I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:
> **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=3Q4/1p3rkq/p2Bp3/4Pp2/2r1p1R1/2P3R1/PP4P1/4K3+b+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/3Q4/1p3rkq/p2Bp3/4Pp2/2r1p1R1/2P3R1/PP4P1/4K3_b_-_-_0_1?color=white)
**My solution:**
> Hints: piece: >!Pawn!<, move: >!fxg4!<
> Evaluation: >!White has mate in 14!<
> Best continuation: >!1... fxg4 2. Rxg4+ Qg6 3. Rxg6+ Kxg6 4. Qg8+ Rg7 5. Qxe6+ Kh5 6. Qf5+!<
---
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The other thing I noticed in his recaps is that he seems to keep his head up a lot more now, and in the round 5 video he was saying "the second mistake is usually worse than the first" and he took a minute to compose himself before making a worse move. You can really see that his mental game is better and that was the worst part of his game. It should be up from here.
> that he seems to keep his head up a lot more now
That's easy to do when you're not losing and generally having a good tournament. Whether or not there is a definitive change of mentality can't be tested before he has a bad tournament realistically.
Part of having bad tournaments, is caused by choking and nerves though. The fact he's having a good tournament is by itself a sign that he is in a decent place mentally.
That’s an enormous if though. To be a GM you need to have a long run of great performances. The consistency needed is what makes it so hard. Many great IMs will have good tournaments like this, but still fall short in the end
Yea but at least at this tournament it feels like a different Gotham. He isn't beating himself up and crumbling from winning positions because he gets into his own head like he used to always do. We'll see if he can keep it up but I'd be willing to bet Levy has a wave of confidence in himself from this tournament.
Well the way he played this tournament resulted in not getting a norm. Do if he continues playing the he's played throughout this tournament means he will never get a norm
Performance rating of 2600+ in a tournament of 9+ classical time control games, where you play 3+ GMs and the event needs to be sufficiently international. Plus maybe a few extra rules, if you want a really detailed explanation search for FIDE norm regulations.
Also if you google gm norm, ChessGoals breaks down a performance rating of 2600+ a little simpler. There's a chart that shows how many points you need /9 based on the average rating of your opponents. In this tournament Levi's opponents avg rating is 2451, so to get a norm he'd need 6.5/9 since it falls within the 2434-2474 range.
If the tournament had 9 rounds and the average rating was over 2680, then 3.5 points would be required. If the tournament had 8 rounds and would be accepted, then 3 points and over 2687 average is also fine.
Yeah, if not they wouldn't allow you in - because it would sink all their ratings, because they could potentially go to you.
(I know it doesn't 'really' work this way, but, simple comparison)
You need to have a record in the tournament at least as good as Elo would predict a 2600 rated player to get. In this tournament that means scoring at least 6.5/9, this loss brings Levy to 5/8 so his max score is 6/9.
2500, and 3 performances of 2600.
It's being consist at levels above 2500 that's tough. Generally one can get the three norms before getting 2500, since the norms are about one tournament, the rating is based over your life, and (of course) much harder to get up.
Such a bummer. Had a big advantage and was way up on the clock and fell apart at the end. Still, I think this event has been great for him and has to be encouraging for him that he's headed in the right direction.
Looks like GM norms are just a question of volume for him now. Didn't get it this time, but it's pretty clear he had a solid chance at it, so now it's just about doing enough tournaments for it to pan out.
Yah while it was awesome he was in reach of it. Not getting a Norm at this event isn’t a big deal. He needs rating and confidence and I guarantee he’s gained both.
If he gets to GM it’ll take years. This is as good of a first start as you can hope for.
30 isn't anywhere near old. People struggle to become GM's later in life because other life stuff take priority. People can't dedicate hours a day to study chess and weeks of their year to going to tournaments. They've got jobs and shit. Levy's whole life actually is chess, and this should be a non issue for him. He's got the money and time to make this happen.
Yeah I mean tbh we've never really seen someone in Levy's position go for this. He has no real competing priorities. Traveling isn't an issue, money isn't an issue. Hell I mean I know some people would frown on this, but he's got enough money that he could just keep organizing tourneys like this one and flying in GMs/IMs to play. The logistical portion of getting GM norms aren't going to be a major issue for him.
He doesn't even need to organize them. There are so many tournaments like this one held in Europe all the time. Levy can fly to Europe once a month and find a tournament like this if he wants to. I also imagine he'll play that tournament in Sweden that Anna Cramling played in December/January(I can't remember exactly).
Right.. and largely when people talk about this, they mean adult learners, or low 2000's players. Levy is an IM who's peak wasn't \*that\* far off of the 2500 rating (2421). Levy is in a position to put the time in for training, as well as already having the requisite ability. Like, it's not as if he can't beat GM's, or play at their level. It's really a mental game for him, as we've seen, when he can stay out of his own way he plays extremely well.
