How far will Carlsen slide?

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Quiksilverau

After watching some of his recent performances its clear to me at least he's dropped a few levels.

What rating do you think Carlsen is playing at now? Certainly not a 2850 level.

Thoughts?

Arawn_of_Annuvin

I don't know, but he is about to beat Wesley So. With Topalov in a considerably worse position against Caruana and Aronian slightly worse against Grischuk it is likely he will be in shared first (with Aronian) after five rounds in the Sinquefield Cup.

incantevoleutopia

1 bad event in 595499 years = CARLSEN PATZER...

you people make me laugh so hard

Robert_New_Alekhine

He seems to be doing well actually...

Quiksilverau

Considering this event he lost the first game, got lucky the second game and is about to blunder the third ... ?

Robert_New_Alekhine

Um....this is the fifth. He has 2.5 out 4 and is winning against So

Mountainstein

So just resigned.  Carlsen gets lucky again.

TheOldReb

Good players are always " lucky " --- Capablanca 

Eseles
chessmicky wrote:

Yes, he's been the luckiest player on the planet for several years in a row. I wonder why

haven't you noticed how he intimidates his opponents by bringing his "Dirty Harry" magnum and leaving it at the side of the board, while asking them: "Do you feel lucky, punk?" 

Surprised

GalaxKing

If your seriously asking yourself this question, I think it's a matter of psychology. I've read Anatoly Karpov say in his best games book that once he became the World champion, he felt a strong obligation to win every game and every tournament, in order to live up to the title. Maybe that was in part because he was never actually able to play Fischer. I'm not acknowledging Carlsen has slid, that's too soon to tell. But it all depends on Carlsen`s outlook. Maybe now that he has achieved and defended the World title, he is no longer interested in `proving` anything. He was the top player in the world consistently, before winning the title. Maybe he's not interested in the level of pressure that goes along with proving this every day. Carlsen seems to be a fun loving guy that doesn't take anything too seriously, or, at least has a reasonable perspective on life. This is how I see the current situation.

Arawn_of_Annuvin
GalaxKing wrote:

If your seriously asking yourself this question, I think it's a matter of psychology. I've read Anatoly Karpov say in his best games book that once he became the World champion, he felt a strong obligation to win every game and every tournament, in order to live up to the title. Maybe that was in part because he was never actually able to play Fischer. I'm not acknowledging Carlsen has slid, that's too soon to tell. But it all depends on Carlsen`s outlook. Maybe now that he has achieved and defended the World title, he is no longer interested in `proving` anything. He was the top player in the world consistently, before winning the title. Maybe he's not interested in the level of pressure that goes along with proving this every day. Carlsen seems to be a fun loving guy that doesn't take anything too seriously, or, at least has a reasonable perspective on life. This is how I see the current situation.

If he's not interested it is pretty impressive that he has so far placed first in Tata Steel, Grenke and Shamkir this year.

I'm not saying you said he's not interested. I just think he's actually been dominant in the tournaments he''s played in this year sans Norway Chess.

GalaxKing

Arawn_of_Annuvin wrote:

GalaxKing wrote:

If your seriously asking yourself this question, I think it's a matter of psychology. I've read Anatoly Karpov say in his best games book that once he became the World champion, he felt a strong obligation to win every game and every tournament, in order to live up to the title. Maybe that was in part because he was never actually able to play Fischer. I'm not acknowledging Carlsen has slid, that's too soon to tell. But it all depends on Carlsen`s outlook. Maybe now that he has achieved and defended the World title, he is no longer interested in `proving` anything. He was the top player in the world consistently, before winning the title. Maybe he's not interested in the level of pressure that goes along with proving this every day. Carlsen seems to be a fun loving guy that doesn't take anything too seriously, or, at least has a reasonable perspective on life. This is how I see the current situation.

If he's not interested it is pretty impressive that he has so far placed first in Tata Steel, Grenke and Shamkir this year.

I'm not saying you said he's not interested. I just think he's actually been dominant in the tournaments he''s played in this year sans Norway Chess.

I totally agree with you. Any thoughts on why he played that crazy sac against Topalov in the first game? Was it just for fun, or out of frustration, or was he trying for a quick revenge win after Norway. I haven't seen any interviews.

Mountainstein

I think Magnus has a magic monkey's paw that is the reason for his success.

ipcress12

I'm not acknowledging Carlsen has slid, that's too soon to tell. But it all depends on Carlsen`s outlook. Maybe now that he has achieved and defended the World title, he is no longer interested in `proving` anything. He was the top player in the world consistently, before winning the title. Maybe he's not interested in the level of pressure that goes along with proving this every day.

GalaxKing: Agreed. I think we ignore the psychological aspects at our peril when trying to understand these top players.

Not everyone is suited to dominating world chess for more than a cycle or two. It's a tough life.

Spassky said his years as World Champion were miserable. I'm not sure he would have won in 1972 even if his opponent had not been Fischer Almighty. Spassky was happy to relinquish the spotlight and rigors for a quieter, more rounded existence as a French citizen with a French wife.

We won't even talk about Fischer. He just imploded after achieving the championship.

I have no inside track on Carlsen. But if he lost the fire to be the absolute best and wanted to spend more time on relationships or something -- well, it could happen.

Toire

"In the longest game of the tournament, Carlsen needed nearly six hours, and some self-admitted good fortune, to overcome So's defenses.

"I was unbelievably lucky I wasn't losing," the world champion said. He was referring to the moment that Black could have played a pin with 36...Qb7."

incantevoleutopia

If Carlsen slides, he slides like Ry Cooder...