topalov
FICGS - Search results for topalov
There are 142 results for topalov in the forum.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-06 15:43:12)
FIDE WCH : Kramnik vs. Topalov
Do you believe it ? .. now it's most probably almost sure :-)
We'll have a new FIDE-Classical world champion in a few weeks !
A reminder : This will be a 12-games match, taking place from September 21 to October 13 in the capital of Kalmykia (whose president is FIDE president : Kirsan Ilyumzhinov himself), Elista. In case of equality, four rapid games will be played, if equality again two blitz games will be played and finally a sudden death blitz game. The prize fund of one million US dollars will be equally divided between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, whatever the result. The looser won't play the next world championship tournament (quite strange).
Anyway, that's a great thing for chess, even if I'm not very optimistic for the next FIDE world championship cycles, particularly if the world champion has to play a knockout tournament, instead of a classical 12 or 24 games match...
My favourite in this match is still Kramnik because of his style, but Topalov is really getting stronger IMO... It will be a hard match !
Any predictions about the result & games ? .. Will Vladimir Kramnik play his Berlin defense in the Ruy Lopez again...
Charlie Neil (2006-09-07 09:02:54)
Krammik vs Topalov
Krammik will play 1.Nf3 with his 1st 5 games with white and as Topalov is dozing off.....POW! It's going to be a tense match. A clash of styles I'd say. But it is all good for chess. We need an undisputed OTB champion again, it can only be good for chess. ( A million dollars for the best of twelve games.....I think I'll go and buy myself a database....:-)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-08 18:10:52)
Chess tournament : Zero-sum or not ?
While discussing about Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", and the question "Is the best player always the champion ?" (of course not IMO) , I was argued that any chess tournament "was" (actually could be "reduced to") a zero-sum game :
"In 1944 John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern proved that any zero-sum game involving n players is in fact a generalised form of a zero-sum game for two persons, and that any non-zero-sum game for n players can be reduced to a zero-sum game for n + 1 players; the (n + 1) player representing the global profit or loss. This suggests that the zero-sum game for two players forms the essential core of mathematical game theory."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_sum_game
It seems to me that it's out of topic, but I couldn't say exactly why... In my opinion, a tournament is nearer life than game, at least quite far from it. Much more rules, often complex ones, and results that depend on many parameters you couldn't influence...
The word "champion" depends on accurate rules (the best player could finish 2nd, even if he wins all games ie. in an open tournament..), the "best player" depends on general opinion (most commonly through ratings), ie. Topalov vs. Kasparov ...
What do you think ? :-)
Where the discussion started from :
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060907/sirlin_01.shtml
I agree with many points about how to win, but the use of some words seems to be dubious...
I like much this quote :
"I was surprised to see that Capablanca did not initiate any active maneuvers and instead adopted a waiting game. In the end, his opponent made an imprecise move; the Cuban won a second pawn and soon the game. “Why didn’t you try to convert your material advantage straight away?” I ventured to ask the great chess virtuoso. He smiled indulgently. “It was more practical to wait.” "
—Mikhail Botvinnik, 6th World Chess Champion
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-20 01:55:46)
First blitz game (draw)... 1.d4 f5
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3351
Topalov plays dutch defense... ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-20 05:05:54)
Chess world champions
New designs !
