Magnus vs The World Discussion Summary

Thread to update with and link to key ideas regarding Magnus vs The World vote chess game.
Last Update: Apr/20 at 12:00 am ET

Candidate Moves

• 12... Bf7 (fine alternative to 12... Qe5 due to more votes to stop the bad 12... c5)
• 12... Qe5 (objectively a good reply for many reasons, but less votes than 12... Bf7)

Bad Moves

• 12... c5 (loses a pawn + creates a permanent weak backward pawn for zero compensation)

Key Analysis Comments

• Meme by @CantaloupeChess
• Comment by @Kamouchek
• Meme by @FeistyBar
• Meme by @Shikaddi
• Analysis by NM @uzkuzk
• Analysis by NM @uzkuzk
• Analysis by @WhoopsStalemate
• Comment by @agnayca
• Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch
• Meme by @VaylingSrikkax
• Meme by @Bananan20

Meme by @CantaloupeChess

Comment by @Kamouchek

Qe5 is a multi tasks move:

Attack g3 making a distraction

Opportunity to bring ou queen in the action on c5

Delay the move a4 from Magnus

Keep our bishop flexible for his better square later

Meme by @FeistyBar

Meme by @Shikaddi

Analysis by NM @uzkuzk

Qe5 is too far behind in votes to catch up to c5. Bf7 seems like a fine alternative.

Analysis by NM @uzkuzk

I suggest voting Bf7. I agree that Qe5 is a better move, Qe5-Qc5 is a decent endgame. But Qe5 is not catching up to c5. It’s not even catching up to Bf7. 

People have mentioned that Bf7 a4 is quite bad for black. I think it’s playable. Bf7 a4 a6 a5 Nd7 Nd5 Nc5 Bc4 Kb8. Magnus is better but no knockout. 

Analysis by @WhoopsStalemate

Analysis on the three most voted moves, feel free to check for mistakes

Comment by @agnayca

🎯 VoteChess Alert: We’re About to Throw the Game!

🧠 Magnus Carlsen is playing against all of us — and a blunder is winning by 1,000+ votes.

❌ Blunder: 2,712 votes
✅ Correct Move: 1,681 votes

⚠️ The mistake is on top.
💥 We can fix this — but only if you vote smart.
⏰ Time remaining: Less than 15 hours!

👇 Scroll down to the forum. Read the analysis. Join the rescue.

📢 Let’s not hand the win to Magnus.
📌 Vote wisely. Share this. Rally now.

Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch

...c5 continues to haunt us. 12...Bc6 almost deserves an exclamation point as it completes development, prepares the ...d5 pawn break, but most importantly, it prevents ...c5 from being contemplated.

Our main task now is to prevent ...c5 from being played. 12...Bf7 feels OK, and it is the second most popular choice. Developing a piece, adding pressure against the castled queenside, and connecting our rooks has some positive things going for it, even if it feels a bit committal and we may have preferred keeping a watchful eye on the a4-e8 diagonal with that piece.

I do like the team commentary of 12...Qe5, intending to trade queens with 13...Qc5 in response to 13. f4. At the time of writing, this move is significantly behind the anti-positional 12...c5 and playable 12...Bf7.

My priorities are as follows:

1. AVOID 12...c5

2. Play 12...Qe5 if ...Bf7 and ...Qe5 (and all other) voters can unite, adding 2000+ votes to the current tally for 12...Qe5.

3. Settle for 12...Bf7 if it is the only way to prevent 12...c5 from being played.

As long as people stop voting for 12...c5, there is plenty of time to make a serious push for 12...Qe5, which I think is generally a good plan to try and prevent Magnus' looming queenside initiative. If we split our vote between 12...Qe5 and 12...Bf7, then 12...c5 will likely prevail. 

Meme by @VaylingSrikkax

Meme by @Bananan20

ok

Hey Wind! I completely agree with the analysis here and these are the ideas that have been circulating among the non hive-mind players on both the Vote Chess chat and the unofficial discord. Unfortunately, it seems very likely that people are going to continue to ignore us. I have brought up the idea of having a discussion forum in this club for this game where everyone can discuss and agree on what moves to play. Then, an admin of this club will vote for that move. This would prevent random voting and would give us a much higher change of drawing or winning against Magnus. If this is not implemented now, could this please be a thing for future strong player versus the World game? Currently the game is basically Magnus vs a 1000 rated player the way things have gone so far.