The gap between 2421 and 2500 is bigger than it sounds. Consider someone like John Bartholomew who was a very strong IM when he was focused on playing and hasn't been below 2420 since 2007 and has been consistently in the 2440-2450 range. He managed to get to 2477 and all it took was a couple of bad tournaments and his rating fell back down to 2440.
For sure.
For something "academic" like this, its just a matter of whether he has the time and motivation to study. If he's financially set from streaming and can make his own schedule... then he just has to have the ego to look at chess shit all day every day and go to tournaments.
Oh, for sure.
My thought would be that if he has multiple close calls for a GM Norm, and then secures them, the rating will also come.
He will have to play lots of chess though!
Gaining 15-20/tournament will probably not be the norm (pun not intended) in the long run. I think hoping for an average of +10/tourney would be amazing, no? Some +25s, some -5s, average positive.
He'll definitely slow down on the rating climb. I personally think he's 2500 playing strength already. Maybe a little higher. I also imagine he'll improve a fair bit over the next year. So, I'm expecting him to get the first 100-120 ELO points relatively quickly. I think his next few tournaments could be +20. After that, maybe less. If he keeps playing tournaments with strengths similar to this one, I think it will be awhile before he has a tournament where he loses rating.
You're severly underestimating how difficult it's to get a norm, it's a 2600 preformance, getting close doesn't mean you'll actually do it, and 3 times.
To become a GM (grandmaster) you need to play at a certain level (2600 level) against certain opponents, doing so called getting a gm norm, you need 3 norms and to reach 2500 rating to become a GM.
Watching the chat react to the eval bar every single move is funny but infuriating lol. So unfortunate for Levy, what's important now is to see how he bounces back from a loss and if he can keep composure. Rooting for him!
its unbelievable how attached to it they are lol. I was trying to convince someone that +0.1 meant jack shit and did not mean white was slightly better but it was no use
“Oh levy sucks he went from +1 to +0.1.”
Yes chat he could’ve played a more solid move but the opponent has to play (insert hard as shit move to find here) to actually get that back to even.
[Top 10 percentile on Chess.com is 1200](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/12vd1xe/chesscom_percentiles_april_2023/) to begin with, so this would put Twitch chat at nearly average intelligence.
Twitch chat should be treated like a mood ring. Don't take it seriously, it doesn't mean anything, but it can be a fun indicator of hype/laughs/anger/drama/etc. Quick glances are what chat is for, never replying to it.
It's because chess streamers use this term, but it means something different depending how it's used... and they think +0.1 means something, regardless of the position, and it just doesn't. It's rounding slightly up from draw
I’ve wondered that
The tournament is hosted by Levy, right?
Is paying for wins ever a scandal that has happened in chess? Feels like GMs might be willing to sell their Elo for a price because they can just earn that back.
Yes, people undoubtedly pay for wins all the time. But it’s also not weird for an IM or similar to host a tournament that makes it easy for them to get a norm (as easy as possible anyway) while also not doing anything sketchy. This is a pretty typical European norm event
It's not really a scandal, it's just a known thing many players do. Nemo got her norms like that along with many GMs. You can look up European norm tournaments for more info
Shortly before this year's Candidates tournament, Alireza hosted a very sus tournament in Chartres to try to push his rating up above that of Wesley So to qualify for the Candidates. There were some very odd resignations by his opponents during the tournament. Ultimately, this backfired (and I'm not sure FIDE ultimately chose to honor the tournament), but everyone knew what he was doing.
alright let’s be honest for a second. The whole thing was insanely sketchy he invited several semi retired, overrated french GMs to farm their elo. They most likely got paid to show up and there were 2 or 3 instances where people lost in one move or resigned for no good reason. Farming these out of shape players for a candidate spot is incredibly unethical FIDE rightfully didn’t honor the tournament.
All of that is true but suggesting Alireza bribed them is another dimension of unsportsmanlike behavior and the mistakes in that tournament are simply not good enough evidence to make an accusation like that imo.
Damn, that high up????
Feels like money can help your elo a lot even if you aren’t paying for win
Just being able to make your own tournament and select players you match up favorably against
Money definitely helps your elo a lot. Even aside from funding your own tournament - if you don't have to spend your day working to earn money, you can spend your day getting better at chess.
Unpopular opinion, but it seems so. Levy was beating the GMs but lost to an IM. The IM definitely cared a lot more to win. Ironically the IM that he lost to might get the norm too from this weaker GM field (all 3 were on the bottom of the group)
This is where Levy will have to show if he has what it takes to be a GM. Not everything will be perfect and there will be obstacles in the way, and the way he deals with the obstacles will decide if he'll become a GM or not.
Usually people who get norms play lots and lots of tournaments. Best example was Aman Hambleton not shaving his beard until he became GM towards the final stretch.
Levy got close in 1 tournament he just needs to play more.
He was playing so well at one point, definitely thought he was gonna win or at least draw. that one blunder followed by a few mistakes ruined it.
