I'm personally not focused on Carlsen as much as I am Ding. But yeah this is certainly nothing to worry about. The entire topic is interesting and it will be fun to watch what happens. Carlsen will be super great for a very long time. I would be willing to bet he'll find out where he can grow and go grow and be better than before.
But ... Ding is a few years younger. Its not earth shattering but I think its maybe a little relevant. This is only one tournament. So yeah don't panic, but at the same time I really think that this is not just a one time thing that we can ignore as if it barely matters.
Here is an excerpt from Ding's wikipedia article:
"Ding was undefeated in classical chess from August 2017 to November 2018, recording 29 victories and 71 draws. This 100-game unbeaten streak is the longest in top-level chess history.[2]"
Interesting. The words 'chess history' are pretty interesting. Yeah this doesn't mean he will ever be WC and so we can't predict anything from this. But this guy just looks to be different than the others. So people keep saying stuff like "this happens in tournaments all the time" "guys fluctuate all the time" "So and so was on top and now he's way down on the list" yada yada yada. Yeah I think this is different.
But if I am wrong it doesn't matter.
@inmaniac That record is weird if you think about it.
What I mean is - you would think that it's only natural that a player like Ding got that record because he is so good (best?) at defending tough positions, right?
But the thing is - the previous record of 95 unbeaten games, which he beat, was held by Mikhail Tal. You can call Tal many things, but probably not "defensive player".
So you have same record held by polar opposites. How strange is that?
Just FYI, Carlsen hasn't lost a classical game in over a year and IIRC is currently at around 90 games unbeaten. If he can get through another tournament without a loss, he'll probably pass Ding's record.
You can study his games all you want,but that won't make you able to beat him.If that system worked,you would all be here surmising on how long bunyip can stay best ever chess super-hero.
His future is bright. But for some hobby psychologists here: hope that you perform better in your real job.
If you win 7 big tournaments in a year, are still Wch, extremely high performance, ok. But it you lose a tie-break for first place, without losing any classical game at all: career is over.
Even top players with > 2800 Elo have a variance and Magnus Carlsen has a very small one. From a downswing still light years away.
@Sarg0n Totally agree with you.
Indeed, I do think that Magnus will be able to hit 2900 elo. I understand 18 rating points might as well be 1,000-Especially considering how high up he is. But, he is still young and has a lot of time.
One of Carlsen's problems is the weakness of his strongest opponents. Probably he cannot learn much from the games against them - and he hardly can win elo. I mean: He was first at Sinquefield together with Ding. While Ding won 6 pts, Carlsen lost 6 pts!
Maybe he should start playing rated games against engines in the elo-3000 area, ideally AI based. These engines could teach him how to improve his game, and he had a chance to gain more elo.
@Sarg0n you are employing a logical fallacy here where you start insulting the person rather than to reply to the topic. I’m not a great chess player but I think I am a better person than you are which is what I care most about. I’ll stop posting here again as I dont really like dealing with obnoxious people like you who probably think because you have a title by your name gives you a privilege to be unkind. I personally don’t think much of you and the yellow letters next to your name do not impress me.
You might not mean me but I’m actually doing really well in my job. But that really has nothing to do with this topic.
Since you attacked someone personally allow me to do the same. I’ve known chess players for over 30 years. They are among the brightest and yet often goofiest weirdos around. It’s really interesting at tournaments how many complete odd balls who have the social skills of a homeless man can be on board 1 or 2. I knew one master who would beg for money at tournaments. He was an IM and over 2400. It’s great that they have this outlet and gift but they are often cursed in every other area of life except for this one. So in this arena they push others around and act big because outside this arena they are ignored and rejected. So frankly I’d rather be good at everything else and bad at this than good at this and a complete jerk and loser in life. Not that this applies to anyone here but it’s a thing I’ve noticed. I don’t hang around chess players for the reasons I’ve stated.
