Final Standings:
1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2779 8.5
2-3. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2690, Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2741 7.5
4-5. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2728, Aronian, Levon g ARM 2744 7.0
6. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2750 6.5
7-8. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2783, Leko, Peter g HUN 2749 6.0
Congrats to Anand, winner of the Super Morelia / Linares tournament, and for becoming the new #1 player in the world! Also congrats to Magnus for a magnificent event and Morozevich for playing dynamic chess as usual!
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Big grats to Anand and to Carlsen!
🙂
Anand has been the eternal bridesmaid for so long that I was wondering if it would ever happen.
Congrats to the new no:1 and I hope he brings dignity and poise back into the sport.
Would really love to see a match between Anand and Kramnik. Even better: Quadruple (+?) round-robin among Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, and a plausible 4th (Kasparov is too busy).
Anonymous Frank
Anand nr1 is GREAT!!!!
He will be a worthy #1 !!!!! (unlike the previous one)
Now bring on the match Kramnik-Anand!!! 😉 that will be interesting!!
😀
The Chessworld is getting cured slowly 🙂
Finally a #1 with some class. An Anand-Kramnik match would be so great. If Vishy wins in Mexico City, we’ll get to see it.
But let’s not forget to also congratulate Topalov. His brilliant draw today enabled him to tie Leko for last place. Hurrah!
Yeah, congratulations to Drawpalov, for falling into last place through not even trying to win with White. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Congrats Vishy! Please improve your Opening repertoire and play 1.d4 as well to improve your winning chances.
Would love to see Kramnik – Anand match for world title!
Yes the end of the shame movie! I hope the chair of world #1 is now belonged to a real chess player and good personality! Congratulations to Anand, congratulations to Carlsen and congratulations to Morozevich at the last part of the tournament.
And yes dream match, Kramnik-Anand match will be very nice, we hope to see this match, which surely be only about chess!!! Which will be between two gentelmen!!!
That would indeed be a very cool match!!!
I don’t think Anand will lower himself to dirty match tactics!!!
2 thumbs up for ANAND!!!!
2 thumbs up for KRAMNIK!!!!
2 thumbs down for TOPALOV!!!!
I think the title of the blog entry should have been “Topalov draws impressively to capture last place!”
Is Morozevich cheating in Linares ?
In Morelia he played very bad, but probably get signal somewhere in Linares to become top player in Linares.
I have waited many years for Anand to get another chance to play the World Champion in a match for the title. I sincerely hope the match happens.
I have no interest in seeing Topalov play a WC match.
Why “THUMBS UP” for Kramnik? What if Kramnik actually cheated? Do you know for sure he did not? As far as accusations go, they both have accused without any proof. Hence, if anything, it is “THUMBS DOWN” to both of them.
IMO, it is good the cheating issue is getting such big attention. “THUMBS UP” to Topalov for bringing this to light. I am sure cheating in chess has been going on for a long time. Hopefully this incident will lead to some positive changes, with good sound measures put in place to deter cheats.
If Topalov plays just one tournament like he did the past few years with Danailov standing around but does it with Danailov gone. In other words if Topalov can play one good tournament were everyone knows there is no chance for Danailov to pass signals to him, then I will change my mind.
Right now today, I am convinced by the evidence that Topalov has been cheating and getting away with it for years.
Anand should have won San Luis, Anand should have been playing at Elista. Topalov needs to prove his honesty at chess.
Topalov has now demonstrated that he plays chess much differently then reported. He is afraid of complex positions and gets lost even in simple positions.
Previously he was pushing his games into super complex positions where only a computer would be able to go through the complications without a mistake. Topalov would play them perfectly.
Not in one single game did Topalov play that style. The style that is perfect if one has computer assistance against a human.
I am ready to change my mind. But Topalov has to prove that he can play chess without assistance. So far he has failed to do that. I do not see even one single game demonstrating that chess ability. In fact his demostration has been exactly the opposite.
