised as I Was expecting Bishop D2 and Rook A1 Exactly yeah um that’s what I’ve sort of Been calling for Um is Bishop D2 is there a problem with Bishop D2 yes Like looks fine to me I think maybe he Was worried about 94. But 94 is nothing to be worried about I Mean Rook A1 and Bishop B1 and if we can Bring up an analysis board here like This type of position I think white is Significantly better and exactly F3 if you need it you know you can play Knight D2 later so what the heck Is it Queen A2 like uh sorry on Bishop D2 Bishop
And it’s like you try to I don’t know It’s just like a weird position where Yeah you can take B4 but you take B2 as Well No it’s a puzzling move by Maxime yeah No I don’t think there’s any way around It the Knight I thought was so well Placed on B3 supporting Rook A1 yes you Want to get to the E5 square but you Know I I think handing black the a file Like this is something he might come to Regret Yeah I agree completely Knight D7 is a Prophylactic measure By aronian to stop the knight from Getting to E5 perhaps Maxime could try To some Shenanigans with Bishop H3 and He does this threatens the obvious Bishop takes E6 and guess what levant’s King is not the safest piece on the Board if he plays King h8 maybe the Queen kind of worms its way into F4 Maybe even a g Pawn March if Maxim gets Desperate and he definitely is desperate I mean he’s in a must-win situation G4 Is not out of the question here folks Mark my words G4 is a maybe like a you know chaotic Good move Um in a position like this uh I also was Looking at Knight G5 Just you know real ideas of sacrificing Somewhere particularly on F7 But uh yeah as you’re highlighting there
Always seems to be an answer here There’s not just going to be a move you Produce out of nowhere as white and it Just blindsides Lavon ronian and wins This game all of a sudden you’re down Three minutes and I see moves like Queen C2 I see moves like Rook A1 coming in as Soon as black Shores up this King side Situation and the pressure on E6 look For Queen C2 and Rook A1 and White’s Just going to be in big trouble yeah Black’s not gonna sit on the save file Forever he’s actually gonna transform it Into something tangible you called it There’s that Knight G5 move trying his Best uh to add some oil to the fire but I think Knight f8 might come very close To extinguishing that fire the D4 Pawn Also becomes a serious weakness a Possibility of going to be three It has to be reckoned with now the Armageddon game will start as this game Is going we will bring you that game When it begins we will update you on What the players are bidding they are Currently in the bidding process mind You that in the Armageddon both sides Bid the time that they are willing to Accept the side with the lower bid gets The black pieces and whatever they bid The side that bid the higher number gets The white pieces and always gets 15 Minutes and there’s no increment in Armageddon I always remind people of
This It’s a completely different game of mine Yeah I think everyone watching needs to Be reminded of it and I think there Needs to be a private seminar for all The players as well so that they’re Reminded of this because uh it’s the Worst feeling when you think time should Be added to your Vlog where’s my two Seconds the first time you happen to Notice it is always when you have four Seconds on the clock like it’s you never Notice that when you have 11 12 minutes Nope you’ll you’ll figure that out when It’s exactly it’s this house we have our We have our uh PTSD from that that’s for Sure Yeah well all’s well that ends well Knight Fate by Lavon trying to make sure White’s attack doesn’t end well I guess We should show why Knight takes F7 Doesn’t work come on I mean which I Actually haven’t yet totally determined Myself yeah I guess we should show yeah Come on why don’t you show us come on Yeah you you take it wait he played it Just as I was making them He literally made the move as I was Making it and I was gonna say here white Has Perpetual but does he have more than That And the interesting thing is we’ve now Outsourced our work so that might seem Lavon of rhodian and maximum they can
Show us the variation so pay attention Yeah you asked them to do it yep guys Thank you very much and and obviously Crucial to remember is that a draw is Insufficient for uh Maxine said that’s It I think Oman I don’t see a single way For I why can’t create even a single Made thread you can go rookie five but Then even Oh yeah H4 but against against both Moves H6 and King H7 only leads that’s Right yeah so probably already a losing Position for white Maxim should try H4 Mike seems to try H4 yeah I was thinking About something like Um maybe if you pull up an analysis Board so like H4 I do want to play H5 And queen F5 so at least I have a threat Um and if you play H6 in response then It’s like Something about H5 Queen F5 check and Bishop takes H6 yep that you know it Gets a little muddy there with Rook E6 Coming so I was thinking that’s that’s An idea but you know how are you playing This position Dania are you going all Out and willing to lose this game some Players just have a different Perspective on that I I don’t see a Reason why not but this is an unrated Game as I’ve said previously in the World Cup which is the most high profile Knockout tournament there’s rating Considerations if you you don’t want to
