Magnus Carlsen is an embarrassment

Any body language experts here? I just think his behavior at the press conference was odd. Very odd. He really did not seem to care. I would go out on a limb to say we have not been shocked enough yet and Carlsen still has a big shocker coming ;)

I doubt money had anything to do with it; at least there's no evidence for it.

What's most likely is this:

a. Magnus is very pragmatic.  He knows he can win tiebreaks, so why risk chess's most prestigious title?  He's playing it safe.

b. He does seem a little off his game lately, and certainly tired.  I mean, he's not even playing in the SCC this year.  Maybe he just needs a break.

Not like Fabi would win this match anyway.  Magnus got through it without spending all that much effort.  It's kind of a disappointing match, but he's not an entertainer.  He's a cold, calculating strategist who knows he is not doing as good as he should be.  After the first few games, it makes sense that he wouldn't want to expend a lot of effort or risk losing.  Fabi is really hard to beat in classical.  2017 or 2016 Magnus would do it, sure.  But right now it's just not worth it.  Completely understandable. 

Actually, IF the match is rigged by $$$, then the 5% deduction matters very little. Betting houses/people would laugh at that.

In fact, I always thought the prize money for the WCC was too low....

Ok, so what are you trying to say?

'Big advantage' If Magnus thought that his advantage was big enough, then he wouldn't have offered a draw. In the press conference, he specifically stated that he couldn't really find a way to convert the position, and if he did, he said that it would be too risky.

Do you think he wants to play for the title, or play for the chess world's entertainment? If you were the defending world champ, would you start with the Grob or Na3? Magnus obviously thought his position, though better, wasn't enough for a win. 

 

'Competitive drive' 'Belief in himself' 'disgusting behavior' You end up first talking about self-confidence and competitive drive, then calling it disgusting behavior. How is this in any way relevant?

 

Also on your post about Magnus getting a lifetime ban, it has become obvious that it is not because of the draw offer that you hate Magnus, but because of your love for Caruana. He deserves a lifetime ban for offering a draw? You are talking nonsense. Don't start whinging just because whoever you support isn't going to win.

Although you can say that some of the matches have been boring, we have witnessed a an impressive level of chess. Magnus is up against a seriously close competitor. We’re kind of watching two machines play. Magnus is not playing for our amusement. He is playing to win. With less at stake I think he would have pushed. This is a sport/ game of tactics. He made a tactical move to win. Also, it is easy for us to shout at the TV that he has X pawns upper hand. They don’t know that. He knew he had a good position, but couldn’t see a risk free way of turning it into a win. It is funny that making a tactical move like this is supposedly disgusting, while straight up cheating to win like you see in pretty much any soccer gsme is fine:) on a positive note, we get to see more chess now:)

His decision is hard to understand because he was much better and had no chance of losing, so I am really confused why he offered the draw. If he wanted to offer surely he could have done it after torturing Caruana for some time. This is just confusing, there was no way he was scared that he may lose, he just couldn't be bothered playing.

I don't think Magnus is an embarrassment at all.  And I say that as a biased American rooting for a fellow American.  

 

I too was shocked by Magnus offering a draw.  As a Fabio fan, I was quite pleased with the gift given to Fabio.  But as a fan of chess, I was aghast.  That being said, I don't think Magnus is an embarrassment.  He evaluated the position, looked at the clock times, reflected on his chances in the tiebreaks, and came to his own personal conclusion to offer the draw.  

Oh look, a patzer who thinks he can evaluate a position better than Carlsen because he looked at a website with a supercomputer.

GTFO

I interpreted what Magnus Carlsen did - provided the advantage wasn't so overwhelming as to be easy to convert to a win - as exhibiting sportsmanship. He was showing that after the preceding 11 games, he respected Caruana as an equal, and so he knew he wasn't going to be able to further improve his position through some blunder on Caruana's part... and so he wasn't going to fatigue Caruana going into the rapid tiebrakes where Caruana is at a disadvantage anyways.

If Carlsen had enough of an advantage that he had a real, and not an illusory, chance of winning that game, though, then I'd agree it was not appropriate to offer a draw.

This whole match was an embarrassment to be fair

This is certainly going to be a big blemish on Carlsen's reputation and legacy, regardless of the result of the tiebreaks. A champion that can't win a game of classical chess against his challenger has not proven his superiority.

I think we need a new championship format following this match result. I think 16 or 18 games is a must. And if after all those games the situation is even, then Challenger and Champion are seeded into a championship knockout tournament the following year. The Champion needs to win in classical chess to keep his crown. Not just draw or blitz to keep it.

You don't have to "prove your superiority" in order to retain your title.

Just the opposite... your opponent must prove his superiority in order to unseat you as champion.

Dude fabi only stands a chance because of computer preparation you are very likely to miss computer lines in smaller time controls like rapid and blitz even nakamura confirms fabi is terrible at smaller time controls so it was very strategic of carlsen to tie the games

caruana supporters r funny crying b/c he has no chance of winning in rapid and blitz...we all know u Americans(caruana supporters) don't care about honour and sportsmanship....a brilliant and calculating man made a decision to increase his winning chance get over it!!!

It is shameful that Magnus deliberately steered the match to the tiebreaks. The Match rules allow for it but as others have already posted it is a Shady strategy.

If you believe that then make some money - you can now get 5/2 on Fabio to win.

The odds have only lengthened very slightly compared to the start of the match. I had a small bet on Fabio at the start (at 9/4).

I think this childish post says more about you than it says about Magnus Carlsen.

Embarrassment  to these forums are people, who are posting threads with title like this. One could argue with his decision and motives, some GMs would continue fight for win from this position (Fischer, Kasparov) but calling number 1 chess player in the world (arguably in conversation of being GOAT of the game of chess) embarrassment is beyond ridiculous. At some point he had a chance of big flank attack, but opted for safer option, and in final position there were no continuation where black could achieve breakthrough without taking BIG risk (possibility of losing game and match without second chance). It was clearly strategic decision, and we get to see how it works out real soon. More than that we get to see more games of this 2 great players!

One could also argue, that Caruana also "being" chicken at one point getting slightly better position, but few times playing passive moves and in result getting inferior position as white. Some people are delusional and don`t realize the pressure of playing World Championship game (especially last game) there human beings playing the game not machines and stakes are EXTREMELY high. Some people take risks go "balls to the walls" some people choose safer approach. It`s all about personality, not that so-called "heart of champion" crap.  Guy has been undisputed world champion for 5 years, defended his title 2 times and for sure he knows a thing or 2 how to win few games of chess and when it`s good idea to take a step back and prepare for next games ahead.

Or maybe the hotel is such good that he just wanted to enjoy the facilities for another couple days

you, the Carlsen fan boys, don{t realize something: if Carlsen was so willing to play rapid chess because he is sure Caruana has no chance at that kind of chess, why didn´t he take the chance to play rapid chess??? I mean, Caruana had nine minutes on his clock to make ten moves, so it was something like playing rapid. In addition, his position was worse.