Hey Wind! I completely agree with the analysis here and these are the ideas that have been circulating among the non hive-mind players on both the Vote Chess chat and the unofficial discord. Unfortunately, it seems very likely that people are going to continue to ignore us. I have brought up the idea of having a discussion forum in this club for this game where everyone can discuss and agree on what moves to play. Then, an admin of this club will vote for that move. This would prevent random voting and would give us a much higher change of drawing or winning against Magnus. If this is not implemented now, could this please be a thing for future strong player versus the World game? Currently the game is basically Magnus vs a 1000 rated player the way things have gone so far. Exactly like we need to get some of these low rated players playing better moves. It's so annoying that some kids have the audacity to come and vote some goofy ah move and have us lvoe to carlsen with a few days like brotha what

Great! This way we might have a chance to win!

Lets do a survey.

This way many people will get interested

or prizes

honestly we need more activity with qe6 plz vote for that

we could go nd2 to support bc4 and to attack a5

nc4 also

magnus should go and win it he is my inspiration in chess so go and win magnus

ALL THE BEST

KARAN DASARI

FROM

INDIA

alright

Why is nobody talking about 10...d6? 11.a4 is met by 11...c5! and we win the a4-pawn. Complications will ensue but this is our best chance!

VOTE FOR 10...d6!

No more updates?

Thread to update with and link to key ideas regarding Magnus vs The World vote chess game.
Last Update: Apr/14 at 19:15pm ET

Candidate Moves

• 9... Bxg3 (analyzed by Coach NM @Fischwitsch)

Bad Moves

• 9... c5?? (analyzed by Coach NM @Fischwitsch)
• 9... Qe6 (loses a pawn for no compensation)

Current analysis point - 9... Bxg3 10. hxg3

Candidate Moves

• 10... Qe6 (suggested by NM @uzkuzk, requires further analyzing)
• 10... Bf7 (suggested by @PawnTo_c4, analyzed by @gmdavv below)

Key Analysis Comments

• Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch
• Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch
• Comment by @PawnTo_c4
• Comment by NM @uzkuzk
• Comment by @TheFlyingDorito
• Comment by @gmdavv

Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch

First "anti-candidate" move: NOT 9...c5?? It feels great to attack the queen, but we need to look out for the space left behind - this just loses a piece.

Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch

Well said! I like your idea of continuing with ...Bf7. We'll need to time ...d5 carefully, and may also need to consider playing ...Kb8 depending on circumstances so that our knight is free to jump into the center without leaving the a7 pawn vulnerable.

Thanks for your contributions!

Comment by @PawnTo_c4

After the exchange of bishops, our white square bishop MUST maintain watch over the h5 square to prevent rook infiltration. We should also pursue a trade of the Queens. His queen too powerful.

Comment by NM @uzkuzk

I think Qe6 after hxg3 is a better move than Bf7 because Bf7 blocks in the queen. Bf7 prepares d5, but even after something like Bf7 Kb1 d5 e5 fxe5 Qxe5, it's not easy to develop naturally.

Comment by @TheFlyingDorito

CHOSE 9…BXG3

Comment by @gmdavv

one major problem with black's position is the misplaced knight on b6. It's still susceptible to a4. In this following position I analyzed Bf7 as a candidate move.

Conclusion: Bf7 actually looks terrible due to a4. @fischwitsch let me know what you think, thanks.
Edit: 14...Kxd8 is more accurate but black would be losing anyway.

I think Magnus is preparing a4 for an attack. He moved the king to b1 to prevent the black queen to get to a2 in the future. We have a similar weakness with our black pawn in a7. Perhaps we should play Kb8 as Magnus did. What do you think?

