World Championship from 26 November to 15 December 2021:

Live coverage each day starting at 0730.

Game summaries from agadmator (best chess commentator):

Game 3 summary.

Game 2 summary with some quick tournament explanation from agadmator.

Game 1 summary.

• It is being played alongside the World Expo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
• They play “kind of” a best-of-15 series. The only difference is a player doesn’t have to reach 8, just 7 ½ because draws are worth ½. They play one game per day (except some free days see schedule at link below), starting 26 Nov.
• The games start at 1630 in Dubai, which is 0730 EST. Watch at the link above with commentary. The games last up to about 6 hours.
  • Note: during the analysis the black / white line to the left of the analysis board shows who the computer says is winning.
• Magnus Carlsen from Norway is the Tiger Woods of chess and challenger Ian Nepo___, from Russia, won a tournament in the spring for the opportunity to play against Carlsen.

More details here:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/world-chess-championship-2021

A little WWE-type drama in the background:

Magnus Carlsen to retire after loss to extreme learner Max Deutsch.

Magnus Carlsen

Norwegian Magnus Carlsen is the Tiger Woods of chess. That’s why chess has become a mainstream sport! OK, that’s extreme, neither mainstream nor sport (debate!?), but Magnus Carlsen was the youngest player to top the world FIDE rankings when he reached the top in January 2010 and he has been on top since.

Magnus Carlsen’s Recent Loss

Four days ago, on 24 January, Magnus Carlsen lost to 18-year-old Russian Andrey Esipenko. It was a huge upset. The tournament schedule is here and the final round is played on 31 January.

Watch the game analysis of Carlsen’s loss here.

Two days later, On 26 January, Magnus Carlsen bounced back and won his next game. Watch the game analysis here.

On 27 January, Magnus Carlsen, World #1, played World #2, American-Italian Fabiano Caruana.

Watch the game analysis here between the world’s top two players.

How to Watch Chess

Chess games last several hours, and it’s chess at a level we cannot understand. However, agadmator’s Chess Channel makes the games watchable and even exciting. Here is agadmator’s website. Agadmator’s name is Antonio Radić and he is Croatian guy who is a really good amateur chess player and now comments on chess full-time.

The International Chess Federation, FIDE is the most widely-recognized governing body. (but their calendar stinks)

Magnus Carlsen’s own schedule might be the best place to follow. Other options are chess.com calendar, agadmator’s site, FIDE ratings, more … ?

Who’s Who of Chess

Chess has a long history. We’ve heard some of the names without being able to place them. Here are some:

Paul Morphy, 1837-1884: dominated in America, then crossed the ocean and dominated in Europe.

Bobby Fischer, 1943-2008: American who won the most widely publicized chess championship of all time, the 1972 World Chess Championship considered a Cold War US versus USSR chess showdown. I have not yet seen the movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer.

Garry Kasparov, 1963-living: longest reign at top of FIDE ratings.

Computers Playing Chess

The chess computer Deeper Blue beat the reigning world champion in 1997, and computers have not looked back. Modern computers beat all humans at chess.