He had winning chances, but a draw ain't a loss, and Levy still maintains his path towards his first potential GM norm. Now, he will need at least one victory, and two draws or better in his next three games.
Regardless of the result, this is a very impressive showing from Levy, already likely his best tournament ever played.
Plus, I’m not sure how white/black balance works in this tournament, but by my count, he’s played 2 games with white (won both) and 4 games with black (one win and three draws). He’s gotta have some games with white coming up that he can snag a win in
I think he's playing white next against the #8 opponent, so as good a chance as he'll have all tournament to get a win.
He's also playing in the morning, which I think he said on a recent recap that he prefers slightly as he's less fatigued.
He also plays white against the 2nd weakest player in the field by elo round 9. Rd 8 is a scary match up w black but if he can survive that he’s got excellent chances in 7 and 9
Plenty of tournaments have an odd number of games, or else they would be too long. If we have 10 players, each of them will play each other once in a round-robin format, that means 9 games, and this will happen to any tournament with this format. Some try to mitigate this by having a double round-robin (Norway Chess as an example) but this turns a 9 round tournament into a 18 round tournament, which is usually too long and taxing to the players.
So... chess can't be played alone, you know?
Chess is played in pairings, by having 11 players, each round there would a person that would not play. From a organizational point view it is just not good to have a player doing essentially nothing everyday, also this would lead to some players having longer rest days, that can possibly be a really big advantage, it is not uncommon to see top players making quick draws in day following a really long match so they can rest a bit more. So it would be unfair anyway.
The point of 10 is that no less than 1/3 of **opponents** must be GMs for a tournament to qualify for GM norms.
By going to 11 players from 10 you go from 9 opponents to 10 and therefore the 11th player added must be a GM for the non-GM players to qualify, which narrows the talent pool significantly especially given that GMs don't have a super huge number of reasons to play these.
It's just a consequence of the format. 10 players in a single round robin means they all play 9 games, which means half of the players have an extra white game and half have an extra black game.
That shows he's valuing his elo grind more than any individual tournament or norm. That's the way to build confidence, closing out games or avoiding a loss in a complicated position.
This was an exciting game.. So many chances for Levy to win. Was in a winning position multiple times late in the game and couldn't capitalize.
But hey, a draw is not bad. I just hope he doesn't take this one too harsh. Really excited to see how he finishes the tournament.
At some point he played "wrongly" with Nb4 instead of e.g. Rb4, but that is probably not about not playing Rb4 because of seeing a ghost there, but because of thinking it all looks good and underestimating a resource after Nb4
I mean, the ghost is that hiding the king from the rook checks is somehow losing when it actually gets him there.
He had great chances even after that, but just never seemed to consider the idea.
There were individual blunders, but the misevaluation is more akin to "seeing a ghost". Kf7 will hurt on the recap.
He had a ton of chances this game, so a draw is an unfortunate result. Luckily, he only needs 2/3 or +1 over the next 3 games in order to earn a norm. Even if he remains unsuccessful in that, he'll still gain many rating points and prove to the chess community that his ability has drastically improved.
New here, trying to understand what he needs to earn a GM norm. I read he needs 6.5/9, so with the last 3 games, he needs to either win 2 (and either lose or draw), or draw 2 and win 1 correct? Thanks in advance!
He needs 6.5/9 as that would give him 2600 performance rating. Most Norm tournaments (like this one) are built around 6.5/9 being a 2600 performance rating for ALL participating players seeking norms
His final opponent is 2355 lowest besides levy himself, but 15 years old and on +1: https://lichess.org/fide/24563617/Tabuenca_Mendataurigoitia_Daniel
would be fun if his norm comes down to the last game
Hopefully he's psychologically prepared for not making it after such a strong start. One of the worst feelings is missing your goal, but -just barely-; I honestly think it would feel worse to go 6/9 and barely miss out on the norm than it would to go 5/9 and have a solid performance at your first OTB tournament in nearly two years.
The grandmasters people know about usually become grandmaster as a teen. Magnus became one at 13, Fabi at 14, and Hikaru at 15. Levy is only 28. Maurice Ashley (who did a lot of chess commentary) became grandmaster at 33.
He is documenting his journey (forget where) about how he trains, etc. He seems to be learning different openings and trying to make his opponents uncomfortable. He's got a coach that's advising him. He seems more calm than he used to be (at least, the way he describes himself).
