@quid word. Does that count as getting the last word in? :-)

Sorry for the lame joke in my last comment, @quid. Feel free to delete it.

@amWhy I don't think it was so bad. I'll keep it.

Other than that it seems Nakamura won the first round. I did not follow it much though.

@quid I just saw that. I'm not as familiar with his opponent, who looks very very young!

Dubov, I believe his name is.

Though looks can be deceiving; Danil Dubov was the 2018 World Rapid Champion.

@amWhy while he is young, he looks still younger; I think he is 24, which is "old" compared to Firouzja who is 16 or 17.

@amWhy yes that came as a bit of a surprised.

@quid Indeed.

He is praised as a being a very creative player, but at least in classical he somehow did not yet manage to break through.

@quid Gosh, he barely looks 16!

But he is an interesting player and also not shy to speak his mind.

@amWhy Firouzja or Dubov?

@quid It will make for some very interesting future, given him, and Firouzja.

@quid Dubov, I meant, given the photo here, when you scroll down.

@amWhy yes. But I think he is only the fourth youngest in that lineup

Duda, Wei Yi, and Firouzja should all be younger.

@quid Wow! Is rapid chess, and other-than-classical chess becoming pretty big compared to classical chess? Or comparative to it in stature?

@amWhy there was a general trend towards it already and with the move to "online only" currently there is no classical chess. Most seem to agree that classical chess online is not an option.

@quid I see. That makes sense. I can't help but wonder about the lives and lifestyles of world-class chess players still in their teens. But I guess I wonder the same about celebrity children in any endeavor: acting, sports, chess, etc.

@amWhy it depends. It's not uniform. For instance MVL had a pretty normal live as far as I know. That is he went to highschool and even did an undergraduate degree basically like everybody. Certainly he will have been "on leave" for a week here or there for a tournament but nothing major.

On the other hand it seems the entire Carlsen family constructed their live around the chess-activity of Magnus at some point.

@quid That's good. I think maintaining some "normalcy" for the gifted is a good thing, but I can imagine that definitions of normalcy among different folks might vary.

@amWhy the other thing is MVL is solidly top 10 since years, at times even top3, while Magnus reigns.

@quid But I can't help but wonder if Magnus has any sense of identity other than that as a chess champion?

Of course one never knows, but it's not excluded that a chance was missed.

@amWhy I don't know that. At least I think he does have various other interests.

There are cases though of top players that quite end of 30 to do something else.

@quid Just the psychologist in me wondering. I'm glad that he has other interests.

@quid Excellent. What is it about chess, do you think, that seems to be becoming the reign of the young? (Relatively speaking, anyone below the age of 35 is young to me).

twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen/status/1266788098408620039

I thought that would be embedded more nicely

"When you're the best and cocky about it, a lot of people love to see you fail. So enjoy it while you have the chance, you deserve it" (tweet from Magnus Carlsen)

@quid Indeed. I just don't want to see cocky users on math.se! ;D

@amWhy short term memory is quite relevant

But Anand is 50 and is still elite.

@quid An inspiration! ;D

I think there is an effect that after some point it is hard for many to keep motivated too.

@quid I suspect you're right. And also the motivation part, and I imagine the stress takes a toll.

@amWhy Anand is in fact not rarely asked when he'll stop, but his approach and reply is that he still likes to play chess so why should he stop.

@quid I love that!!

And for instance Karpov is close to 70; he does not play much anymore, but after all he still plays top board in the German chess league (which is one of the best in the world)

@quid If you use it, you don't lose it! (More or less.) :-)

Another extreme is Hou Yifan. She more or less retired at age 25, as the best female player by a large margin.

@quid Is she now commentating on chess sites?

@amWhy maybe sometimes. But mostly she seems to do other things than chess these days.