Do something stupid and lose a classical Game especially if you’re the underdog And you’re gaining rating from a draw Here there’s no rating on the table you Literally would rather give up your Queen than make a draw and we’re gonna See Maxine doing something similar B3 Trying to distract the queen from C6 now In the meantime we have news on the nepo Front Jan has bid 12 minutes Peter Svidler has been 11 minutes that means That Fiddler will have the black pieces And draw odds with 11 minutes on the Clock Amman that scares me you’re four Minutes down against nepo to start the Game That’s yeah that’s gonna be a tough one For Peter Yeah usually you’re down four minutes to Napo four minutes into the game but here You know you just start with it so You’ve uh you’ve already got yourself in A hole but I will say with all draws in The match you can make a case that look It has been the result today and uh if It continues to be that way obviously You’d rather have those black pieces so That Armageddon goes your way Yeah and and for John you know you know He’s going to put pressure on the clock He’s going to have to choose an Open-ended opening Um not like a rue Lopez that quickly Fizzles out into something clearly
Defined that’s exactly what siddler Wants so I’m expecting one C4 from Jan I Don’t think he’s gonna play E4 something Tells me he’s gonna play with Peter Svidler just played Uh himself in their final quick draw With the white pieces we’ll see yeah That’s right That’s right so that’ll be uh that’ll be A really interesting match I I found it Uh also uh of note that they bid 12 and 11 minutes and I just think that the More Savvy uh Armageddon bidders tend to Be like 11 58 you know but these guys Are 12 11 whatever give me whatever Color works out round number it’s like Those Jeopardy Jeopardy final you know The Final Jeopardy Wagers like 50 60 676 dollars because if I answer Correctly then I’m gonna be three Dollars away from number two these Players give me 11 12 minutes just let’s Let’s start the game let’s get let’s Start the game exactly exactly let’s get This game underway and speaking about uh Getting something underway how about the Attacks seem needs to get his move Underway doesn’t he I don’t think he Sees a move no I I don’t well I don’t Think he sees one and I don’t think There is one Um the obviously guys that the engine is Going to be giving You know equal like it’s going to be
Giving 0.00 because there’s a Perpetual But if you look at the scores two to one Beside their names there That’s not available for for Maxime to Choose so he has to pick something that The engine probably will not like in Order to play this game Got it yeah I mean There is still a possibility to blunder Bishop D7 Queen takes D5 and queen H5 Made So that’s why I was lobbying so heavily For Lavon to play H6 instead he tries to Solve his problems more directly with Rookie 8 and Amman once the Rooks are Off the board you’re basically not Risking getting checkmated and I think This one is coming to an end pretty Pretty darn quickly Yep I agree with that here I don’t think you Want to get into Uh Bishop takes E8 Queen D5 so yeah Looks like Levon is solid here Dania He is indeed he’s got plenty of time on The clock and we will of course keep you Posted on the results of this game but As we get ready for the Armageddon one More quick recap of Armageddon rules Peter Spindler will have the black Pieces he starts with 11 minutes nepo Starts with 15 minutes but if the game Ends in a draw that is tantamount to Victory for the side with the black
Pieces that is why an Armageddon game Always produces a decisive result so if The game is drawn black wins the players Are ready your seat belts need to be Firmly and tightly fastened because I Have a feeling that we are in for a Crazy Armageddon game I’m on that’s not Always the case Navara Adams that was Pretty damn one-sided so we’ve seen all Sorts of Armageddon games that’s right No it could be anything which is why We’re going to make sure to tune in and Yeah that is a beautiful call from you Buddy that C4 move you knew was gonna Come out and well there’s a few things To keep keep in mind for this game the Time like we’ve been talking about that The whole match with four minutes less If you think about all the games that Have happened so far svidler would be More than flagged in in most of them if You take away four minutes Um yeah and also there’s no increment so Hey it’s not going up at all with the Two second America man the positions in Which nepo would offer a draw rook and Three versus rook in three he is Flagging him in this situation now why Is nepo doing all of this stuff with his Pawns he’s trying to avoid a grunfels Peter Spiller one of the foremost Experts in the grunfeld and so nepo Trying to get something a little bit More fresh this is already a pretty wild
Position I think it’s still Theory E5 What’s happening This looks fresh enough I will say Bishop B4 checks Fiddler still seems to Be in his preparation Oh Queen E7 Wow Defending everything at once again it’s Like Atlas holding the world on his Shoulders yeah and I wonder what Happened so where I’m wondering where The Knight goes and it looks like if White goes Bishop E2 like just trying to Break the pin that that Pawn’s kind of a Goner after Knight G4 Bishop P2 yeah Knight G4 and if you lose This Pawn you could end up being Seriously worse I think the main Drawback of black setup Amman is that You’ve played the move G6 and your Bishop is nowhere near its rightful Fianchetto spot so in the long run if You Castle kingside you’re gonna have to Deal with the weaknesses on the dark Squares Yeah and what I’m looking at the move Bishop D3 because I’m saying whatever Black does Knight G4 D6 I’m gonna Castle I don’t Care what it is and if you ever take my E-pawn I don’t care what it is I’m gonna Take it I’m gonna bring my Rook to E1 so This is certainly an interesting Decision because 94 jumps out at you but
