Viswanathan Anand out of Mainz final for first time in 11 years
Indo-Asian News Service
Mainz (Germany), August 02, 2009
First Published: 21:03 IST(2/8/2009)
World Champion Viswanathan Anand, an 11-time winner in Mainz, bowed out before the finals at a venue which has become synonymous with his name.
Anand lost two of his first three games and ended third in the four-man event, which is now called the Grenkeleasing World Rapid Chess championship in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz. Anand had won the title every year in Mainz since Kasparov last won it in 1999.
The 11-time winner here, Anand scored 2.5 points while the top place went to Levon Aronian of Armenia and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia finished second.
“I think the two people who deserved to qualify, qualified. That’s life. If you play badly, you get punished,” Anand said in the press conference.
Having lost two of the first three games, Anand needed exceptional results with some luck to make it to the finals. And even though he tried hard, the lady luck did not smile on the world champion. Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, the only player Anand beat, finished at the bottom of the tables in the prelims.
Anand’s chances of making it to the finals depended on his winning the first game of the second day. But playing with Black against Aronian in the fourth round and the first game of the day, Anand opted for the Grunfeld and got an almost equal position after the opening. In the endgame, Aronian had a passed pawn on the queen side and could have played for a win but defended well and got a draw.
Here is the full article.
I TOLD YOU, BUT YOU DID NOT LISTEN. His verterbral brain area has dying mentor cells, as is normal. Anand is getting too old to play chess. Sorry, brother, your time is gone. Kramnik is the real World champion now.
Doesn’t look good for him.
Topalov will be very excited about this downfall of Anand. Kasparov obviously was right in his predicting that Anands’ reign won’t last long.
Anand should refuse to play Topalov on ground that Topalov never qualified for the Candidates Final. Anand should instead try to stage a match with the most exciting player around today: Magnus Carlsen.
I think this match would attract a lot of sponsor-money and attention.
Let Topalov gain his title like the Green car in the Disney Movie ‘Cars’.
Nobody will give him credit for that…
I agree with the first poster. It’s a disgrace that the world’s number 1 player plays for the title against world’s number 2.
FIDE should imediately put out a rule that prevents this.
true Topalov will be happy,and true Topalov does not deserve the free lunch (challenging Anand). Anand will play Topalov as this may well be his last chance to make the big bucks!
You are all wrong!
My Bobby Fischer clone is almost complete.
I used the newspaper Bobby spit in in 1973 for genetic material to produce a new world champion.
My first few attempts to clone Bobby simply formed balls of faeces as we all know the newspaper used to catch Bobby’s phlem/genetic sample was the New York Times… So my first few attempts actually cloned the newspaper!
I would say you are half right, but Kramnik needs to be included however to make it totally right.
I would say have a World Championship Match between Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen.
Anand could play Topalov in an exhibition match. It seems only right that Anand (the loser to Kasparov, 1995) play Topalov (the loser at Elista to Kramnik).
Maybe the winner of the exhibition match could play Kramnik this time as the CHALLENGER not as the World Champion, which Anand was clearly not having only won a Tournament in Mexico City.
Plus, not only that, what was Kramnik doing playing a World Championship Tournament when he was already World Champion??? Hello !!! It makes his win against Kasparov in 2000 mute.
I don’t think it is in Kramnik’s power to give up the World Championship. The only way it can be taken away is in a match, with Kramnik being the DEFENDING World Champion not the challenger.
Also look at Anands record against Kasparov (26 loses, 8 wins) where Kramnik is almost equal to Kasparov. Justice is not being don in the chess world right now !!! This should be obvious to everyone !!!
Stupid, let me say!
None of you has ever been in Mainz, none has seen how fantastically Aronian won the event and Nepo is a real star who rose last year winning Aeroflot and Ordix.
I am just coming home from Mainz, and I am excited as never in my life. Let others be world champion, the chess lovers always will keep people like Anand and Aronian in their hearts. And that is okay!
And the crowd of top players in the Open was excellent, too.
okay from Germany
O’tay!
Since there is no champion’s advantage anymore, what difference does it make if you play as defending champion or as challenger??? Would Kramnik defend the title with 4.5-6.5 against Anand if he was the defending champion???