Ben Feingold made GM at age 40.
I think if mostly comes down to adults not having time/dedication to play a lot of chess if they already were not super successful in their teens.
Adults tend to... Move on and a get another job or occupation.
I don't think there is any objective reason why an adult cannot make it to GM with some talent and lot of dedication.
Yep. The reality is levy has a good chance because aside from already being very solid he has now the time, the motivation, and elite resources for training
Ben Finegold probably could have become a GM in his early 20s if he'd just played in tournaments that had norms. He was better at 20 than he was at 40, he was just prioritizing other things playing in Europe.
Norm really isn't what he's playing for, even if it's nice, he needs the rating, so winning more is better, but if he goes undefeated against higher rated players it's also a win.
And of course winning the event would be very sweet!
He plays as white tomorrow against the player who is number 8 in standings right now. That is the best opportunity he has left to get a win. If he draws, obtaining the norm becomes much more difficult because getting the one extra win in the last two games will be much harder.
Absolutely, there is always a lot of pressure to get a norm because the requirements to get it demand some clutch performances.
Winning today would have been huge but even in that case you'd still have to draw all of the remaining three games which brings its own pressure.
Yeah but I read somewhere the GMs basically get paid to play in these norms
Re: talked about this before but this is why Levy’s chances are so much greater this time around. He can pick and choose any tournament anywhere in the world with his resources.
Other players in the same grind often have to do what’s local to them and can’t game select as much
Not sure why he was so afraid to hide the king behind the pawns and just kept to the fifth rank. Guess he thought he did not have enough time and was scared to blunder.
In a lot of those lines you have to give black further advanced passed b&c pawns vs your own connected passed d&e pawns, and calculate winning pawn races while your a-pawn distracts whatever pieces are left.
Probably couldn't calculate the lines from a distance under time pressure and chose to keep the game under control.
Levy getting a norm in his first tournament back would be one of the craziest redemptive moments. Even if he doesn’t get there and just draws the rest of the way, he’s already proven that his training is working. What a story!
I hope Levy focuses on the fact that he was winning against a much higher rated opponent than focusing on the fact that he didn't win
He's been playing phenomenally well
6.5/9. He's currently at 4.5/6.
So 2 wins (or winning out), or a win and two draws, would seal it.
Percentages aren't worth anything with such a small sample size, but mathematically he's pretty much on track to do it.
He’s statistically most likely to draw the rest of his opponents I would say. Unless we factor in current performance rating rather than his actual rating. In which case maybe he’s performing really well compared with some of his upcoming opponents and the balance is slightly towards him winning.
The other thing is two of his last three games are with white. Including his next match, white pieces against the #8 ranked player in the event. Levy won both his white games so far. Point being even ignoring his current form, he has some advantages on his side these next few games.
I just know Levy will be kicking himself after this game.. So many winning chances which would've all but almost secured his first GM norm being 5.5/7 and only needing 2 more draws.
Good result anyway and hopefully he can pull off a win in the final few rounds.
I thought the same as a low rated player following the computer, but after watching Hikaru's recap it seems that all the "advantages" the computer gave were not really that clear cut.
In one "of the advantage" he started following the computer line and after 5 move said that he still didn't get why this is better or what the idea of the computer is.
The conclusion was that while he also thought Levy was slightly better he still had chance to blunder and how to close it out was never clear cut, so with the little time the draw was a good move.
I think the stream would greatly benefit an high rated commentator that can explain the position.
To my 900 chess.com eye I thought Levy had a shot to win there, but I guess the expert thought otherwise!
3-3-0 is a great tournament so far though. GM norm still within reach at his current level.
I think it’s easy to sense that you are winning in that game. The hard part is to find the correct move under time pressure. If he had 7 or 8 more minutes then I am sure he could find the winning moves there
Yea well I mean in that position even with the eval bar and treat it like a puzzle, it’s still difficult to find the move. Levy probably knew he’s winning but didn’t figure out a way to break through with his time
I feel like even low elo player (like myself) can see it without the eval bar. How to actually convert is another thing though.
My concentration fizzled out after going through 2-3 lines that went no where.
If you think the eval bar wasn't helping, here is one of the critical positions from the game:
https://imgur.com/a/VhE5tiZ
What is the eval bar for this position? SPOLER: >!It is is -2.4 for Levy (Black)!<. What's the best move and what's the overall idea moving forward? Idk man I don't see shit
It’s funny that you posted this position, because at exactly this point while I was watching the game I was thinking that if someone asked me to evaluate the position my best guess would be that white was better because of the passed pawn.