Then you gotta look at A3 Yeah 94 A3 I think loses a piece if we Pull up an analysis board real faster I Can show how A3 you have to keep the pin Going but after Queen A5 B4 and you Might say oh let me go Knight C3 counter Attack white screen but remember at the End of the line you just end up losing The Knight on D1 so that’s out of the Question let’s hope svidler doesn’t Blunder like that we try to stay Objective as commentators but the last Thing you want you know is an early Blunder to decide the game No doubt where should the Knight go G4 Or do you go back to E7 or the queen What I was thinking H5 Um and that somehow somehow H5 could be Really annoying for a white Bishop on E2 Or D3 jumping in the F4 square and if You make white spend more time Developing with G3 I think that’s kind Of what you want meanwhile the rest of Your pieces are coming up D6 Knight C6 And the other thing about Knight H5 is You can always jump back to G7 and get Into the game on F5 or E6 if necessary Listen Prague says Tanya hyping up a Standard line Um I don’t know what theory of books You’ve been reading but I actually am Totally unfamiliar with this line There’s probably our share of mvl Aronian games from 2016 right nothing is
Unexplored territory but I think this is Sufficiently fresh to make a foremost Grundfeld expert think so from a Time Perspective it’s a good choice by now But look at that move by Peter Castle’s King side It’s cold-blooded Um this uh this move with rookie eight And after Bishop E2 follow the arrows Everyone because D3 is going to pin that Bishop Indeed and by the way the Iranian game Is about to end any second now Lavon is Literally up a full piece now let’s pan Out back to that game to catch the final Two or three moves I think Malikov is Going to resign any second now And yeah Will be the end of things and when you Said it was a full piece you weren’t Kidding no literally yeah Unfortunately this is done there’s uh There’s nothing you can do here as white Um I I mean at this point I’m not even Sure that I would offer a draw as black Just to win the match you know that Would be very generous yep although Repeating moves could be a signal that I Don’t think montlickov is going to Decline a repetition here no but Lavon Is going for the win Queen he won yeah He’s not sure why he’s not resigning Right I mean you don’t have winning Chances in this position he’s going to
Resign after that move there it is for Sure We congratulate Levon aronian who wins That clutch third game and we switch Back immediately to our Armageddon game Can’t miss any action here and oh the Knight did go to H5 okay I kind of like The night there I think this Knight F4 Thing is annoying Um but white might want to deal with it With saying okay rookie won and as long As the night doesn’t get there for my Rook gets to E1 I always have Bishop F1 To drop back to Um I’m also looking at the pawns and I Know we’re not focused on it but let’s Just remember to keep count because Black does have all their Pawns yeah and White has only seven And white cannot afford just to drop the E5 part right you can’t just say ah I Don’t really need that pawn either I Actually think that the battle is going To revolve largely around this E5 Pawn Ken black win it can black at the very Least get it off the board before you Know White’s got a queen on H6 and a Knight on G5 that’s right yeah it’s a Really dangerous idea the thing that I Like about Black’s position is to move Rook E8 and queen f8 could happen in one Move Um which was maybe a useful Square so I Don’t know I would have started with
Rookie eight do you think that he was Concerned about C5 I think he was Concerned about C5 because it doesn’t Threaten anything directly but it keeps The queen jailed locked out of the king Side and I think Peter trying to take a More cautious route I’m curious what He’s planning against rookie one uh I Think it’s just D6 I think he wants to Liquidate the center and that position Is going to be a heck of a lot easier to Play even if you know he’s lost his Objective Edge Yeah no that’s a great way to put it the Move C5 is just one of the moves you Don’t want to deal with you’d rather be On the other side of that pawn and you Know they have those expressions the Threats stronger than the execution I’ve Always enjoyed the the quote uh the move Doesn’t threaten anything but it Threatens to threaten right it’s a Second order threat yeah there’s nothing More dangerous than being a threat being Threatened No that’s actually this threats being Threatened are some of the cool it’s Just one of the great Concepts in chess Just the idea that uh complexity exists In layers okay we actually have D6 on The board there’s a trade in nepo now Has to focus on winning this Pawn back ASAP and getting a playable position Right you can’t just trade all of the
Pieces Fiddler still has seven and a Half minutes on the clock that’s a lot Done a great job so far Yeah and the time difference is actually Right on money four minutes so uh the Time difference being maintained which Is usually a good sign for nepo like I Think you’re happy in general when You’re playing Armageddon if you’re Still up that four minutes but most of You have way less time yeah Mission Success you want to maintain it up to Four minutes to zero yeah exactly and Nepo’s happy with this now the big Question I’m on do you I don’t think He’s going to take on C6 just yet Because after Queen takes C6 you’ve Given up your biggest asset and you Might not even win the pawn back because C4 is going to be hanging And then the question is what do you do Because I look that you can talk about Get the position of the clock whatever I Think Fiddler has just acquitted himself Really well I think he’s got a great Opening for an Armageddon game I think It’s been fantastic so far Spindler Should be very very happy with how this Match has gone Not to raise the alarm bells for nepo Fans too quickly but with the center Being wide open I always draw attention To that I’m on because when the center Is open there is a high probability of