Thread to update with and link to key ideas regarding Magnus vs The World vote chess game.
Last Update: Apr/18 at 02:10pm ET

Candidate Moves

• if 11. a4 by Magnus, we play 11... c5
• if 11. Qb4 by Magnus, we play 11... a6
• if 11. Be2 by Magnus, we play 11... Qe6
• if 11. b3 by Magnus, we play 11... Qe6
• if 11. g4 by Magnus, we play 11... h6

Bad Moves

• (waiting for Carlsen's move)

Current analysis point - (waiting for Carlsen's move)

Candidate Moves

• (waiting for Carlsen's move)

Key Analysis Comments

• Analysis by @Mitul
• Comment by @Mitul
• Comment by NM @uzkuzk
• Comment by Coach IM @ElDivis
• Comment by @CasualMindset

Analysis by @Mitul

The complete analysis of 11.a4, 11.Qb4 and Magnus' other move 11 alternatives. Updated with the refutation of the refutation of 11...a6.

We can't afford to split our votes between 11...a6 and 11...Bc6. I've shown many times that they are the exact same except 11...a6 gives us extra options on move 12.

If Magnus plays 11.Qb4 now, vote for 11...a6.

Comment by @Mitul

Our main candidates are 11...c5 for 11.a4, 11...a6 for 11.Qb4, and 11...Qe6 for slow moves like 11.Be2 and 11.b3.

Please check the chat before voting, there are people here deeply analyzing the position for hours to help you out but you are wrongly deciding your vote based on 5 seconds on thought.

Comment by NM @uzkuzk

If Qb4 is played, a6 has my endorsement.

Comment by Coach IM @ElDivis

Ok, we are more or less fine after the opening, right? Maybe Magnus is better but we are fighting!

Comment by @CasualMindset

This is the analysis we have come up with in our group based on many high level players and others inputs here on chess.com for our upcoming reply to Magnus next move:

In Simplest form this is what we have concluded from all input and analysis to be the best replies to the following moves from Magnus.

A4=C5

B3=QE6

QB4=A6

BE2=QE6

G4=H6

Remember taking advices before vote

Thread to update with and link to key ideas regarding Magnus vs The World vote chess game.
Last Update: Apr/19 at 00:10pm ET

Candidate Moves

• 11... Kb8 (completes queenside castling, less committal)
• 11... Qe6 (good but Kb8 is a necessity at some point)

Bad Moves

• 11... c5 (weakens our king)
• 11... Bf7 (overly committal bishop move)

Current analysis point - (no further replies analyzed yet)

Candidate Moves

• (no further replies analyzed yet)

Key Analysis Comments

• Comment by NM @uzkuzk
• Comment by NM @uzkuzk
• Comment by @Mitul
• Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch
• Comment by NM @uzkuzk
• Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch
• Meme by @Prodigyinthemaking1
• Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch
• Meme by @Prodigyinthemaking1
• Meme by @Geppettothepawn
• Meme by @Hugo_R_G
• Gem by @agnayca
• Comment by @agnayca
• Analysis by @Mitul
• Comment by CM @DavidReti
• Analysis by NM @uzkuzk

Comment by NM @uzkuzk

Qe6 looks most natural to me.

Comment by NM @uzkuzk

We have to either unite under Bf7 or Qe6 early on to beat c5. If Bf7 Magnus can immediately go for a4, so Qe6 looks better.

Comment by @Mitul

VOTE FOR 11...Qe6!!!

11...c5 WEAKENS OUR KING. DO NOT VOTE FOR IT!

Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch

Hi all! Jumping in with rapid fire commentary just to make sure we are not facing a "vote against this move" policy so we are forced to support the second most popular option.

My strongest anti-candidate move is for us NOT to play 11...c5. Pawns can never move backwards, and creating weak squares and a backward ...d6 pawn will likely haunt us unless we have a precise reason to burn this bridge.

I am also hesitant to suggest 11...Bf7 as this commits our bishop to a particular diagonal when it isn't clear if it may be needed on the e8-a4 diagonal. I'm also not convinced we want to block our queen's most natural developing path (I'd rather have the queen lead a "queen + bishop battery attack" than our bishop).

If I were playing a blitz game, I would immediately consider 11...Kb8 to simply "complete" queenside castling and ask for more information before committing our pieces.

I also see people recommending 11...Qe6, which looks like a healthy developing move. The only thing that concerns me about this move is that it is now aligned with our king on the h3-c8 diagonal. There is no urgent concern, and we can later play ...Kb8, but it is something we shouldn't forget.

