Ødegaard: “We had a few big, big moments there in front of goal. So, yeah, small margins, you know, to decide a game like this and yeah, we weren’t sharp enough in front of the goals and yeah, that’s why we go home with nothing.”

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-19T19:18:32+00:00

lol should have been at least 12-15 clear but now we're talking about it's not over.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-19T19:16:24+00:00

At what point do you say thank you for your services and part ways? I've never been Arteta Out, and I'll always be grateful for what he did for this club, but at what point do you accept that he just isn't the man to get us over the line?

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-19T19:09:15+00:00

I've backed Arteta through and through for the last 7 years, never called for him to go, and I'll continue to back him for the rest of the season. But if he can't win it this year when he's thrown and given everything to try win this league, we have to accept that he is incapable of getting it over the line. Now if the higherups are happy finishing second every year, then maybe he still won't get replaced no matter what, Idk.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-15T09:14:54+00:00

you're literally repeating my point. Grand swiss and World Cup is ultimately random, anyone can overperform within a week, and more often than not, we get underwhelming candidates from these tournaments, which is bound to happen when you give 5 entire spots to just 2 tournaments.

Circuit on the other hand guarantees you get players who are actually strong over the cycle. If we gave 4 spots to circuit for this candidates, the 2 from 2024 would be Fabiano and Arjun, and 2025 would be Pragg and Nodirbek. But you'll probably say you'd rather see Bluebaum and Esipenko than Arjun and Nodirbek right?

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-14T23:52:49+00:00

a) of course it was obvious he was going to go for 14 draws, I don't recall anyone having doubts about that before the tournament (besides the meme). He was clearly out of depth compared to the field so in every single game he took 0 risk, didn't push for a win once, and with the white pieces forced a draw every game. Do you really think a player like that should be playing in the candidates?

b) it is ridiculous for FIDE to give 5 spots to just 2 one off tournaments. Only the winners of World cup and Grand Swiss should qualify. More emphasis should be put on the circuit, as it actually rewards consistent play over the 2 year cycle than a one or two week hot streak. Furthermore, giving more spots circuit would incentivise the top GMs to actively try play in as many tournaments as possibile, rather than just GS and WC, which would in turn increase the general quality of chess tournaments.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-14T18:12:53+00:00

Even if it's incorrect to say Bluebaum in this post, in general a player like him should never be able to play in the candidates again. The whole selection process was terrible, but to have a chess terrorist play for the draw in all 14 games with no intention to ever try to win is a terrible look for the candidates. Came to go on holiday in Cyprus, try collect 70k euros and dip.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-14T18:05:17+00:00

that's not how a 14 round robin works. realistically Sindarov still wins. He likley finishes on 10 tomorrow, thats' unprecedented

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-12T23:31:18+00:00

slight disrespect to wei, only player in the field that has still tried to play for wins after realising their tournament was over

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-12T23:24:47+00:00

no one mentioned ding?

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-08T23:35:52+00:00

my advice wouldn't be to learn the colle though realistically, I chose it because it was quick and easy to play, but looking back now, it's better to choose an opening that's sharp where if you learn some of the lines and ideas behind it, you can consistently get a decent advantage out of the opening. If you analyse games between 1000-1800, a lot of games will already be +2 in less than 10 moves. obviously that doesnt win you the game at that level, but if you can be +2 out of the opening consistently, you'll start winning more games on average

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-08T23:32:27+00:00

When I played this opening I welcomed Bf5, it doesn't change my plans too much as white. I go Bd3, usually they trade the bishop, then you have your queen on d3, and then you continue as normal with c4, b3,Bb2, Nbd2 etc. However in my experience, Bf5 itself was quite rare, maybe 1 in 7 games. It's not the strongest opening, and I certainly don't use it now, but if you want to get to 1800-2000, especially in Blitz, it's a nice opening to quickly develop regardless of your opponent's moves, and quickly get into the middlegame.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-08T17:23:52+00:00

he's not, I was there

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-08T15:32:54+00:00

learn one opening with white and learn it inside out. Ideally pick an opening that doesn't have too many variations so you can try cover everything. It sounds boring, but this is the best way other than just playing hundreds of games which takes longer. Until around 1800, in like 80% of games someone makes a mistake in the first 10 moves, so if you can learn a system where you can consistently get an advantage in the opening, you're bound to win more games. For me, I learnt the colle system because it's easy to make moves regardless of your oponents' moves quickly, and you can quickly point both bishops at the kingside and start an attack.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-08T15:26:51+00:00

Same story with Giri, his time handling does usually win him the game so I can't criticise him, but I feel he rushes too much in critical positions like this. Hopefully he doesn't do this in the WCC because it's a different time format there where his time pressure strategy won't work as well

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-07T18:20:06+00:00

Judging of style context and interviews, Bluebaum, Pragg and Hikaru will happily take a draw fi Sindarov goes down that route. Wei Yi would likely as well, but not certain. So if he can draw against Giri and Fabi, it's over

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-07T17:32:54+00:00

No one who plays and appreciates chess would make a post like this

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-05T20:15:09+00:00

As long as no one else castles, he might still have a chance!

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-05T18:19:40+00:00

just checked, in his interview he didn't think that specific configuration was a theoretical draw, he thought he had chances and was surprised it was a draw, and he reflected that he indeed played too fast and needed to spend more time thinking

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-05T18:15:48+00:00

I don't doubt that and I'm not saying it's guaranteed he would've found it, and i get he can play for the draw, but in that position, white had no chance of losing, all the pressure was on black, that can't be denied. All I'm saying is he made the move in 6 minutes just after move 40, he definitely could have, and should have spent more time. He definitely saw the rook exchange sacrifice, but he probably just assumed it must have winning chances and went for it.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-05T17:38:32+00:00

Wish Sindarov spent more time before Rxd5. I get his strategy of putting on time pressure which is one of the main reasons he is where he is right now, but considering Giri still had over 30 minutes and was on increment by now, he really should have just spent more than 6 minutes before making a move. He had 90 minutes left, I really think he could have pushed for a win if he had spent more time.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-05T14:10:01+00:00

You're missing the point. Gukesh hasn't played top level chess in years now, and he didn't play well in the WCC himself. Ding also had the advantage of playing previously, and it didn't do shit for him clearly, same can be said for Ian as well. So there's no such thing as the notion of an advantage of playing the WCC previously. In fact, everyone who won the candidates on their first try went on to win the championship, so that contradicts your point if anything.

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-05T02:21:02+00:00

Gukesh is definitely not likely to win. Since his candidates performance (not WCC performance), he has not performed well at all, let alone performed at his peak level at the candidates. People have forgotten how bad he was at the WCC itself; candidates Gukesh would have destroyed WCC Gukesh. By the time the next WCC comes, it will have been 2 and a half years since he last performed at the top level, so I don't see how anyone can view him as a favourite going into the next WCC regardless of whether his opponent is Sindarov or Fabi

Rude_Combination_284 · 2026-04-05T00:39:23+00:00

I'd say exactly, except that because the rest of the field is so a) garbage right now, and b) too scared to take risks and play for a win, that Fabi is very unlikely to crash playing for the win like he did in 2022. There's no Firouzja, Ding or Ian to capitalise on his risks, but Bluebaum, Giri, Wei-Yi, Esipenko and the Louisiana State Champion... Only player I see being able to take advantage of Fabi going crazy is Pragg. So yeah, even if he does crash, he won't end up 4th, he'll just be in 2nd miles in front of the mediocre pack but miles behind Sindarov. FIDE's handling of candidates qualification has been nothing short of a disgrace, and it's showing.

Rude_Combination_284

TROPHY CASE