Tips for Tikay

[tikay]

I just signed up to place the same bet tikay so I can help if you want. I realise I'm very new here so no hard feelings if u don't wanna tho rfgqqabc will vouch for me as being trustworthy, post here to reply if you want me to and ill place and confirm the bet on here when its done!

Thank you Sir!


I'm busy working for the next few hours, but will get in touch with you as soon as I finish.

Can you send me your Bank AC Details via PM, please?

PS - Just realised, I think you need TEN Forum Posts before you can send a PM. Should be a way to get round that......

O, gotta go, work calls, back later.

[nuros]

Ok, bet placed: Carlsen, Magnus -1.5 £30 @ 41/50 returns £54.60. I'll pm details now, glgl!

[nuros]

Ok, bet placed: Carlsen, Magnus -1.5 £30 @ 41/50 returns £54.60. I'll pm details now, glgl!

Ah just tried to send a PM and it tells me I'm not allowed to send messages, I assume this is because of my newness/low post count?

[Ironside]

Ok, bet placed: Carlsen, Magnus -1.5 £30 @ 41/50 returns £54.60. I'll pm details now, glgl!

Ah just tried to send a PM and it tells me I'm not allowed to send messages, I assume this is because of my newness/low post count?

you can pm now you have 10 posts

[nuros]

Ok, bet placed: Carlsen, Magnus -1.5 £30 @ 41/50 returns £54.60. I'll pm details now, glgl!

Ah just tried to send a PM and it tells me I'm not allowed to send messages, I assume this is because of my newness/low post count?

you can pm now you have 10 posts

Lol well that's decent timing, thx!

[scotty2hatty]

Soa "The Hulk" Palelei fights overnight in Australia but unfortunately it's not on our screens until tomorrow evening so we'll need to make do with textual updates.

[Tal]

thank you

daily reports are about to get fun (probably)

i think tikay has a Marathon account? but i don't have a password as it is infrequently used so tikay to place if he wishes


by the by, i like to follow the games live with the GMs commentating (Tania Sachdev, preferably), can you put the relevant links up when it starts please so i can bookmark?

Miss Sachdev isn't involved this year, I'm afraid. Lawrence Trent (kind of bizarre seeing people I used to play against in junior comps commentating) is covering the Petrosian Memorial, sadly, for Chess24, so he's not involved either.


Links:

http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/ (official site)

http://www.chessdom.com/carlsen-anand-2014-live-games/ (alternative with engines)

See if you can get Peter Svidler to talk about cricket. He's a well known fan.

@anandcarlsen14 is the official Twitter



This amuses me, but I can't help but notice they have different chairs! That's Carlsen and his people (dad, coach and manager)

[scotty2hatty]

Soa "The Hulk" Palelei fights overnight in Australia but unfortunately it's not on our screens until tomorrow evening so we'll need to make do with textual updates.

Bet is now generally 6/5, from 7/4, although PP are holding firm at 13/8.

[Marky147]

Soa "The Hulk" Palelei fights overnight in Australia but unfortunately it's not on our screens until tomorrow evening so we'll need to make do with textual updates.

Bet is now generally 6/5, from 7/4, although PP are holding firm at 13/8.

Did him shortly after taking him down, but unfortunately he waited until the 2nd...

We got a bit unlucky, because they mostly danced around each other for most of the first.

[McGlashan]

The World Chess Championship starts tomorrow in Sochi, with the players participating in the opening ceremony today.
 

 
Favourite is Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, the world’s top player and the defending champion. He will play the man whom he dethroned last year, India’s Vishy Anand. I’ve written a preview on Chess Thread for those who want to know a little more...
 
The pundits have been making a lot of the different year the two players have had: Carlsen has lost some uncharacteristic games, has shown indifferent form at times and has lost a few of his many rating points. Anand surprised the world by trouncing the opposition in the Candidates Tournament to book his return to the title match. He’s continued to play well (although not quite for those stellar results) for the rest of the year and even managed to beat Carlsen in the World Blitz championships, which was the picture I posted earlier (Carlsen having realised he’d made a blunder).
 
Anand is full of vim and vigour. He’s been displaying an unusually high level of bravado in his press interviews, like this with a Spanish newspaper the other day:
 
Q: Do you feel that you know Carlsen’s weak points?

A: Yes, I think so. I have some idea. And also I gained confidence, that is why I am optimistic

Q: Until where does your rivalry with Carlsen reach?

A: I am not his friend, I have better relations with others in chess. There is rivalry between us. Even when we joke there is certain tension

 
Ok, that’s not exactly Froch-Groves, but Carlsen and Anand are from two different worlds. Anand was in the doldrums a year ago, when he was taken apart by the Norwegian; completely dismantled in front of his home crowd in Chennai. The match started tentatively, with both players missing half chances in the first few games, but then Carlsen took control as he settled into his first proper match (playing a series of 12 games against the same opponent is completely different to a tournament, where you come up against all different people, openings and styles; this is far more psychological, where the players are preparing openings and ideas with leveling wars about what the other guy thinks you’re prepping and so on).
 