With photos of chess world champions : Topalov, Kramnik, Kasparov, Fischer, Tal, Alekhine, Steinitz, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Spassky, Karpov & Lasker.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-23 21:19:51)
Kramnik wins Game 1
Vladimir Kramnik - Veselin Topalov (game 1)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.Qc2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 c6 9.a4 b5 10.axb5 cxb5 11.Qg5 0-0 12.Qxb5 Ba6 13.Qa4 Qb6 14.0-0 Qxb2 15.Nbd2 Bb5 16.Nxc4 Bxa4 17.Nxb2 Bb5 18.Ne5 Ra7 19.Bf3 Nbd7 20.Nec4 Rb8 21.Rfb1 g5 22.e3 g4 23.Bd1 Bc6 24.Rc1 Be4 25.Na4 Rb4 26.Nd6 Bf3 27.Bxf3 gxf3 28.Nc8 Ra8 29.Ne7+ Kg7 30.Nc6 Rb3 31.Nc5 Rb5 32.h3 Nxc5 33.Rxc5 Rb2 34.Rg5+ Kh6 35.Rgxa5 Rxa5 36.Nxa5 Ne4 37.Rf1 Nd2 38.Rc1 Ne4 39.Rf1 f6 40.Nc6 Nd2 41.Rd1 Ne4 42.Rf1 Kg6 43.Nd8 Rb6 44.Rc1 h5 45.Ra1 h4 46.gxh4 Kh5 47.Ra2 Kxh4 48.Kh2 Kh5 49.Rc2 Kh6 50.Ra2 Kg6 51.Rc2 Kf5 52.Ra2 Rb5 53.Nc6 Rb7 54.Ra5+ Kg6 55.Ra2 Kh5 56.d5 e5 57.Ra4 f5 58.Nxe5 Rb2 59.Nd3 Rb7 60.Rd4 Rb6 61.d6 Nxd6 62.Kg3 Ne4+ 63.Kxf3 Kg5 64.h4+ Kf6 65.Rd5 Nc3 66.Rd8 Rb1 67.Rf8+ Ke6 68.Nf4+ Ke5 69.Re8+ Kf6 70.Nh5+ Kg6 71.Ng3 Rb2 72.h5+ Kf7 73.Re5 Nd1 74.Ne2 Kf6 75.Rd5 1-0
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-24 20:53:32)
Kramnik wins Game 2
Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik (game 2)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 0-0 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Bg6 15.Ng5 Re8 16.f4 Bxd3 17.Qxd3 f5 18.Be3 Nf8 19.Kh1 Rc8 20.g4 Qd7 21.Rg1 Be7 22.Nf3 Rc4 23.Rg2 fxg4 24.Rxg4 Rxa4 25.Rag1 g6 26.h4 Rb4 27.h5 Qb5 28.Qc2 Rxb2 29.hxg6 h5 30.g7 hxg4 31.gxf8Q+ Bxf8 32.Qg6+ Bg7 33.f5 Re7 34.f6 Qe2 35.Qxg4 Rf7 36.Rc1 Rc2 37.Rxc2 Qd1+ 38.Kg2 Qxc2+ 39.Kg3 Qe4 40.Bf4 Qf5 41.Qxf5 exf5 42.Bg5 a5 43.Kf4 a4 44.Kxf5 a3 45.Bc1 Bf8 46.e6 Rc7 47.Bxa3 Bxa3 48.Ke5 Rc1 49.Ng5 Rf1 50.e7 Re1+ 51.Kxd5 Bxe7 52.fxe7 Rxe7 53.Kd6 Re1 54.d5 Kf8 55.Ne6+ Ke8 56.Nc7+ Kd8 57.Ne6+ Kc8 58.Ke7 Rh1 59.Ng5 b5 60.d6 Rd1 61.Ne6 b4 62.Nc5 Re1+ 63.Kf6 Re3 0-1
Great game, great match, real chess !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-25 18:15:04)
Kramnik vs. Topalov
Benny, what did you think about the match Kramnik vs. Leko (with such fantastic games, ie. Marshall gambit) ? What about Kasparov vs. Deep Blue.. (only examples).. I prefer to see human chess with blunders at top level than to doubt.
Anyway, the match is not over yet, but Kramnik probably won the psychological battle already. Now Topalov must prove he plays the best chess...
Rodrigo Jaroszewski (2006-09-26 08:38:26)
...f5?? > ...f5!!
The fact that Topalov had the guts to not simply go for a draw in a game against Kramnik made my opinion on him go up by 100%. 57...f5?? will be on my memory as the move that didn't let the first WC I was able to see live become a dull, drawish face-off.
Elmer Valderrama (2006-09-26 09:15:06)
..f5?? > ...f5!!
..100% agreed.. they are (especially Topalov) playing variations
which make sense to enter only in engine-assisted chess (CC)...
