Hikaru is not a "fighting chess player", despite the hoopla that suggests otherwise. (Bullet and blitz chess). He is more than content to accept easy draws, to preserve his standing, that of a high finish and corporate image at standard OTB time controls.
For this reason, he will never make World Champion.
At the IoM today..final round:
Carlsen told
Chess.com that in order to avoid this drawing line, Nakamura could have gone back to move one and chosen a different opening. In his mind, there was no chance that Nakamura would play a weaker move to avoid the 13...Bf5 draw.
"If he had wanted a worse position, he would have played the King’s Indian," Carlsen said. "Which I thought he might. Once he went for the Queen’s Gambit, I was sure he just wanted to consolidate a good tournament."
Clickbait Intoxication, don't expose yourself to more than your daily dose as you check the news or check your e-mail.
It is an opinion.
What makes for a WC ?
A fighting spirit, one that is not afraid to lose, is a prerequisite.
Naka simply doesn't provide the mustard. It's an opinion. May one day prove to be wrong.
He had a chance today to win the Tournament by beating Magnus. Choose the easy route and secured 2nd place. (A tie, no more.) If he had lost, well, you know the rest of the story.
I am not a "fan" of Magnus
Of late, his play has grown a bit on me.
He went to the IoM without the usual entourage of family and seconds. Played "offbeat" openings, placed opponents out of opening preparation.
Was rather refreshing and he was rewarded with winning the T.
Perhaps it's a mix of exhaustion, psyched out, and playing black. In any event, I'd be attempting to win every game I got against a world champion. Nobody cares how many you lose, they only remember the few you win against such a player- and he could have won the whole tournament had he managed it!
Nakamura have several issues that seem to impede him from the World Championship title, mostly his mood causing inconsistent play. I don't know him well enough to delve into what may be the actual causes but he clearly has days where he is in a bad mood and it shows. He also takes losing poorly in relation to it affecting his future play compared to Carlsen who loses, gets really upset, then comes back the next day and plays fine if not great chess. Nakamura however seems to get into depressed play and sometimes a loss, especially a bad one, can cause his whole tournament performance to suffer and sometimes more than just one event. Mental fortitude is very important and at the highest level of any discipline it can require a fort knox of it.
@mdinnerspace he might not ever be WC, but have you ever heard of this one guy named Tigran Petrossian?
Hope I spelled that right.
Good insights by jg777.
Naka "appears" at times to take losing rather poorly. We see "mood" swings that to me indicate he is reluctant to play fighting chess in big events. Also he does not recover well after a loss as pointed out by jg777. Of course this observation is by an armchair analyst. (myself)
WC's are not afraid to take risks. In his loss at the World Cup, he sat staring at his score sheet in a hopeless position for a full 15+ minutes before resigning. Rather peculiar.
Hikaru because of his blitz/bullet skills is viewed by many as the next challenger to Magnus. In standard play I just don't see him passing the mustard. As jg777 points out, we see inconsistent play.
Too much Red Bull perhaps?
Did anyone read that statement? "play a weaker move to avoid the 13...Bf5 draw" Champions don't win by playing weaker moves, at least not in modern times.
Naka was criticized for playing wild tactical games, and now he's being criticized for playing safer games. Next is to blame his ADHD, twirling of pieces, and drug him.
Man you guys talk like you know sooooooOOooOoooOo much lol