Magnus Meltdown During FTX Crypto Chess Playoff!

[supersharp77]

A Quite Amazing Situation Occurred Today During the Sudden Death Blitz Playoff at The FTX Crypto Chess (Online) Championships....World Chess Champ Magnus Carlsen was Playing USA's Hope Wesley So. in a 3 game Blitz Playoff
Magnus had White in game one Blitz 5 minutes plus 3 sec...Late in Game on Magnus Drops his Queen to avoid a back rank mate and loses game on then Has a total Meltdown & Temper Tantrum on Global Live Stream TV!...Hit his fist hard on the table Made a strange angry face...The Left the Room in a Huff...The Chess 24 Announcers then Said ("Magnus has Ripped off his Shirt!") Magnus comes back on Camera about 5-6 min later Wearing a Completely New Shirt!...Wow..What a Scene This Morning! Lmao!

Game 1

[Event "FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2021.05.31"]
[Round "3.31"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2847"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Ross-SF IpmanSE3"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2021.05.26"]
[pgn]1. b4 {Interesting choice for a Blitz sudden death final match...} d5 (1... e5
2. Bb2 d6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 g6 5. d4 (5. c4 Bg7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O a5 8. b5 Nbd7
9. d4 Re8 =) 5... e4 6. Nfd2 d5 7. a3 a5 !) 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. e3 Bg4 ?! {
Strange move choice...totally out of book now!} 4. Be2 Bxe2 5. Qxe2 (5. Nxe2 e6
6. a3 a5 7. b5 Bd6 8. f4 Nbd7 9. O-O O-O 10. a4 c6 ) 5... Nbd7 6. Nf3 e6 7.
a3 c6 8. c4 Bd6 9. d3 a5 10. c5 ?! (10. cxd5 exd5 11. b5 cxb5 12. Nd4 b4 13.
Nf5 Bf8 14. O-O) 10... Bc7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nbd2 b6 13. cxb6 Bxb6 14. Rfc1 axb4
15. axb4 Qe7 16. Rab1 (16. Rxc6 Rxa1+ 17. Bxa1 Qxb4 18. Qd1 ) 16... Rfc8 17.
Bxf6 Nxf6 18. d4 Bc7 19. Ne1 Bd6 20. Nd3 Rcb8 21. Nf3 (21. Rxc6 Bxb4 22. Nf3
Ne4 23. Nxb4 Rxb4 24. Rbc1 Nd6) 21... Rb6 22. Nfe5 Qb7 23. Qc2 Bxe5 24. dxe5 (
24. Nxe5 Rxb4 25. Rxb4 Qxb4 26. Qxc6 ) 24... Nd7 25. Rb3 c5 ! {Tactics!!}
26. Nxc5 Nxc5 27. Qxc5 Rc6 ! 28. Rbc3 (28. Rbb1 !? Rxc5 29. bxc5 Qc6 30. g3 g6
31. Rb6 Qc7) 28... Rxc5 29. Rxc5 h5 30. b5 Ra5 31. h3 g6 32. Rb1 Kg7 33. h4 Qb8
34. g3 Qxe5 35. Rcc1 Ra2 36. b6 Qf5 37. Rf1 Rxf2 38. b7 (38. Ra1 Rxf1+ 39. Rxf1
Qe5 40. Rb1 Qxg3+ 41. Kf1 Qf3+ 42. Kg1 Qxe3+ 43. Kh2 Qe2+) 38... Rxf1+ 39. Rxf1
Qe5 0-1
[/pgn]

