4 ms·

TL;DR: for "lolz". Actually, it's not that long and a light-hearted read. It is nice to see a bit of humor inserted into what is only a game.

me_me_me 6y ago
more accurate would be: None of the players had anything to win as both qualified already. So in order to hide their preparation they both played a wacky opening and straight into 3 fold repetition draw. And both had a bit of laugh about it.
- steveklabnik 6y ago
  ... while also being pretty media savvy and calling a ton of attention to their sport, which is a pretty smart move.
- retzkek 6y ago
  Is there any particular reason for the repetition draw instead of just offering a draw?
  - jabroni_salad 6y ago
    That's boring, and the current top players are looking to have some fun. Chess has become something of a spectator sport on twitch.tv over the past year, and both the players in this article have been at the forefront of that movement. Every time someone trots out a bongcloud, chat goes absolutely bonkers. Using it in an actual tournament only elevates it further.
  - icen 6y ago
    Often in tournament chess you cannot offer a draw for the first 10 moves. However a 3-fold repetition is automatically a draw. The idea is to try and provoke games happening, even if the players come to the table wanting a draw (someone can still botch their opening!). Ultimately though, if GMs want a draw, they'll get it.
    - irishsultan 6y ago
      > However a 3-fold repetition is automatically a draw. This is somewhat pedantic, but 3-fold repetition is not automatically a draw (at least not according to FIDE rules). A 3-fold repetition allows either player to claim a draw, but it doesn't allow an arbiter to declare a draw if neither player claims it. Only a 5-fold repetition allows someone other than the players to declare a draw.
  - abnry 6y ago
    I think it is a bit of a plausible deniability thing. Offering a draw after the first move looks bad. There may even be rules against offering a draw before the first X moves. It also takes prolonged confirmation to agree to a draw via repetition.
  - psb 6y ago
    Many of these tournaments won't allow an offered draw before move ... 40 or something like that.
ranguna 6y ago
I completely agree with you. I see lots of people here trying to romanticise this into some spectacularly complex reasoning to make this a GM only move, but in reality I'm 99% sure they were just trolling. They were both laughing like hell when they were playing and they both had nothing to lose. Hikaru had been playing that move a lot recently for content in his media channels, Magnus being the cool guy that he is, played that move against him for lulz. In the end, they both had fun, the viewers had fun and new funny article and videos were created about this game. People: it's just for fun, not everything needs to be a classical serious thing all the time. Just sit back and take some hits from the good ol bongcloud.

me_me_me 6y ago

more accurate would be: None of the players had anything to win as both qualified already. So in order to hide their preparation they both played a wacky opening and straight into 3 fold repetition draw. And both had a bit of laugh about it.

steveklabnik 6y ago
... while also being pretty media savvy and calling a ton of attention to their sport, which is a pretty smart move.
retzkek 6y ago
Is there any particular reason for the repetition draw instead of just offering a draw?
- jabroni_salad 6y ago
  That's boring, and the current top players are looking to have some fun. Chess has become something of a spectator sport on twitch.tv over the past year, and both the players in this article have been at the forefront of that movement. Every time someone trots out a bongcloud, chat goes absolutely bonkers. Using it in an actual tournament only elevates it further.
- icen 6y ago
  Often in tournament chess you cannot offer a draw for the first 10 moves. However a 3-fold repetition is automatically a draw. The idea is to try and provoke games happening, even if the players come to the table wanting a draw (someone can still botch their opening!). Ultimately though, if GMs want a draw, they'll get it.
  - irishsultan 6y ago
    > However a 3-fold repetition is automatically a draw. This is somewhat pedantic, but 3-fold repetition is not automatically a draw (at least not according to FIDE rules). A 3-fold repetition allows either player to claim a draw, but it doesn't allow an arbiter to declare a draw if neither player claims it. Only a 5-fold repetition allows someone other than the players to declare a draw.
- abnry 6y ago
  I think it is a bit of a plausible deniability thing. Offering a draw after the first move looks bad. There may even be rules against offering a draw before the first X moves. It also takes prolonged confirmation to agree to a draw via repetition.
- psb 6y ago
  Many of these tournaments won't allow an offered draw before move ... 40 or something like that.

ranguna 6y ago

I completely agree with you. I see lots of people here trying to romanticise this into some spectacularly complex reasoning to make this a GM only move, but in reality I'm 99% sure they were just trolling. They were both laughing like hell when they were playing and they both had nothing to lose. Hikaru had been playing that move a lot recently for content in his media channels, Magnus being the cool guy that he is, played that move against him for lulz. In the end, they both had fun, the viewers had fun and new funny article and videos were created about this game. People: it's just for fun, not everything needs to be a classical serious thing all the time. Just sit back and take some hits from the good ol bongcloud.