I think this is a very difficult tournament for Topalov. Yes, this is a prestigious event and he wants to win it. On the other hand, his match against Kramnik is a lot more important. Therefore, Topalov cannot reveal all his repertoire. That makes it very difficult for him to win such a strong event like this. This may be the case of too many events too close together. I wish Topalov a lot of luck in accomplishing this very difficult task.
Gold-plated icon is the special prize of M-Tel Masters 2006
The President Parvanov will bestow the award to the winner (Sofia, May 18, 2006)
The special prize for the winner in the super chess tournament M-Tel Masters 2006 will be a copy of an ancient icon of “St. George the Conqueror” Its author is the famous Bulgarian artist and icon-painter Katya Bajlekova. The icon is painted in distemper, on wood and the background is made of 23-carat gold. It will be bestowed to the winner of the tournament by the President Georgi Parvanov at the official closing.
The sponsor of the tournament mineral water Hissar from spring № 7 will bestow a special cup to the most uncompromising player in the competition. M-Tel Masters 2006 will be officially closed on May 21.
Veselin Topalov: Better to win a title, than an “Oscar”
Anthony Jornadnov
Newspaper: Trud
The match against Vladimir Kramnik is a fact. How do you feel as the main personage in it?
I had expected this match for two months and knew that in the end a contract would be signed. So this does not surprise me and I feel calm. However, now I think more for the “M-Tel Masters” tournament.
Kramnik said that this will be the biggest chess event for the past 10 years.
It is probably so and I agree with him. The world expects this match because there is a collision between different players with different styles.
So it turns out that Kramnik’s match against Kasparov and the world championship in Argentina were at a lower level?
The match against Kasparov was intriguing but I think that the interest towards it wasn’t so vast. In principle, no one expected that Kramnik will win, while the championship in Argentina was really at a high level. What Kramnik probably wanted to say is that the different sets the game we will play, outclass the one with Kasparov.
The negotiations were difficult; compromises had to have been made. What were your compromises?
Practically, I risk my title, whereas Kramnik is in a situation where he has nothing to lose. I find myself at a moment, where I have hegemony over the chess world and could lose my title in only 12 sets. But this is life. Undoubtedly, I risk more than he does. But frankly this does not worry me because I think that when you are at your best shape and show good results, you should risk more.
The duel will be in Russia. Is that an advantage for Kramnik?
If it were a soccer game, it would have been an advantage. But in a chess game, my experience has shown me that it doesn’t matter so much. Besides, I have always played well in Russia.
Do you have any information as to Kramnik’s shape?
As far as I know he has restored his health after surgery. However, for his checkmate shape I can’t say anything, because he hasn’t played in a while, if I am not wrong – from July last year.
For a chess-player of such rank is it an advantage or is it a drawback to “hide” for such a long time?
In this case, this hasn’t been his wish. But I do think that it is a disadvantage.
What is your score balance against the Russian?
Negative as a whole, but in 2005 he took some bad knocks from me. I don’t think that I have any complexes. Most of the tournaments were a long time ago and lately I play well against him.
At the press-conference in Moscow you and Iliumjinov did not talk about you as the champion and Kramnik as the pretender for the title…
This is politics. Iliumjinov has no right to call him the champion, but you should keep in mind that both are Russians, despite the fact that one lives in France. I am sure that if this press-conference took place somewhere else, maybe Iluimjinov would have spoken differently.
Kramnik calls himself the pretender for the title. Is this part of the compromise?
Neither does it say in my contract that Kramnik is the champion, nor does it state that he is the pretender for the title. All that is written is that I am the world champion and I play against Vladimir Kramnik. It is also nowhere written that he is the champion. A whole another question is when you speak in front of the Russian media – things tend to change.
Your staff is clear – Silvio Danailov and Ivan Cheparinov. Many people will be helping Kramnik. Aren’t you worried about that?
Forming the staff is a matter of personal contacts. It is not easy to find people that you trust. I’m glad that my staff consists of two Bulgarians, who I can trust for sure. I don’t think that the number of people helping you is decisive.
The game is similar to those played in the times of Kasparov, Karpov, Korchnoy, and Fisher. Can we make such an analogue?
Yes, that is right. It has been a while since the last big match and it is not clear if there would be one soon. However, it was somewhat different back then – part of the game was the political element, which isn’t so significant now. Back then there was a conflict, which is now missing.