“Last time, I didn’t play very successfully at the start and I could have been punished in a couple of games. It’s important that I get off to a better start this time.”, said Carlsen today.
 
Carlsen ground Anand down with his quiet but unrelenting style and he found life in arid, boring positions that anyone else in the world would have shaken hands over for a draw long ago. That’s what he has done and that’s something he does better than anyone who’s ever lived.
 
I’ve played through his games this year and he’s taken more risks, been more prepared to back his feel for positions and effectively gamble on being able to outplay his opponents. It hasn’t always worked and, frankly, while I understand the rationale for wanting to be better in every department, it’s like Nadal trying to serve-volley more; he’s going to find he gets caught every once in a while.
 
Anand’s big tournament was some time ago now and, as full of confidence as he’s been, how is he going to keep his chin up if he loses early on?
 
The players have decided on which chairs the players will use, which board and which pieces. Seriously:
 

 
Everything has to be agreed and detail is essential.
 
Ok, down to business.
 
Carlsen is 1/4 or worse to win the title and I don’t think we need concern ourselves with that.
 
The handicap is Carlsen - 1.5, with Carlsen being 1.82 best price with Marathon-bet. Why should this be good?
 
Everything in the press these past few months has been explaining why it is going to be closer this year than last year’s 6.5-3.5 demolition. There are so many reasons why it could and should be close (Anand’s experience, his work on endgames – he is rumoured to have worked with Carlsen’s idol, Vlad Kramnik on improving his endgames, which is where he suffered last time – the converging form) but one very good reason why it might not: Carlsen is simply a more talented player.
 
He’s had an excellent record against Anand in recent years in classical games and is still considerably higher in rating than his opponent. However much Anand has improved, Carlsen will test him very hard in a number of the games they will play and I expect the favourite to start to pull away in the later games; stamina, ability, sheer force of will.
 
There haven’t been many dissenting voices to the view this will be a close match, but it is interesting to note that two of their fellow elite players (Lev Aronian and Alexander Grischuk) have come out and said the Norwegian will do better than expected. Aronian said Anand has a “psychological problem” with Carlsen, going as far as to say it won’t last the full 12 rounds, and Grischuk laughed off the suggestion that Carlsen had had a bad year, pointing out how he’d won both Blitz and Rapidplay world titles this summer.
 
Bizarrely, I think backing Carlsen against the handicap is kind of the contrarian view, despite him being the favourite.
 
Anand will need to get ahead early (as in the first four games) and then he can apply some pressure. He’ll be far better prepared for the openings, but will have to find a way to stop Carlsen simplifying the position and getting into his comfort zone. I am convinced Carlsen won’t be taking risks like he has in the summer and he knows full well just how important it is to defend his title. He’ll be ready and he’ll win.
 
The action starts tomorrow and I propose we take a position on the Champ to win with time to spare.
 
Recommend £30 at 1.82 on Magnus Carlsen-1.5 with Marathon-bet.
 
 

There's some 1.9 to be had on the machine.

If I recall correctly it kicks off 3pm in Sochi which is 3 hours ahead of GMT.

[TheDazzler]

No offence intended but I say 'no' on the chess bet. As world champion in a minority (betting wise) sport, I can't see how Carlsen could possibly be overpriced by the bookies. If anything, probably underpriced. I would think any bet would be to oppose him in some form.

[McGlashan]

No offence intended but I say 'no' on the chess bet. As world champion in a minority (betting wise) sport, I can't see how Carlsen could possibly be overpriced by the bookies. If anything, probably underpriced. I would think any bet would be to oppose him in some form.

No offence taken Dazzler.

Based on ELO ratings Nate Silver was bullish on Magnus Carlsen chances in relation to the odds: 
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/magnus-carlsen-world-chess-championship/

I'll happily elaborate on the bet in the morning.

[tikay]

Ok, bet placed: Carlsen, Magnus -1.5 £30 @ 41/50 returns £54.60. I'll pm details now, glgl!

Thanks very much Tom, much appreciated.

I have sent you £30 by Bank TX this morning, for immediate payment.

Looking forward to this.

I'm assuming this photo was last year, but I'm sure our Chess Chappies will fill us in.

[tikay]

Tighty.

For spreadsheet clarity, we accidentally but happily double booked the Chess Bet - two people trying to help, combined with awkward timing for me last night. Quite happy with that, though, we'll have plenty of value with this one.

We have £30 via "nuros", which has now been paid for by Bank TX.

We have £30 via Sequin Bloke, which will be settled, either way, after the event. 

Off we go, good luck all who are aboard.

[tikay]

For our opening gambit in the chess, what is going on here, & is this guy wholly sane?

I have amazing memories of him back in the day, but even then, he was a little "odd".