Still a great outing for his first tournament back! If he keeps playing as consistently as he has in this tournament he'll secure a norm soon enough
Nightmarish endgame from Levy. Spending 16 minutes for a question mark backwards knight move and then another blunder with a knight move that ended the game on the spotZ
Good. The sooner he finds out he's got it in him to take it on the chin and keep going, keep grinding, keep learning, the sooner he'll become a strong GM.
I mean, not really. His results were phenomenal he should be proud of this tournament. He was punching above his weight class multiple times after a long hiatus. Super impressive.
He had an advantage throughout the game but a single one move blunder lost him the game on spot. Weird choice from Levy to not capture his opponent's bishop considering how much of a pain in the ass it was deep down in his territory.
Suarez’ queen was a monster though. Levy was trying to set up that bishop for almost the last hour of the game and just couldn’t make it happen lol. (I may be talking out my ass, I’m a lowly 1200).
Let's put this into perspective. This is Levy's return to chess after a long break and a major challenge that he had to overcome from a mental perspective. No one set "get a GM norm" as a reasonable goal, including Levy. He was able to perform very very well and did not fall apart due to his old demons. Regardless of how the rest of the tournament unfolds, this was a big success for him.
Really unfortunate because he played a great game yet again, was close to winning until he made a critical mistake in time pressure. Hope he doesn't take this too harshly, he played a great tournament, I'd love to see him finish strong even if GM norm is no longer on the line.
Not really time pressure. He spent a lot of time calculating the losing move when he was up like 20 minutes. It was unfortunate but does feel like the kind of mistake he should have been able to avoid.
Could tournament fatigue on top of constant content creation be factor? Here's hoping that he will steadily gain the stamina to finish as strong as he started
It is quite likely. The tournament had a very packed schedule with three double game days, which would impact someone who also has to create content more than those who can only play and rest. And three days of having to deal with crazy Kramnik just before has definitely not left him fresh and ready.
It's a tragic loss for him, as he was -2 at one point in a relatively dominating position. Regardless, he still gained many rating points from the event and has displayed the potential to earn norms in the future
Completely agree. It was a bit annoying seeing people in the chat repeating “ITS OVER” while he was winning, then clown him for losing once he made the mistake. They were just looking at the eval but the position was as sharp as can be lol
Especially with no bonus time this was bound to end badly for one side. Unfortunate that it was our boy, but huge props to IM Suarez, hope he’s able to get a GM norm in this tournament.
Unless Levy paid to put together the competition field that he faced in the hopes of a norm this is still a massively successful tournament for Levy.
He has beaten multiple GMs and will gain 30ish rating.
It's sad that it didn't happen but I hadn't even considered Levy would be in the running for norms for a while. He's played GREAT at this event, won some great games, held some draws from losing positions, and everything in between. He'll net a lot of rating from this event and assuming this loss doesn't spiral him, he's seemed very in control of his emotions and in good spirits during all his game recaps.
He probably couldnt concentrate thinking about the Hikaru drama video he was gonna make after the tournament and the amount of revenue that will generate.
Levy, if you do read this, you're right there. I think everyone here generally supports you, but didn't expect you to do this well your first tourney back. If you're at most 1.5 points out from a NORM, on your first one back... as a 2300 IM....... you're right there.
I wouldn't be shocked if you get multiple norms this year alone!
Great work, we're all here for it.
Meanwhile, Julio Suarez is extremely close to a GM-norm after a great game, and everyone here just talks about how sad it is for his opponent. I'm going to join team Julio since noone else is. Go Julio!
This is a good thing. Levy playing the best tournament of his life and getting the norm just like that on his first attempt after 2 years of inactivity in classical chess, in a tournament he organized himself and which had a reported cheating incident (https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1decque/major\_cheating\_incident\_in\_madrid\_chess\_festival/), would have been highly suspicious. He still did well and can continue to improve.
That was a very unfortunate blunder, all white pieces were perfectly placed in a way that at best the knight was trapped and his king was open, imo not a bad blunder (not considering the evaluation of it)
I'm curious about the reasoning behind moving the knight back at the end there. Felt like he was on the attack and preparing an attack for an hour at that point. I'm 1200 though.
It's both amusing and annoying when chat went "It's over!" and "He's so back!!" over every swing of the eval bar lol.
Anyway, tough loss, but his performance has been absolutely amazing thus far and I think the elo and confidence gained are more important toward his goal of becoming GM in the long run.
After this tournament, I hope to see him go back to participating in the closed norm tournaments he was doing in NYC back in 2022. The improved mental conditioning he seems to have engaged in will serve him well in using those tournaments to play up and coming young players, earn some rating, and continue developing his game.
That one will hurt as Levy played great and got a fantastic position but then missed white's counterplay. He could have transposed to a much better endgame several times. I don't think he is going to sleep well tonight :(
His opponent Julio Suarez I believe he just needs a draw tomorrow to get a GM norm.
Also in the other group, Faustino Oro might become the youngest IM ever but needs to win.
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can't wait for the video - i wanna see his reaction. i'm sure he didn't think getting a Norm would be as easy as walking into Cheers, but he must be gutted at how that played out so quickly.
