4 ms·

I highly doubt we see this happen again, at least among top players. There are a lot of factors that made this situation possible at this exact moment and situa

I highly doubt we see this happen again, at least among top players. There are a lot of factors that made this situation possible at this exact moment and situation. You can argue the spectators were robbed of a good game, but since both players were ok with a draw because of the tourney format, I would argue they saw an event in chess that is interesting and unique... way more interesting than another 20 move snoozefest where both players setup defensively, trade down then draw.

gnulinux 6y ago
I completely agree with this. Chess is all about rational decision making, within this tournament format drawing this game was rational. If anything, this shows that both Magnus and Hikaru are slightly more courageous to act rationally as opposed to romantically, compared to other players.
- thoughtstheseus 6y ago
  If Hikaru and Magnus played just another game, we wouldn’t be talking about it. Doing something unusual, funny, unique, draws attention and helps chess develop an audience. This was a low risk, higher profile situation to do it in.
- rozim 6y ago
  I guess my lament is with wish that ultimately it would never be rational to perform a short GM draw -- i.e. there would be some short-term incentive they lose out on, and they would have long term reputation damage e.g. who wants to support a GM known for short boring draws? GMs resign at times, even when one might think there's a microscopic chance of the winning side making a mistake later. In some universes there could be American football leagues, say, where teams might resign in the 3rd quarter when they are behind far enough, and want to avoid injuries - but I don't think the concept exists now, no football team has ever voluntarily resigned before the end of the game.
- esrauch 6y ago
  I feel like it was actually rational for Magnus because it's literally his tournament. Even if the game actually mattered (it didn't), it might make sense to earn a lower individual result in exchange for making a lot more people aware that the tournament exists.

gnulinux 6y ago

I completely agree with this. Chess is all about rational decision making, within this tournament format drawing this game was rational. If anything, this shows that both Magnus and Hikaru are slightly more courageous to act rationally as opposed to romantically, compared to other players.

thoughtstheseus 6y ago
If Hikaru and Magnus played just another game, we wouldn’t be talking about it. Doing something unusual, funny, unique, draws attention and helps chess develop an audience. This was a low risk, higher profile situation to do it in.
rozim 6y ago
I guess my lament is with wish that ultimately it would never be rational to perform a short GM draw -- i.e. there would be some short-term incentive they lose out on, and they would have long term reputation damage e.g. who wants to support a GM known for short boring draws? GMs resign at times, even when one might think there's a microscopic chance of the winning side making a mistake later. In some universes there could be American football leagues, say, where teams might resign in the 3rd quarter when they are behind far enough, and want to avoid injuries - but I don't think the concept exists now, no football team has ever voluntarily resigned before the end of the game.
esrauch 6y ago
I feel like it was actually rational for Magnus because it's literally his tournament. Even if the game actually mattered (it didn't), it might make sense to earn a lower individual result in exchange for making a lot more people aware that the tournament exists.