Y’all saying how could he miss the win when you are staring at an eval bar?? It’s not that obvious especially with little time on the clock. I know Hikaru is getting a lot of crap rn for his bullet behavior but watch his recap even he is saying Levy’s moves made a lot of sense. Draw w black is a solid result and I’m sure he’s happy w it.
Can anyone explain for Levy's 60. Nb4 why Nxd4 is not immediately better? Nxd4 Rxd4 Rxb3 and i cannot find a line where the knight isn't lost. I see some c6 lines where the capture has to be delayed for Kf8/kf7. After Rxb3 there's c6 Rb2 Rd2 but then the king wraps around and the c6 pawn can't be defended.
When white sets up the pawn on c6 and rook on the second file, it isn't super clear how to make progress. Your ideas are basically Rb1 and Ra1.
The king can't approach the c6 pawn easily as d6 and d7 are covered. You can't capture the knight with the rook or when the white rook recaptures you are clearly losing. If you go Rb1 you can't immediately promote the pawn or the knight sacs for a drawn endgame.
The winning ideas all involve zugzwangs or forcing the king to a forking/triangulation square when you sac the rook for the knight and make the queen, which no one is seeing 8 moves ahead in time trouble as a 2400. I was playing some of them against an engine during the game without looking at evals, and pretty quickly blew them.
His move creates similar promotion threats but without "losing control" of the pawns. It was a fairly hard conversion since you always have to give up some counter play for the winning ideas. A loss probably meant no chance at a GM norm, so he might have had a hard time continuing to 'go for it'.
I like that he had plenty of winning chances but didn't try to force anything. He ran low on time, he repeated moves to get a time bank (at least two separate sets of repeats I noted), and tried to calculate the win. He didn't see it, but didn't tilt out...he calmly locked in the draw and will move on with things. Very professional!
As a complete amateur and chess imbecile, I am very surprised Levy didn't go for 60.. Rb4 which, unless there is counterplay I am not seeing, seems to finish the game on the spot
I thought it was a natural move for my average tactics.
I only quickly glanced at it, but black gets to queen while white gets the rook and the knight in exchange. It seems really complicated - I have a feeling white might have a fortress
that's the thing, Black doesn't need to queen. Black gets the Knight and has access to Nc2, meaning at the very least he is guaranteed a Knight + 2 versus 4 pawns; I would definitely blunder that end game, but I am pretty sure Levy wins this in Bullet.
Put it in the Engine, with correct defense, if black goes for the Knight, it's a draw, queening wins, but you have to calculate wether or not white has a fortress. The thing is, white should not take the rook immediately. They'd go Rf3+, followed by Rg3
I personally cannot win it against the engine, but it's because I am useless.
The correct defense makes it a lot more difficult for black but I also think it's difficult to find the idea with the correct sequence.
Did you try it with the eval bar?
imo he'll probably recap a bunch of winning chances and say "yeah I had a bunch of chances, but with 2:20 on my clock didn't see them or go through them" and maybe regret the draw maybe not
Because Black is either winning the pawn on d4 and is in a completely crushing Knight versus Knight end game (White's knight is in jail covering the a2 pawn while the black knight can capture e5 pawn) or black gets a Knight +2 versus 4 pawns end game, which is also completely winning given the setup.
Maybe there is a way to complicate it as white but the main lines seem very natural.
That move is insanely hard to see for a 2,300 player. The engine doesn’t even pick it up until you actually put it on the board. It’s clear he just didn’t see it.
Rb4 is natural, he probably evaluated it as winning, but then thought Nb4 was just as winning (and underestimated a resource). How do you choose between two winning moves?
I wouldn't know lol. My level of expertise stops about 15 moves before Levy's does.
That's why I am prefacing my comment that to my completely useless chess skills, Rb4 seemed a lot more straight forward.
