The 2007 Linares – Morelia will take place from February 16 to March 10, 2007.
The first half will take place in Morelia, Mexico from February 16 to 25, 2007. The second half will take place in Linares, Spain from March 2 to 11 2007.
The participants are (with ratings at the time of invitation):
Veselin Topalov 2813
Viswanathan Anand 2779
Peter Svidler 2750
Alexander Morozevich 2747
Levon Aronian 2741
Peter Leko 2741
Teimour Radjabov 2729
Magnus Carlsen 2698
I will most likely be doing a few LIVE commentary sessions for ICC. I will let you know the exact dates that I will be on.
Who do you pick to win this event?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Anand and/or Morozevich
Magnus the fulltime schoolboy and soccer player has time for this too?
Topalov will win because he has given his chastity for chess as the character of Salieri in Amedeus did for music(The real Salieri was married and had eight children and was nothing like the nut portrayed in that film).
I am excited to learn you will be on ICC. I will be there listening to you. Great.
I want my 2 of my many favorites to win. Anand and Carlsen.
Yes Magnus the fulltime schoolboy has to come to Linares to get some schooling. He is being taught a lesson in chess.
If Magnus were to apply to Harvard University I bet they would accept him. Does anyone know how good his English is. I would find it difficult to go to college with a different language than my mother language.
Does anyone know why Nakamura decided to go to a smller college instead of one of the big universities.
Topalov or Leko will win. I see them as the clear favourites.
Topa all the way!!! 🙂
Topa ofcourse. He has been on top of every tournament for like 2 years.
I am looking for a very strong showing from Leko.
Aronian!!!!!
In a shocking comeback … Bobby Fischer. 🙂
I think Radjabov has finally “Broken Though” and will win.
Aronian is the real deal…and has no cheating disputes to solve.
he has been showing great form.
Aronian or Leko are my first choices.
If there are screens so that spectators can see players, but Topa can’t see Dana, then my favourite is Topa, otherwise Leko.
Sorry it should have been :
If there are one sided mirror screens so that spectators can see players, but Topa can’t see Dana, then my favourite is Leko, otherwise Topa.
probably a tie like corus- aronian/topalov will be at the top but i;m rooting for moro and carlsen- carlsen will play better this time around
If Danailov can get withing eye sight of Topalov then it is all over before it starts.
How come Topalov lost almost every game in Morelia last year? Danailov will have that problem solved this year. Last year Morelia was new and Danailov did not know how to handle the signals. He will have a solution for sure. Watch him close.
Wish I could go. I would find out what is going on over there.
Topalov/Leko tied for 1st.
Radja – Aronian – Topa seem to be in great shape.
shame there isn’t Kramnik.
People are saying Leko – I do not understand why though
Kramnik canceled. He didn’t want to play Topalov 2 games.
Hi,
might be K. is afraid of 2 games against T.
P.
maybe because he is world champ and has nothing to prove until mexico.
What is security at this tourney? Will Topa be allow to cheat again? This is important for all of chess credibility, there can be no question of integrity. If Topa plays without help I see him and Carlsen at the bottom.
Wow the above person is completely nonsence. There is no evidence of Topalov cheating at all. It is so ridiculous to blame him of cheating. His style is completely different from that of computers. Or you might say that a bunch of GM’s get together when Topa plays and call Danailov who in his turn make signals to Topa?
“Wow the above person is completely nonsence. There is no evidence of Topalov cheating at all. It is so ridiculous to blame him of cheating. His style is completely different from that of computers”
If you are so sure that Topalov is not cheating then you should not have anything against one sided mirror screens which divides spectators and players. Right ?
My pick is Aronian!
I do not like Topalov style:many times he wins,but others he blunders(i.e against Svidler) and that is not ok if you are the top rated player in the world.
I hope Carlsen will win a game!
I’ve started to laugh as I read the previous comments here. Do you really believe Danailov is capable of sending signals to Topalov? If they can do so, how do we know the other players don’t use the same way? It’s funny guys, goosh.. I’m a great fan of Kramnik, I find him stronger than Topalov and anyone, I like Aronian a lot, Morozevich, Grischuk and few others, and for sure Radjabov, Go Radjaboiv ! Topalov I like too, comparing Kramnik he should I guess study endgames more, otherwise he’s an amazing and amazing attacker. And funny that these many people only talk about cheating issue while there is no real proof. Watch the games guys. They are great, the games are great !
Melody, Montreal
If you are so sure that Topalov is not cheating then you should not have anything against one sided mirror screens which divides spectators and players. Right ?
