Chess: Golden oldies come for the big battle
V Krishnaswamy | Mail Today |
Moscow, May 9, 2012 | UPDATED 16:52 IST

The World Chess championships in Russia, considered by most as the strongest chess-playing nation, is bound to evince a lot of interest even if neither of the contender is from the host country.

When India’s sporting legend Viswanathan Anand, world champion since 2007, takes on challenger Boris Gelfand in a 12-game match in Moscow, there will be a host of superstars functioning as guest commentators for the spectators and some Russian publications and TV channels.

Just as former cricket stars crowd into the commentary box for major cricket events in India, chess stars are big heroes in Russia. The glittering array of commentators will enlighten the viewers with their observations during each of the games. Leading the star cast will be Vladimir Kramnik, who will give his comments on two separate days – in English on May 26 and in Russian on May 28. Those will be the days scheduled for Game 11 and 12 of the 12-game match. While former world champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov will not be commentating, they have agreed to be guests of honour at the match.

Also coming in the same capacity will be veteran Grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi, who challenged for the world title for more than 20 years but never won it, besides the world’s oldest Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh.

It is appropriate that with the match being held at the State Tretyakov Gallery, there will be some music greats like composer Vladimir Dashkevich and pianist Nikolai Lugansky.

Many others from the field of chess, art and music are expected to drop in during the three- week match. Kramnik lost to Anand in Bonn in 2008 and recently mentioned that he expects Anand to display some sharp tactics.

“Since world championship matches were reduced to 12 games, they have become more tactical than strategical. Despite all this, it is logical to assume that Anand will play well. He played well against me, in any case, and Boris Gelfand and I are conceptually close in our understanding of chess,” he said.

“It would be reasonable to expect sharp tactics from Anand. However, I would not rule out the possibility of him choosing another approach.” The main and regular commentator in English will be Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, editor in chief of New in Chess.

He will be joined by Nigel Short, who played the 1993 World Championships against Garry Kasparov, for the first two games on Friday and Saturday, while Jan Timman, who lost to Anatoly Karpov in the FIDE World Championships final in 1990, will take over the job in Games 3 an 4 on May 14-15.

Joel Lautier, who has worked with Anand in the past, will do duty on May 17 in Game 5. Peter Svidler, a Russian Grandmaster who loves cricket, will be the commentator for Game 6 and then come back for Games 9 and 10.

Svidler will return for the fourth time on May 28 for the 12th and final game of the match. Svidler, who shared second place with Anand in the 2005 FIDE World Championship, is a cricket fan and also has an Internet Chess Club handle called ‘Tendulkar”.

Moscow warms up for the duel

Close to the venue where Viswanathan Anand will take on challenger Boris Gelfand in his attempt to win the world title for the fifth time and continue his five-year reign, there may not be much buzz about the upcoming match.

But such is the nature of the sport. It is always cloaked in secrecy. Both Anand and Gelfand are already in the city, but are closeted with their seconds for the past couple of days working out last- minute strategies. Both are expected to make their first public appearance on Thursday, a day before the match when the draw takes place. There was only one hoarding as of Monday evening announcing the match but the streets were full of locals and tourists, all eager to catch a sight of the gallery.

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in

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