It is Saturday Open Forum. The forum is yours. I am in Mexico City at the World Championship. I try to bring you different angles of the tournament than others. Is there something you would like to know that have not been touched on?
What is your impression of the World Championship so far?
What are some of the biggest surprises so far in the World Championship?
Who is playing the best chess after 8 rounds?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Of course Vishy is playing the best chess so far but he has against himself a strong coalition of Russian opponents 🙂
Looks like Leko has recovered a little with a win over Grischuk.
BTW what`s the weather like in Mexico City ?
We’d like to see more about the others…I’ve had enough ugly photos of the sly fox Kramnik!
I can watch Kramnik all the time. He is the most handsome player in Mexico City.
Who is playing the best chess so far??
Sultan Khan of course!!
Kramnik is most handsome?? Sorry, but I think Aronian takes that award. 🙂 Morozevich is also right up there.
I think the biggest surprise of the event has been Gelfand’s performance. Everyone was putting him at the bottom of their polls before the event. Now he’s second only to Anand!
Another surprise has been Aronian’s performance. He was consistently being placed as one of the top three likely to win, second only to Kramnik and Anand. Now he’s at a minus score. However, this can partly be explained by his bad health–apparently he’s on some kind of antibiotic. He looks really miserable in a couple of the photos I’ve seen of him.
As for who is playing the best chess so far, of course I would have to say Anand, but Gelfand I think is also a contender.
I am not surprised by Kramnik’s style…he is content to play for second or third, knowing that this will save his skin from facing his arch-nemesis Topalov again. If Vishy wins the title, I will be more than glad to see Kramnik fail to re-take it; and the Russian coalition, if any such exists, crumble to pieces!
Kramnik being “content to play for second or third” is utterly absurd. Albeit he may not particularly want to play Topalov for personal reasons, Kramnik has a much greater chance of retaining his World Championship in such a match. Kramnik is +11 against Topalov and -4 against Anand so the empirical evidence is overwhelming.
Could you take more pictures of the buildings and layout? For example, from the hotel room, to the stage, as a player might see it.
Are there any local people in the gallery? What do they think of the games? Who do they want to win?
Could you do more interviews with the seconds?
Aronian is playing the best chess as many predicted, he does well in this strong field.
I want a chess set with those Mexican Knights. They are really beautiful knights.
“I am not surprised by Kramnik’s style…he is content to play for second or third”
Did you turn on your computer just yet? Replay his games here and you’ll see him sacrifice pawns and even a knight to try and win all his white games, and equalize easily behind the black pieces.
Anand is the only other player with this ‘style’ or better ‘gameplan’.
Hello,
Is it not financially beneficial for Kramnik not to win Mexico and play the winner (Most likely Anand)?
Kramnik’s preparation in this tournament has been very impressive, but one thing for sure is I find it hard to believe he will want to play Topalov again. So what is my point?,
Judging Kramniks Strong preparation so far for this tournament he can so easily be leading.
1. Against Anand he had the chance to make life incredibly more difficult in the rook ending by playing 37…h5-h4.
2. Against Grischuk he missed countless wins in a complicated but technical position (Which is one of his main strengths)
3. He had a significant edge against Gelfand for a brief moment (I’ll let him of this one, the game was very complex)
4. And his two draws against his best buddy Svidler in very Dynamic postions (Where all 3 results was possible) ended up as a non-evevnt.
Basically Kramnik’s preparation appears best followed by Anand’s but Anand has seized his chances (Bar one, Morozevich)
Here’s a thought, could it just be Kramnik is giving the impression he is fighting hard when in reality he is playing for second or third, after all it is financially more beneficial for him, FIDE and chessbase in the long run to have a match with the winner here?
I hope Anand wins and does to Kramnik what he has done to others, REFUSE A REMATCH OR MATCH and tell Kramnik to go and Qualify; something he has never done Successfully. If Anand accepts a match with Kramnik (albeit he wins Mexico) then there was no point of complaining earlier about how FIDE has been unfair to him.
And before you lot say I am a Topalov troll supporter, I would also suggest he also goes and re-qualify again.
