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The match starts anew!
October 6, 2006

One of the most popular models of historical development is spiral. Some of the turns of this spiral, however, smack mystery. Brissago, 2004, Kramnik-Leko match, Game 8. Vladimir, who had everything under control, plays White, and suffers a crushing defeat almost without making a single original move. Despite being obviously discouraged, Kramnik fulfills his contract obligations and shows up at the press conference. With poker face he tells the journalists that this can happen to any player: nobody is perfect. Only enormous effort helped him leveling the match in the last game…

Explaining the events of the Game 8 today, Vladimir smiled ironically and light-heartedly admitted: “I played sluggishly, and nothing was working out. One cannot play the whole match on equally high level. Occasional failures are inevitable. It simply was not my day!” But only Vladimir himself can tell about his true feelings, either two years ago, or today.

Just yesterday the match situation was completely different: Kramnik not only was ahead, winning two and being forfeited on one, but also owned undisputable moral advantage, having parried three White ‘services’ of the opponent. After the Game 7, he even displayed indulgence: “If Veselin manages winning a simple game…’

Veselin won at once despite having Black, luring Kramnik out of his favorite positional chess to optically attractive tactical skirmish. Of course, this can be written off on bad day or bad luck, but it transpires that Topalov outplays his opponent in positions demanding much calculation. The Bulgarian acts braver and leads the play; his opening preparation also makes better impression.

Let us see what proves more important for the concluding part of the match – Kramnik’s rationalism or Topalov’s zeal. The score is even after eight games. The match starts anew! Posted by Picasa

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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