(as a result they are tired after calculating the first set
of 8 variations with 18 non-forced plies each ;)
Regarding the match, fingers crossed Topo will pull a Phoenix
as in other tournaments when he was -2 after the first round...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-26 17:11:57)
Kramnik vs. Topalov (Elista)
Vladimir Kramnik - Veselin Topalov (game 3)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Qa4 Bd7 7.Qxc4 Na5 8.Qd3 c5 9.0-0 Bc6 10.Nc3 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bc5 12.Rd1 Bxg2 13.Qb5+ Nd7 14.Kxg2 a6 15.Qd3 Rc8 16.Bg5 Be7 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.Rac1 Nc4 19.Na4 b5 20.b3 0-0 21.bxc4 bxa4 22.Nc6 Rxc6 23.Qxd7 Qc5 24.Rc3 g6 25.Rb1 h5 26.Rb7 e5 27.e4 Rf6 28.Rc2 Qa3 29.Qd1 Rd6 30.Rd2 Rfd8 31.Rd5 Rxd5 32.cxd5 Qxa2 33.Qf3 Rf8 34.Qd3 a3 35.Rb3 f5 36.Qxa6 Qxb3 37.Qxg6+ Kh8 38.Qh6+ Kg8 1/2-1/2
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-27 18:31:56)
Topalov vs. Kramnik
Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik (game 4)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.a3 b4 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 bxa3 12.0-0 Bd6 13.b3 Nf6 14.Nd2 Qc7 15.Bf3 Bxh2+ 16.Kh1 Bd6 17.Nc4 Be7 18.Bxa3 0-0 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.Ra5 Rfd8 21.Kg1 c5 22.Rxc5 Ne4 23.Bxe4 Bxe4 24.Qg4 Bd3 25.Ra1 Rac8 26.Raa5 Rb8 27.Qd1 Be4 28.Qa1 Rb7 29.Nd2 Bg6 30.Qc3 h6 31.Ra6 Kh7 32.Nc4 Be4 33.f3 Bd5 34.Nd2 Rdb8 35.Qd3+ f5 36.Rc3 Qh4 37.Ra1 Qg3 38.Qc2 Rf7 39.Rf1 Qg6 40.Qd3 Qg3 41.Rfc1 Rfb7
42.Qc2 Qg5 43.Ra1 Qf6 44.Qd3 Rd7 45.Ra4 Rbd8 46.Rc5 Kg8 47.Nc4 Bxc4 48.Raxc4 f4 49.Rc6 fxe3 50.Qxe3 Rxd4 51.Rxe6 Qh4 52.Rxd4 Qxd4 53.Re8+ Kh7 54.Qxd4 1/2-1/2
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-29 13:03:02)
Psycho(logical) games by Topalov's team?
[moderator : please don't copy exact content (news, articles..) from other websites]
Common toilet for both players.
29.09.2006 The Appeals Committee of FIDE has taken a decision on protest by the Bulgarian delegation who, after viewing the video tapes, stated that Kramnik would visit the toilet too often. A common toilet will be opened for both players.
The Appeals Committee : FIDE Deputy President IM Georgios Makropoulos, Continental President for Americas FM Jorge Vega, FIDE Vice President Zurab Azmaiparashvili.
More - http://www.chessbase.com
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-29 13:41:10)
Re:
BOTH Topalov's team & Kramnik's team had clearly agreed to a set of legally binding rules, regulations & facilities prior to the World Championship match up. But now suddenly Topalov's team fires accustation after accusation DURING the match. Personally I think if they can't prove a thing, they should not make accusations. The world likes to see exciting chess games, not verbal fights.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-29 14:09:34)
Chess & psychology...
Game 5 :
The start of the game had been delayed, now Topalov is sitting at the board and Kramnik's clock is running while Vladimir Kramnik is waiting in the rest room for his toilet to open. A press conference by Georgios Makropoulos is about to start.
The game couldn't start unless the toilet is opened...
:-)
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-29 13:09:10)
Psycho(logical) games?...........
Silvio Danailov.,
Manager of the Bulgarian team says:
To all mass media
Ladies and Gentlemen,
After we got acquainted with the ruling of the Appeals Committee of the Topalov vs. Kramnik world championship match we deem it necessary to point out the following:
The ruling in its present form is not satisfactory to us since it practically does not result in any change. Mr. Kramnik will be able to visit the new bathroom an unlimited number of times without being subject to further control.