To recap FIDE should alter this nonsense shenanigans they have created (Which I personally think is just a money making scheme) and accept Mexico winner as Champ, and every body else go through the qualifying stages, with the top 10 players getting some slight privileges in where they enter the cycle. It’s up to Anand and the Indian Chess Federation to take a stance if he wins Mexico.
After all The Russian chess federation which puppeteers FIDE and the Bulgarian chess Federation which have managed to do unscrupulous business behind the scenes have managed to give their Men rematches; Hopefully Anand would have the COURAGE to clean this mess up and set new rules that is fair for all and not repeat history and follow Kramnik’s (& Kasparov; but his retired) dubious foot steps. But would he??? Or as always does Money outweigh principles? We Shall see.
Kramnik has definitely being trying very hard to win games. Everyone is playing exceptionally hard. Only a couple of short draws. Many long hard fought draws. These guys do not need special rules to play. They want to be world champion. They live their entire life dreaming of this opportunity. They did not come here to draw. They are all here to win.
Fine chess games. Hard fought.
Hi Susan,
Is there something you would like to know that have not been touched on?
Please our dear journalist, ask Rybka team if they think there is space, in the future, to have computers rated 5000 ELO.
Kramnik: Ask if he is comfortable knowing he will have a match next year, winning or losing this tournament. If this make him to try hard, win the tournament, and play Topalov. Or if for him it is ok not win this match, and play, lets say, Anand or Gelfand in the next match.
* Also: ask him do not play Catalan or Semi-slav, please!
Aronian: people are saying he is on antibiotics. Ok. But what he is saying? Does he attributes this to his poor tournament so far? Or does he think he is doing just fine?
Anand: wish him good luck from Brazil (on behalf of Clube-de-Xadrez, 500 people).
Ask him if he can play dynamically and unbalanced positions for us.
And tell him to win against Kramnik with black!
What is your impression of the World Championship so far?
Great fight!
What are some of the biggest surprises so far in the World Championship?
Gelfand is still the biggest surprise for me.
Who is playing the best chess after 8 rounds?
Grischuk, great games!
Gelfand, solid like a rock!
Anand, he can play any style he wants!
Have a nice day in Mexico!
Beco.
Do those mexican knights
appear in the chess set
they use in the tournament?
Biggest surprises: Gelfand’s strong showing and Aronian’s weak showing (understandable, though, if his health is not good).
Biggest disappointment: the large number of short draws.
Prediction: Anand will hold his lead, since too many players seem uninterested in taking chances.
Why is the rest days on weekends ? Doesnt it make sense to have matches on weekends when people can follow them live ?
– Vinay
Susan-
Why don’t you accept the Rybka challenge and try to beat the monster! I know you didn’t prepare, but you would have nothing to lose…We’ll root for you.
Why is the rest days on weekends ? Doesnt it make sense to have matches on weekends when people can follow them live ?
Today is a big Jewish holliday – not everybody can sit in front of a computer.
Isn’t a holiday a more convenient time to sit in front of a computer compared to a weekday ? If this holiday came on a weekday, I would propose having a game then too !! Your argument doesn’t hold.
– Vinay
Isn’t a holiday a more convenient time to sit in front of a computer compared to a weekday ? If this holiday came on a weekday, I would propose having a game then too !! Your argument doesn’t hold.
If you learn Jewish religion you would know that they are not allowed to use many appliances, electronics, switches and so on during certain holidays. This rest day is to honor Boris Gelfand.
ah, that makes sense. thanks
– Vinay
So would they stop play for a religious holiday of another culture or are the Jews the sacred cows of the Chess world?
Cant say anything with FIDE, they did play the WC in Libya.
My best guess is that they took into consideration all the 8 players.
– Vinay
jack, the empirical evidence may be overwhelming, but a re-match outside the former USSR might suddenly change things…I still believe that last year things were unfair at Elista and there was way too much pressure; Kramnik is an excellent chess player but last year there was something fishy and nasty brewing up, something coming up not from Danailov but from Kramnik’s team. The Russians even refused to let the Bulgarian presidential jet to come and pick Topalov — CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW ON EARTH A CHESS COMPETITION SUDDENLY BECOMES A REASON FOR AN INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SCANDAL?
