The following is an excerpt of the Sports Express Interview with Veselin Topalov:
Sport Express: Are you very upset by the title loss?
Veselin Topalov: I must repeat, the title itself means nothing for me. If I continue to win chess tournaments and stay at #1 in on the rating list, it is of not important that Kramnik holds that title. If he continues to make his usual +2 and stay at number 3 in the raking, everybody will see what kind of a champion he is.
(Another blogger offered this translation: “The title by itself is not that important. I am happy that I showed what a championship game should like. When Kramnik and Leko went through their 15-move draws, smiled, and said “What an interesting game!”, that was ridiculous and sad. In principle, FIDE should ban that in professional chess. Kramnik wasn’t against that even now, but I made him play!”)
SE: You are not upset that the title has been passed to him?
VT: Kramnik has to prove now that he can live up to the title of World Champion. I hope he will defend his title next year.
SE: Where?
VT: Kramnik is under contractual obligation to play in Mexico City.
SE: What if Kramnik refuses to participate?
VT: That would be his problem and FIDE.
Here is the full interview in Russian.
This is very ridiculous commentary by Topalov. To say the title of world champion means nothing to him. Who is he kidding? What’s he saying the only thing that means something to him is being ranked #1 and thereby getting all the invitations and the $$?? That’s what is sounds to me like Mr Topalov. You grew up in a generation where the title of world champion was faded and now that’s it is hopefully back on track I have news for you….its the official #1 ranking!! period!! Regardless of rating Kramnik is the #1 ranked player! just because he doesnt play in as many tournaments and score as many victories doesnt mean he is not the #1 player. until he is beat one on one in match play he is #1 ! That is how it is my friend. Read your history books and get back to me
besides all of u are overrated! im going to do some research on all of this rating mess. Ratings are inflated these days……we got way too many players over 2700. a 2813 rating as far as im concerned is like a good 100 pts inflated give or take. kasparov had a 2852 rating at one point i recall. Bobby Fischer’s 2785 rating I believe is still more credible than today’s 2800+ ratings. Its up to me to prove that so ill be investigating that.
maybe an expert on ratings such as Glickman can get in here to give us some insight on this mess.
Jimmd…. news for you, the Title hasn’t meant anything for quite a while now… especially since Kramnik came into the picture… he refused to give Kasparov a rematch, rarely plays anywhere, and is hardly inspiring… whereas the Previous champions proved there title by defending it, and being active in there play…. Kramnik is horrible for chess… and it will all be clear to the chess fans, once he starts his bullshit.
This interview showed how un-sportmanship Toplow is. If title means nothing to him, then he would not have any pressure on him, and he will not blunder so many times in the match.
Ian
anonymous being typical anonymous 🙂 its not a debate. Vladimir Kramnik 14th world chess champion unofficial in 2001. Official in 2006! regardless of his actions, and demeanor from this point on. This match proves he is the #1 player, and just because the world championship has not meant a whole lot in recent past (dating back to 1993 or so) doesnt mean that the world championship is a “curse” to never again be straightened out. Facts are over the past 2 years negotiations have been made to get it situated and the match was held and the match was won ….By KRAMNIK! am i a fide supported…hell no! their years of inconsistency and turmoil is the cause of such problems. Am i a big Kramnik fan? not really im a fan of the way he plays chess. I feel the right man has been crowned. Kasparov retired and its time to move on. All due respect im a fan of the way Topalov plays chess too but definitely not a fan of his comments and extraordinary revenge tactics.
and also you comment the world championship title has been proved by defending it? name to me one time in history of chess a champion has defended his title every single year? this is not the super bowl or the world series. its chess! again i refer to the history books!
I believe in you Topalov. you are no 1. He always play great games. He dont care about the toilet title and he play always super games with a lot of risk.
The link seems to go to an interview with Kirsan instead of the Topalov interview, when i try it – it’s also very interesting though!
It is obvious that ratings are inflated compared to 30 or 40 years ago. Whether this is due to higher level of chess in general or some other factor I cannot say.
But still that doesn’t cancel the fact that Topalov has a considerable ELO advantage over the rest of the super GMs. This rating was earned, so it is something to be proud about
lol@anonymous toilet title. well what is funny is last year i worked for the number one plumbing distributor in the country Ferguson Enterprises. they distribute all the kohler and jacuzzi products for example. maybe i can persuade them to sponsor a world chess championship here in the US in the near future. :)) anyway my objective was not to take anything away from Topalov’s 2800 rating im just saying there is a lot of guys now close to him like 2700 to 2750. so his advantage is not as obvious as say kasparov’s 2852 and outside of 3 or 4 other guys way over 100 pts superior to everyone else. not to take anything at all away from any of these gentlemen’s ability at the chessboard but i think it firmly has to do with the much more active chess players. i may be mistaken but kasparov’s era players played in what maybe like 4 or 5 tournaments a year at max and now it seems double that.