Yes sure, why not?
Melody-
First of all the others don’t do it because cheating is wrong. If they have ethics or not I don’t know, but it’s wrong and will be discovered. The others mentioned all will leave positive legacies. It is obvious which action leaves a better endgame.
And the whole “no real proof” stuff is outdated. There are multiple eye witnesses, with no explanations given by Topalov. Only verbal attacks on the witnesses. Even truncating Short’s letter, removing the accusation, and claiming it was presented in full, so it looked like a letter of support! Numerous witnesses are unlikely to all be blatantly lying. They are titled professional players from around the world. And the defense in the public arena has been caried out using lies and deception. The character of the witness is evident.
Is there enough evidense for a criminal fraud trial? No. Is there enough to see what is most likely happening? Yes. Only a serious investigation can clear his name. And he does not wish for this to happen…
Melody,
Are you against the one sided mirror screens ?
If yes, why ?
My guess is that Topalov will win 1 point ahead of the second.
No Anon, I’m not against it. I don’t think that they are cheating, that’s all..
Melody
“Do you really believe Danailov is capable of sending signals to Topalov?”
Of course he is. Whether he really does is a different matter.
It would be interesting to see how Leko fares against Aronian and Radjabov.
As far as winning, the trio that won Corus seem like the hotest guys at the moment.
D.
paris: Only a serious investigation can clear his name. And he does not wish for this to happen…
Yep, investigation is good, I agree, but under the court proceedings of a libel suit. It should cost some $$$ for the trouble and inconvenience it causes to the accused. Otherwise, pranks and false incriminations will run rampant.
Hey, what makes you think that FIDE hasn’t watched those tapes already, considering all the noise? They should! Otherwise one couldn’t trust them to run a casino in a Nevada outhouse, never mind FIDE…
D.
So far, all that we know is that several top players and journalists think Danailov and Topolov’s behaviour at a couple of tournaments was suspicious. Nigel Short reported this and a journalist wrote a story about Danailov being on his cell phone a lot and then biting his thumbnail or something while in Topolov’s line of sight.
I don’t find anything that has been reported very suspicious. But suspicion is subjective, and there is no accounting for what other people might suspect.
If it weren’t for people being rather shocked at Team Topolov’s conduct at and after Elista, I doubt anybody would even be paying attention. I don’t think Topolov deserves what is happening to him, but I would probably be more sympathetic if he and Danailov hadn’t been making unfounded accusations themselves against Kramnik.
Having said all that, these accusations and the tit-for-tat Topolov-Kramnik rivalry threaten the image of chess and it would behoove FIDE to investigate, as well as to institute measures to prevent cheating, or even the suspicion of cheating, at future top-level tournaments.
Sure Anon, I fully agree on prevention. None from the entourage of the players should be around or in a sight contact, no private restroom trips — all makes perfect sense.
FIDE should have done the investigation already — 36 hours of tapes from San Luis, let’s say – they should have watched them regardless of accusations or not, just in case… Every casino operator does that, no matter how small. Put them on 2X speed and slow down for the movements. No big deal, right? In fact, I’m sure that has been done already.
But what you and some gullible guys do not seem to get is that the “big bang” approach to these laughable allegations and the calls for a “formal investigation” have no other aim, but to smear Topalov. Nothing else! It’s a standard procedure, Office Politics 101… In fact the only “sinister” act in this episode was Nigel Short himself. “People of cynical minds might think” that he seeks attention…
Enjoy Linares,
D.
Why not show the current ratings?
Veselin Topalov 2813 – 2783
Viswanathan Anand 2779 – 2779
Peter Svidler 2750 – 2728
Alexander Morozevich 2747 – 2741
Levon Aronian 2741 – 2744
Peter Leko 2741 – 2749
Teimour Radjabov 2729 – 2729
Magnus Carlsen 2698 – 2690
(first rating is as shown here, the second rating is the one from the January list)
I just don’t understand why you still put Topalov as a 2800+ player. What is the point of that?
I hope there are good security measures in place – whether or not there has been cheating in the past, the top players do need to be beyond suspicion at this time.
In answer – I hope Anand has a good tournament – he seems to need a bit of a boost. Aronian and Radjabov are the coming force. Carlsen is far from ready at this level. However if Topalov is at his best then he seems to be unstoppable in tournament play.
Best of health to you.
All these players are within 60 Elo points of one another, more or less, except for Carlson. If the Elo ratings are good for anything, they are good for predicting the outcome of games and tournaments. So you’d have to go with the Elo ratings.
