4 more games to go! What is your prediction?
1. Kramnik will hang on to win the match in spite of the chaos
2. Topalov has the momentum and he will make a comeback to win the match
3. The match will be halted before completion
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
2). Unless Putin makes another call to Vladi, Kirsan, etc. Then, 3).
The situation is very unclear. Neither side gains anything with a walkout with an even position. the palyers are roughly dynamically equal. As Korchnoi said before the last game in his 1978 match with Karpov “It’s a lottery.” “That is why they play the game”
Two(2) Topoalov will come out with e4 and win in the next game…the waiting for e4 is over..also Topolov will not leave the match..I can’t belive the storm chessbase news is brewing up with it’s biast news items..Topalov to win the next two games and again come out with e4!! game set match
It will be a tie, Topolov will win on tiebreak and Kramnik will not accept the result and sue. I hope I’m wrong and Kramnik wins; we don’t need another split championship.
Yes, the games are exciting to watch, but both have made too many mistakes.
I hope that they will totally focus on the last four games and show us their chess artistry.
It would have been too strange if Topalov wouldn’t have won one game. Nothing to be desperate of in Kramnik camp. According to Chessbase Kramnik took his defeat with calm. On the other hand this game didn’t solve Topalov’s problems with white pieces. If Topalov is going to continue his shaky play with white next time might prove lucky for Kramnik.
hello susan,
whoever wins and whatever course the match takes i hope and keep my fingers crossed that there be no more open letters, silly accusations, toilet issues… just chess. maybe im strange, but i dont care who wins. wether its going to be one of the best defenders in chess or one of the best attackers.
thank you for burdening my internet connection at work :). after i found out about your commentaries i now have to keep hitting the refresh button on your blog like a madman every time they make a move. thank you so much for bringing the explanations to us from the shallow end of the chess pool. much grateful.
erik
“You get conflicts all of the time. But you have to know how to play the chess game. We come with results, and we come with solutions.” –Wyclef Jean
“The human element, the human flaw and the human nobility — those are the reasons that chess matches are won or lost.” — Viktor Korchnoi
“The development of beauty in chess never depends on you alone. No matter how much imagination and creativity you invest, you still do not create beauty. Your opponent must react at the same highest level.” — Vladimir Kramnik
…”I have never faced more unethical conduct” Vladimir Kranik.. “no comment” Vesselin Topalov
I still think Kramnik should win this match. It is amazing how people think Topalov tied the match, but in reality he is -1 in games played and Kramnik is still the stronger player. Of course the forfeit win forces Kramnik to win by +2 to win this match.
1) Kramnik will win with a one point margin, maybe after a tiebreak.
Topalov has the momentum and he will make a comeback to win the match
thank you so much for bringing the explanations to us from the shallow end of the chess pool. much grateful.
can’t say it enough.
in reality he is -1 in games played and Kramnik is still the stronger player
first part, fact. second part, very doubtful. 🙂 still, everyone has the right to an opinion.
on topic – i would say 2), but i am very afraid of 3). whatever the case, kramnik will sue fide… and probably win. which still doesn’t mean the world will remember him as the world champion if this match is considered lost…
“31.h4?! ‘Do not move pawns on the wing where you are weaker’ they say.”
This is a comment from GM Marin from Chessbase. You haven’t mentioned something of this sort in your commentary. I want to know if Marin is correct or probably wrong. How could, then, Kramnik not know this “beginners” rule? How could he push h4 and violate the rule so much? I am having really big problems understanding chess.
Does it matter? Whatever side loses is unlikely to accept the result. If Kramnik wins then Topalov’s team (NB – not Topalov) will continue making dark hints and veiled accusations. If Topalov wins, Kramnik can point to the farce surrounding the toilets.
I think the best we can hope for is some entertaining chess and that some point in the future an undisputed champion may arise. Undisputed being the most relevant word.
Doesn’t all this leave a bad taste in the mouth?
My guess is that the match will be halted as soon as Topalov loses his chances to get the better score.