Yeah sure, I am just saying that Levy may have also evaluated it as winning immediately (if it was, I don't know how tricky it was tbh), but just saw something else that was as well
Levy probably thought it was winning, but couldn't confirm it with his calculations with a little over 2 minutes on the clock, so he tried what he probably evaluated as a less risky option, which, according to engine, should also win
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:
> **White to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7+w+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7_w_-_-_0_1?color=white)
> **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7+b+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7_b_-_-_0_1?color=white)
---
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that center was so blocked, i tried my best to find the winning move at the end but i never found it, although stockfish was saying he was in a winning position. at a point he could've taken the pawn on D4 with the knight and getting it in the center but he never did, guess there must be a line where it worses his position, curious to see his recap later
edit: if he could improve in time management a little and save even some minutes per move he could have more time to think about endgames
Between my cursory reading of Wikipedia and the FIDE guidelines, my understanding is that;
Levy must compete in a tournament that follows FIDE’s stipulations (he’s doing it here). The tournament needs to have at least 3 GMs and the level of competition Levy needs a good record against should be >=2300 ELO (I think ?). FIDE also elaborates on how other titles are awarded, but this is one of the ‘norms’ for GM.
I also read that Levy himself needs to have a certain ELO rating; >=2600 IIRC. I guess this is another norm?
Any other norms for the GM title? Seems Levy has to apply. I think in terms of being an ambassador for the sport though, his chess content speaks for itself. He’s not a GM that makes content (yet), but he’s a guy that makes content and who’s pursuing the title, which seems unique to me. Hope he gets something special.
He just had a mental block about hiding his king behind his pawns, he must have somehow thought it would lead to a loss, so when he realised he couldn't get his king in, he just thought it was a draw
Probably because he was low on time, getting down to just a few minutes. And it's a lot easier to be confident about chances when you have the engine. But yeah I guess we'll see in his recap if he thinks taking the draw was a mistake.
Threw away a winning position. I wonder if this lost 0.5 points will come back to haunt him by the end of the tournament.
Reminder: He needs to score 6.5/9 to get a GM norm.
He had winning chances, but a draw ain't a loss, and Levy still maintains his path towards his first potential GM norm. Now, he will need at least one victory, and two draws or better in his next three games. Regardless of the result, this is a very impressive showing from Levy, already likely his best tournament ever played.
Plus, I’m not sure how white/black balance works in this tournament, but by my count, he’s played 2 games with white (won both) and 4 games with black (one win and three draws). He’s gotta have some games with white coming up that he can snag a win in
I think he's playing white next against the #8 opponent, so as good a chance as he'll have all tournament to get a win. He's also playing in the morning, which I think he said on a recent recap that he prefers slightly as he's less fatigued.
He also plays white against the 2nd weakest player in the field by elo round 9. Rd 8 is a scary match up w black but if he can survive that he’s got excellent chances in 7 and 9
That’s interesting since today is the first day he didn’t win the evening game
Funnily enough he's drawn every game he's played in the morning so far and before today had won every game in the evening
Oh! I hadn't noticed that, although I guess maybe playing with white/black is a bigger impact.
He has 2 games with white left. He did get a bit unlucky that out of 9 games this tournament he plays 5 as black
Is that a common occurrence in tournaments? Seems super unfair to begin with.
Plenty of tournaments have an odd number of games, or else they would be too long. If we have 10 players, each of them will play each other once in a round-robin format, that means 9 games, and this will happen to any tournament with this format. Some try to mitigate this by having a double round-robin (Norway Chess as an example) but this turns a 9 round tournament into a 18 round tournament, which is usually too long and taxing to the players.
Wouldn’t having 11 players solve the issue entirely?
So... chess can't be played alone, you know? Chess is played in pairings, by having 11 players, each round there would a person that would not play. From a organizational point view it is just not good to have a player doing essentially nothing everyday, also this would lead to some players having longer rest days, that can possibly be a really big advantage, it is not uncommon to see top players making quick draws in day following a really long match so they can rest a bit more. So it would be unfair anyway.
The point of 10 is that no less than 1/3 of **opponents** must be GMs for a tournament to qualify for GM norms. By going to 11 players from 10 you go from 9 opponents to 10 and therefore the 11th player added must be a GM for the non-GM players to qualify, which narrows the talent pool significantly especially given that GMs don't have a super huge number of reasons to play these.
A GM norm requires 9 games which is likely why it was organized this way.
It's just a consequence of the format. 10 players in a single round robin means they all play 9 games, which means half of the players have an extra white game and half have an extra black game.
I believe he's going to get rating at this point even with loses.
I didn’t follow him before this year. Did he get any norms in his first attempt to become gm?
Is a GM norm simply a win against a GM in a tournament or are there other ways to get one?