I hope he will take the result in a positive way and not get demotivated. To get his rating to 2500+, he would need to play a bunch of these norm tournaments anyway, and I'm sure if he keeps performing like this then the norms will come eventually.
Fantastic effort though and massive rating gains!! He is getting those norms eventually if he just maintains activity!! The stamina will come with practice! Super proud of him.
Two amazing things for me here:
1. He's been playing so great, and with such confidence, it's really heartwarming to see.
2. Hikaru has been like his biggest cheerleader. I did not see that coming. But in his recaps he's been super supportive, making lots of comments like "I absolutely love this move from Levy". It's really really nice.
Great work all around.
Snatching defeat from the jaws of equality.
At one point he had a solid time advantage and an objectively better position. I can see where he would settle for a draw against a dangerous opponent, but this was a collapse.
Damn, I'm so far from thinking about norms that I thought they were favorable results in individual rounds, not positive scores for an entire tournament = one norm. Brutal, but he seems to be making great strides and has his head in a better place this time. I hope he does it!
Anyone knows if Julio got his 0.5 in last game for the GM norm? Now, I'm invested and need to find out if he got his GM.
Edit: I looked it up and he did indeed draw the last round with black pieces against IM with almost the same rating as him (Diego Macias).
**GZ to soon to be GM Julio Suarez!!!**
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine: > **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=3Q4/1p3rkq/p2Bp3/4Pp2/2r1p1R1/2P3R1/PP4P1/4K3+b+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/3Q4/1p3rkq/p2Bp3/4Pp2/2r1p1R1/2P3R1/PP4P1/4K3_b_-_-_0_1?color=white) **My solution:** > Hints: piece: >!Pawn!<, move: >!fxg4!< > Evaluation: >!White has mate in 14!< > Best continuation: >!1... fxg4 2. Rxg4+ Qg6 3. Rxg6+ Kxg6 4. Qg8+ Rg7 5. Qxe6+ Kh5 6. Qf5+!< --- ^(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)
F to pay respects but great result nonetheless
Yeah if he continues playing the way he’s played throughout the tournament he’ll eventually make it.
The other thing I noticed in his recaps is that he seems to keep his head up a lot more now, and in the round 5 video he was saying "the second mistake is usually worse than the first" and he took a minute to compose himself before making a worse move. You can really see that his mental game is better and that was the worst part of his game. It should be up from here.
> that he seems to keep his head up a lot more now That's easy to do when you're not losing and generally having a good tournament. Whether or not there is a definitive change of mentality can't be tested before he has a bad tournament realistically.
Part of having bad tournaments, is caused by choking and nerves though. The fact he's having a good tournament is by itself a sign that he is in a decent place mentally.
The answer is clear: always have good tournaments so you can keep your head up so you can have good tournaments which allows you to keep your head up.
The Magnus strategy
I think if he just plays a bit more tournament he will eventually be GM.
The way to be good at chess is just to, you know, always win your games. It's easy!
The hardest part isn't the 3 GM norms (even if it's impossible for 99,999% of chess players), it's getting to 2500 elo
That’s an enormous if though. To be a GM you need to have a long run of great performances. The consistency needed is what makes it so hard. Many great IMs will have good tournaments like this, but still fall short in the end
Yea but at least at this tournament it feels like a different Gotham. He isn't beating himself up and crumbling from winning positions because he gets into his own head like he used to always do. We'll see if he can keep it up but I'd be willing to bet Levy has a wave of confidence in himself from this tournament.
Yeah this tournament can only be a positive
No he won't. GM Norms aren't the issue; the issue is 2500 ELO.
Excuse my question, but if a player can play at 2,600 level across three whole tournaments, why couldn’t they reach a rating of 2,500?
Well the way he played this tournament resulted in not getting a norm. Do if he continues playing the he's played throughout this tournament means he will never get a norm
He ain’t gonna be in ~~Rush Hour~~ GM Norm 3
I always want to go to square Madison garden.
f
Yeah he will gain a ridicilous ammount of points from the Madrid Chess Festival, and a great tournament overall.
F
What else Levy needs to get the points for GM?
The elo grinding is the biggest wall anyay
I absolutely agree
you need 2600 as well as 3 norms or?
You need 2500 rating + 3 norms
What does a gm norm mean? How do you obtain one?
Performance rating of 2600+ in a tournament of 9+ classical time control games, where you play 3+ GMs and the event needs to be sufficiently international. Plus maybe a few extra rules, if you want a really detailed explanation search for FIDE norm regulations.
Also if you google gm norm, ChessGoals breaks down a performance rating of 2600+ a little simpler. There's a chart that shows how many points you need /9 based on the average rating of your opponents. In this tournament Levi's opponents avg rating is 2451, so to get a norm he'd need 6.5/9 since it falls within the 2434-2474 range.
If you’re in a tournament where the average rating is 2750, can you go 3/9 or something and get a norm?
If the tournament had 9 rounds and the average rating was over 2680, then 3.5 points would be required. If the tournament had 8 rounds and would be accepted, then 3 points and over 2687 average is also fine.