“Just because he doesn’t play in as many tournaments and score as many victories doesn’t mean he is not the #1 player.”
I don’t agree with you here, Jiimd. Most particularly if Kramnik doesn’t play in Mexico there is no way to consider him a WC.
obviously ratings is a “thing of comparitive value” right? so topalov is 2813 with about 10-15 guys less than 100 pts his lesser. in kasparov’s era it was about 4 or 5 guys. in Fischer’s era 2785 there was not even 1 guy within 100 pts his lesser so his 2785 rating is comparitively stronger than a modern day 2800 rating because he was obviously way ahead of his time. Even Kasparov said that “Fischer was way ahead of his era”
When has there ever been two championship matches in the same year.
I doubt it has happened many times in the last 100 years
Topalov makes himself look worse and worse everytime he opens his mouth. AT least before he could say Danilov was to blame.
He is the ultimate poor sport of all time to say that he is better than Kramnik after Kramnik just beat him
LADIES AND GENTELMAN.. I AM PROOD TO GIVE YOU.. THE NEW AND STILL THE NO 3 RATED CHESS POTTY CHAMP OF 2006
THE ONE AND ONLY wait for it
Watergate’s Potty Kramnik
I think Topalov’s comments are quite logical. If he keeps winning tournaments and stays on top of the rating list, he will be considered as the best chess player in the world. It is now up to Kramnik to show he’s the best.
You don’t like Kramnik do you? I support Liverpool in football, but if they don’t win the league I wouldn’t say they were the champions, even if I thought they were the best.
netometer plz dont misquote me my friend….i didnt say kramnik does not have an obligation to defend his title in 2007. if that is what he has already agreed to, then by all means he has to stay committed to his commitments. However, is this really fair to him? in History there were candidates matches to qualify for the right to play against the world champion. I believe personally this way the best way. Of course it is an opinion. but now you have what 7 or 8 other guys preparing to take your crown away. Now instead of preparing against one opponent you are faced with 7 or 8. Is this fair? in all honesty. Of course not. Put yourself in Kramnik’s shoes here for a moment. that’s all im doing. So now he will play Fritz which is quite demanding..and then he should play all year in many tournaments just to try to gain pts so Topalov doesnt speak of his superiority in rating. We have to remember that Kramnik was very close to 2800 at one point, and due to health issues which forced him to abandon chess for some time his rating took a fall and he’s slowly but surely rising to the top. Get back to me when this time next year Kramnik is #1….world champion….and #1 on the rating list 🙂
I must say, for a former World Champion to say that the title “means nothing” is not, at the least, a well thought out comment.
Although GM Topalov was defeated, he is still one of the best chess players in the world. He is one of the VERY FEW that can say “I was the World Chess Champion.”
It is akin to being a former president. You don’t have the power and influence any longer. Yet, there is a dignity to having held that office (or, in this case, the World champ title), that makes you different from your colleagues.
To say that to have been the FIDE World Champion meant “nothing” is not a positive remark at all.
Let us put conspiracy theories and politics aside for a moment, this is not good for young players who, by the way, will be the future World Champions, to see.
There is much too emotion involved. Too much hatred. You can sense and infer the disgust and negative rivalry that the very top super-GM’s have for each other….Topalov and Kramnik being one example.
I admire GM Topalov for his on-the-board play but I must question how stating the world that his former title “meant nothing” shows how disconnected he truly is from his fan base.
I am not a fan of his. However, many people are and he should set an example of how to “lose with dignity.”
Elista is over. It is history. He can only go forward along with the rest of us.
I’ll let my emotions overtake me for one moment and state:
GM Topalov…this was a stupid statement! Don’t you care at all about the many fans you have around the world?
Again, I am not one of those fans. But, his silly remarks are the signature of an undisciplined mind and an immature one at that. It is sad.
Topalov, please, just get over it and face the fact that you lost, Kramnik won, and you’ll have plenty of other chances!
It is an insult to every former and current chess champion and player to have him say that the title “means nothing.”
When you’re the World Champion you are expected to rise above petty, self-serving remarks and be a true professional (such as Morphy was).
GM Topalov would help his image much more by stating “no comment” and just concentrate on winning at chess.
Just my humble opinion. Please, no one get offended and insult me because I expressed my opinion. After all, I admit that it’s only my opinion…not a fact.
Respectfully,
Tim Harris
Topalov has given chess a bad name these days. Not only his manager.