Game 2

[Event "FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2021.05.31"]
[Round "3.32"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2847"]
[Annotator "Ross-SF Ipman SE3"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2021.05.26"]
[pgn]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ {Interesting move choice..So refuses main line
Sicilians instead looking for more quiet lines..AKA Ruy Lopez...} Nd7 4. O-O
Ngf6 5. Re1 ?! (5. c4 !? Nxe4 ?! 6. Re1 Nef6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 e6 9. Rxe6+ !!
fxe6 10. Nxe6 Qe7 11. Nc7+ Kd8 12. Nxa8) 5... a6 6. Bf1 {Popular among many
GM's tpday this moves develops backwards.chess engines rarely to never choose
this Bf1 move...} b6 7. c4 (7. d4 ! cxd4 8. Nxd4 e6 9. f3 Bb7 10. c4) 7... Bb7
8. Nc3 Ne5 9. Nxe5 (9. Be2 Nxe4 10. Nxe5 Nxc3 11. bxc3 dxe5 12. Rb1 g6 13.
Qa4+ Qd7 14. Qb3 Qe6 15. d3 Bg7 16. Qxb6 Qxb6 17. Rxb6 O-O-O) 9... dxe5 10. d3
e6 11. a3 Be7 12. b4 O-O 13. Rb1 Nd7 14. Be3 Qc7 15. Rb2 (15. Be2 Rfd8 16. Qc2
=) 15... cxb4 16. axb4 a5 17. bxa5 bxa5 18. Nb5 (18. g3 Bc6 19. f4 a4 20.
Qc2 Qa5) 18... Qd8 19. Qc2 Bc6 20. Ra1 h6 21. Na7 Qc7 22. Nb5 (22. Nxc6 Qxc6
23. Rb5 ) 22... Qc8 23. h3 (23. Na7 Qa6 24. Nxc6 Qxc6 25. Rb5) 23... Nc5 24.
Rba2 (24. f4 exf4 25. Bxf4 Qd7 26. Be5 a4) 24... a4 25. Qc3 Nb3 26. Na7 Qd7 27.
Nxc6 Qxc6 28. Rb1 Nd4 29. f4 (29. Bxd4 exd4 30. Qxd4) 29... f6 30. Bxd4 exd4
31. Qc2 a3 32. c5 (32. g3 Rab8 33. Be2 Rxb1+ 34. Qxb1 Qd6 35. Bd1 Rb8 36. Qc2
Qb4 37. Kf2 Qc3 38. h4 e5 39. f5 Bb4 40. Qxc3 dxc3 41. Bc2 Bc5+ 42. Ke1 Rb2 43.
Rxb2 cxb2 44. Bb1) 32... Qxc5 33. Qxc5 Bxc5 34. Be2 Rfb8 35. Rc1 (35. Rba1 Kf7
36. Kf2 Rb2 37. Rxb2 axb2 38. Rb1 Ba3 39. Bd1 Rc8 40. Bb3 Rc1 41. Ba2 {
Most lines show white has passive game but excellent drawing chances....
opposite colored bishops..Bad game by So (nerves) from start to end...}) 35...
Rb2 36. Bg4 f5 0-1
[/pgn]

Game 3 (Tiebreak)

[Event "FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2021.05.31"]
[Round "3.33"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2847"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Ross-SF Ipman SE-3"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2021.05.26"]

