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> Today's first few games changed my mind. Carlsen remains the better player, because he does better where it matters; time pressure. This is completely wrong.
by nisuni 8y ago
> Today's first few games changed my mind. Carlsen remains the better player, because he does better where it matters; time pressure.
This is completely wrong. Top players (Carlsen included) acknowledge that chess on rapid time controls is very different from longer time controls, to the point that it feels almost like a different sport.
You may or may not agree that rapid (and blitz, if needed) are used as tie breaker, but they are not what matters the most in the World Chess Championship.
Traditionally, it has been about long time controls.
What you said it’s like saying that penalties are what matters the most in soccer.
- nevi-me 8y ago> What you said it’s like saying that penalties are what matters the most in soccer. Not really. I'm not disregarding the classical form of the game, but I'm saying that rapid and blitz show an extra quality which the long form doesn't; the ability to keep calm under pressure. Penalties are an interesting one, because they're partly about speed and deception. They don't matter most, but a good team spends some time preparing for them (in addition to the game) because in the end, if they count 3 out of 100, and both teams have 97, the one that doesn't prepare to get those 3 points will be the weaker.
- nisuni 8y ago> the ability to keep calm under pressure. Sure, but by playing on rapid time controls you are not giving the players the opportunity to evaluate lines as deep as those on longer time controls. You add something, but you lose something. And what you lose is the very essence of chess.
- old-gregg 8y agoAgreed. That's why there's a separate championship title for blitz (which is Carlen's)