There is now an open bid underway for the 2008 US Championships. Susan, what are you going to be doing yourself to help with this? Will you be doing anything to ensure this is the most successful US Championship ever?
I agree with the post Here
Will anyone ever get Bobby Fischer to play FRC in public in a match or tournament format?
This year is the last year a Russian will ever win title again.
Hi, can you interview the guys on the future of chess in US and future of chess overall.
Allegation that Kramnik has any reason of not winning the tournament misses one grand-point: he losses his title on spot.
To “p.” : “So would they stop play for a religious holiday of another culture or are the Jews the sacred cows of the Chess world?”
The Kippour holiday is the most important holiday for Jews in all the year. It is as important for them as Christmas is for Christians.
Has there been a World Chess Championship round the day of Christmas ? No. Why ? Because it’s the most important holiday for Christians.
So, stop your hypocritical anti-Jewish questions…
Moreover, the current WCC was planned to have a rest day after the 4th round, then after the 8th round, then after the 11th round: 4/4/3/3 days of play is a well balanced rythm.
I hope anyone will read and answer this.
On the mainpage of the WM I find the following quote:
“Aronian tried very hard to take the point home. However, despite his 2 extra pawns, the final position is a dead draw. The main problem is that one of the pawns was on the “a” column, and it is well known that rook pawns are the weakest in the endgames. Usually, masters keep pushing, trying to provoke a mistake on their tired rival, but Morozevich found the right plan to defend. Finally Aronian tried the f5 breakthrough, to finally reach the final draw structure. With this result, Aronian has 3.5 and Morozevich 3.”
Can please anyone tell me why the main problem was that the one pawn was an a pawn?
In my eyes the main problem was the passive rook vs. the strong rook.
After the white pawn was on a7 the draw was clear I think but with everything on the b line there would have be no difference.
Am I missing anything?
Thanks for answers!
Jochen
I analyzed the position of Aronian too. In my opinion the a-pawn wasn’t so much the problem, but the fact that the rooks were no queens. I think with queens in stead of rooks white will win. Can anyone confirm this. I really hope someone reads these, if not immediately, then in a year or two.
Thanks in advance.
“I think with queens in stead of rooks white will win.”
With queens intead of rooks that would have been a completely other game. 😉
Queen end games like this all have one thing in common: the weaker side searche for a perpetual while the stronger side pushes his pawn with help of the queen. The weaker side mostly has to pust his pawns to open up the stronger one’s king.
In this case it probably matters in which position you change rooks to queens if it is won or not.
If the pawn on e4 is already lost (and the a pawn not too far behind), there are simple plans for white.
w: Kg2, Qb7, Pf2g3h4 is a position in which black can give no check and the white queen can support the a pawn.
Another similar position is
w: Kh2, Qb6, Pf2g3h4 which is safe first and will probably lead to that one above.
With that pawn on e4 black always has the ressource (queen on a2) e4-e3 to break up the white’s king’s home. I think this is going to be a draw since black can exchange e4 vs. the a pawn if white tries to avoid e3.
The queen endgame with 3 vs 2 pawns on the same side should be a practical draw, probably a theoretical draw, too.
But perhaps I am totally wrong. 🙂
Jochen
The position intrigues me more and more. If we replace the rooks by any other piece (even by kings and pawns!) white will win. And how about taking off the rooks alltogehter, even then white seems to be winning. Please can anyone confirm this, I’m not aboslutely sure. Thankful on my knees in advance.
P.S. And I can’t see a difference in all those situations I mentioned above, between an a-pawn, a b-pawn, a c-pawn, d-pawn or e-pawn. Extraordinary game, drafts, isn’t it.
Hehe, a little fantastic, he? 😉
Replacing the rooks by kings… hmmmm, I’m going to leave this one out, a pair of kings is enough.
Replacing them by pawns of course is very dependent of where the rooks where before they were exchanged.
Replacing them by knights should give an easy win in most cases (if black can’t play NxN or Nx a pawn…).
With bishops it should be won if they are the same color and if black can’t play … (see above).
With a black “white” bishop which can defend e4 and a white “black” bishop it could be a draw….
Jochen