We will see what the future is. He is not as good as he thinks he is.
He is playing again from 20th october. Not the toughest compition, but I would be surprised if he is able to do a “walk through”. The opponents lost respect and keep on playing.
Here is interview in Russian with two Azeri officials who attended the match in Elista. One of them (the journalist) firmly believes Kramnik cheated and some day facts will turn up proving that. Commenting why Topaaov made so many blunders, he said that Topa was under tremendous pressure. He accepted all conditons of Kramnik (including to be searched by land mines detector) and when he needed one thing to go his way, his request was rejected and the whole Russian machine hit like a hammer on him. He even used the words “Topalov was like a hunted horse. He lost trust in anyone and took the things in his own hands. He played fast to keep Kramnik out of the restroom, but this lead to mistakes”.
Well you can say they are sore for failed match Topa-Radjabov. Maybe, but don’t forget this is the first evidence about what happened in Elista from people who were actually there and saw the things.
http://www.day.az/news/sport/61745.html
The title itself means nothing to me, and I demand a rematch in March or I’m going to have Kramnik forfeited.
Well, that’s clear enough. I can’t believe I used to respect this guy.
The World Champion’s title means nothing, indeed. Good, then he won’t mind missing a rematch and missing out on Mexico.
>>When has there ever been two championship matches in the same year.
>>
1910.
This interview is not complete. In that interview Topa spoke about all special Kramnik’ demands that Topalov he on.
I recall some of them:
1) Switching colors in the middel of the match.
2) A day off after the opening ceremony.
3) Searching Topalov with land mine detector. It turned out to be dangerous for the health, but the first 2 games he was searched. Also note that they had to search only Topalov, but not Kramnik.
4) Installing the glass wall which was not in the contract.
Asked why he agreed to all these demands at first place, Topa answered “The campain against me about alleged cheating affected my decission. I wanted to win the match on enemy’s territory, agreeing to all his demands thus proving how wrong these allegations were”
>>This interview showed how un-sportmanship Toplow is. If title means nothing to him, then he would not have any pressure on him, and he will not blunder so many times in the match.
Ian
>>
Yes, one thing we’ve seen is that the Game 5 incident wasn’t just a one-time freak occurrence from a nice guy who lost his head. Ever since then, we’ve seen a consistent pattern of sulky, surly, unsporting behavior from him.
To say that the World Championship means nothing just because he couldn’t win it is simply childish. And to say it means nothing while he’s threatening legal action to try to get a rematch is just grossly dishonest.
The ACP knew what they were talking about when they called him a disagrace.
All of you sucka’s are bad in the head. Seriously, the highest rated player is the best player in the world. Period. The title of world champion is a match title, Kramnik is the current match champion of the world. Topalov is the strongest (in all kind’s of tournaments) player in the world. And ratings are not only not inflated, they are way deflated!. Has anyone thought lately how a player rated 2700 plus (Kramnik for example) can tie against a program with a real strenght of 3000 ELO? (the SSDF list is made with very antiquated hardware, with the super-hardware these matches are played the real ELO is much higher). The level of play has risen unbelivabely since Fisher. And as for rating being a mess (in general) just read chessmetrics.com, he proves ratings are a preatty good way to measure strenght.
Elista is not over..it is not the begining ..
But mabye the end of the begining..
Elista was an mismanaged manipulated mess..
Now we need some realy good honest people to sort it out
This excerpt if taken out of the context and the translations is horrible. Also the link is wrong. Here is the correct link
http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?129146
So, read the original interview and stop feeding you hatred toward Topalov with misleading translations of carefully chosen fragments.
Well said.. i love chopin
What a sore loser! Ok, either he is brainwashed by Danailov, or he is as bad as Danailov.
I used to like Topalov… But how can I respect him now, when reading things like ‘I must repeat, the title itself means nothing for me’, ‘Leko is nobody’, ‘My manager Danailov did an extraordinary job’ and those where he abuses Kramnik? I hope he will never win the title agian…
The excerpt is definitely taken out of context — here is my translation: “The title by itself is not that important. I am happy that I showed what a championship game should like. When Kramnik and Leko went through their 15-move draws, smiled, and said “What an interesting game!”, that was ridiculous and sad. In principle, FIDE should ban that in professional chess. Kramnik wasn’t against that even now, but I made him play!”
What this implies is that Topalov places the title behind the fact the he showed some exciting play, not that its meaningless, so “I have news for you” — 2/3 of the comments here are misplaced.
>>All of you sucka’s are bad in the head. Seriously, the highest rated player is the best player in the world. Period.