To summarize my "rapid fire" analysis that is just skimming the surface here:

NOT 11...c5

I think 11...Bf7 is overly commital and hinders our own queen's positive prospects

11...Qe6 looks like a healthy move that can help us build a better future, and even a move like 11...Kb8 looks OK.

Comment by NM @uzkuzk

If Qe6 a4 then we can play c5 because it wins the a4 pawn. If instead Bf7 a4, c5 doesn’t do anything anymore because after Qd2 there is only one attacker of a4.

Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch

I definitely support an early push for 11...Qe6. I'd like to see 11...c5 and to some extent, 11...Bf7 firmly in our rear-view mirror. There doesn't appear to be any concrete issue with 11...Qe6, and although there are alternative moves we can and should discuss, I don't think establishing a healthy developing move as our top candidate move is a bad thing.

Meme by @Prodigyinthemaking1

I looked at the chat, understood why Qe6 is the best move and voted for it:

Comment by Coach NM @Fischwitsch

We're starting to gel with our commentary. I was really happy to see so many people share deep analysis during Magnus' turn as a team!

I think we need to always keep in mind that initially tempting moves like ...c5 will always be in the air, so it is good to stragetize "anti-candidate" moves like NOT ....c5 before jumping into concrete analysis.

At the time of writing, the healthy-looking developmental move 11...Qe6 is sandwiched between the anti-positional, bridge-burning 11...c5 and the overly committal, potentially problematic ...Bf7

It looks like we need to chase down and gain some distance from these other two moves, so I am strongly in favor of 11...Qe6. 

Meme by @Prodigyinthemaking1

C5 voters when you ask them why they voted for c5 ( they dont know ) :

Meme by @Geppettothepawn

C5 would break my 32 year streak of not losing to magnus

Meme by @Hugo_R_G

WRITE IN CAPITALS, BOLD AND BIG SIZE

VOTE QE6!! NOT C5??

Gem by @agnayca

DO YOU WANT TO WIN? OF COURSE YOU DO. HOWEVER, MANY PEOPLE APPARENTLY DON'T. REMEMBER: Bf7 will let a4, which will crush us, and c5 should only be played if a4 happens. SO VOTE Qe6 AND HELP US WIN.

Comment by @agnayca

PLEASE DO NOT USE ENGINES

Analysis by @Mitul

Incomplete analysis of Magnus' 12th move options (only 12.Be2 is done).

Please analyse what we will play after 12.f4 and 12.Qb4, those seem like Magnus' main candidates right now.

Comment by CM @DavidReti

I've just joined this game, so I apologize for not being up to speed with previous analysis. To my mind, 11....Kb8 and 11....Qe6 look like our two best moves here. They seem to fit together quite well, so we may want to play them both. At the moment, I'm unsure which one to play first.

Post script: I have just noticed that 11...Qe6 is leading the voting with over 5x the votes of 11....Kb8. And 11....c5 is in second place, which creates weaknesses. So when the time comes to decide, I will probably vote for 11....Qe6.

Analysis by NM @uzkuzk

a4 is a possibility after Qe6. It's different than before because Kb1 defends against Qxa2 in some lines. The following line seems okay for black.

“It’s okay, even if I lose to Levy, I’ll just become more famous rather than when I win” -Anish Giri

In the same fashion it’s still okay if we lose to Magnus. Win or lose, we still become part of history. If we lose, we also just become more famous.

This is a great event with record registration BUT not true quality participation. Of the ~100K registered players only about 10% actively vote. Many people registered BUT paradoxically the logistics of the event were not well organized, specially in the area of communication between The World team members and their coaches. Chess.com should have made more emphasis (perhaps at the time of registration 🤔) on the importance of collaboration and facilitate more ways to achieve it. For example, the analysis and comments of The World coaches Benjamin Bok, David Martinez, David Pruess, Dina Belenkaya, and Dane Mattson should have been easily accessible and promoted. The majority of the participants that I contacted didn’t know about the coaches or where to find their posts about the event. I hope Chess.com look into this in the future to raise the quality of play in this type of events. It would make them more fun and impactful. Unfortunately, my main takeaway is the low quality of play. It could have been avoided.