[pgn]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O h6 {Announcer Peter Leko
questions the move order for h6...seems a bit early.. (Italian Game)...} 6. c3
O-O 7. b4 Bb6 (7... Bd6 8. Nbd2 a6 9. a4 Rb8 10. Bb2 b5 11. axb5 axb5 12.
Bb3 Bb7 13. Re1 Re8 14. Nh4 Bf8 15. Ng6) 8. a4 a6 9. Nbd2 d6 10. Re1 Ne7 11. d4
exd4 (11... Ng6 !? 12. h3 Ba7 13. Bb2 Re8 14. Rc1) 12. cxd4 d5 ?! {
Not in the spirit of the opening....} 13. e5 Nh5 (13... Nh7 !? 14. Bd3 Bf5 15.
Bxf5 Nxf5 16. Nb3 c6 17. a5 Bc7 18. Nc5 Qc8 19. Bd2 ) 14. Bf1 Nf4 15. Nb3
Neg6 16. a5 Ba7 17. Bxf4 Nxf4 18. Qd2 Ng6 (18... g5 19. g3 Nh3+ 20. Kg2 Bf5 21.
Rac1 (21. Bd3 Qd7) 21... Be4 ) 19. Nc5 f6 ? (19... Bg4 !?) 20. Bd3 f5 21.
Bc2 Re8 22. g3 Bxc5 (22... c6 23. Kg2 Qe7 24. Ng1 Nf8 25. Ne2 Qf7 26. Ra3 Ne6
27. h4 h5 28. Rd1 Kh7 29. Ng1 g6 30. Nf3) 23. bxc5 Be6 24. Rab1 Rb8 25. Re3 Ne7
26. Reb3 Qc8 27. Nh4 Rf8 28. Ng2 Bd7 (28... c6 29. Nf4 Bd7 30. Bd3 Qc7) 29. h4
Ba4 30. R3b2 Bxc2 31. Qxc2 Nc6 32. Qc3 g5 33. hxg5 hxg5 34. f4 Kg7 35. Kf2
Rh8 (35... g4 !? 36. Rh1 Rh8 37. Rbb1 Qe8 38. Rxh8 Qxh8 39. Qa1 Qh5 40. Rh1 Qf7
) 36. fxg5 Rh2 37. Qf3 Nxd4 (37... f4 38. Kg1 Nxd4 39. Qxf4 Qh3 40. Qxd4
Rh1+ 41. Kf2 Rh2 42. e6+ Kg8 43. Rg1 Rf8+ 44. Ke1 Rh1 45. e7 Rxg1+ 46. Qxg1
Qxg3+ 47. Kd2 Rf2+ (47... Re8) 48. Kd1 Qd3+ 49. Ke1) 38. Qxd5 Nc6 (38... Nb5
39. Kg1 c6 (39... Rh7 40. e6 Qh8 41. Nh4) 40. Qd3) 39. e6 Qd8 40. Qd7+ Qxd7 41.
exd7 Rd8 42. Rd2 Ne5 43. Rxb7 Kg6 44. Rxc7 1-0
[/pgn]

[toliveanddie76]

very very stark contrast in how Magnus likes to wear his competitive nature on his sleeve which makes Wesley So look like a statue.

I don't know if this is a popular opinion or not, but I have to believe that these tirades are getting a little old. Magnus is 30 years of age and its high time he put down his boyish side and step up and truly become the ambassador to chess that millions upon millions want him to be.

you know what it feels like to me?
once he is 45-50ish and done being at the top of the game. he is going to go away. I don't know why but I get the sense from him that once he is done with chess, that's it. he will find something else. In fact, I think that day is coming sooner than what people think.
Think about this way. You take a 30 year old man who has a talent for something, is called the greatest, makes it look easy, crushes people. Why would he act this way? why the tirades? what is going on?

to call me frustrated is an understatement. not sure what to call it.

[Chessqueen]

very very stark contrast in how Magnus likes to wear his competitive nature on his sleeve which makes Wesley So look like a statue.

I don't know if this is a popular opinion or not, but I have to believe that these tirades are getting a little old. Magnus is 30 years of age and its high time he put down his boyish side and step up and truly become the ambassador to chess that millions upon millions want him to be.

you know what it feels like to me?
once he is 45-50ish and done being at the top of the game. he is going to go away. I don't know why but I get the sense from him that once he is done with chess, that's it. he will find something else. In fact, I think that day is coming sooner than what people think.
Think about this way. You take a 30 year old man who has a talent for something, is called the greatest, makes it look easy, crushes people. Why would he act this way? why the tirades? what is going on?

to call me frustrated is an understatement. not sure what to call it.

I do NOT believe that Carlsen will reach more than 36 before one of the Indina prodigy take away his title. but I should have not answer this question here, since this section is for topics that has something to do with chess Engine, unless Carlsen is a hybrid with a CPU or GPU on his brain.

[mvanthoor]

very very stark contrast in how Magnus likes to wear his competitive nature on his sleeve which makes Wesley So look like a statue.

