₦airaland Forum

Femi played Qe8...


Bg5 or d5 is a strong next move, still standard stuff

Carlsen plays Rd2. Book move was d5.. Femi now has the chance to take on d4 which would be his best move as he can mount pressure on white's e pawn

Pieces have been exchanged on f3, Femi proceeds with e5...

still book routine

Carlsen goes with the h3 option, Femi has to answer the question of what to do with his bishop. Moving back would be wasteful so he has to take the Knight on f3. This should give him control over the e5 square at least

Femi finally castles..

We are still in the book lines, popular white next move would be Nbd2.. but we know Carlsen too well..He may as well deviate to a not so poular line.

h3 is another standard move

Femi taking too long to think about castling...Na wa o

Game just about balanced...

Femi to move

He should castle now (standard stuff)

current game position

White to move

Carlsen has started his psychological game.. Taking so long to think...

3. Bc4 Nf6
4. Qe2

Balogun taking a long while to think, prolly because white deviated a little from standard book move on move 3

babyfaceafrica:
who then is untitled?

one chinese dude like that

Game underway with

1.e4 d6
2. d4 g6

The Pirc Defence ( A long time favourite of Femi)

Game underway with

1.e4

babyfaceafrica:
is femi a fide master or untitled?..

He is a Fide Master

Game 1 starts in 5 mins

Game can be followed live on

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments

yorex2011:
Booked for my prematch thoughts

Carlsen playing white in the first game.

There is very little Balogun can do. Generally in chess especially in GM games, playing as white has a minor advantage. Hence you see many players trying to draw as black. I doubt if there will be a draw here. Carlsen's game is just too strong (especially as he is a business minded player - He doesnt care so much about beauty but about results...)
Game 1 may not get up to 50 moves but would be a huge boost for Balogun if he can hold on

Booked for my own history

I started playing chess when I was 9 but due to lack of coaching and steady play, I didnt really improve so much. I cudve been a GM by now if i had access to a good teacher and good books..

I generally like tactics but recently had to start learning to be positional.
my favourite openings as white are the ruy lopez and fischer variation of the sicilian and as black i like playing the dragon sicilian, najdorf sicilian or the Queen's Gambit Decline (if offered).

I'm generally better in classical chess than blitz

My favourite parts of the game are the middle and end games.

I dont have an official rating but will prolly put myself at maybe 1700

Booked for my prematch thoughts

Sven Magnus Carlsen
Nationality : Norwegian
DOB : 30 November 1990
Title: Grandmaster (Current World Chess Champion).

A chess prodigy, Carlsen earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years and 148 days. He had at some point been known as "The Mozart of Chess".

Known for his attacking style as a teenager, Carlsen has since developed into a more universal player. He uses a variety of openings in order to make it more difficult for opponents to prepare against him, and, according to Jan Timman, he "aims for middlegames that lend themselves to a strategic approach". His positional mastery and endgame prowess have drawn comparisons to those of former World Champions Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov, and José Raúl Capablanca.


Carlsen was taught to play chess at the age of 5 by his father, and had been reported to have exceptional memory even at a tender age (he was able to recall the areas, population numbers, flags and capitals of all the countries in the world by the age of five).

Carlsen's peak rating stands at 2882 (May 2014).

Style of play
Magnus is an exceptional positional player who relies on his mastery of positional principles aided by sound tactical play. He rarely allows the tension in a position to dissipate by mindless exchanges.

"Magnus Carlsen is the quintessential pragmatic chess player. He will do whatever it takes to get the best possible result.
His goal in any chess game is to win (or sometimes draw), not to create a masterpiece.

He is well aware that you don't get any points for style in chess, so he doesn't take the artistic beauty of a move into consideration when deciding which move to play (unless choosing between two equally winning moves)" - (Håkon Hapnes Strand, 2177 FIDE. Friend and clubmate of Magnus Carlsen).

He is also a deeply psychological player and can grind out advantages from seemingly balanced positions against the strongest of opponents.

Balogun Oluwafemi
Nationality : Nigerian
DOB : 1987
Title: Fide Master

You can check some of his past games here
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=140226

Booked for introduction
**clears throat**
Welcome to the live broadcast/commentary of the Fide Chess Championship Match between Norwegian GM, Magnus Carlsen and Nigerian FM, Femi Balogun holding at Hualing Hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Some bit of iniformation from the official tournament site tbilisi2017.fide.com
"The 2017 FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Hualing Hotel (and Biltmore Hotel for the final) in Tbilisi, Georgia from 3-27 September. The 128-player knockout tournament features World Champion Magnus Carlsen, defending World Cup Champion Sergey Karjakin and almost all of the world's best players. The total prize fund is $1.6 million, with $120,000 for the winner and $6,000 for first round losers. The finalists will qualify for the 2018 Candidates Tournament.
The format is six knockout rounds of 2-game classical matches before a 4-game final. The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1. If the score is tied the players then play two 25-minute + 10-second increment rapid games, then two 10+10 games, then two 5+3 and, finally, Armageddon, where White has 5 minutes to Black's 4 but a draw qualifies Black for the next round".

Of the 128 players we have
120 GMs (Grandmasters)
6 IMs (international masters)
1 FM (Fide Master)
1 untitled player

The highest ELO rating is 2822 (Carlsen, world champion).
The lowest ELO rating is 2255 (Balogun, Africa Zone 4.4 Individual Chess Championship winner)

Note that Balogun is 100 points lower than the next lowest ranking and 567 points lower than his opponent


Cc AlBaqir

For chess lovers and those who would love to follow the game, I'd open a live thread for the game by 11 so we can follow move by move as well as do some prematch

yorex2011:
Thank God for Ntel and Mobdro... I would have been suffering from bad commentary by now. Naija two first half goals coming in a bit

branham890:
where do you stay and how is their service?

Festac in Lagos. Service is OK

Thank God for Ntel and Mobdro... I would have been suffering from bad commentary by now. Naija two first half goals coming in a bit

Use simple html dom for php

After you may have used file get contents or curl

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Just Got this
Hello all, we are recruiting to fill positions for DSA(Direct Sales Agent)-In a top financial institution in Lagos.
Qualification- B.Sc in any field.- minimum of 1yr post graduate exp,Not more than 26 years old Send CVs to recruitment@mactayconsulting.com. The Deadline is 2pm today.

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Just Got this
Hello all, we are recruiting to fill positions for DSA(Direct Sales Agent)-In a top financial institution in Lagos.
Qualification- B.Sc in any field.- minimum of 1yr post graduate exp,Not more than 26 years old Send CVs to recruitment@mactayconsulting.com. The Deadline is 2pm today.

for those interested, hurry up!!

Reminds me of the good ol days


Got this back then in 2010