Carlsen is talented, relentless, energetic and fearless. He should break the top 5 in the next rating list. He is the real deal. But can he overtake Anand in Linares? He is trailing Anand by 1/2 point and has Black against the World Champion in round 10.
Ivanchuk and Topalov have both been erratic so far. Who will come out on top in their battle?
Aronian fell back to 3rd place after a quick draw against Anand. Can he bounce back to close the gap or will Radjabov turn the corner to get back to even score?
Shirov went from 2nd place to -1 in the past 2 rounds. Leko is having one of his worst tournaments in a long time. Which one will be able to stop the bleeding? It will be an exciting round before the next rest day.
Round 10: Saturday, March 1, 2008
Vishy Anand – Magnus Carlsen
Vassily Ivanchuk – Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov – Levon Aronian
Alexei Shirov – Peter Leko
Your prediction?
According with I saw yesterday in the Carlsen/ Shirov game ; my prediction is that the kid will get a minimum of draw today against Anand and will continue fighting for the final title
Magnus is playing black……did really well as white but lost his grip in a good but really complicated position…I don’t see why he’d go for less here….it’ll be a great game..and it seems to only be a matter of time before he cracks Anand..the quote..” Finally he has not escaped me!” seems to come to mind. To tell you the truth….all players are playing where you’d expect them to.Except Ivanchuk….maybe he’ll turn it up a notch. Leko…world championship candidate…(yeah right…)..should perhaps assess his reason for continuing to play chess.
What is the URL for the Linares half of this event, where we can watch the games live?
Carlsen has never beat Anand, and won’t be today. he has a record of
0 – 8 – 8 acording to chessgames.
There is a first time for everything!
Carlsen pawned Kramnik with black pieces. He also pawned Topalov with black pieces. Certainly he will pawn Anand too. Maybe not today, but he will. Previous scores are of no importance. What is, is that Carlesn keep imporving and seach for his opponents weak spots. Carlsen was close to beating Anand in Corus recently, but lost track of the position. Anand will fall for Carlsen. That’s when, not if.
There is also a psycological moment here. Anand knows the Kid is coming, and he knows time is on the Kid’s side. He knows and he fears it.
Anand is 8-23 against Garry Kasparov. How does a coffee house player like Anand lay claim to the title of World Champion? For sure Carlsen will beat him – just a matter of time.
Most likly Carlsen will lose, since Anand is playing better chess.
You people forget one important thing: Anand almost played a miniature game yesterday. Magnus played a 7+ hour marathon game. Who do you think will feel more rested today? I only hope that Magnus isn’t too exhausted today.
And Magnus WILL beat Anand sooner or later. It’s only a question of when, not if. I think one of the reasons why Magnus hasn’t quite succeeded against Anand is that he’s tried to play the kind of positions and openings that Anand feels comfortable with. If Magnus starts to deviate from that line, and plays more defensively and takes less chances in the opening, he should have a better chance to succeed. Keep in mind that Kasparov had problems beating Petrosian, until Kasparov changed playing style.
It’s nonsense to expect a Carlsen win today: history simply forbids. OK, there is a chance, but to expect it is nonsense. And yes, Carlsen will win games of chess against Anand, as many others did once and a while, but that did not make them a better player than him. There’s only one living King that doesn’t have to claim it looking at his record: Garry Kasparow.
Anand typically likes to give Carlsen a good drubbing. Anand and Svidler are about the only top GMs Carlsen has not scalped.
I say Anand will beat the kid, like he almost always does.
to anon “How does a coffee-house player like Anand lay claim to the title of World Champion?”
answer: By playing better than his peers and above all by not cheating!Anand has more claim to the title than say a Topalov! Also he has consistently been on top for a loooong time. As for the tag coffee house player,the same was said about Lasker,the longest reigning World champ ever. Also to be a gifted chess player,one must be good at coffeehouse chess! Anyone who begrudges a gentleman like Anand,can’t be a very decent person himself!
not everybody here knows about the facts.
Let me say: We all can be glad to have this champion now. Long live King Anand; hooray!
okay
Hear hear. It’s a fortunate coincidence that our current World Champion just happens to be a nice, sane human being. Unlike some former WCs we could mention…
“Anonymous said…
Hear hear. It’s a fortunate coincidence that our current World Champion just happens to be a nice, sane human being. Unlike some former WCs we could mention…”
Now that is just plain mean.
I mean, come on! I have been dead for less than 2 months and you poke me with your harsh words?
I should have played Monopoly…