I don't know if this is a popular opinion or not, but I have to believe that these tirades are getting a little old. Magnus is 30 years of age and its high time he put down his boyish side and step up and truly become the ambassador to chess that millions upon millions want him to be.

you know what it feels like to me?
once he is 45-50ish and done being at the top of the game. he is going to go away. I don't know why but I get the sense from him that once he is done with chess, that's it. he will find something else. In fact, I think that day is coming sooner than what people think.
Think about this way. You take a 30 year old man who has a talent for something, is called the greatest, makes it look easy, crushes people. Why would he act this way? why the tirades? what is going on?

to call me frustrated is an understatement. not sure what to call it.

Is there a link somewhere? I could believe it's all just an act to attract viewers.

Chess has moved to the online world big-time last year. The corona-pandemic + the Queen's Gambit where a huge boom for chess, and everybody moved to streaming. There are also many people who try to get "in" (streamers who didn't play chess before), just because they have more audience.

Why would I want to see Magnus Carlsen destroy other people with just chess? I know he can, because he's the durned world champion. So he has to do something different... attracting viewers with tirades, maybe. If I'm going to watch a chess channel, I want to see some chess content; historical stuff, games analysis, interviews... not the world champion exploding in a (possibly make-believe) fit of rage.

Why would I want to watch the Botez Sisters? They're rated around 2000 and 1700. Oh, yeah... because they're young, beautiful women playing chess. Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with young beautiful women playing chess, mind you. However, a channel run by 2000/1700 rated players has no content I can actually learn anything from, except maybe some opening tricks. Analysis of games is as good as my own, at maximum, or lower, probably. Some of their content is actually detrimental to forming good chess habits. I feel it's all about _them_, not about _chess_. So why would I watch this channel?

agadmator... I don't know about him. "e4, e5, Nf3, Nc6, d4, captures, captures, captures, captures, captures, captures, captures..." (didn't he do a challenge saying "captures" 10.000 times in one evening some time ago?) He has some nice content sometimes, but mostly he just runs through historical games. I think his analysis is too superficial, though.

Hikaru Nakamura: as far as I've seen, he creates lots of drama (or is involved in lots of drama, or reports lots of drama).

There aren't too many chess-related channels I actually follow. Previously before he decreased his youtube activity, I followed John Bartholomew. I sometimes look into GothamChess's channel, because he's a genuine strong player (about 300-400 Elo stronger than I am), and he has some good content. I like his games analysis and historical video's. (Funny thing is that I'm old enough to have been around when they happened.) ChessNetwork has some good stuff teaching chess. I don't know what his rating is, but I feel he's somewhere in the 2250's. If you're into computer chess, you could look into KingCrusher's channel.

Many channels are just drama, hype, creating flashy or easy ("how to win at chess in 4 moves") content as fast as possible; not for chess, but for capitalizing on viewer numbers and thus earning money.

PS: With regard to quitting: Kramnik always said he'll either quit when he's 40 or 45. He actually did. Wikipedia says: "Kramnik publicly announced his retirement as a professional chess player in January 2019. He stated he intends to focus on projects relating to chess for children and education."

When you're still at or around the rating you had when you were 20 (Kramnik has been around 2780 +/- 30 Elo or so since he was 20), I see no reason to quit. Anand didn't (yet) quit, and he's already 51. OK, you might not be a top 10 player anymore, but I assume even a top 50 chess grandmaster can make a living out of the game (teaching, education, etc... like Kramnik does, being a second or mentor to a new, promising grandmaster, etc) _and_ keep playing himself.

[mvanthoor]

Oh, and I of course forgot Eric "Oh no, my queen" Rosen. He's a quiet guy (stark contrast to the super-extraverted GothamChess) and it seems most of his channel consists of prank-like chess games, fun and entertainment; at least the video's that got into my feed. The difference with other channels is (at least, to my feeling) is that he doesn't make a secret out of the fact that he's doing this purely for fun "This game, I'm going to make a pawn cube in the center", and not to gain some lofty chess-related goal.