Do you expect any “blows below the waist”?
I don’t think so. When there are tactics of this sort, a person can quite easily disregard them. He isolates himself from the world and …
Did something in you change after you won the title?
Oh, yes! Of course it did. But for now I think, I cope well with it. I continue to play successfully at the tournaments, which is not so easy.
And does the world of chess differ?
There is quite a lot of movement in the months after the world championship. People are becoming more positive. There was more of a standstill in chess, rather than a crisis. But at the moment things are once again moving upwards.
What do you expect from the “M-Tel Masters” tournament?
I have to defend my first place from last year. The “M-Tel Masters” is a significant event for me, because I play in Bulgaria and it is organized by my sponsor. I have to try to present myself well and not to show all my hidden weapons. I must admit that this is hard to do. You cannot win against the players, participating on the tournament just so.
One of them is Vishvanatan Anand. Is he your biggest opponent?
Yes, he plays at a very high level. But all others are also capable of surprising you.
If you had to make a comparison between last year’s opponents and this year’s, which are stronger?
The participants are always strong. Like last year, now they are also all from the chess elite.
Where do you keep the trophies from the World Championship in Argentina?
One of them I keep at my home in Salamanca. The other is in Sofia’s Museum of History and the third was placed on show at the Bulgarian Embassy in Argentina, but it should be coming home via a diplomatic route.
Does it flatter you that you will be awarded the “Oscar” of the game of chess?
The “Oscar” is more of a public recognition. However the victories during a competition are more specific and more important. It is better to win a world title.
The translation is pretty poor, but one certainly gets the gist of it.
I entirely agree with Topalov when he says, “Undoubtedly, I risk more than he (Kramnik) does.”
Susan, is that your daughter?
Topalov is not a chicken like Kramnik!
Toppy will win this hands down. Great photo Susan, you are the Queen!
Susan wrote: [Topalov’s upcoming] match against Kramnik is a lot more important. Therefore, Topalov cannot reveal all his repertoire. That makes it very difficult for him to win such a strong event like this. This may be the case of too many events too close together.
Wow, this is a strong argument in favor of giving chess960 a place along side traditional “chess1”. This consideration harms chess1 play, but it would not harm chess960 play.
Unfortunately, I overlooked this argument when I wrote the book “Play Stronger Chess by Examining Chess960”.
A number of people who coach children in chess have told me the kids tend to like chess960. I wonder – has Susan seen this with the kids she works with?
Gene Milener
http://CastleLong.com/
Kramnik is the only World Chess Champion. He beat the greatest player ever to earn the WCC title. He successfully defended his title against the highly regarded Peter Leko. When he plays challenger Topalov later this year, he will be on the pace of defending every three years, which matches exactly the long honored rate from the days before FIDO became an embarrasment.
If you want to strip Kramnik of his title by declaration for him not defending his title at a high enuf rate, then you need to revise history and strip Lasker, Capa, and Alekhine too. Everybody except Kursan respected Kasparov as the WCC when he sat down to play Kramnik in 2000. So Kramnik surely became WCC in 2000. On what day did Kramnik supposedly lose his title?
Topalov is the FIDE Champion, a great achievement. He won a tournament among the elite best, then someone else won a similar tournament a couple months later.
FIDE has no authority to annoint a WCC champion, except by the weight of its moral authority – of which it has little these days (tho admittedly things have improved).
Only public consensus can confer the WCC. Kramnik is the unbroken line back to Steinitz; Topalov is not (yet) part of that line.
A player becomes WCC only by winning a 1-on-1 match. Otherwise the prestige of the WCC decreases.
Topalov will defeat Kramnik. Topalov is in excellent form, and can at times dominate over the best players. Kramnik has been too inactive to be battle ready.
I hope Kramnik can keep it close, and that there are not too many draws. There was a higher percentage of draws in the latest (2004) WCC title match than there was in the latest Checkers world championship match! That is how awful the draw problem is in traditional “chess1”.
Anonymous: No sanctioning body recognizes Kramnik’s title. His credibility depends entirely on people being willing to take him seriously. Some people do, but there is no great groundswell of public support for him.
Most professional chess players who’ve spoken on the matter, say that they recognize Topalov as world champion. All of the top players signed contracts with FIDE that they would not participate in any other world championship. This means that Kramnik must join the FIDE process, as he has done.
