Hikaru said in the interviews he did, that once he played g6 (6:26), he could feel he could play for a win, because white doesn't have easy moves, and Pragg was low on time. Also, in every interview Hikaru highlighted how important time usage is. He lost 2 times, and both times he lost to Vidit. Those last 3 rounds will be fire.

Experience can be key in a tournament like The Candidates. When Hikaru is good....he's very good. Solid experience for Pragg. He's going to be tough to beat in the years ahead. A good game and not even the best of the day!

@PyExcel

Ай бұрын

@@Elamado97good enough for what

@michaelmassaro4375

Ай бұрын

@@Elamado97he has won titled Tuesday he’s a five time U.S.Chess Champion and the winner of Fischer Random not too long ago and has been rated number one in Blitz and Rapid many times

@jessejordache1869

Ай бұрын

Everything after "When Hikaru is good....he's very good" was covered with "Show more", and so I clicked on it, half expecting "But when he's bad, he's better."

@dudeabides69

Ай бұрын

​@@Elamado97what are you good at? Never heard of you

This game feels so "Go"-like, in that it's all space grabbing; Hikaru slowly just restricting the board more and more

@DieFlabbergast

Ай бұрын

It reminds me of makruk, which Kramnik says is more strategic than chess: he may be right. Nimzowitsch would have been proud of this game.

5:58 And I, for one, welcome our new silicon overlords...

Fantastic play by Hikaru--accumulating more and more space advantages and seeing the way to victory when many thought this looked like a draw. The final position with the bishop cutting off b3 was great.

Just finished watching Alireza vs Nijat❤️❤️

@goonerboy93

Ай бұрын

Same. When one recap is over, another is uploaded! Amazing effort from Agadmator

We seriously need a spoiler block in the comments section

@terriblehits3157

Ай бұрын

All videos need it, YT is poorly designed

Oh yes, the good old library and bar are back on 😂

imho this has just been a great Candidates tournament. I feel for Nijat of course but this hopefully will be a great learning experience for him. And Alireza......still amazingly talented but...... The rest of the field has played some great games and Vidit doing all he can to help Nepo 3peat!! I kid, I kid :) His face right before he resigned yesterday was tough to watch. I have become a huge Vidit fan over the last year after being guilty (along with many others) of just paying attention to the youngest wave of Indian prodigies.

Hope Hikaru will not end up regretting those Vidit games.. he might up literally caring.

Great variations. Good job.

Agad why are you stuck at 1.31 M subscribers since last 6 months ? I find it impossible to believe that a great KZreadr like you is undergoing a subscriber stagnation. Are you perhaps going to surprise us with a sudden 2 Million Subscribers ? Just asking. Best of luck man, you rock 🍾🎉🥂

@H2B2D

Ай бұрын

Use common sense mate, chess is not the game people aspire most.

@English-to6qc

Ай бұрын

​@@H2B2Dlook at the subscribers growth of Gotham chess...agad has 3x more videos but 4x less subs

@georgepap8512

Ай бұрын

@@H2B2D stop talking out your ass. Gotham Chess has almost 5 millions subs and Hikaru has 2.3+ millions . Agadmantor created his channel in 2007 while Hikaru in 2017 and Gotham in 2018. Most of Agadmantor subs came from 2013-2019 while Hikaru and Gotham really started talking KZread seriously during 2020. The reason why Agad has not seen an explosion in his subs unlike the other channels is because his videos are only about chess. No clickbait bullshit, no videos unrelated to chess and no collaborations. Agad use to have the biggest chess channel in KZread but times have changed and most people want different content. For me this is exactly this type of videos that I want!

@H2B2D

Ай бұрын

@@georgepap8512 Hey bsdk, easy on your tongue. Hikaru is a player.

@johndorian473

Ай бұрын

He has the correct audience. You don't want the wrong audience just to boost numbers

Great analysis Agadmator 🫡

@exbricadlo

Ай бұрын

PC/mobile?

Exciting chess! Great commentary Agad!

So thankful for finding your channel year’s ago. Your awesome brother.

9:33 Bxe4 would actually not win the rook! White can simply save the rook in that position by being in checkmate; preventing Bxg2 and instead forcing black to settle for a win

@nir9670

Ай бұрын

Settle for a win? Lol

Hey! Just love your videos.. but could you maybe involve move prediction bar(engine indicator bar) on the side for each move!? It would maybe make things more interesting

One of the best games I've seen personally, really impressive stuff

17:40 I thought he will not explain how black wins but he did. Thankyou.

