In this week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast, Anish Giri returns to give his take on the first half of the Candidates. Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, he candidly shares his assessment of the players so far. 0:00 – Intro 1:35 – Anish’s experience following the Candidates so far 2:57 – Alireza-Gukesh (round 7) 6:25 – Nepo’s performance so far, games against Pragg and Hikaru 14:13 – How many points does Anish think the winner will need? 16:18 – Fabiano’s performance so far 20:52 – Gukesh’s play 23:03 – Pragg’s crazy combinations 28:32 – Vidit-Pragg (round 3) 32:29 – Could this be Pragg’s tournament? 34:20 – Vidit’s play thus far, his early win against Hikaru 37:20 – Vidit’s “meditation”, other top players’ rituals before games 43:24 – AD BREAK 44:04 – Hikaru jumping right to YouTube after a game, even a loss 48:30 – Anish’s dislike of post-game press conferences, his preference for Hikaru’s approach 52:32 – Alireza’s tournament 58:33 – Who does Anish favour, halfway through the tournament 1:06:23 – The Women’s Candidates Tournament

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

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