Caruana on Carlsen-Anand etc

Some quotes from a great Caruana interview published at chess24:

On Anand's play: "The problem is that over the whole course of the match he played worse than his opponent and he was unable to get to grips with the complex situation that arose"

"the only time he managed to win in the match it occurred due to Carlsen choosing a terrible variation. In the remaining games he didn’t come close" (apart from in game 6 I guess, see below)

"that situation arose absolutely by chance. What was strange was instead Anand choosing an opening variation that involved a transition to a worse ending for Black. Moreover, it was all well-known. And it was also the type of position in which Magnus is particularly strong. It was simply inexplicable"

On Carlsen: "I consider Carlsen even stronger in rapid time controls"

"He’s considered a great endgame specialist, but when he’s forced to defend he’s hardly stronger than other top players. In the past openings were a weak spot and he had problems with principled players who went for main lines – for example, with Kramnik"

On the WC format: "Of course you could improve the system a lot"

"At the moment the World Champion only needs to win the match for the crown and for the rest of the time he can play how he likes"

"However, to make such changes you need a more effective organisation than FIDE. It’s enough to look at what’s happened to the Grand Prix and the Women’s World Championship. It’s pretty ridiculous"

"of the four planned tournaments one of them was supposed to take place in Tehran, where not all of the players would be able to travel – for instance Gelfand. I had that option, but the tournament was scheduled for the same time as Zurich, in which I’d already agreed to play. Besides, the first two tournaments were organised almost one after the other, although there were plenty of available dates. At about the same time they were holding the Petrosian Memorial, in which I’d have liked to take part but was unable to because three events in a row is too much.Plus over the course of half a year there was no information from them until suddenly we got an e-mail with a demand to take a decision in one week. Two venues for the stages have already been changed: Moscow and Tehran became Khanty-Mansiysk and Tbilisi – no consistency. The prize fund was reduced, so that now if you take a second with you it’s almost impossible to earn anything. That’s unprofessional"

"Do your colleagues share your opinion about the World Championship?

Yes, I’ve talked with them on the topic. The current system has existed for 70 years already and is clearly out of date

And have you talked about it with Carlsen?

No, not with him, but I know he talked about the necessity of getting rid of the Champion’s privileges. However, that was before he won the title. (laughs)"

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/caruana-on-carlsen-anand-and-much-more

The old saying about "The hardest part of chess is winning the won game" has almost been forgotten when it comes to Magnus Carlsen.

Mags is money when it comes to sealing the victory.

I like his thoughts :)

I dont agree with Caruana about the world championship. Maybe after playing in a system where each game affects your rating for so long, top players think all things about chess should be determined similar to how ratings are determined. I think there's hardly any reason for that. There are things inherently good or bad about both systems. After all are ratings purely based on playing strength or is health and consistency more important? Some have speculated Ivanchuk was the best player in the world but was inconsistent with his performances. It is people like him who are punished by the rating system in place today and would continue to be punished under the sort of changes Caruana apparently supports.

I think another reason for Caruana and others dislike of the championship is due to there being very few true chess matches these days. Everyone plays tournaments but I dont see players going into 15-30 game publicized matches against each other very often. The World Championship Match is one of the few remaining bastion of true chess matches, and by far the biggest and most popular. Being faced with this system of play they aren't used to and don't participate in often, it's no surprise players don't like it or want it changed. However it's massively more popular with spectators, Chess.com's own televised death matches are a prime example of this, so thankfully I doubt it will be changed. Also the world chess championship matches as they are make for a better all around sport in my opinion.

'Weak' is a very relative term with Carlsen.  All parts of his game still seem stronger than anyone else's at the moment.  I'd like to see him play Caruana, though I'd still back Carlsen to win.

To me a 12 game match still seems like the best way to decide the best player in the world.

Caruana would have a great chance of defeating Magnus in a world championship match . Caruana is a great calculator and that strength allied to his  home preparation could result in Fabiano running rings around Magnus.  It would be interesting to see if Magnus could cut it against a young challenger in his prime as opposed to beating up on old men all the time.

You realise Carlsen has played in a lot of the same events as Caruana?

And it's fair to say that excepting the most recent Sinquefield Cup Carlsen's record is far better. He also has a plus record vs Caruana.

In what world would Caruana (or anyone) run rings around Carlsen?

Caruana has 4 wins to Magnuses' 5 in their head to head ...but we should remember that Carlsen is 18 months older than Fabiano so I fully expect that Fabiano will overtake Magnus in their head to head games pretty soon..could happen this week and next at the tata steel event . 

I remember well that event in St louis when Faby went on his streak of 7 wins against the best in the world including Carlsen... in that event he did indeed run rings around Carlsen winning 1 and drawing another .Carlsen was really fortunate that he didn't lose both games to Fabiano; if he had their head to head records would be 5-5 .

So all in all I really like Fabiano's chances in a future world title match..I just hope it happens sooner rather than later.

Winning one and drawing another is hardly running rings. Regardless Carlsen has far more standout tournaments but I guess memories are short.

Niether of the 2 games they played in St louis were evenly balanced; it was all Caruana..indeed in the game that Carlsen lost he had to resort to dubious bishop sacrifices to try and get any play but Fabiano had it all calculated and played some fantastic moves to give Magnus a good chess lesson..that lesson being..dont try dubious sacrifices against Caruana.

I give Carlsen his due..he played a very nice game to beat Fabiano at the olympiad with some very nice Knight play in a Scandinavian .

I realise Carlsen has his fans and deservedly so but I really do believe that Fabiano would have a great chance in a world title match. Time will reveal all.

Fabiano did have a few moderate results  after St louis but he did win the event in Baku and leads the way in the grand prix series so he's not doing all that badly..Caruana just needed a break after the mental energy expended at St louis but he should come back this year firing on all cylinders...

Magnus is the champion and good luck to him..but I don't yet think he has proved that he is the outstanding player of his generation as he has not yet played someone from his generation in a world title match..time will tell if Magnus is the best of the bunch but I have a suspiscion that Fabiano could be more than a match....

I wont be jumping on Grischuk's bus by the way; I dont think he is serious enough about classical chess to become the champion of the world.  

Remarkable comments. Carlsen is the triple world champion, but still has to prove he's the outstanding player of his generation. Hmmmm...