Trades right just by definition so nepo Has to trade very carefully to make sure That he’s actually keeping pieces on the Board as I said earlier I was thinking Maybe you should start with C5 but if You do no problemo the queen just swings Over to F6 and the light skirt Bishop Has plenty of prospects yeah now you can See why nepo is taking a chunk of time Here Indeed he it’s not about maintaining the Time Edge he needs to find something That actually makes this playable and I Love the I love the comments that are Being brought up on screen it’s like Spindler playing so well and it’s like He just doesn’t care about my fantasy Bracket at all No no he does busted yeah he wants to Bust it and you know it just reminds us That everyone was betting on John de Palmishi in fantasy right so this was Like a 98 uh Community pick now Bishop D5 I I wanted to point out the Knight Can drop back but why didn’t it move to F4 I thought Knight F4 was just like bad For white smidler’s same idea but a Different move Totally agree at Knight F4 versus F6 Seems like a no-brainer to me If Knight takes D5 what is nepo cooking Up here is it Knight B5 No okay here’s gonna be Queen takes and At least we can understand there’s I
Mean there’s a nice Cheapo that maybe You could throw throw on the board uh For us here Knight takes D5 please [Music] Um Yeah Queen takes a nice little puzzle Rush moment for everybody But smiddler he takes on D5 He’s not gonna play Queen takes d55 is This one Indeed by the way just really really Quickly if he had gone C6 nepo prepared C5 dislodging the queen and taking the Knight so svidler navigating the Minefield six and a half minutes on the Clock How does he try to get to the spawn does He plays C6 does he played Bishop E6 Bishop P6 might be a takeout move Bishop E6 yeah he might do that That’s a good point Is he gonna swing like Queen H4 Knight G5 I think about that to get a little uh A little dangerous it could get dicey The Rook coming to D1 I don’t like Svidler’s decision to drop the Knight Back to F6 after Knight F4 I think he Was solidly better now you get the sense That Napo suddenly is brought us pieces Out from the dead Spindler with five and A half minutes as we’re speaking The next three or four moves are going To be absolutely critical Yeah that’s a a great point this Pawn on
D5 Bishop B6 I mean nepo has surely seen This we see that time Advantage it is Still exactly four minutes so definitely Uh I think netball can’t be unhappy with How that’s going the position though is Starting to liquidate it’s progressing Bishop E6 is a really really key move Using the pin and he’s basically picking Up that deep on so what does nepo have In exchange because he’s losing the pawn Is it fair to say I’m on the nepo that D Takes E6 is what nepo would have played In a classical game but it’s out of the Question here because drawing that Rook End game is way too easy am I correct in Saying that yeah yeah so that is Queen H4 and Knight G5 is really the Only way uh to creating side activity But let’s forecast these moves really Really quickly if Queen H4 Bishop D5 Knight G5 H5 A lot of people here would be tempted by This moving one but after Queen F4 white Can basically resign you don’t just try Always the black king that easily no Chess is a fair game and uh any Checkmate attack is usually prepared uh You know it’s it’s worked for so What is going on after Bishop E6 so if It’s not Queen H4 do we have other ideas Than Queen H4 because Queen to H4 looks Like speculation to me and maybe a Last-ditch move what about Rook 81 no Still Bishop takes C5 yeah and C6 Queen
H4 is on the board let’s swing back to The live position yep Queen H4 has been Played and swindler immediately takes on D5 this is nepo’s idea he starts with Rook 81. right Um do you just Shore things up and play C6 here Um just like the major 594 A night up six you know the interesting Thing about uh position let’s say like That is sometimes this might be again The way to play in a different situation But if the best you’re doing is like Winning a pawn back or something that’s Not enough I know it sounds crazy but even the move F6 uh is in play here I think stopping This Knight g594 Knight f600 I agree That the point of putting that on F6 is Not to take on D5 but yeah maybe you can Create some tactical chances based on That maybe then swing the queen back to D4 F6 is on the board Great move by Peter yeah I think that’s A really classy move because to do F6 Really shows that he appreciates the Danger of Knight G5 uh even the Practical danger to find time for this Move right now after Rook D1 when The Bishop’s a little bit loose I think That’s uh it’s a really really key move For swiddler and his next move is C6 Dania yeah once he plays C6 rookie eight You know he’s King G7 it’s unbreakable
