Caruana wins St.Louis

 Et Voila: instant chick-magnet!

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Congrats to Fabiano Caruana for demolishing the field at the Sinquefield Cup in St.Louis.  He won as many games (7) as all of the other players combined!  World Champion Carlsen finished in 2nd, three points less.  Nakamura came in dead last, not winning a single game.

 

All of the participants wished to be the star of St.Louis BEFORE the tournament began, and for certain NONE ever dreamed that they might be humiliated and/or forgotten before it was all over…but that is what happens when someone goes 7-0 (!).  I am certain that all of Caruana’s opponents were glad that the tournament is finally over!

Makes one wonder about what the chess world would look like if one were to normalize today’s super-hero/Ninja-Turtle ratings and compare them–OBJECTIVELY– to 1972 ratings.  And then let this thought sink in for a few moments: Bobby Fischer humiliated his opponents during his ENTIRE career (not just one tournament). He DOMINATED chess in a way that had never been seen, before or since: US-ch 1963: 11-0; Majorca Interzonal won by 3.5 points over second place; 6-0 over Tajmanov and then immediately afterwards 6-0 against Larsen; won his last 4 games against Petrosian (1971)

The real thing or just a flash in the pan?  For Caruana to become the next Bobby Fischer he will have to repeat St.Louis 3 or 4 times in the near future!  And don’t forget to pocket the World Championship along the way…

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IS CARSLEN ARROGANT!?

A lifelong friend of mine, Peter, wrote to me after the 8th round game in St.Louis: ‘‘Hi, Kevin.  Just a quick comment on the interview with Carlsen (approximately 4:00:00 into the video-editor) and game#8.  Carlsen shows to the whole world that he’s a mannerless, boor.  If you’re the best, you NEVER have to say it. I’m sad that Caruana somehow lost his nerve in the 8th game because if he had won it, he would’ve established a long-standing, psychological superiority over Carlsen.” 

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I suppose that this is a perfectly valid opinion to hold of Carlsen after seeing that video interview, but one that might be a tad harsh. For Carlsen it must have been something new to NOT being the star. Probably St.Louis was the first tournament where someone else completely dominated both on the board and off the board (the news reporting of the event).

And we must not overlook that in North America sports reporting is, more often than not, noticeably different from chess reporting in Europe and this might have worn a bit on Carlsen’s nerves as the tournament progressed and Fabiano won game after game after game… In North America you are only as good as your last game. Most popular North American sports don’t even have a ‘world champion’ concept, in Hockey, Baseball , Golf and Tennis rankings are recalculated at the start of every year, and who ever won the most the year before has to start from the bottom just like everyone else.

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Perhaps this lack of reverence for the title of world chess champion is something new for Carlsen. In any case, I think that Carlsen comes out looking quite reasonable.  If he believes he is the best player in the world, then Carlsen has every right to remind the interviewer of this!  

Infact, I admire Carlsen’s patience at some of  the REALLY DUMB questions that were asked in the interview below. Especially, the questions starting at 1:55 are almost insulting!

 

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Everyone is a STAR in North America!