Crazy fights in this candidates,amazing games and competition is high I love it 😊

15:20 you officially missed your chance to say "Pragg may be Pragg, but a bishop is a bishop"!

Well, didn't see why, that pawn sacrifice was important (first ptv mom). Sure, a nice sequence, but the black e pawn don't seem to make a difference. It wasn't in the way of anything. My take on why offer it was to move the bishop up to threaten the white knight, [ but more, the bishop now owned that diagon alley (that's y u need that pawn off)[ that just took the pawn, then that frees the rook to take b2 (more pressure- 2nd rank) etc etc. Still, u can always move the pawn forward. A bit tired so may I'll look at it again later. Didn't even get the 2nd ptv (i opted to check with the rook) What I found ominous about the game was that Praag was dripping sand fast early in the game. Against Hikaru, u need ur clock full. And for some lines, perhaps, it's better risk mistakes early than mid or late game. Obviously the ones that don't work r where ur opponent pushes his advantage by trading everything down, which increases his advantage as 5/4 is still 1 difference, as 2/1 is but now at 2/1 ur 100% up not 25% 21:11 21:11

Such strong players. Great candidates match

I appreciate the coverage of the candidates and the extra lines for these games. I work construction and i get excited to come home and relax and watch 1 or 2 of the videos. Thank you. Been watching for years

Agad strikes again

Great video, but the moves in the description are from another game, I wanted to ckeck some positions with the engine :(

Wow I actually got the move right when the game was paused 😂😃I haven’t played chess is years but consistently watching your videos I have a good grasp of the art of the game. Might be time to start playing and put my understanding to the test!

#suggestion you cropped the clock for white a little bit too close to the clock icon. the top one is fine though, I think it could be better if you crop it as perfect as the top!

I agree, remarkable game. And as usual the UNMOVES WERE JUST AS GOOD AS THE MADE MOVES. 👁️👌🏾 AGADMATOR

The absolute best video of this game coverage.

10:30 “The problem with just capturing the Knight is not the undoubling of the pawns…” Good thing since there are no doubled pawns to be undoubled.

Excellent recap 🔥

Thank you 🙏🏼

Extraordinary moves from Hikaru, Ke7 and Rf8... Awesome.

Thanks

Taking the queens off early totally changes the character of a chess game. Hikaru has years more experience while still being in his prime and this showed in this game. My guess is that less than 5% of games trade their Queens early. This means that young players are not familiar to these chess patterns and more experienced players have the edge - talking from a cognitive psychological point of view.

Hikaru was on fire in this game,

Fantastic game and nice analysis, but why does Agad keep hallucinating a doubled c-pawn? Is this a glitch in the matrix?

Absolutely fantastic game

Agad's so interested in the rook that he'll take it even after the game is over with Bxe4 9:34

9:35 “If you take the Knight now then just Bishop captures Knight with check, also picks up the Rook…” The Bishop cannot pick up the Rook as White is checkmated…

One point Antonio. A couple of times you mentioned the possibility of Hikaru undoubling the lawns on the C file. Hikaru only had one pawn on the C file so there was no doubled pawn when you mentioned this.

@fredrickomondi6379

Ай бұрын

He meant Hikaru connecting his lonely pawn

@EredilElexi

Ай бұрын

i think he meant because that pawn moved into the c file earlier in the game and it was a pawn island

@user-xz9jk7oo7m

Ай бұрын

I am also confused with doubled powns ..

Isn't 9:31 Bxe4 just mate? Why even pick the rook? Did agad really miss mate in 1 or am I hallucinating

This is where experience speaks for itself.

Pragg fought hard but to see that passed pawn protected by the bishop at the end must have been really upsetting for him.

18:40 Ding creeping in the title and looking down at the candidates 😂

@NumanKhan-jr5mb

Ай бұрын

Ding knows whoever comes he will lose.. horrible players playing candidates

Could be hikaru's immortal game? All tactics work in hikarus favour. Just crazy.

All top 6 played in good spirits. Chess wins

At 5:03 it is not really undoubling of pawns.. it is merging two pawn islands into one.. right? Mentioned again at 10:30.

@W4LT3Rego

Ай бұрын

Yes he just meant reconnecting the pawns

@amitraohuman

Ай бұрын

@@W4LT3Rego Thanks. I am a relative noob at chess so I thought maybe I was missing something. :)

@W4LT3Rego

Ай бұрын

@@amitraohuman You're welcome!

At 3:23 would knight to c7 be a good move?

13:26 you move the nf5+ then you move the rook, you don't lose anything.