As this position looks like then it Comes out at the time yeah at this point The evaluation is not in question I mean This is much better for black no Compensation zero compensation for the Pawn and a monster Bishop on D5 Oh my land something’s in the air ladies And gentlemen and nepo has to find a way To milk to milk every second Offspidler’s clock that is his best Chance right now I don’t think we’re Disputing that Yep H3 at some point I think that move Has to be played so I don’t mind the the The move H3 the other thing that it does Maybe not a main idea but I like it Knight H2 Knight G4 Um you know using the dark squares after F6 that’s definitely where You want to be I think Mondo Peter Taking 30 seconds on a move like C6 He I feel like he’s got to cut that Thinking time down If nepo can get him below three minutes That’s when you start getting really Concerned C6 is on the board And you are on a roll Knight H2 trying To induce H5 which would create a Weakness on G6 It’s on the board Yeah H5 That was so tricky Yep he’s doing things well the Knight on E3 is fantastic yes
Man if you have to predict a result Right now do you think Spiller pulls it Out I’m gonna say I I think the time Pressure yeah decides it and nepo just Somehow somehow I feel like it all depends on whether Nepo can keep the Queens on the board so Far he’s been doing a phenomenal job of It I agree I’m on svidler he’s just Dipping on the clock he’s down to three And a half minutes this is an Armageddon Game smidler wins the match with the Draw yeah but can he stay afloat on the Clock and avoid a blunder He’s really playing So well and he hasn’t even at this point The reason that the engine is creeping Closer to the middle of the board 0.00 Is because you might lose that deep Pawn Knight takes D5 and whatever but we have To remember that’s not an option for White to take so don’t think that Fiddler is necessarily blundering away Right like exact that’s such a good Explanation This is him playing really well actually Yeah because he he uses he’s got all the Leverage in the position they draw a Stand to mount to a loss so take the Eval with a grain of salt unless the Eval goes in White’s favor uh you know Civil is doing fine B5 an excellent move By Young can black take on B5 can you
Get away with that That’s uh that’s a great question that I’m happy not to answer Oh My Lens there’s a crazy line that I’m Trying to calculate I won’t make the Moves on the board because Fiddler is Too low on the clock let’s stick to the Current game the decision here is Between C5 and CB in my opinion Indeed and I feel like if you’re between Those two moves you should probably take Yep and you should do it fast two and a Half minutes two and a half minutes a Month it’s still four minutes that’s Been the time difference I think he can do it I I think he can Play C takes P5 and Knight takes Bishop Complications seem like they are okay For black Five what up what a nerves of Steel move By Peter But now he’s in trouble yeah look how Easy it is to play Queen A4 though a7s Lose B6 is probably no this is looking Bad Bishop F7 though holding on for dear Life Fiddler needs to liquidate it’s not Enough to just hey you play Move I play Move things need to disappear from the Chessboard but he’s not doing it and now He’s down to two minutes I’m on even if You can consider a rook Knight and three Against Rook bishop and three he’s going To flag Peter Exactly if Peter had has
Anything below two minutes on the clock Let’s let’s be realistic Yep six minutes to two and we talked About that four minutes it’s kind of Happening that it’s gonna be like four To zero soon this is honestly so Impressive by Yan so few people I’m on He and he’s making it look easy keeping Pieces on the board he was down a pawn With worst place pieces the H3 Knight H2 Idea was amazing and on the strength of That he’s gotten Peter down to a minute 45. this one is going down the toilet I Think for repeat swity It definitely looks like it I need moves They need to be quicker more decisive Rook f8 something yeah unfortunately it Doesn’t matter what move he produces Here it’s too slow because it’s been 45 Seconds no it only has a minute and a Half no but he knows there’s no Increment but this is This is that unless he finds among some Way uh to mount a drawing counter-attack Against White’s King but that seems so Unlikely nepoken Uh can keep himself relatively safe Especially at night on E3 the hero of The game it really is a super strong Piece and it looks way too cold Queen A2 interestingly that can be Played I think he did yeah that’s that’s Not a nepo face of like okay yeah in Stride part of the calculation
Definitely did miss that [Music] Um Big difference the king is so safe on H2 And the king is so unsafe on G7 you Basically need the queen to stay in Contact with the bishop to avoid Shenanigans of the queen E6 variety Which means that spiedler just doesn’t Have the leverage to like force anything Against White’s King Queen takes B6 Rook takes F2 is not out Of the question by the way Wow is that just a safety first kind of Move oh what a move Aman Rook takes F2 Now Rook takes F7 is terrible because That leads to a draw black has three Pawns for the night there Yeah that’s that’s very interesting Actually super tricky Knight F5 though And you start to get a little nervous Here is black one minute and five Seconds still a four minute time Difference what a move rookie too not Concerned at all the queen on A2 look at The Geometry The Rook the bishop Everything Knight F5 you go King H7 that Queen It was on E7 in the opening it’s a hero Now Can Jan continue to complicate the game He’s down two pawns at this point and The B Pawn is ready to move forward Ooh