[towforce]

agadmator... I don't know about him. "e4, e5, Nf3, Nc6, d4, captures, captures, captures, captures, captures, captures, captures..." (didn't he do a challenge saying "captures" 10.000 times in one evening some time ago?) He has some nice content sometimes, but mostly he just runs through historical games. I think his analysis is too superficial, though.

I don't know quite what it is (certainly not the dog in the background), but for me there's something mesmerising about Agadmator's videos. I could easily watch them for hours (I don't, because I'm trying to increase my self control). My viewing would be mainly for entertainment. I have learned things (e.g. even top GMs usually, once a year or so, make such a terrible blunder that even weak players like me can see them clearly), but don't think his videos improve my game very much.

If I was forced to say what I like about his channel, I'd say that he manages to pick interesting games with some points of drama in them, and then provides crystal clear, easily understandable commentary. Maybe he also sensationalises the games somewhat, like most reporters do with the news.

Would you consider starting a chess channel yourself?

[Cornfed]

Is there a link somewhere? I could believe it's all just an act to attract viewers.

Then...you would be mistaken.

I saw it. At first I had a negative reaction...then when he repeated it with another'outburst', when he won the final game, I thought: That's no different really then someone winning a Tennis Major, or scoring a goal in soccer. Human emotion...kind of alien to 'computer chess' (this forum). Nothing wrong with it.

[Essay]

There's nothing wrong with showing some human emotion, Magnus is very passionate about chess and also super critical of his play when he makes mistakes.
A very interesting contrast between Magnus and Wesley -
In the post match interview Wesley's very first words were "I'd like to thank the lord Jesus for letting me play so well!" - hmmm...

[toliveanddie76]

Chess has moved to the online world big-time last year. The corona-pandemic + the Queen's Gambit where a huge boom for chess, and everybody moved to streaming. There are also many people who try to get "in" (streamers who didn't play chess before), just because they have more audience.

Why would I want to see Magnus Carlsen destroy other people with just chess? I know he can, because he's the durned world champion. So he has to do something different... attracting viewers with tirades, maybe. If I'm going to watch a chess channel, I want to see some chess content; historical stuff, games analysis, interviews... not the world champion exploding in a (possibly make-believe) fit of rage.

you very well might be on to something.

Many channels are just drama, hype, creating flashy or easy ("how to win at chess in 4 moves") content as fast as possible; not for chess, but for capitalizing on viewer numbers and thus earning money.

THIS!
this is what chess didn't have as little as 5 years ago and its part of the reason I am so frustrated with Carlsen.
Carslen has the chance to take advantage of what I think is a very special and unique situation. He can showcase his true raw talent for a game that you, me, your neighbor and your dog (if it likes), to anyone, anytime with the technology we have today.
Therefore, Carlsen can also become its biggest ambassador (maybe he doesn't want to, maybe he doesn't feel like he should).
He can join the Hikaru's, Eric Rosen's, or Gothamchess, or agadmator, Kingscrusher, you name the next big chess youtuber/twitch streamer... and be on the front lines to help chess and its community.

[mvanthoor]

this is what chess didn't have as little as 5 years ago and its part of the reason I am so frustrated with Carlsen.
Carslen has the chance to take advantage of what I think is a very special and unique situation. He can showcase his true raw talent for a game that you, me, your neighbor and your dog (if it likes), to anyone, anytime with the technology we have today.
Therefore, Carlsen can also become its biggest ambassador (maybe he doesn't want to, maybe he doesn't feel like he should).
He can join the Hikaru's, Eric Rosen's, or Gothamchess, or agadmator, Kingscrusher, you name the next big chess youtuber/twitch streamer... and be on the front lines to help chess and its community.

https://kasparovchess.com/

Kasparov is trying this, but I don't know if "just a website" will still work in the current video/streaming-heavy world.