Players like Anand and Topalov are some of the key figures to bring back the excitement to the chess world. Whether one supports FIDE, ACP or just Chess in general, the best interest of Chess must always comes first.
Anand has done so much for his native India and his impact can be felt worldwide. Topalov is doing the same for his native country of Bulgaria and he is winning more fans each day with his style, courage and heart.
If Topalov is convincingly winning this world championship or if Anand can make the last minute surge to overtake him, the winner will be the true and sole world champion in the public eyes. We need to accept it no matter who we root for or who is our idol. It may not be the most fair system. The system has flaws but it is the best that we have right now.
No one individual should have the right to hijack the World Chess Championship from the chess community. May the best player win the World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina!
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Amen! Well said! Let’s respect the winner of this world championship.
R.S.
Sorry, but I am not sure if I can truly support a system NOT based in the tradition of chess for over a hundred years.
I would consider Topolov(or whoever prevails) the interim champ
until a challenger can be found for him with ANOTHER round robin as a qualifier(in the spring?).
My second choice would be if they took the top two people from a round robin to face each other in a long championship. But if they did that I would prefer that the champ would get some advantages (like a first round buy in a 9 person round robin maybe?)
Or maybe they could use a system where after the tourney is half-way through they eliminate the bottom players to have 4 player round robin. Then weed it down again to get the top two in a future match for the whole ball of wax.
The BIGEST thing they need to do is set up a PERMANENT schedule. They need to have the sites picked out for the next 10 years like the PGA, World Cup Soccer, etc…
Then, someone like Kramnik would not have a claim because of the ambiguity of it all.
I have to admit however , this round robin format seems to be bringing out the best in the players. They realize that draws won’t win and if they want to finish first instead of fourth they have to go for it all.
It makes for very Exciting play.
Michael, I disagree. Kramnik had claims. He should not have any claim now. He was invited to play. He refused. The title of World Champion belongs to the World Chess Federation. If we do not like he regime, we can demand our federation to vote the current leader out. No one individual is above the entire community.
Maca
I don’t agree that this is the best system. However, I’ll honor the winner as the true champ.
J. Nieves
Miami, Florida
Topalov won me over with his performance in his last few tournaments. He’s the best player today. He was the last to ever defeat Kasparov.
Go Topy!
Russ S.
kramnik is and will still be the world champion after this event… perhaps his crown does not have the lustre it once had, but it is still his crown… he took it from the rightful and legitimate king, kasparov, so it rightfully and legitimately belongs to kramnik… whether or not topalov scores + 9 in this tourney. until the winner of this fide event faces, and defeats kramnik, kramnik is still champion.
Kramnik may be your champion, not mine. He is a coward. He ducked Garry Kasparov like a spineless chicken. He has never even won the right to challenge Kasparov. Shirov wiped him off the board. He rose to the occasion once and beat Garry. His glory days are over.
Hit the road Jack!
Wynn
Chicago, Illinois
Kramnik WAS a champion. He refused to take part in this world championship. A new world champ will be crowned in a few weeks.
Mary
Kramnik was never a FIDE world champion. Let him keep his Braingames title forever. He’s no longer relevant.
I. Novojo
I concurr with Susan…people like Anand and Topalov (and even her sister Judit) embody the character that the chess world needs in a champion and for the good of chess in general.
I think the San Luis WCC winner and Kramnik SHOULD play a match…if nothing else, regardless of who you feel is or is not the legitimate WCC, it would put this whole ugly matter to rest once and for all, and we can all get back to business as usual.
Regards,
Bill
How long can Kramnik live on past glory?
Seriously it was close to 5 years ago when he defeated Kasparov, yet unable to unseat Kasparovs ELO score which is representative of a players position relative to his peers.
So Kramnik has not risen but in fact fallen, hes now hovering around 2730.
But history is important, its too rich to be discarded, the winner of this tournament should offer to play Kramnik on [sadly] his terms. I am mille per mille positive Kramnik will weasel out.
Then surely and truly he would have become a joke and his position as WCC will become untenable.
A WC once every 2 years seems good,with the champion playing against 2 or even 3 players selected by virtue of performance.
What tradition did Kramnik uphold when he accepted being handpicked for a match against Kasparov by Kasparov himself, when he had lost every match he had played in previously? That of self promotion? My isnt it wonderful when one’s own interests allow one to take the high road!
d
Kramnik has never qualified to challenge Kasparov. He had no problem screwing Shirov who wiped him off the board. All of a sudden, he is moral? Give me a break. He beat Garry. Great! That is why he became the wc. But he has done everything possible to protect his title claiming that he wants to protect the integrity of chess. Yeah right. He is protecting his own interest.
Ruslan M.
Bill K, what about the right of Shirov who soundly defeated Kramnik to earn the right to challenge Kasparov. What about Ponomariov? What about Ivanchuk? What about others? Why should Kramnik be allowed to show up and collect a million bucks because he wanted to protect his self interest? That is not fair. Kramnik was invited. He refused. End of story. Polgar Zsuzsa never had a chance to defend her title because of FIDE illegal actions. But she is not claiming to still be a world champion.
Jovan
http://chess.fm has Susan’s interview running now from last night
sounds pretty good
I agree completely. In my eyes, Kramnik has lost claim to the WC title. The winner of this tournament would be the WC, in my opinion.
Kramnik’s recent performance has been far from his best and he only gives excuses for not defending his WC. Soon it will be like Fischer saying he is the WC. Kramnik should either put up or shut up. He should have been in this tournament getting whooped by Topalov, like everyone else 😛 Sorry, could not resist!
The only thing is that I would have also liked Ivanchuk and maybe Shirov also in this tournament. Chukkie rulez!
My $0.02
Pankaj aka xargy
Its a good post. I agree with you wholeheartedly on every word mentioned in this post.
I’m a little confused by some of the insults thrown at Kramnik here. I understood that he agreed to play the winner of the FIDE WCC for the title, but FIDE refused.
What is the basis for the claims, made here by some, that the world champion title “belongs” to FIDE? FIDE is free to bestow whatever title it likes on whomever it wishes, much like any other organization. I don’t see why FIDE’s “world champion” title need mean anything more than titles endorsed by braingames or anyone else. World champions were around long before FIDE.
I’d add that a system that has given us Kasimdzhanov, Ponomariov, and Khalifman as “world champions” should not be accepted even if its the best we’ve got. The current format is better, and yet choosing a world champion based on just one tournament performance (as opposed to qualifying performance +a prolonged matche with the previous holder) seems to be fatally flawed.
Susan, I fully agree with you. Anand has done a lot for chess in India, based on his chess exploits.