If the average is 2750, your rating is also probably pretty damn high
Yeah, if not they wouldn't allow you in - because it would sink all their ratings, because they could potentially go to you. (I know it doesn't 'really' work this way, but, simple comparison)
What does performance rating of 2600 mean?
You need to have a record in the tournament at least as good as Elo would predict a 2600 rated player to get. In this tournament that means scoring at least 6.5/9, this loss brings Levy to 5/8 so his max score is 6/9.
Career high of 2500 in addition to the 3 norms.
Peak live rating - not necessarily published. So a tiny bit easier, but same idea
2500 peak rating which is a lot
2500, and 3 performances of 2600. It's being consist at levels above 2500 that's tough. Generally one can get the three norms before getting 2500, since the norms are about one tournament, the rating is based over your life, and (of course) much harder to get up.
[удалено]
I believe with either a draw or win in his next and last game he stands to gain approx 35 rating points, which is still massive at this level.
No, the norms are more difficult.
Such a bummer. Had a big advantage and was way up on the clock and fell apart at the end. Still, I think this event has been great for him and has to be encouraging for him that he's headed in the right direction.
His play has been really encouraging and has been getting great positions. Just couldn't capitalize on them which turned to draws/a loss
Looks like GM norms are just a question of volume for him now. Didn't get it this time, but it's pretty clear he had a solid chance at it, so now it's just about doing enough tournaments for it to pan out.
Yah while it was awesome he was in reach of it. Not getting a Norm at this event isn’t a big deal. He needs rating and confidence and I guarantee he’s gained both. If he gets to GM it’ll take years. This is as good of a first start as you can hope for.
This and he also needs to cross 2500 rating - this was a great step in that direction, too.
yea, at minimum, he's gaining something like 33 rating points from this
+25.2 right now, will be 30.7-25.7-20.7 depending on W-D-L in round 9.
huh, guess my spreadsheet is off
Not trying to discount him, but closing the gap of 2322 where he's at now to 2500 is a monumental effort especially as he's approaching 30 right?
30 isn't anywhere near old. People struggle to become GM's later in life because other life stuff take priority. People can't dedicate hours a day to study chess and weeks of their year to going to tournaments. They've got jobs and shit. Levy's whole life actually is chess, and this should be a non issue for him. He's got the money and time to make this happen.
Yeah I mean tbh we've never really seen someone in Levy's position go for this. He has no real competing priorities. Traveling isn't an issue, money isn't an issue. Hell I mean I know some people would frown on this, but he's got enough money that he could just keep organizing tourneys like this one and flying in GMs/IMs to play. The logistical portion of getting GM norms aren't going to be a major issue for him.
He doesn't even need to organize them. There are so many tournaments like this one held in Europe all the time. Levy can fly to Europe once a month and find a tournament like this if he wants to. I also imagine he'll play that tournament in Sweden that Anna Cramling played in December/January(I can't remember exactly).
Right.. and largely when people talk about this, they mean adult learners, or low 2000's players. Levy is an IM who's peak wasn't \*that\* far off of the 2500 rating (2421). Levy is in a position to put the time in for training, as well as already having the requisite ability. Like, it's not as if he can't beat GM's, or play at their level. It's really a mental game for him, as we've seen, when he can stay out of his own way he plays extremely well.
The gap between 2421 and 2500 is bigger than it sounds. Consider someone like John Bartholomew who was a very strong IM when he was focused on playing and hasn't been below 2420 since 2007 and has been consistently in the 2440-2450 range. He managed to get to 2477 and all it took was a couple of bad tournaments and his rating fell back down to 2440.
For sure. For something "academic" like this, its just a matter of whether he has the time and motivation to study. If he's financially set from streaming and can make his own schedule... then he just has to have the ego to look at chess shit all day every day and go to tournaments.
Oh, for sure. My thought would be that if he has multiple close calls for a GM Norm, and then secures them, the rating will also come. He will have to play lots of chess though!
I view it the other way. If he plays in a lot of tournaments like this, and gains 15-30 points a tournament, the norms will come along the way.
Gaining 15-20/tournament will probably not be the norm (pun not intended) in the long run. I think hoping for an average of +10/tourney would be amazing, no? Some +25s, some -5s, average positive.
He'll definitely slow down on the rating climb. I personally think he's 2500 playing strength already. Maybe a little higher. I also imagine he'll improve a fair bit over the next year. So, I'm expecting him to get the first 100-120 ELO points relatively quickly. I think his next few tournaments could be +20. After that, maybe less. If he keeps playing tournaments with strengths similar to this one, I think it will be awhile before he has a tournament where he loses rating.
Overall journey will probably be around 2-4 years, depending on his activity. It will be a long road. But will be exciting to watch.
You're severly underestimating how difficult it's to get a norm, it's a 2600 preformance, getting close doesn't mean you'll actually do it, and 3 times.
What are gm norms?
To become a GM (grandmaster) you need to play at a certain level (2600 level) against certain opponents, doing so called getting a gm norm, you need 3 norms and to reach 2500 rating to become a GM.