But all these guys are all pretty much of the same class, and I’m sure there are random factors, such as “form”, the luck of the draw, etc that are more important than 60 Elo points; so really any of them can win the event. That’s why they were invited.
Except maybe Carlsen, who is still the up-and-coming player who is playing in tournaments a bit above his class, as yet. But he was invited because he is the up-and-coming young phenom.
Peter,
can you read? Ratings are from the time of the invitation. It is clearly stated.
Anonymous said:
“Peter,
can you read? Ratings are from the time of the invitation. It is clearly stated.”
Of course I can read – I just want to know why Susan didn’t choose the current ratings? Topalov has ceased to be 2800+, and many people believe that Susan’s blog is pro-Topalov. I am not convinced one way or another, but I just want to test the theory. Is this an example of the pro-Topalov slant?
Will Topalov have his computer assistance available? It’s the only way he’ll win.
Kramnik proved he is the better player. ‘Tis bitter to Toppie fans but Kramnik is the unified WCC.
This would be a dream result:
Viswanathan Anand 2779, 9/14 (+4)
Levon Aronian 2741, 8,5/14 (+3)
Magnus Carlsen 2698, 8/14 (+2)
Teimour Radjabov 2729, 7/14 (0)
Alexander Morozevich 2747, 6,5 (-1)
Peter Svidler 2750, 6,5 (-1)
Peter Leko 2741, 6 (-2)
Veselin Topalov 2813, 4,5 (-5)
More realistically:
Anand, 8/14, (+2)
Aronian 8/14, (+2)
Topalov 8/14, (+2)
Leko 7,5/14, (+1)
Morozevich 7/14, (0)
Radjabov 6,5/14, (-1)
Svidler 6/14, (-2)
Carlsen 5/14, (-4)
But the main thing is to wish for an eventful competition!
It is unfortunate that Anand seems to have lost his fire…his latest games are somewhat boring and predictable…whereas Topalov is always after the initiative…I predict Topa and Radjabov will outdistance the field followed by Aronian.
I think anand will show some courage and will beat topalov for sure. I think leko will be tough and topalov. But anand will win this for sure.
Let me say something as a Bulgarian fan of Topalov.
All the campaign against Topalov is a bullshit. It started after Elista, answering the toilet-affair of Kramnik there. This is the defense-reaction of the Kramnik-team. The Russians wanted to have the world title and they achieved it, using all the tricks they know to pressure their opponents. There was something dirty in Elista, maybe not in the toilet…
Don´t get me wrong. I don´t think that Kramnik cheated. I don´t want to think it could be true. Because of the chess game, that I love. But the toilet-visits of Kramnik started all that mud-rain.
And don´t think I hate the Russians. (The Bulgarians have many reasons to love the Russian people)
Kramnik is just not a fair player. But it is normal to be not fair, when somebody is not better than his opponent.
It was not fair, that Kramnik didn´t play a re-match.
Is it not fair that Kramnik is not in Morelia. What is he afraid of?
Topalov is afraid of nothing. He decided to defend his title in Russia. Ask your self, what would happen, if the match was in Sofia? Toplaov would win with 2-3 points ahead.
The truth is, that the championship-match should be played not in Russia and not in Bulgaria. It should be played for example in Island or in Switzerland. This is the fault of FIDE (that is controlled by the Russians for the moment). Or not Mr. President of FIDE???
OK, Kramnik is the world champion. But what was his style? How he won? Is he really the Man?
When I follow the games of Kramnik, I am really bored.
The Topalov´s games are always interesting. He is playing always on the edge. This is why he wins so spectacular all the time. Of course, when somebody plays so risky as him, there could losses happen, that nobody expects. This effect can be seen in the other sports too, when some genius play. Think about it – Mohamed Ali lost some matches, Agassi lost some, Sampras, Fisher, M.Jordan…but they are genius. Topalov is the living legend of the chess world today. Kramnik is not. Kramnik is just a very good player. And very soon, he will be not the world champion anymore. No matter who will beat him. Topalov deserves it, Anand deserves it, even Aronian…and why not the others in Morelia?!
I stop here.
Let the games in Morelia be great, no matter who will win. I am only sure, that the chess-game will win. And I see that Kramnik gives nothing to the beauty of this game.
If you are champion, go out and play like a champion, my friend. Don´t hide.
Kasparov would never hide. Karpov, Botvinik, Alehin…they would never hide as champions. This are for me the real Russian champions, I respect!
Peace.
Ivan Smilianov