Interesting decision I don’t hate it but I I think it’s objectively wrong Um and I think the reason look there’s a Reason he did that Peter is saying I Want an easy position to play I want to Play B4 I want to play B3 I want to have It protected I want to pre-move to my Draw it’s and and people should not look At the Evo or this is a hundred percent Understandable decision this might be a Very good decision you know what hurts Yan here is the fact that his King is Now permanently unsafe there’s always a Check here there’s always a check here So that circumscribes the power of the White Queen to create threats and that’s Why nepo keeps it on this diagonal Okay but here is what whenever I have Here’s the issue I have with this uh Idea from svidler yes you’ve got this But you’re you don’t have any threats You can’t do anything actively and won’t Your time just disappear slowly well but Queen E5 check would have forced the Trade of Queens leaving black with two Pawns for the exchange I thought Peter Should have considered that yeah No longer he agrees with you that was Bad that was a missed missed opportunity There for Peter to make this even easier To play Okay moves like Bishop C4 they seem Weird to me why not leave the bishman F7 And go King G6
Exactly you have to commit because I Think you’re trying to do too much as Black here back to F7 see four seconds Right there he’s spending five six Everything second is golden here and oh Peter’s way too slow what is he and this Is this is the thing I think that he Might be considering team E4 I swear I think he’s considering King E4 And he’s if he was yeah you got you Can’t be falling into this there’s no Queen E5 so tricky well Queen E5 here’s The thing Queen E5 is now a huge threat If Peter can get the Queens off the Board in this version Then the position becomes easier to Remove King F4 this is an attempt to Force the draw with Queen G3 a huge Threat you can check on C7 Holy Queen E5 Queen takes C4 check No and King E3 and is there a draw there Because it’s oh my God Queen A1 but Queen F1 holy smokes but I’m on after Queen C7 King F5 the the problem that Jan is butting up against right now is How do you stop the queen trade with Black’s King close enough to basically Promote the pawn this is going to be a Flag Fest I have a feeling that Smither Is gonna like have a queen on the board Yeah ladies and gentlemen we are in for A wild ride to finish this game Yep Oh my goodness this is uh honestly I
Would say somebody a little bit faster Than Fiddler more Savvy I would probably Say like I even favor his chances with Uh with the black people totally 22 Seconds Legend in his own right needs to show us That Mouse feed and can he keep up King E2 was the move Oh we went the wrong way King E2 Bishop D3 Bishop D3 though King C1 King C2 the bishop and the queen Shelter the black king from the lateral Checks by The Rook but the problem is You’re sheltered oh what else that’s it All right you’re just sitting there You’re sitting there with Queen E5 a Huge threat King H1 yes King H1 I think Rook A6 so tricky made on A1 is Threatened Smidler’s a hero for defending this but He’s down to 13 seconds Out Queen F1 you could just like you Kind of Shuffle like spy everything Smidler has that smile he knows exactly What’s about to happen he’s down to 10 Seconds yeah this is over a heartbreaker For Mr svidler Yeah you guys can see if Queen H3 Queen Takes G2 that’s his idea but I think Everyone knows even though the eval bar Is 0.00 it’s just not gonna happen There’s a maiden one threat it doesn’t Matter it is a moot point And John nepom Yoshi pulls it out
Oh my goodness one more minute on Peter’s clock this would have been a Draw And Peter didn’t make any blunders Notice how that eval bar never ever went Past halfway he played so well He played an unbelievable match against Dion all throughout he was on equal Terms he was drawing from a position of Strength especially with the black Pieces and in the Armageddon he Outplayed janapamnushi The Exchange sack Was an incredible practical decision I Think we can say in retrospect but I’m On a five seconds here 10 seconds there A slightly more accurate move here and We might be talking about perhaps the Biggest upset of the cgc and instead Jana probably pulls through once again There was a moment where he could have Actually gone And maybe this is a moot point but I Think King E2 would have led to a Winning position white has no checks Yeah it’s a really strange concept but Um yeah there’s just nothing that white Can do in that position everything’s Defended E6 traps covered F6 pawns Defended uh the queen no checks from G1 It’s like then black can really start Playing maybe the move B2 soon Yeah I mean B2 Queen G3 probably Queenie One Probably Queen B1 Beyond keeps the
Pieces on the board maybe he still would Have won but no Queen Chief Queen G3 and Queenie one as you’re saying exactly Yeah that oh my God that threat is Actually deciding That would have won on the spot Spiller Would have won this game if you want King E2 that’s amazing yeah gives the Queen real estate and gives it a chance To check on F2 that is how close he came To to knocking out nepo in the Armageddon Holy smokes I don’t know how much to be Don’t know how much of a discussion we Want this to be but King E2 Maybe the The Rook wants to go down to Like E7 so that you’re threatening uh Rookie seven check after Queenie one That’s like how how you want to be Tricky Um in a situation like this right if You’re nepo and knowing nepo not a doubt In my mind he would play this mode he Will find every little way so many Pieces on the board but Queen E3 here at The very least I think basically forces Uh a queen trade exactly because then Then you’ll be able to go Queen G3 Queen E1 so wow as we’re breaking it down guys I think what we’re deducing here is King E2 with 30 seconds I think he was about 25 27 seconds on the clock Danya that Would have been enough I think for Fiddler to put it away so unbelievable I