Over the years, world championships have been decided in a multitude of ways. Although FIDE’s method isn’t what fans prefer, it doesn’t make Topalov’s title any less valid. Kramnik’s 2000 victory over Kasparov is a very stale result. In 2004, he struggled to reach a tie score against the #7 player in the world. This hardly inspires confidence.
When Kasparov split from FIDE, he at least created some kind an organization behind him, the PCA. That is all gone now, which is why Kramnik is rejoining FIDE. Otherwise, Kramnik would would be “champion” of a one-person organization.
You ask, “On what day did Kramnik supposedly lose his title?” The answer is easy: on the day he declined his invitation to San Luis.
MarcS (wrote): No sanctioning body recognizes Kramnik’s title.
False. Kursan and FIDE publicly recognize Kramnik as owning at least one form of the WCC title. That is why Kursan was so happy to have recently posted that he had arranged a “reunification” match between Kramnik and Topalov for late 2006.
Besides, no sactioning body had anything to do with the WCC title attained by Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine. So if your “sactioning body” argument is valid, those four were not WCCs either.
MarcS: [Kramnik’s] credibility depends entirely on people being willing to take him seriously.
“Entirely”? Kramnik’s title is the only one that traces back to Steinitz.
MarcS: Over the years, world championships have been decided in a multitude of ways.
False. Direct 1-on-1 matches determined every WCC, except Botvinnik 1948.
FIDO held oodles of tournaments from 1995-2005, and tried to call every annual winner the latest “World” chess champion.
MarcS: Kramnik’s 2000 victory over Kasparov is a very stale result.
Irrelevant. Kramnik successfully defended the WCC title less than two years ago, is that “stale” too? Leko’s performance has dipped since he lost to Kramnik, also irrelevant. At the time Kramnik offered, Leko was seen as one of the two top challengers, and Leko had recently done very well in a FIDO event.
MarcS: [Kramnik] lost his title “the day he declined his invitation to San Luis” in 2005. Really? Why not the day Kramnik declined to participate in FIDO’s 2004 championship tournament, or its 2003 tournament, or…
Besides, what other WCC has been told by FIDO that to retain his title he needs to beat 7 other challengers simultaneously in a tournament: 0.
This whole business of trying to strip Kramnik of his title by mere declaration is corrupt, because Kramnik is defending at the traditional pace of once per 3 years. Plus…
FIDE used to run 3 year cycles. The winner of the Interzonal tournament (and subsequent matches) earned the right to challenge the current WCC in a 1-on-1 match. That is precisely what is scheduled to happen when Kramnik defends against Topalov in late 2006. Yet you still want to cheat Kramnik out of the title he duly won and has duly defended? You would say that to Kramnik’s face?
If Topalov loses to Kramnik in late 2006, history will not resolve to include the name Topalov in line with Steinitz, Fischer, Kasparov, and Kramnik. But Kramnik still beat then WCC Kasparov in 2000.
FWIWorth, I will be rooting for Topalov to win.
Thank you, Gene_M
http://CastleLong.com/
Gene_M, I am certainly not defending the way that FIDE has debased the WCC. Like most fans, I would prefer the traditional 3-year cycle ending with a long match between a challenger and the defending champ.
However, in their dubious wisdom, FIDE has given us the present system. In that system, champions don’t get a free pass into the final. It’s not chess tradition, but frankly, most other sports work that way, so I wouldn’t categorically dismiss it.
When Kasparov split from FIDE, he created an organization, the PCA, to operate in parallel to FIDE. That is all gone now. Kramnik *has to* acquiesce in the FIDE system, as he has now done, because there is no other.
As far as I can tell from the news reports, Kramnik has agreed to participate in the next FIDE WCC double round-robin tournament, should he defeat Topalov. Like it or not, that is the new system, until the next time FIDE changes its mind. If Kramnik didn’t join it, he’d have nothing.
Hence, I was responding to the person who said that Kramnik is the “only” World Chess Champion. By his own actions, Kramnik has agreed from now on to decide championships FIDE’s way. And therefore, the current FIDE champion is just as legitimate as he is, and arguably more so.
Obviously, like most fans, I want the Kramnik-Topalov match to happen, so that all lingering doubts will be for once removed.