>>
“The loser is really the winner! Period! I don’t know why you sucka’s can’t understand that!” LOL. The things people say when they don’t have to back them up.
In Poker, there’s a saying: “Don’t throw bad money after good.” Topalov has already not only lost two matches, but made himself the most hated man in the chess world. Only a month ago, most people loved him for his style, now most people hate him for his personality. Why try to make people hate him even more with all the sour grapes? There was a chance people might forgive and forget just out of sympathy after he lost the match, if he’d just cooled it a bit and maybe made a sporting gesture or two. Continuing to misbehave just guarantees that nobody forgives and nobody forgets. There are people seriously considering trying to get him banned from tournament play entirely. Why give them ammunition?
>>The title of world champion is a match title,
>>
Right now, there’s only one champion, and Kramnik is it. He’s the best. Topalov isn’t. If you want to split them up again into Match and Tournament titles, good luck, because most of Topalov’s supporters are insisting on keeping it just one title with Kramnik playing in Mexico City and Topalov out completely.
Here is proper translation of Topalov’s words:
Question: Are you disappointed with what happened in Elista?
VT: The title in itself is not that important to me. I am glad that I was able to show how a match for the WC should be played. When Kramnik and Leko were fighting each other with 15-move draws , smiling and embracing each other afterwards and declaring how exciting and interesting games they played. It was a joke but sad one. FIDE should intervene and stop such behavior in professional chess. In our match Kramnik did not have anything against repeating the show with Leko but my play forced him to play too …
“Not that important to me” and “means nothing” are quite different expressions.
Unfortunately the hatred towards Topalov is constantly fed by flood of postings of russians hiding themselves under names such as “jim” “gunther” etc. highly original labels.
nothing like the real truth
>>
In our match Kramnik did not have anything against repeating the show with Leko but my play forced him to play too …
>>
Looks like somewhere along the line, Veselin is being less than truthful (again).
Because in this interview:
http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3413
He claimed that the match was being played under Sofia Rules, where neither player is allowed to offer a draw.
Crediting his play for the length of the games when it was really the rules of the match seems grossly dishonest of him.
No! The first version is as precise as the second one! The thing is these are translations of two different parts of the interview!
First, Topalov says the title is not so important for him and so on. Later he says it means nothing to him and so on.
This is the latter part:
Сам титул [the title itself], повторяю [I must repeat], для меня ничего не значит [means nothing for me]. Если я продолжу выигрывать турниры [If I continue to win chess tournaments] и останусь первым номером в рейтинге [and stay at #1 in on the rating list], то совершенно не важно [it is of not important], что титул у Крамника [that Kramnik holds that title]. Если он будет набирать свои привычные “плюс два” [If he continues to make his usual +2] и занимать третье место в рейтинге [and stay at number 3 in the raking], все увидят, какой он чемпион [everybody will see what kind of a champion he is].
15 moves? Wow, I wish either of the 2 games I was at in London in 2000 lasted that long. I tore up my ticket on the way out of that pre-arranged farce.
I think one on one match is the most reliable way to decide who is stronger. Tournament is full of chances/tricks so it is not a good way to show who is the best. As to ratings, it is some sign of strength but not that reliable. You can beat a lot of inferior players to get a quite high rating, but so what? Until you can beat the best one face to face in a not-too-short match, you can not claim you are the best.
I’m sure he’d have said the exact same thing had he won too!
Topalov really should shut up. He does himself no favours whenever he speaks.
This is a sour grapes type of expression by Topalov. No question about that he is a great chess player, no question that he deserves to be on the top of the rating list, but the rating list is not expressing the same thing as two players playing each other and one wins.
On one point however I side Topalov: the world champ shouldn’t sit on his behind until the next time comes around and being challenged for the title. Indeed should be out there and show his superior chess playing ability and participate in tournaments.
And why not yet another translation. Straight from one of the URLs:
“The title itself is not so important to me. I am glad that I showed what a match for the world championship should look like. When Kramnik and Leko had their 15 move draws and then smiled at each other and said “What an interesting, intense match!” – that was amusing and sad. In principle, FIDE must prohibit such things in professional chess. Kramnik even now had no problem with such games, but I made him play! When in the fourth match he offered me a draw some time around the 20th move and then at the press conference stated that he was thinking more about a Champions League football match, I did not only take that as a personal insult. It was an insult to all lovers of chess.”
The link that is given here is not to interview of Topalov but to interview of Ilyumzhinov entitled “The crown came back to its homeland”. The title itself speaks how “unbiased” are the organisers of this match.
Sheesh, for a guy to make repeated 1500-level blunders over the board (Topalov) during the match of his life (the just completed World Chess Championship match in Elista) to claim to be even an expert is a joke.