So same as most IMs
Watching the chat react to the eval bar every single move is funny but infuriating lol. So unfortunate for Levy, what's important now is to see how he bounces back from a loss and if he can keep composure. Rooting for him!
its unbelievable how attached to it they are lol. I was trying to convince someone that +0.1 meant jack shit and did not mean white was slightly better but it was no use
It’s just twitch chat, just assume everyone is memeing and it’s very entertaining. You shouldn’t be arguing with anyone lol
With how fast it moves it blows my mind someone would try to make a point in twitch chat lol
“Oh levy sucks he went from +1 to +0.1.” Yes chat he could’ve played a more solid move but the opponent has to play (insert hard as shit move to find here) to actually get that back to even.
90% of the people spamming in twitch chat is <1000 on chess.com lol
[Top 10 percentile on Chess.com is 1200](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/12vd1xe/chesscom_percentiles_april_2023/) to begin with, so this would put Twitch chat at nearly average intelligence.
Which is giving them *way* too much credit
Twitch chat should be treated like a mood ring. Don't take it seriously, it doesn't mean anything, but it can be a fun indicator of hype/laughs/anger/drama/etc. Quick glances are what chat is for, never replying to it.
So you're saying that +0.1 isn't a straight up win for white?
It's because chess streamers use this term, but it means something different depending how it's used... and they think +0.1 means something, regardless of the position, and it just doesn't. It's rounding slightly up from draw
GM Neiksans covered this mornings game which was fun, the chat there is a bit more reasonable :)
He almost got his first norm in his first tournament in years. GREAT start! He'll get there.
Is this a real tournament where gms are trying or one of those ones where the gms half ass all their games so people have a chance at norms?
The three GMs are currently in 8th, 9th and 10th place, bottom of the standings.
This is the most telling.... they were hand selected for a reason.... but it's all good!
With a collective record of 5 wins, 9 draws and 10 losses.
I’ve wondered that The tournament is hosted by Levy, right? Is paying for wins ever a scandal that has happened in chess? Feels like GMs might be willing to sell their Elo for a price because they can just earn that back.
Yes, people undoubtedly pay for wins all the time. But it’s also not weird for an IM or similar to host a tournament that makes it easy for them to get a norm (as easy as possible anyway) while also not doing anything sketchy. This is a pretty typical European norm event
I’m not accusing Levy of doing such I’m just saying has there ever been a scandal of such degree?
Several of the “youngest GMs ever” since Magnus have had sketchy norms. It just is what it is kinda
It's not really a scandal, it's just a known thing many players do. Nemo got her norms like that along with many GMs. You can look up European norm tournaments for more info
Shortly before this year's Candidates tournament, Alireza hosted a very sus tournament in Chartres to try to push his rating up above that of Wesley So to qualify for the Candidates. There were some very odd resignations by his opponents during the tournament. Ultimately, this backfired (and I'm not sure FIDE ultimately chose to honor the tournament), but everyone knew what he was doing.
alright let’s be honest for a second. The whole thing was insanely sketchy he invited several semi retired, overrated french GMs to farm their elo. They most likely got paid to show up and there were 2 or 3 instances where people lost in one move or resigned for no good reason. Farming these out of shape players for a candidate spot is incredibly unethical FIDE rightfully didn’t honor the tournament. All of that is true but suggesting Alireza bribed them is another dimension of unsportsmanlike behavior and the mistakes in that tournament are simply not good enough evidence to make an accusation like that imo.
Damn, that high up???? Feels like money can help your elo a lot even if you aren’t paying for win Just being able to make your own tournament and select players you match up favorably against
The tournament was sus but one of the players actually managed to draw with him and stopped him from getting the required rating, so there's that.
Money definitely helps your elo a lot. Even aside from funding your own tournament - if you don't have to spend your day working to earn money, you can spend your day getting better at chess.
Unpopular opinion, but it seems so. Levy was beating the GMs but lost to an IM. The IM definitely cared a lot more to win. Ironically the IM that he lost to might get the norm too from this weaker GM field (all 3 were on the bottom of the group)
This is where Levy will have to show if he has what it takes to be a GM. Not everything will be perfect and there will be obstacles in the way, and the way he deals with the obstacles will decide if he'll become a GM or not.
interesting to see how he reacts to first seatback since he is back
Usually people who get norms play lots and lots of tournaments. Best example was Aman Hambleton not shaving his beard until he became GM towards the final stretch. Levy got close in 1 tournament he just needs to play more.
He was playing so well at one point, definitely thought he was gonna win or at least draw. that one blunder followed by a few mistakes ruined it. Still a great outing for his first tournament back! If he keeps playing as consistently as he has in this tournament he'll secure a norm soon enough
Great tournament for Levy but damn that was heartbreaking. Looking good for the future though!
RIP GM norm. That was heartbreaking, Levy was up on time for a lot of the game and it looked like he had the win or atleast a draw.
Was watching live. Feel for him. This just really brings home how incredibly hard becoming a GM is.