Dear Susan,
please stop playing with Photoshop-filters. It looks ugly.
With Best Regards
Stan
i have to say
those recently seen cheap photoshop picturesmutations are somewhat ugly!
i think the result of game 5 will prove irrelevant, since the match will be decided by a 2 point margin, counted without game 5
Five more games to go, Susan.
I think Topalov is already profiting from Dainalov’s work. Kramnik will soon crumble under the pressure both from the board and from elsewhere. He’s the nice guy but he’s toast.
For Topalov all this is no problem, of course. As a world champion you’ll always have lots of admirers and friends. Even a person like Kasparov had those.
Hello chessfans,
topalov is not -1 behind, only 0,5.
the chances that the 5th game would have been a draw are highly likely. so another win would make him the real winner.
I like the photo tricks.
I am afraid it will be Number 2.
Chris
It will be number 4: the match will end in a draw.
Rumors from Sofia, Bulgaria:
Topalov Launches New Strategy against Kramnik
Despite the scandal over Vladimir Kramnik’s frequent visits to the toilet during matches, he continues using the same toilet and with the same regularity, sources of Darik News claim.
There is a change in Vesselin Topalov’s strategy; he undertakes fast and well-planned moves and they aim to discourage Kramnik from leaving his seat, the sources add.
As a result, the eighth game between Kramnik and Topalov ended with the first over-the-board victory for FIDE World Champion Vesselin Topalov. Thus the official score is now 4:4, with four games to go. The first player to reach 6.5 wins will be pronounced the ultimate winner.
The scandal at this unique contest, which pursued the unification of the world chess title, was triggered after the manager for Bulgaria’s Topalov, Silvio Danailov, accused Russia’s Kramnik of taking too many bathroom breaks. That was an apparent suggestion that he was secretly using a technical device or a computer program to help him with his moves, because the toilet is the only room without surveillance.
To add to the scandal, the house where Topalov is staying has been checked for tapping and surveillance devices, inside sources also say.
Fans define the events in the Kalmik Republic as an advertising trick initiated in order to raise greater public interest in the championship. There are rumours the two competitors have been paid by an additional sponsor in order to perform that theatrical play.
he undertakes fast and well-planned moves
wow, what a strategy. if the “source” knew anything about chess, they would bite their tongue.
its not easy to make “fast and well-planned moves” – the whole point of the match is to see who is better at it. sheeesh
I think the only way the chess world will regognize a new unified World Champion, is if Kramnik wins. If Topolov wins by one point people will always have the doubt about the validity of Topolov’s win. Even if Topolov won all the remaining games, people would still have a doubt about the validity of the win due to Kramnik’s psychological state, brought about by the oppositions unsporting behavior.
Topolov can only now win the World Championship, he can no longer win peoples faith in the validity of the title.
The biggest Danger to this Chess Match is not the players but FIDE and the Role Of the Appeals Committee…after reading comments made from GM B Macija of Poland (see chessbase news)it just makes one feel all dirty..something needs to be done real fast the chess players of the world have the power to fix this problem just get some good people to do it and there is a lot of good chess people in the world
I really hope Kramnik wins. Hisopponent has moral like a pocket thief.
There is a letter from Carsten Hensel at chessbase.de (in German) saying among other things that Kramnik will finish the match (from game six on under protest) and then sue FIDE at CAS (Court of Arbitration of Sports) in Lausanne/Switzerland. As far as I understand independent of the match outcome. If the match ends 6-6 (official counting) then I guess no tie-break will be played.
It depends on how you define, “win the match.” If the match is a tie or if Kramnik loses by 1, he will be the legitimate world champion. I predict that the match will end up as a tie, Kramnik will refuse to play the tiebreakers, and will claim to be the winner due to the forfeited game. In this case, he will be regarded as the true world champion by the majority of the chess community.
My prediction is not #3. The match will be played to completion. That includes the tie-breaks if they are level after 12 games.
I would prefer either a Kramnik win or a Topalov win by +2, so that the forfeited game does not provide the margin of victory.
