Was Ivanchuk just trolling the whole time at the Candidates?

Well put. The difference between a top GM and an amateur is not the standard of their good moves, but the standard of their bad moves.

Aronian had an advantage out of the opening against Ivanchuk's Budapest, but made a misstep in the middlegame. The suggestion that Ivanchuk got an advantage out of the opening in that game is just wrong. 

Ivanchuk is at his best in slightly murky positions, but he also has excellent endgame technique. Carlsen outplayed himself in his loss, and Ivanchuk demonstrated his skill. Ivanchuk was able to defeat Kramnik because Kramnik needed to win as Black, not because he was suddenly the best player in the tournament. Ivanchuk deserved both of his wins, but they did not prove he was better than Kramnik or Carlsen. Or Aronian or Svidler.

Ivanchuk fell apart because he could not handle the pressure of the tournament. That's his own explanation of events. Pressure affects the play of even the best players, as we saw in the last round.

But Ivanchuk was not the best player in the tournament. He does best in events such as the Olympiad where he can play a 2500 one round and a 2750 the next. Playing the very best in the world for game after game was just too much for him. I doubt anyone would pick Ivanchuk to win a 12 game match against Kramnik. Yes, he could win a game, maybe two. But he would suffer a heavy defeat.

Ivanchuk's losses on time were in games where he had a bad opening and was under pressure for the entire game. He was dead lost in most of the games he lost on time.

Well said, I'm gonna post this to the "Best chess quotes" topic, crediting you of course.

that doesnt make any sense.

Ivanchuk is one of the top-chess players for about 20 years now... Achievements like World blitz championships, Gold Olympiad medals, are among things that shouldn't be underevaluated

I  agree and on top beating Carlsen, Kasparov and Karpov. I mean im not an expert but if someone has such a high rating as Ivanchuk even though he goes regurlarly nuts, he must be way way way better then most people think. But maybe i just understand to little about how ratings work.

i hate to admit it but you are absolutly correct.

that is a verry interesting thought. 

It's not meant to be analogous, but demonstrative. The actual example doesn't mean much, it's could be someone shooting a low round vs good tournament which would be more accurate but with the same point. Brilliance over a short length of time is easier than brilliance over a longer one. Whether that's comparing a move vs a game vs a tournament vs a career is irrelevant. Yes, he beat the winner/runner up but that's not as impressive as being the winner/runner up.

I'm not doubting that really, I'd agree.

OK -  so you consider Ivanchuk's carrer a "short period of time"

why do you post without knowing what you're talking about?

So because you misinterpret my post I don't know what I'm talking about? Good one.

This post is about the candidates, not his career btw.

i know, smart guy

apart from that, do you have anything more meaningful to contribute to my career > tournament comparison? (you were talking about consistency over long periods of time, right?)

No, because his career at the top level has been just as inconsistent as this tournament, so you don't really have a point.

If he played every tournament like Linares 1991 nobody would have any questions about him.

To further the irrelevance of your post, I wasn't making any comment on the man, just that a winning a couple of brilliant games and imploding in others isn't as impressive as more steady, consistent results.

Fixed.

I do have a point, cause although his play is inconsistant, he does indeed play in the top level for all those years, and that's a long term consistancy on a larger scale (career) than what you use (tournaments). He hasn't been in-and-out of top level, i think...

Furthermore, he does have many impressive tournament wins and other world-class achievents to show, much more than "a couple of brilliant games" (lol) so, please, stop posting BS

You're such an idiot I can't really be bothered, but it shouldn't take you much effort to see that the couple of brilliant games was in reference to this tournament, not his career.

"Whether that's comparing a move vs a game vs a tournament vs a career is irrelevant."

Scottfr

Out of context quotes are great if you have no argument.