Mean the chances that he had there to Draw this game and win the match it was Such a such a close close fight it was An incredible match ladies and gentlemen The matches conclude as we review the Scores one final time here Hikaru Nakamura a smooth victory over David Nemara all smooth sailing levonaronian Wins a critical equal drawn end game in Game three and finishes it off with a Victory in game four and Jana pomdishi Pulls through in the Armageddon in the Most improbable uh Fashions to knock off Peter’s Fiddler we will have Mr nepo in The studio to share his thoughts on this Roller coaster topsy-turvy match so go Absolutely nowhere we’ll have more cgc Coverage and a wrap up for you on the Other side of this short break Foreign Foreign Foreign [Music] Foreign Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] Foreign Foreign [Music] Foreign [Music]
[Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] Foreign [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign The winner of a scintillating match Against Peter svidler Yan thanks for Joining us let’s start with the Armageddon game what are your thoughts On that game overall and at what point Did you sort of realize that the clock Was going to be your most important Weapon Oh yeah the clock uh would be my only Only alley in Yeah on I mean only chance well uh to to Begin with uh I should say that uh I was Very very naive uh setting the time I Mean asking for the time like 7 pm Because I’m still badly jet liked after After Saint Louis And normally I sleep at this time so I Mean uh I just uh yeah I was really Struggling And yeah going to to the Armageddon game I think there is nothing to to be proud Of so when I got this set up like with
An extra Exchange Uh somehow I thought okay maybe there is A way to to flag reflect teacher somehow Um but then he started to run with his King and yeah this dude was just Shocking I mean I had no idea what should I do Like I mean King is uh you know getting Closer and closer and There is uh yeah Yeah I mean uh getting closer definitely Very nice idea from him yeah because if I would trade Queen somehow probably it Would be quite Quite an easy just to flag him in case If I would if I would decide to do this Yeah Um I guess you mentioned the time that It is for you right now Jan I was going To ask you about game number four this Is there’s this interesting moment we Saw like draw offer and then maybe you Declined it and then the next move you Offered one uh were you content with Playing a you know a bit of a shorter Match in that sense and just getting to The Armageddon because of the time and Also what went into declining the draw And then offering it on the next move I don’t know for actually for a second I Think that I will be able to maintain Blockade on D5 Uh but after he castled uh well uh I Mean I I quickly I quickly got to the
That probably Um he’s just modern in time he had to Play D5 and uh like Remove all the pieces from the board so Maybe uh maybe I I’m the one who should Be precise so Uh there is yeah I I was slightly slightly worried if uh At this moment he he would reject the Draw but uh yeah Foreign You’ve obviously played Peter a million Times you’ve played the young players From your generation in Russia and Beyond do you think there’s something Stylistically different between the way That Peter plays for example and the way That uh the players of the younger Generation of disadorov uh gukesh and All of those other players play so There’s something appreciably different In their playing Styles in your Experience It’s hard to see uh first of all Peter Is an artist I mean he’s like yeah for Him chess is an Argent when it’s like When it’s going uh you know and it’s Going nice when it’s going fancy he Becomes extremely strong like because he You know sort of like he really enjoys Hair the he likes the process he likes The game uh she likes it you know quite A bit and Um
Probably Not not the worst idea to play some Boring chess against him yeah so he can Jump around with his pieces and he can’t Really trick you or something So stylistically yeah he’s Like he’s very very special I would say He’s quite a quite a unique player so I’m I really struggle to To recall anyone anyone like him okay Maybe maybe I am in some way yeah when I Get some nice position I’m really yeah I’m getting excited yeah like and I Really want to play it well but uh this Is yeah still far from you know From his uh you know from his style Yeah and you’re you’re also moving on in The competition Um whether whether or not you uh Continue is what we’re all excited to uh To find out but how has your experience Been playing these matches so far They’re getting more intense as we Slowly get closer and closer to Toronto Foreign The first match was I think in Saint Louis and it was like 8 A.M uh or Something so uh I’m not quite used uh to Playing uh literally and uh yeah this Match was also something special because Of you know Uh schedule and jet lag so yeah it’s It’s very intense like uh you know
Doesn’t that doesn’t really matter what The time is it I mean it’s really Intense and uh I’d say better just Outplayed me in uh in most of the games I only I only had some small chances in The first game Uh Uh I think I could play G5 instead of uh Knight F3 and G5 was nearly winning But besides that uh yeah I mean I always Was like uh trying to to fight for my Life Yeah so the matches are yeah Really really tough and uh probably Closer to the to closer to Toronto yeah It’s It’s getting more and more difficult Is there somebody that you prefer to Face between Arjun and Timur I would probably you know if both gets Uh you know if both of them you know They will get you know disqualified so I Just you know just get a free slot yeah I mean if it really works So that’s uh that’s my main you know my Main hope Uh but uh yeah I guess they’re all both Like brilliant players and I think uh I don’t know what did Arjun Do today in uh And the Champions just to uh in the Champions just tour I’ll just uh check This out later and okay Timor is yeah Known to be one of the like best GMS of
