For future reference (or if you want to rewatch), go to the Freestyle Chess Youtube page, live, you will see there are two options - "pro" and "community". The "pro" is where you get Leko and Judit. The "community" is where you get Howell and Tanya. I went to "pro" as soon as I found out it existed.
In "community" you'll get more "arrows on the board", but in "pro" they'll just say b3 c5 very fast etc.
Levon is such a likeable guy that no matter who you support but if Levon wins , you can't be sad.Absolutely clean play. Magnus got no chance whatsoever to strike back.
Yeah I couldn’t deal with it either. Position so drawn for super GMs and they’re hyping Magnus like it was inevitable that he would win. All breathless. Wish I knew Polger was an option.
Nah there's a middle ground. IMO David Howell is pretty close to a perfect middle. Tanya sometimes is a bit too much for me, especially when you already have James on the cast to do the generic boring hype commentating. But that's just personal preference, I think objectively Tanya is clearly a perfectly fine commentator
I don't care about her excitement level or whatever but the non-stop glazing of Magnus on that chess.com stream was insane. They could not go 5 minutes without mentioning how he is the greatest of all time, even when he just gambited a pawn for no reason and lost the entire game because of it.
I didn't watch the community stream but I guess that's one of the few issues people have with David Howell. He has strong ties with Magnus and this is reflected in how he comments about him. He lives in Norway and is part of the Take Take Take team after all.
The tour consisted of several events, each event has its own winner, but the combined scores decide who the overall winner of the tour is. Even though this event was ongoing, Magnus had already won enough points on the overall tour to be declared the winner. Regardless of how the final few games of the event went, nobody could catch him. So he won the tour, but this final event wasn't over yet.
Then Levon has gone onto win this event. Finishing second overall in the tour. Fabi third.
Wait. What the hell? I could have watched this whole thing with Peter and Judit commenting?
Leko and Polgar commentate all the Freestyle events for chess24.
For all major tournaments, chess24 have better commentators (usually)
100% Leko and Polgar are just a perfect pairing
For future reference (or if you want to rewatch), go to the Freestyle Chess Youtube page, live, you will see there are two options - "pro" and "community". The "pro" is where you get Leko and Judit. The "community" is where you get Howell and Tanya. I went to "pro" as soon as I found out it existed.
In "community" you'll get more "arrows on the board", but in "pro" they'll just say b3 c5 very fast etc.
Yea it's nice having people who don't glaze Magnus at every opportunity they get.
Leko and polar have commentated every freestyle chess event and it has been fantastic
Levon is such a likeable guy that no matter who you support but if Levon wins , you can't be sad.Absolutely clean play. Magnus got no chance whatsoever to strike back.
He's a wholesome guy. When asked for his recipe for success. He said the presence of his daughter and wife is the difference maker.
He's always been outspoken of his liking for chess960
Freestyle King in recent weeks
Happy to see him back at this level :)
The commentary difference between this and chess.com is hilarious - congrats to Levon through, absolutely unstoppable.
Man I wish I knew there was another stream. That commentary was cringe worthy. What channel were these guys on?
Leko and Polgar were on the chess24 stream
Yeah I couldn’t deal with it either. Position so drawn for super GMs and they’re hyping Magnus like it was inevitable that he would win. All breathless. Wish I knew Polger was an option.
Yeah can’t lie, I really like David Howell but it’s annoying that they hype Magnus to the end of time in a lost position
Why were they so bad?
Tanya
What's so hilarious?
Reddit fucking hates Tanya because she allows herself to be excited about chess, and chess should be slow, analyzed, boring.
Nah there's a middle ground. IMO David Howell is pretty close to a perfect middle. Tanya sometimes is a bit too much for me, especially when you already have James on the cast to do the generic boring hype commentating. But that's just personal preference, I think objectively Tanya is clearly a perfectly fine commentator
I don't care about her excitement level or whatever but the non-stop glazing of Magnus on that chess.com stream was insane. They could not go 5 minutes without mentioning how he is the greatest of all time, even when he just gambited a pawn for no reason and lost the entire game because of it.
I didn't watch the community stream but I guess that's one of the few issues people have with David Howell. He has strong ties with Magnus and this is reflected in how he comments about him. He lives in Norway and is part of the Take Take Take team after all.
ok so it wasnt just me thinking im listening to an instagram comment sections opinion throughout while watching.
Undefeated throughout the tournament. Outplayed Carlsen totally in the first game, held him to draw with almost machine like accuracy in the 2nd.
Deserved winner.
Bro has been cooking all 4 days starting with absolutely destroying Hans with those pushups to beating Magnus in the finals to claim the $200k prize.
I remember levon crashed out in the weisenhauss event and got eliminated in the round robin. What a turnaround this has been from him.
He also didn’t do all that well in Grenke. Then he turned it around since Las Vegas
Levon, congrats! Wow
Back to back
Wow, congratulations Levon!! 🎉🎉🎉
Love Levon. The nicest, most wholesome dude in chess. He has had an amazing year at 43 showing he still has it.
I hope that one guy who said Levon is washed sees this
I can just imagine Levon pulling out the isak celebration like “look at this kid”
Winning two freestyle grand slams and the Saint Louis rapid and blitz this year, not bad at all.
I really hope he can do well in the world rapid and blitz championship too.
Anyone beating Magnus in the finals adds years to my life.
So deserved, he played amazing this week!
Pretty good for a beginner! (I think he is a beginner right? After hanging those rooks in his simul?)
Just kidding of course. I love Levon!
Levon is my goat
I thought magnus already won a few days ago
Magnus won the tour.
The tour consisted of several events, each event has its own winner, but the combined scores decide who the overall winner of the tour is. Even though this event was ongoing, Magnus had already won enough points on the overall tour to be declared the winner. Regardless of how the final few games of the event went, nobody could catch him. So he won the tour, but this final event wasn't over yet.
Then Levon has gone onto win this event. Finishing second overall in the tour. Fabi third.
He won the Freestyle 2025 tour overall but Levon won the tournament
how much did he win
Judit's voice is beautiful
If you bet on that you probably would have got 20x back or sth. Certainly didn't expect him to stop Carlsen after both Caruana and Sindarov failed.