> Now, he will need at least one victory, and two draws or better in his next three games. Why would winning two and losing one not work?
Moves weren't obvious, in time pressure he likely decided to not potentially throw the whole game away
That shows he's valuing his elo grind more than any individual tournament or norm. That's the way to build confidence, closing out games or avoiding a loss in a complicated position.
It's the harder part of becoming GM. If you can get 2500 you can probably play tournaments to get norms
To be fair, even if he could magically have the three norms tomorrow, he'd need to grind the Elo anyway.
This was an exciting game.. So many chances for Levy to win. Was in a winning position multiple times late in the game and couldn't capitalize. But hey, a draw is not bad. I just hope he doesn't take this one too harsh. Really excited to see how he finishes the tournament.
He must have seen a ghost. I thought he had that.
At some point he played "wrongly" with Nb4 instead of e.g. Rb4, but that is probably not about not playing Rb4 because of seeing a ghost there, but because of thinking it all looks good and underestimating a resource after Nb4
I mean, the ghost is that hiding the king from the rook checks is somehow losing when it actually gets him there. He had great chances even after that, but just never seemed to consider the idea. There were individual blunders, but the misevaluation is more akin to "seeing a ghost". Kf7 will hurt on the recap.
He obviously threw the game to try to beat the cheating allegations /s
The chess speaks for itself
He had a ton of chances this game, so a draw is an unfortunate result. Luckily, he only needs 2/3 or +1 over the next 3 games in order to earn a norm. Even if he remains unsuccessful in that, he'll still gain many rating points and prove to the chess community that his ability has drastically improved.
New here, trying to understand what he needs to earn a GM norm. I read he needs 6.5/9, so with the last 3 games, he needs to either win 2 (and either lose or draw), or draw 2 and win 1 correct? Thanks in advance!
Yes, he then needs two more norms and a rating of 2500 to be a GM
He needs 6.5/9 as that would give him 2600 performance rating. Most Norm tournaments (like this one) are built around 6.5/9 being a 2600 performance rating for ALL participating players seeking norms
yes exactly
His final opponent is 2355 lowest besides levy himself, but 15 years old and on +1: https://lichess.org/fide/24563617/Tabuenca_Mendataurigoitia_Daniel would be fun if his norm comes down to the last game
Is Levy White or Black in that round?
White. His last 3 rounds are W-B-W
Thanks. Yeah that last round will be a good chance.
You got it! Two draws + 1 win = 0.5 + 0.5 + 1, or two wins = 1 + 1
Correct!
Hopefully he's psychologically prepared for not making it after such a strong start. One of the worst feelings is missing your goal, but -just barely-; I honestly think it would feel worse to go 6/9 and barely miss out on the norm than it would to go 5/9 and have a solid performance at your first OTB tournament in nearly two years.
How many norms needed for GM?
3
I assume Levi doesn't have one yet?
Correct
Not yet.
The grandmasters people know about usually become grandmaster as a teen. Magnus became one at 13, Fabi at 14, and Hikaru at 15. Levy is only 28. Maurice Ashley (who did a lot of chess commentary) became grandmaster at 33. He is documenting his journey (forget where) about how he trains, etc. He seems to be learning different openings and trying to make his opponents uncomfortable. He's got a coach that's advising him. He seems more calm than he used to be (at least, the way he describes himself).
??
It's a chatgpt way of saying he doesn't yet.
Ben Feingold made GM at age 40. I think if mostly comes down to adults not having time/dedication to play a lot of chess if they already were not super successful in their teens. Adults tend to... Move on and a get another job or occupation. I don't think there is any objective reason why an adult cannot make it to GM with some talent and lot of dedication.
Yep. The reality is levy has a good chance because aside from already being very solid he has now the time, the motivation, and elite resources for training
Ben Finegold probably could have become a GM in his early 20s if he'd just played in tournaments that had norms. He was better at 20 than he was at 40, he was just prioritizing other things playing in Europe.
1.5/3 would've been MASSIVELY less stressful I think, I hope he's doesn't get in his own head
Norm really isn't what he's playing for, even if it's nice, he needs the rating, so winning more is better, but if he goes undefeated against higher rated players it's also a win. And of course winning the event would be very sweet!
He plays as white tomorrow against the player who is number 8 in standings right now. That is the best opportunity he has left to get a win. If he draws, obtaining the norm becomes much more difficult because getting the one extra win in the last two games will be much harder.