Uh you know of his generation yeah and I Also did quite well in Madrid So Probably it’s you know it’s more about Me if I’ll be able to you know To sleep more or less normally closer to The Closer to there this um this match So I have maybe one more week or Something Yeah exactly I think I’m out of questions myself and Obviously it’s late uh for for Yan after A long match so I’ll hand it back over To you yeah I think we we will let you Go yeah and there’s uh let’s see if we Have like maybe one chat if we could Keep you for maybe one more chat Question Um we’ll see if there are any good Questions from the chat and then we will Let you take your well-deserved rest There is a question how nervous were you Toward the end or did you feel Comfortable with the time Advantage were You certain of the results or at what Point were you certain of the results Uh maybe when he I don’t know he somehow Ran with his King to the corner And I found this queen of one Queen in One trick and he really got love on time And at this point I think it was already Practically quite quite difficult for Him to to fight because a gate was like
Eight seconds or something and clearly The position requires some I don’t know Foreign [Music] That’s very insightful Jan we will let You rest uh good luck against the winner Of Arjun against anymore thank you so Much for joining us for an interview and Congratulations on a great thank you Very much thank you congrats Okay that’s a wrap ladies and gentlemen There are the final scores I’m on it was A tale of three matches that really had Their own storyline their own narrative And that’s honestly what I love about The cgc the fact that like you can spin A storyline out of each individual match Yeah indeed there’s a story line there There’s you know other story lines that Evolve and come to fruition as players Advance and uh after today’s results Hikaru Nakamura advances and Jana Pomnishi we just spoke to advances as Well over Peter svidler in group E and Finally in Group H we have Lavon aronian Advancing as well so Danny actually all The favorites that people expected to Win in the end got there and and did Events one way or another Yeah I mean one way or another by hook Or by crook by time or by crime and as We look at the overall bracket of 64 . there have been a lot of upsets there Have been a lot of players who have
Breasted have blasted and destroyed Basically every bracket in the book I’m Thinking of the guy is a machine he Played yet another impressive match Today against Notre back up to sitarov Beating some amateur named vicious Before he will be facing Anish Gary That’s on the right side of your screen Rajaba very geissy will be played next Week nihal sarin defeating Vladimir Kramnik we’ve also had players that have Been incredibly smooth I’m Wesley so Lanyard Dominguez they have been Forces to be reckoned with and the Results of their matches have never been In question so Amon uh before I say the Final words I’ll pass it back to you one More time your thoughts on today overall And on the cgc thus far Yeah I mean today’s matches were really Excited I think we got a little bit of Everything because we had a match that Started off as one that maybe we were Kind of not batting an eye to this Levonne aronian and Maxine matlikov Match and all of a sudden it exploded With one of the biggest blunders that We’ve seen today you know and I’ll never Cheer for blenders and chess but I have To admit as a commentator and as a fan It does make it pretty exciting that was The biggest blunder we had today then of Course we had a neck and neck match Where Fiddler was playing out of his
Mind I thought that was a really uh Classy nod that nepo gave him in the Interview as well just calling him an Artist and how you know when when things Flow and work well that’s when svidler Is at the top of his game and the top of His game can be above so many players in The Chess World and finally we had Hikaru Nakamura with a one-sided Victory Where it looked like he could have Easily had he could have easily won all Three games finished two and a half to Half so like I said Dania it was so nice To get a little bit of everything today And it’s been a pleasure bringing Everyone the the commentary alongside Yourself Likewise I’m on always a pleasure to Commentate with you and as the day wraps Up there will be more cgc action to come Arjun Eric dicey will take on two more Our job of next week stay tuned for the Specific time And the cgc the wheels continue to turn We continue to get to get closer and Closer to start of November in Toronto Where only eight players will book their Tickets and only one of them will take Home the two hundred thousand dollar Purse but for now ladies and gentlemen Thank you to everybody in the chat chat Was hopping today it always is it really Breathes so much magic into this magical Event thank you to our producer Holland
Everybody on our amazingchess.com team But for now ladies and gentlemen we hope You have a lovely rest of your Saturday And a great rest of your weekend from The chess.com Global Championship Jim Daniel nerdinski GM I’m on Hamilton Beating you goodbye and a great rest of Your weekend bye Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] Foreign Thank you [Music] [Music] Foreign Foreign Thank you [Music] Foreign [Music]