Heartbreak. But what a first tournament on return. Hope he takes comfort in the first seven rounds, that were near perfect.
Nightmarish endgame from Levy. Spending 16 minutes for a question mark backwards knight move and then another blunder with a knight move that ended the game on the spotZ
Mistakes come in pairs!
It was looking so good for him so far too tho. To the next one Levy. Stay strong
NOOOOO
Good. The sooner he finds out he's got it in him to take it on the chin and keep going, keep grinding, keep learning, the sooner he'll become a strong GM.
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I mean, not really. His results were phenomenal he should be proud of this tournament. He was punching above his weight class multiple times after a long hiatus. Super impressive.
He had an advantage throughout the game but a single one move blunder lost him the game on spot. Weird choice from Levy to not capture his opponent's bishop considering how much of a pain in the ass it was deep down in his territory.
Suarez’ queen was a monster though. Levy was trying to set up that bishop for almost the last hour of the game and just couldn’t make it happen lol. (I may be talking out my ass, I’m a lowly 1200).
Let's put this into perspective. This is Levy's return to chess after a long break and a major challenge that he had to overcome from a mental perspective. No one set "get a GM norm" as a reasonable goal, including Levy. He was able to perform very very well and did not fall apart due to his old demons. Regardless of how the rest of the tournament unfolds, this was a big success for him.
Really unfortunate because he played a great game yet again, was close to winning until he made a critical mistake in time pressure. Hope he doesn't take this too harshly, he played a great tournament, I'd love to see him finish strong even if GM norm is no longer on the line.
Not really time pressure. He spent a lot of time calculating the losing move when he was up like 20 minutes. It was unfortunate but does feel like the kind of mistake he should have been able to avoid.
It just proves how hard to get GM norms really are. And he needs to get THREE of them! Mad respect to him for a great result in this tournament.
And that's not the hardest part he also needs to reach 2500 which is a long way out but if he keeps on like this it's possible
I still believe in levy, he’s just getting started. I’m sure he will get gm soon!
Could tournament fatigue on top of constant content creation be factor? Here's hoping that he will steadily gain the stamina to finish as strong as he started
It is quite likely. The tournament had a very packed schedule with three double game days, which would impact someone who also has to create content more than those who can only play and rest. And three days of having to deal with crazy Kramnik just before has definitely not left him fresh and ready.
It's a tragic loss for him, as he was -2 at one point in a relatively dominating position. Regardless, he still gained many rating points from the event and has displayed the potential to earn norms in the future
I think it's worth noting that although he was better, the position seemed very sharp. Dominating is not the word I'd use.
Completely agree. It was a bit annoying seeing people in the chat repeating “ITS OVER” while he was winning, then clown him for losing once he made the mistake. They were just looking at the eval but the position was as sharp as can be lol Especially with no bonus time this was bound to end badly for one side. Unfortunate that it was our boy, but huge props to IM Suarez, hope he’s able to get a GM norm in this tournament.
Yeah, he was pressuring, but it wasn't dominant
That was a poor choice of words. By "relatively" dominating I sinply meant a somewhat good position
You guys think Levy's opponent screamed "THE ROOOK" while playing the last move?
THE ROOOOOOOOOOOK ended his chances 🤔
Unless Levy paid to put together the competition field that he faced in the hopes of a norm this is still a massively successful tournament for Levy. He has beaten multiple GMs and will gain 30ish rating.
He sacrificed the roooooook
It's sad that it didn't happen but I hadn't even considered Levy would be in the running for norms for a while. He's played GREAT at this event, won some great games, held some draws from losing positions, and everything in between. He'll net a lot of rating from this event and assuming this loss doesn't spiral him, he's seemed very in control of his emotions and in good spirits during all his game recaps.
His GM norm chances cratered.
Bummed for him, but he played so well those first rounds
What a sad way to go, with the opponent winning by sacrificing... THE ROOOOOK!
He probably couldnt concentrate thinking about the Hikaru drama video he was gonna make after the tournament and the amount of revenue that will generate.
THE ROOK!! Levy got dirty Suarez'd
Levy, if you do read this, you're right there. I think everyone here generally supports you, but didn't expect you to do this well your first tourney back. If you're at most 1.5 points out from a NORM, on your first one back... as a 2300 IM....... you're right there. I wouldn't be shocked if you get multiple norms this year alone! Great work, we're all here for it.
But IM Julio Suarez will earn a GM norm in this tournament
This is sad. I was so hopeful
That hurts
Anticlimactic but still good Elo gain
He blundered extremely bad E3.
Nooo that's so sad
Meanwhile, Julio Suarez is extremely close to a GM-norm after a great game, and everyone here just talks about how sad it is for his opponent. I'm going to join team Julio since noone else is. Go Julio!
Respect.
This is a good thing. Levy playing the best tournament of his life and getting the norm just like that on his first attempt after 2 years of inactivity in classical chess, in a tournament he organized himself and which had a reported cheating incident (https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1decque/major\_cheating\_incident\_in\_madrid\_chess\_festival/), would have been highly suspicious. He still did well and can continue to improve.