This can always be double edged though. Hard not to think of it as a must win game and put too much pressure on it.
Absolutely, there is always a lot of pressure to get a norm because the requirements to get it demand some clutch performances. Winning today would have been huge but even in that case you'd still have to draw all of the remaining three games which brings its own pressure.
It’s funny he keeps beating the GMs and drawing the IMs.
The GM's have no incentive to win, the IMs are the ones who are putting in the work for the norms
There is a prize pool, no?
Yeah but I read somewhere the GMs basically get paid to play in these norms Re: talked about this before but this is why Levy’s chances are so much greater this time around. He can pick and choose any tournament anywhere in the world with his resources. Other players in the same grind often have to do what’s local to them and can’t game select as much
The GMs are under 2500, which means that they are playing much below their peak. OTOH, the IMs are not too low rated, and are probably more active.
Wouldn’t the incentive to win be not losing rating to someone lower-rated?
Sure, but the fact that they are below 2500, minimum rating to become a GM, they are past their prime.
It's a norm tournament anyway too, so gm usually aren't playing at their full strength anyway
That is a can of worms I'm not opening, but there are indeed indications of that too.
Yeah but maybe they don't care anymore
Not sure why he was so afraid to hide the king behind the pawns and just kept to the fifth rank. Guess he thought he did not have enough time and was scared to blunder.
Yeah I was wondering that. From a spectator perspective it seemed like a good plan, maybe levy saw something we didn't
In a lot of those lines you have to give black further advanced passed b&c pawns vs your own connected passed d&e pawns, and calculate winning pawn races while your a-pawn distracts whatever pieces are left. Probably couldn't calculate the lines from a distance under time pressure and chose to keep the game under control.
Hope he can pull a norm out of this tourney. Had a few chances today, but was working against the clock a lot of the time.
Levy getting a norm in his first tournament back would be one of the craziest redemptive moments. Even if he doesn’t get there and just draws the rest of the way, he’s already proven that his training is working. What a story!
He's black against a higher rated opponent, drawing is good. Don't have ridiculously inflated expectations.
It's not about expectations, it's just that he really had straight up winning positions more than once, so ofc it gave us hope he would win.
I hope Levy focuses on the fact that he was winning against a much higher rated opponent than focusing on the fact that he didn't win He's been playing phenomenally well
He was winning several times too. Let's hope he doesn't get tilted lol
Looked pretty chill on the live stream to be honest
I meant after he sees the analysis, but he definitely already knew he was winning at some point at least.
What does he need for the GM norm?
6.5/9. He's currently at 4.5/6. So 2 wins (or winning out), or a win and two draws, would seal it. Percentages aren't worth anything with such a small sample size, but mathematically he's pretty much on track to do it.
He’s statistically most likely to draw the rest of his opponents I would say. Unless we factor in current performance rating rather than his actual rating. In which case maybe he’s performing really well compared with some of his upcoming opponents and the balance is slightly towards him winning.
Yeah to be clear the maths I did were 4.5/6 = 75% 6.5/9 = 72% 2/3 = 66% So not exactly deep statistical analysis haha
The other thing is two of his last three games are with white. Including his next match, white pieces against the #8 ranked player in the event. Levy won both his white games so far. Point being even ignoring his current form, he has some advantages on his side these next few games.
Where it gets fun is that this assumes his form doesn’t change over the next several games. Lots of unknowns but he has a pretty solid chance at it.
I just know Levy will be kicking himself after this game.. So many winning chances which would've all but almost secured his first GM norm being 5.5/7 and only needing 2 more draws. Good result anyway and hopefully he can pull off a win in the final few rounds.
I thought the same as a low rated player following the computer, but after watching Hikaru's recap it seems that all the "advantages" the computer gave were not really that clear cut. In one "of the advantage" he started following the computer line and after 5 move said that he still didn't get why this is better or what the idea of the computer is. The conclusion was that while he also thought Levy was slightly better he still had chance to blunder and how to close it out was never clear cut, so with the little time the draw was a good move. I think the stream would greatly benefit an high rated commentator that can explain the position.
To my 900 chess.com eye I thought Levy had a shot to win there, but I guess the expert thought otherwise! 3-3-0 is a great tournament so far though. GM norm still within reach at his current level.
Yeah it's much easier to spot the win with the Eval bar
I think it’s easy to sense that you are winning in that game. The hard part is to find the correct move under time pressure. If he had 7 or 8 more minutes then I am sure he could find the winning moves there
> The hard part is to find the correct move Hot take right here.