I expect Topalov’s elo to continue to drop. His Tournament Performance Rating for Linares is below 2700 at 2691. Basically at Magnus’ rating and the lowest rating in the tournament. Where will it end?
Another performance similar to Essent. I think we are seeing the real Topalov now. Forget all the nonsense about his sharp play. That was all computer generated. Those games are all tainted now.
This is my opinion March 10, 2007 and I am angry that anyone might bring dishonor onto my sport of chess.
I’m not sure if topalov is a cheater or not, but yes: he brings dishonour to our sport with his dirty games! (match tactics in Elista +after)
He should be disqualified for a while!
Now Topalov should realize that he is in the urgent need to replace his dishonest manager which I think has been using him for his own personal benefit. About Topalov defending Dailnalov Carlsen just prove him wrong !!
Misprint correction of the last entry….Carlsen just proved him wrong !!
Hurray for Carlsen !!! Way to go darn Viking !! Congratulations !!
@ anon
Saturday, March 10, 2007 7:13:00 PM
Very well said. Spot on.
You “Anonymous” Topalov Haters. Despite being last, I still feel Topalov played some of the most exciting chess in this tournament.
Oh yeah, he only drew 70% of his games.
Im so happy that at last Anand has claimed his rightful place as No.1.Sad that Topalov sat on it under such dubious circumstances.I now look forward to some real chess between Anand and Kramnik.We need chsmpions like Anand.
Anand and Karmnik are both boring or maybe too deep to be tactical. Topalov showed some hope for old style tactical chess. I haven’t reached a conclusion on the whole topalov cheating issue but evidence is accumulating.
Few things of interest in this Linares and world chess.
– It was the closest supertournament I have seen in my lifetime (am exactly a year younger than Anand). All participants lost and won at least one game each and all scores were between +3 and -2. Amazing! Has it happened before in this era?
It is also after a long time that the top 10 are very close to each other (within 50 rating points). That’s also a sign of coming of age of the new generation (Carlsen, Aronian, Rajda, Shak etc.)
It is about time Anand got the #1 ranking. He played terribly when he was close to getting the #1 ranking at least twice earlier – once in Dortmund 2002 and then in the recent chess olympiad. However he has shown the resilience to bounce back (as also after being demolished by Kasparov in the PCC match).
It is interesting that he gets #1 in a tournament when his opening play was below par and in most games was at a disadvantage coming out of the opening.
Kapalik
It seems on the available evidence that Topalov’s success is largely due to good opening preparation (thanks at least in part to his seconds) and computer assistance later on (thanks to Danailov).
I agree with the other posters.
Kapalik
Kapalik,
The era of Kasparov and Karpov is clearly over. We won’t see such domination of the Chess stage in a long time.
We are plainly in the era of better among equals.
>>Why “THUMBS UP” for Kramnik? What if Kramnik actually cheated? Do you know for sure he did not? As far as accusations go, they both have accused without any proof. Hence, if anything, it is “THUMBS DOWN” to both of them.>>
LOL. Kramnik hasn’t accused without proof, Topalov has. Morozevich and Kasim accused Topalov, not Kramnik. Thumbs up to Kramnik for taking the high road, thumbs down to Topalov for taking the low. It’s not that hard to understand if you have the courage to think.
Anand as a bridesmaid is an image I’m desperately trying to purge from my brain. Thanks, blogger #2.
Topalov played bad in Morelia 2006 and then played very good in Linares 2006.
People accused him cheating.
Now Moro also played bad in Morelia 2007, and then played very good in Linares 2007.
Howcome nobody accused Moro yet ?
Because moro doesn’t cheat.
Topalov and his cheating ways are days of the past. Winds of change are blowing across the chess world. Glad that chess world is getting refreshed with the new number one with some class and young and talented players making steady progress to challenge him.
I don’t remember anyone accusing Topalov over Linares 2006. I remember then accusing him over San Luis 2005, and Wijk aan Zee 2007, but not the last Linares.
It doesn’t matter. If he’s innocent, he won’t mind us clamping down on security. After all, it’s not like he NEEDS to see Danailov during the game, as you say.