Crazy game

this was such a great game. hikaru surprised pragg with good preparation and managed to not fall behind on time in the middle game as he did in other games. also you have the wrong game in the bio. (hikaru vs nijat, not hikaru vs pragg)

Beautiful game of Hikaru! It looked almost like i was playing a GM lol

What I've been calling the "not-delayed Tarrasch" or "the true Queens Gambit". At this level, wow.

That's the difference between youngsters and old masters. Masters don't depend on preparation only, they are strong and can outplayed rivals with black. Good game Hikaru.

It was at this moment there was nothing more to be done ---- 18:01

Experience & talent won over talent 🤟💪

I feel very good about finding rf8.

When will VIDIT play with Hikaru ?

Looks like Ian can do no worse than tie for first at the end, judging by the way he's playing.

why not Rd2 instead of g6 at 6:26? seems really strong to me…

Tingjie vs Muzychuk game was the best game of yesterday. There was a poisoned rook which paralyzed the black queen for rest of the game. Vidit vs Nepo was closed second where Vidit choked.

@PyExcel

Ай бұрын

#suggestion show the female good games pls

Prag: where Vidit when you need him.

beautiful

Hikaru really took Pragg into a deep dark suffocating forest

Good win by Hikaru! Clutch.

🔥🔥🔥

Hikaru strikes back🤣

8:37 I should be over 2700. 😭

The outcome is what it is, but Pragg really fought hard in an impossible situation he got himself into.

Why did Hikaru go Ke7 instead of O-O?

Antonio has been hard at work, earning his paycheck. Kudos

so weird that when hikaru activates all of his pieces and manages his time better, he wins

At 2:15, why on earth would Nakamura bring it his king to e7 overall of castling? Just because it's the top engine move per his prep Can't understand it (although I'm a pretty new player!)

What a game

Exceptional performance by Hikaru, being second despite losing to Vidit twice

Impressive endgame accuracy by hikaru

Pragg put up an impressive defense after his error. How many GMs other than Hikaru would have won that? Not many IMO.

@3DHDcat

Ай бұрын

Nepo , firouja, Ivanchuk for sure

When Hikaru has a good day, he is Carlsen-good.

You're not a mad man to move the king there was 😭😂😂

undoubling pawns != connecting pawns

This opening should be called "Queen's Gambit Squared"

We need more Fab games i!!

Great game by Hikaru.

point of contention, at about the 9:35 point of the video, "if rook captures knight now, then just bishop captures knight with CHECKMATE" (who cares about the rook?)

#suggestion Vaishali vs Goryachkina

16:16 instead of Rh3 could pragg have gone Rf4 what would that line would have been

I don't see how Pragg didn't play in a way that would keep the queens on the board while it was still early in the game, especially in one of his games with the white pieces that he really had to win to have any real chance of winning the tournament. Just horribly disappointing really.

this game is one of all times best.

Praggs last two games have not been the best by him hope he’s able to bounce back today vs Nepo it’s Great that there are four players that still have the best chance at winning this tournament Nepo Gukesh Hikaru and Fabiano with only 3 games to go the Final picture coming into focus

Keep in mind Hikaru is 36 and Pragg is 18.

Wait--is there a bar in his library?!? I have to move.

I've concluded that Nepo is unbeatable. There's no way one man can have so many lost positions and still survive

@TransparentEclipse

Ай бұрын

Unbeatable until he plays the world championship matches

@patrickthubakgale4491

Ай бұрын

@TransparentEclipse Ding doesn't look very well and his form is suspicious recently. I hope he recovers though. I was just talking about Nepo in the candidates, it's like the other players don't wanna beat him or something. He's just untouchable

@TransparentEclipse

Ай бұрын

@@patrickthubakgale4491 he’s looked that way every candidates. And then somehow, he gets to championship match and he starts blundering like a 2400. He’s untouchable now, but we’ve seen what this guy does once the pressure is greatest. Undeniable choke artist

@patrickthubakgale4491

Ай бұрын

@TransparentEclipse yeah it's very odd hey. He should be able to crush anyone. I feel like if the games were less then he'd win. Somehow when the pressure builds up he does crack.

#suggestion Tingjie vs Muzychuk

FYI, wrong game in description

#suggestion Can you make a video on Gukesh vs Nijat it was an interesting match

9:11 Mr Barnes would have gone to Ke5.

Our silicon overlords....

So @ 10:21 why didn't Hikaru play Ng2+ ? I don't think Kasparov (for example) would ever make such mistake.

@yanair2091

Ай бұрын

Ok, he eventually won, but Ng2+ was faster and much simpler.