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Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura
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Let's see...
Caruana 7 out of 7
Nakamura 2 out of 7
hmmm...
It's settled then.
Caruana 7 1/2 out of 8
Nakamura 2 out of 8
So Caruana won and Nakamura may finish last.
(Communism had no effect on this outcome...)
Naka has to score at least a point in the last two rounds to not finish last, and it probably wont be tomorrow as he's facing Caruana, and given their respective forms during this tournament... Naka will need to win his last game to have any hope.
But also for this to happen MVL and Aronian both must lose their last two games. So I think it's all but certain Naka's going to finish last.
Nakamura is more interested in being clever than winning chess games. Against most of the world, being clever with his talent is more than enough, but not against the top 5-10 players in the world.
Playing the best moves does not have a style. A style is just another way of saying a player plays in a way that corresponds well with his own psychology. Every player has certain psychological preferences they are most comfortable with. Some like to attack and fight, others slow maneuvering and safety. Most players are very stubborn in this way. If you know a player's psychological preference, simply steering the game into uncomfortable territory will cause your opponent to make mistakes. The best players overcome their psychological preferences and play the move the position requires. Put another way, a style indicates an exploitable weakness remains. Nakamura's style is to try and complicate the position and show everyone how clever he is. Unfortunately for him, this works extremely well against everyone except the top 5 players in the world. To get past them, he has to bury his psychological comforts and just play the best move all of the time. Old habits die hard.
Very good point. I agree. Nakamura doesn't play "correct" chess and doesn't seem to want to. This is why it's amazing he's even in the top 10. I admire it.
rtr1129 wrote:
Nakamura is more interested in being clever than winning chess games. Against most of the world, being clever with his talent is more than enough, but not against the top 5-10 players in the world.
When did he ever say this? He's said multiple times his long term goal is the world championship title.
Yeah, but is he willing to change his style to accomplish that? Doesn't look like it to me.
There are certain aspects of the game that are have to do with style of play. As a vague example most positions are drawn but with the initiative you can choose how you want to apply pressure. Of course in many situations there are just plain inaccurate moves. I really agree with this quote
"Nakamura is more interested in being clever than winning chess games. Against most of the world, being clever with his talent is more than enough, but not against the top 5-10 players in the world"
DrCheckevertim wrote:
Yeah, but is he willing to change his style to accomplish that? Doesn't look like it to me.
Or he doesn't understand the game well enough to do so...
Or maybe he doesn't have a coach who he'll listen to or something.
JGambit wrote:
There are certain aspects of the game that are have to do with style of play. As a vague example most positions are drawn but with the initiative you can choose how you want to apply pressure. Of course in many situations there are just plain inaccurate moves. I really agree with this quote
"Nakamura is more interested in being clever than winning chess games. Against most of the world, being clever with his talent is more than enough, but not against the top 5-10 players in the world"
Sure, that's what they say about people like Ivanchuk and Aronian and a few others. I've never heard them say it about Naka, and I've never heard Naka say this himself.
Maybe he has recently and I missed it (I don't follow chess really closely).
What places Fabiano Caruana above all chess players except Magnus Carlsen? I believe it's how well balanced his chess skills are, his youth, and his psychological strength.
Compare him to Nakamura. Nakamura seems to be unable to "wait" in a chess came. He will play moves that weaken his position just to make the game more dynamic. This is his style. But the chess players at the pinnacle will exploit the slightest "second best" move. Believe it or not, Nakamura is already getting "old." His chance to become world champion (if he ever realistically had one considering his playing style) is probably over.
Nakamura is also not psychologically strong. You can tell that he plays "the opponent" more than he plays "the board." This is a psychological weakness.
Caruana is also getting world-class coaching from Alexander Chernin. Fabiano has always taken his training very seriously (moving to Europe at age twelve).
Nakamura does not seem to be utilizing a coach(s) as much.
I would like to see Nakamura become world champion, but I believe his chances are extremely low now. And if he did become world champion, he would almost certainly lose the title on his first defense like Tal did. Their styles make for exciting chess but that type of play will always be defeated in the long run by a more solid style like Carlsen's and Caruana's.
Even Nimzowitsch and Petrosian knew that waiting can sometimes be a good thing and Shipov's Hedgehog book set even teaches to wait sometimes. Though too much waiting can be bad or you think you're waiting but it's too late and you hand the opponent at least a decent initiative where his position is preferable. At least that's a typical fear regarding waiting moves (especially outside of an endgame, since in an endgame good waiting moves can usually be obvious)