My vote is for GM Topalov.
He plays faster and as Zsusza said has the momentuum.
If match goes to a tie-break,I’m 99% sure Topalov is the winner.
Simply he plays and calculte faster than Kramnik and in rapid games he is a clear favorite (althought one never knows about rapid games)
-my 2 cents
It is a little bizarre that, even after all this, FIDE doesn’t even take care to affect neutrality on the official homepage of the match. Quote:
“Veselin won at once despite having Black, luring Kramnik out of his favorite positional chess to optically attractive tactical skirmish. Of course, this can be written off on bad day or bad luck, but it transpires that Topalov outplays his opponent in positions demanding much calculation. The Bulgarian acts braver and leads the play; his opening preparation also makes better impression.
Let us see what proves more important for the concluding part of the match – Kramnik’s rationalism or Topalov’s zeal. The score is even after eight games. The match starts anew!”
Emphasis added.
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with these pro-Topalov slanted remarks per se, but it’s obviously inappropriate for the arranger to make them while the match is progress, and all the more so given the scandalous circumstances.
Alas, chess as a sport has become a joke. It’s almost a blessing that it’s also so incredibly obscure (search for ‘chess’ at Google News to see what I mean); otherwise it would be embarrassing to be a chess fan.
There will be no clear outcome
DarkMere said…
“I think the only way the chess world will regognize a new unified World Champion, is if Kramnik wins. If Topolov wins by one point people will always have the doubt about the validity of Topolov’s win. …”
Not if they play over the games. Especially games 2 and 8 so far, but the others as well. Topalov was a magician even to find winning chances in game 1.
On quality of play I would rate Topalov way ahead. The obvious adjustment would be +1.5 for Topalov (game 1 draw, game 2 win for Topalov, and don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean) but I don’t presume to say that the match score should be adjusted for it.
Since I don’t see an ideal thread in which to ask it, I will ask here. How much did Kramnik use the bathroom in his match with Leko? How quickly we forget Leko who had a tied match result — and where was his rematch, a normal courtesy in such a case??
Ignore the anons, keep the photo effects–they’re cool.
If Topalov wins this match, no-one will accept him as World Champ. I won’t!
I hope Kramnik wins.
Kramnik will sue himself for defaulting and costing himself the match.
I’m afraid only Kramnik can win from here on.
Even if Topalov wins the match, he won’t get much applause, and many won’t recognise his win.
So, I hope for 1. If 2., well as far as I can see, in any case, Kramnik will sue the FIDE. If it’s ruled, the contract was broken (as very likely will be the case), the entire match must be considered void.
For 3. I don’t see any reasons right now. Maybe if Topalov falls further behind?
Predicton: 4 more draws. after that Vlad will refuse to play play-offs unless they replay game 5.
ben van vlierden said:
“So, I hope for 1. If 2., well as far as I can see, in any case, Kramnik will sue the FIDE. If it’s ruled, the contract was broken (as very likely will be the case), the entire match must be considered void.”
So then things go back to the status quo ante, right? Topalov is FIDE champion, and Kramnik is the “Classical Chess” champion. Of course even if he were to lose this match, nothing stops Kramnik from calling himself the “Classical Chess” champion!
The reason for this paradox: Kramnik actually owns the “Classical Chess” title, doesn’t he? So nobody (but Kramnik himself) can appoint somebody else to hold it.
But Topalov doesn’t own the FIDE title. FIDE owns it and just appoints Topalov to hold it until it decides to take it away from him.
FIDE is the real black sheep
I read many comments who claim that Kramnik should be the champion now because of the toilet issue.
Don’t you guys think that Topalov knew or at least had some idea about the negative reaction before claiming it? Do you think he was so desperate?
What would you do if you knew or at least had a suspicion that your opponent is cheating? Keep silent? The only fact is that FIDE did not deal with the scandal well.
There is nothing bad in complaining, but there should be procedures that allow both sides to voice their opinion.
Topalov is the black sheep now, but the real black sheep is the poor organization of the tournament and FIDE.