Forget about Topalov. He had his day in the sun and now he’ll be lucky to even beat A players.
What a whiner (Topalov). Somebody give him back his baby-bottle to nurse on.
Heh! In the link below scroll about a third of the way down the page and you will see Topalov reading moves (cheating) from his wrist watch!
This is how Topalov advanced above expert! By cheating!
The moves are transmitted to him via his wrist watch!
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3424
Just a question from an interested newbie: couldn’t it be that the big advances in computers and chess software allow better preparations and deeper/cheaper chess game analysis for everyone? Could it be that nowadays even the best chess players can train with a tough opponent? Wouldn’t this lead to higher ELO ratings?
Sorry if my question is quite dumb.. thanks for the patience 🙂
well… off course is the world champ!
but then again Topolov is the highest rated/rank player… So he is no. 1 at that aspect..withe anand in No.2!
Topolov has his point…
Kramnik has his point…
maybe a re-match would be good…
unless Kramnik wants to play Anand in a match!
Kramnik do need to play better against everybody else. He at least need to be in the top three in rating! Being a World Champion but not among the best player is a shame.
If his health is back.. he needs to start playing with winning even at only +2. But the past two years he was usually even or negative and only do relatively well at dortmund.
the Sophia rules should be apply in Wchamp and elite gamesa..specially if you are paid well.
@kuku – kramnik is no. 3 rated … even without the benefit of 15 elo points, he gained in the match against Mr. Topanailov (and Mr. Topanailov will be under 2800 Elo, after his benefits in the wcch match would have been taken account …)
quote from a Topanailov interview
:
[After spending most of the interview talking about the number of toilet visits on the videotape.] Sport Report: There is another paragraph in your open letter that is quite remarkable. It says that in case the match continues, Topalov will “refrain from shaking hands with Mr. Kramnik before the games and would not take part in joint press conferences with him”. Did you write it on behalf of Topalov or on your own behalf?
Danailov: What difference does it make?
-It is important.
Danailov: We are one and the same person . That’s all.
-Yeah, but you are two different people.
Danailov: We are one team.
-One team, but two people.
Danailov: I am not going to repeat…
-But I want to clarify…
Danailov: And I won’t clarify! Topalov and Danailov are one and the same person.
Ask the next question.
The tie-break rules made this match exciting. Not Topalov. The fact that the players could risk playing rapid games, made them strive harder for win in the regular games.
vohaul, you and bulgarian_insider have hit upon something!
1) bulgarian_insider claims that Topalov receives signals from his wrist watch indicating which move to play.
2) In your quoted Danailov interview, Danailov claims that “Topalov and Danailov are one and the same person.”
So that is it! Danailov feeds Topalov moves during a match via his wrist watch!
During a game, the two are for all intents and purposes “one and the same person.”
Einige Fakten:
Vor dem Spiel wird Topalov in der Russischen Presse beschuldigt, er sei so erfolgreich, weil er unerlaubt Fritz konsultiert. Es wird sogar spekuliert – Topalov hätte Chip in seinem Kopf.
Brisant: sogar Kramnik äussert sich, dass die Schachspieler den Spielraum allein nicht verlassen dürfen! (hält sich aber nicht daran)
Gemäss Reglament hat Kramnik Anrecht auf Erholungsraum aber nirgendswo steht, dass die WC drin sein muss! (Aussage des Appelationkomitees, die Mitglieder wissen, was im Vertrag steht) In Brisago hatten Kramnik und Leko keine separate WC. Warum besteht Kramnik dann unbedingt eine eigene WC zu haben?
Mit der ständigen Abwesenheit vom Spielraum wollte er Topalov provozieren. Topalov kann russisch und weiss ganz genau, was in der russischen Presse über ihn geschrieben wird. Die Erklärung von Hänsel ist lächerlich, der Raum sei zu klein und daher geht Kramnik noch in die WC spazieren!
Spiel 5: Alle warten, Kramnik sitzt in seinem Raum (neben dem Spielraum) und und spielt die beleidigte Leberwurst. Gemäss Reglament sollte er spielen. Nach Verzögerung und Bitten seitens Richter, FIDE-President usw., benimmt sich wie ein 6 jähriges Kind. Vor dem Match war mir Kramnik sympathisch, jetzt überhaupt nicht mehr! FIDE und alle Schachleute seid gefasst – ab jetzt gilt: die Launen von Kramnik erfüllen! Die Regel gelten für ihn nicht!
D. Horisberger
Schweiz
You shouldn´t send your blog to a different language page… it is not polite…
Here we go again with the fox and the sour grapes. One big sore loser he is indeed.