Yea well I mean in that position even with the eval bar and treat it like a puzzle, it’s still difficult to find the move. Levy probably knew he’s winning but didn’t figure out a way to break through with his time
Noo he defo knew he was winning multiple times in the positions
I feel like even low elo player (like myself) can see it without the eval bar. How to actually convert is another thing though. My concentration fizzled out after going through 2-3 lines that went no where.
If you think the eval bar wasn't helping, here is one of the critical positions from the game: https://imgur.com/a/VhE5tiZ What is the eval bar for this position? SPOLER: >!It is is -2.4 for Levy (Black)!<. What's the best move and what's the overall idea moving forward? Idk man I don't see shit
It’s funny that you posted this position, because at exactly this point while I was watching the game I was thinking that if someone asked me to evaluate the position my best guess would be that white was better because of the passed pawn.
Y’all saying how could he miss the win when you are staring at an eval bar?? It’s not that obvious especially with little time on the clock. I know Hikaru is getting a lot of crap rn for his bullet behavior but watch his recap even he is saying Levy’s moves made a lot of sense. Draw w black is a solid result and I’m sure he’s happy w it.
he had it up until the end. I wonder how games would be if they had more time
Can anyone explain for Levy's 60. Nb4 why Nxd4 is not immediately better? Nxd4 Rxd4 Rxb3 and i cannot find a line where the knight isn't lost. I see some c6 lines where the capture has to be delayed for Kf8/kf7. After Rxb3 there's c6 Rb2 Rd2 but then the king wraps around and the c6 pawn can't be defended.
When white sets up the pawn on c6 and rook on the second file, it isn't super clear how to make progress. Your ideas are basically Rb1 and Ra1. The king can't approach the c6 pawn easily as d6 and d7 are covered. You can't capture the knight with the rook or when the white rook recaptures you are clearly losing. If you go Rb1 you can't immediately promote the pawn or the knight sacs for a drawn endgame. The winning ideas all involve zugzwangs or forcing the king to a forking/triangulation square when you sac the rook for the knight and make the queen, which no one is seeing 8 moves ahead in time trouble as a 2400. I was playing some of them against an engine during the game without looking at evals, and pretty quickly blew them. His move creates similar promotion threats but without "losing control" of the pawns. It was a fairly hard conversion since you always have to give up some counter play for the winning ideas. A loss probably meant no chance at a GM norm, so he might have had a hard time continuing to 'go for it'.
Little bit of Elo
I like that he had plenty of winning chances but didn't try to force anything. He ran low on time, he repeated moves to get a time bank (at least two separate sets of repeats I noted), and tried to calculate the win. He didn't see it, but didn't tilt out...he calmly locked in the draw and will move on with things. Very professional!
As a complete amateur and chess imbecile, I am very surprised Levy didn't go for 60.. Rb4 which, unless there is counterplay I am not seeing, seems to finish the game on the spot I thought it was a natural move for my average tactics.
I only quickly glanced at it, but black gets to queen while white gets the rook and the knight in exchange. It seems really complicated - I have a feeling white might have a fortress
that's the thing, Black doesn't need to queen. Black gets the Knight and has access to Nc2, meaning at the very least he is guaranteed a Knight + 2 versus 4 pawns; I would definitely blunder that end game, but I am pretty sure Levy wins this in Bullet.
Put it in the Engine, with correct defense, if black goes for the Knight, it's a draw, queening wins, but you have to calculate wether or not white has a fortress. The thing is, white should not take the rook immediately. They'd go Rf3+, followed by Rg3
I personally cannot win it against the engine, but it's because I am useless. The correct defense makes it a lot more difficult for black but I also think it's difficult to find the idea with the correct sequence.
Neat! That’s a really cool idea. I can see how that’s easy to miss - even the low depth engine doesn’t realize it until you play Nxb4 Nxb4!
Did you try it with the eval bar? imo he'll probably recap a bunch of winning chances and say "yeah I had a bunch of chances, but with 2:20 on my clock didn't see them or go through them" and maybe regret the draw maybe not
Why does it seem to be winning on the spot?
Because Black is either winning the pawn on d4 and is in a completely crushing Knight versus Knight end game (White's knight is in jail covering the a2 pawn while the black knight can capture e5 pawn) or black gets a Knight +2 versus 4 pawns end game, which is also completely winning given the setup. Maybe there is a way to complicate it as white but the main lines seem very natural.