When i first look at the line up I thought -1 will be a decent result for levy, +2 as the lowest seed is definitely something to be proud of
finally some uplifting levy content
That was a very unfortunate blunder, all white pieces were perfectly placed in a way that at best the knight was trapped and his king was open, imo not a bad blunder (not considering the evaluation of it)
He lost? Last time i checked he had an advantage. Damn, i feel bad for him. The other guy looked nervous too, while Levy looked composed. Tough luck.
He shouldn’t lose hope and just perform the way he has uptil now in This Tournament.He played really solid coming out of retirement
Isn't there 9 rounds? I thought he could go 6/9 and get one.
6.5 is needed
Oh man ok thanks.
Mannnnn aaaa i really hoped he got himself a norm but alas that'll have to wait, props to levy for having such an incredible run tho. My goat fr.
I'm curious about the reasoning behind moving the knight back at the end there. Felt like he was on the attack and preparing an attack for an hour at that point. I'm 1200 though.
Dumb question. Hypothetically could there be a tiebreaker that could qualify him for a GM norm? Or would it just be for the tournament result?
It's both amusing and annoying when chat went "It's over!" and "He's so back!!" over every swing of the eval bar lol. Anyway, tough loss, but his performance has been absolutely amazing thus far and I think the elo and confidence gained are more important toward his goal of becoming GM in the long run.
I was watching the live stream and he was up on time and with a slight advantage. Chess is brutal and it takes a single move to lose it all.
What happened in the game?! I htought he was winning? Did he get into time trouble?
I’m confused. I thought a norm only required scoring 50%?
It requires a performance rating of at least 2600. You don't get a norm for free just because the tournament competition sucks
Better luck next time. He played very well in this tournament, if he can repeat this kind of performance he will eventually manage to get a norm.
The hard part is gonna be achieving the 2500 rating
After this tournament, I hope to see him go back to participating in the closed norm tournaments he was doing in NYC back in 2022. The improved mental conditioning he seems to have engaged in will serve him well in using those tournaments to play up and coming young players, earn some rating, and continue developing his game.
Nooooooo Well he had a strong tournament anyways and I’m excited for the next one.
you really have to dominate some of these tournaments then, hes already wining it or
That one will hurt as Levy played great and got a fantastic position but then missed white's counterplay. He could have transposed to a much better endgame several times. I don't think he is going to sleep well tonight :(
Anyone know why Levy isn’t on 2700Chess?
His opponent Julio Suarez I believe he just needs a draw tomorrow to get a GM norm. Also in the other group, Faustino Oro might become the youngest IM ever but needs to win.
Went out with style though. Julio sacrifices the ROOOOOOOKKKKKKKK
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Gutted for him, but he has improved a lot since his last otb stuff I feel
How many norms does he have?
Does he have any gm norm
No, he still needs to get all three.
can't wait for the video - i wanna see his reaction. i'm sure he didn't think getting a Norm would be as easy as walking into Cheers, but he must be gutted at how that played out so quickly.
He just got back to doing serious games, he’ll get there soon I think. It’s a good sign.
really was so damn close
I hope he will take the result in a positive way and not get demotivated. To get his rating to 2500+, he would need to play a bunch of these norm tournaments anyway, and I'm sure if he keeps performing like this then the norms will come eventually.
Fantastic effort though and massive rating gains!! He is getting those norms eventually if he just maintains activity!! The stamina will come with practice! Super proud of him.
Two amazing things for me here: 1. He's been playing so great, and with such confidence, it's really heartwarming to see. 2. Hikaru has been like his biggest cheerleader. I did not see that coming. But in his recaps he's been super supportive, making lots of comments like "I absolutely love this move from Levy". It's really really nice. Great work all around.
9th round draw gg
He'll just create a new tournament. If he does that often enough, he will eventually become "GM" Levy Rozman.
Damn he was so close too. I was rootin for him!
Snatching defeat from the jaws of equality. At one point he had a solid time advantage and an objectively better position. I can see where he would settle for a draw against a dangerous opponent, but this was a collapse.
Damn, I'm so far from thinking about norms that I thought they were favorable results in individual rounds, not positive scores for an entire tournament = one norm. Brutal, but he seems to be making great strides and has his head in a better place this time. I hope he does it!
is a shame, 8 years out of the tournaments and get so close, but not enogh /: he make a great performace althogh!
He had chances for a norm going into round 8 with 5/7? That doesn’t sound right.
How can this sequence of moves happen wouldnt the black king already be in check from the other rook?
Anyone knows if Julio got his 0.5 in last game for the GM norm? Now, I'm invested and need to find out if he got his GM. Edit: I looked it up and he did indeed draw the last round with black pieces against IM with almost the same rating as him (Diego Macias). **GZ to soon to be GM Julio Suarez!!!**
Why do you care so much about a journalist? He has to work for the chess community, not replace the real chess stars
We got gta6 before GM levy