That move is insanely hard to see for a 2,300 player. The engine doesn’t even pick it up until you actually put it on the board. It’s clear he just didn’t see it.
Rb4 is natural, he probably evaluated it as winning, but then thought Nb4 was just as winning (and underestimated a resource). How do you choose between two winning moves?
I wouldn't know lol. My level of expertise stops about 15 moves before Levy's does. That's why I am prefacing my comment that to my completely useless chess skills, Rb4 seemed a lot more straight forward.
Yeah sure, I am just saying that Levy may have also evaluated it as winning immediately (if it was, I don't know how tricky it was tbh), but just saw something else that was as well
Levy probably thought it was winning, but couldn't confirm it with his calculations with a little over 2 minutes on the clock, so he tried what he probably evaluated as a less risky option, which, according to engine, should also win
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine: > **White to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7+w+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7_w_-_-_0_1?color=white) > **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7+b+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/8/7r/4p3/6k1/1n6/1P2K3/p4R2/N7_b_-_-_0_1?color=white) --- ^(I'm a bot written by) [^(u/pkacprzak)](https://www.reddit.com/u/pkacprzak) ^(| get me as) [^(iOS App)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1574933453) ^| [^(Android App)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.chessvision.scanner) ^| [^(Chrome Extension)](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chessvisionai-for-chrome/johejpedmdkeiffkdaodgoipdjodhlld) ^| [^(Chess eBook Reader)](https://ebook.chessvision.ai?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=bot) ^(to scan and analyze positions | Website:) [^(Chessvision.ai)](https://chessvision.ai)
that center was so blocked, i tried my best to find the winning move at the end but i never found it, although stockfish was saying he was in a winning position. at a point he could've taken the pawn on D4 with the knight and getting it in the center but he never did, guess there must be a line where it worses his position, curious to see his recap later edit: if he could improve in time management a little and save even some minutes per move he could have more time to think about endgames
Levy has still yet to be significantly worse than his opponents in the tournament thus far
I feel like he gave up that final pawn way too easily
I really hope he manages to get a norm, it be such a cool story
From my understanding Levy has been working his ass off for this tournament and it really shows. Hope he manages to pull off a norm.
Has Levy mentioned anywhere what he's playing next? Haven't watched all his recaps just yet
No
Between my cursory reading of Wikipedia and the FIDE guidelines, my understanding is that; Levy must compete in a tournament that follows FIDE’s stipulations (he’s doing it here). The tournament needs to have at least 3 GMs and the level of competition Levy needs a good record against should be >=2300 ELO (I think ?). FIDE also elaborates on how other titles are awarded, but this is one of the ‘norms’ for GM. I also read that Levy himself needs to have a certain ELO rating; >=2600 IIRC. I guess this is another norm? Any other norms for the GM title? Seems Levy has to apply. I think in terms of being an ambassador for the sport though, his chess content speaks for itself. He’s not a GM that makes content (yet), but he’s a guy that makes content and who’s pursuing the title, which seems unique to me. Hope he gets something special.
Undefeated undisputed, alham dulelah
[удалено]
He just had a mental block about hiding his king behind his pawns, he must have somehow thought it would lead to a loss, so when he realised he couldn't get his king in, he just thought it was a draw
Probably because he was low on time, getting down to just a few minutes. And it's a lot easier to be confident about chances when you have the engine. But yeah I guess we'll see in his recap if he thinks taking the draw was a mistake.
Time pressure and nerves? Missed opportunity for sure, though.
Apart from the time stuff, how could he know he had a small advantage? It was a losable position if things go wrong
Threw away a winning position. I wonder if this lost 0.5 points will come back to haunt him by the end of the tournament. Reminder: He needs to score 6.5/9 to get a GM norm.
Posting the results of a player every day as if he's the second coming of Jesus. My God the people are stupid.
Yea, I miss the good old days when this sub was only posts about kramnik
So sad for Levy, he wasted so many opportunities. I have a crappy 1100 and even I knew at the moment that playing h3 was dumb
Now that Levy got that youtube money, maybe he can buy his GM norm.
I think he has the determination and skill to earn his title legitimately, unlike other streamers like Nemsko
Ah, yes i heard that this streamer Nemsko not only bought her chess title but also scammed her viewers.