We would accept the current relaxation rooms to continue to be used provided that the presence of controllers in both rooms is ensured.
When the two players need to go to the bathroom, they should be accompanied by an assistant arbiter.
The checks carried out in the relaxation rooms were made only by experts of the Organizing Committee, whereas our experts were present as observers and only after the second game.
We find it difficult to understand why is it that the accredited journalists are denied access to the video tapes from the relaxation rooms.
The World Champion Veselin Topalov is outraged by the suspicious behavior of his opponent Mr. Vladimir Kramnik who in actual fact takes his most significant decisions in the bathroom.
Despite the above, in the name of the chess game and out of respect to FIDE, to Kalmikia and the millions of chess lovers, Veselin Topalov is willing to continue his participation in the match provided that measures to guarantee fair play are taken.
If the match were to continue, the World Champion would refrain from shaking hands with Mr. Kramnik before the games and would not take part in joint press conferences with him. Veselin Topalov will make statements for the media separately.
We look forward to receiving your response by 14.30 h hoping that it will give concrete answers to the questions that we pose.
28.09.2006
Elista Sincerely:
Silvio Danailov
Manager of the Bulgarian team
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-29 13:14:25)
Kramnik's team says...........
Kramnik threatens to stop playing the match......
29.09.2006 Statement from the team of Vladimir Kramnik, rejecting the decision of the Appeals Committee of FIDE : "The protests of the Topalov team and the suspicions in the press release of Mr. Topalov are utterly disgraceful and are touching Mr. Kramnik’s privacy."
Elista, 29 September 2006
Open Letter to FIDE President H.E. Kirsan Iljumshinov
Copied to Executive Committee of Kalmykia Mr. Valery Bovaev, Chief Arbiter Mr. Geurt Gijssen, Russian Chess Federation
Dear Mr. President,
The Appeals Committee of the World Championship Match between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik made the following decision on the protest of the Topalov Team:
“to close both the toilets in the players rest rooms and to open another toilet that will be available only to the two players”
The Kramnik team received the mentioned decision a few hours before the start of game 5 and was officially informed about the protest of Mr. Topalov only yesterday evening, 10 p.m., 28 September 2006. With such a decision the WCC Committee is clearly violating both the rules and regulations of the WCC match and the rights of Mr. Kramnik.
The relevant clause in contract of Mr. Kramnik expels: “FIDE shall provide a rest room and toilette for the players during the WCC match in the playing hall and close to the stage (if possible backstage) to be equipped with a live monitor furnished with coffee and tea as well as with light refreshments.”
The reasons that Mr. Kramnik is entering his own bathroom often is simple: The restroom is small and Mr. Kramnik likes to walk and therefore uses the space of the bathroom as well. The Appeals Committee has been informed about the issue before they decided. It should also be mentioned that Mr. Kramnik has to drink a lot of water during the games.
On the request of Mr. Topalov the agreed live monitors have been removed as well as the shower cabines in the bath rooms. The moves are provided on demonstration boards only. The substance of Mr. Topalov protests (dated 22, 24 and 28 September 2006) were basically always met by the approval of the Appeals Committee. Everything has been done here to satisfy Mr. Topalov’s requests.
On a regulary basis the restrooms and toiletts are heavily checked by specialists, obviously local police forces. This goes together with the arrival of the players. The arbiters are observing all the measures. One representative of each team has the right of being present in order to observe the activities. The playing area is banned from signals and the glas wall protects from any kind of view contact and/or body language. There is not a single reason or evidence to believe that a player would have any kind of cheating possibilities.
It is and was no problem for the organization to assure all necessary measures in order to avoid any kind of cheating. By starting the match both participants agreed all the playing conditions de facto and de jure and the conditions are therefore legally binding. Any change of the playing conditions without a good reason would in our understanding request the approval of both players which is not the case here.
Mr. Kramnik believes that the latest decision should increasingly concern the world of chess as it shows very clearly and once again the biased stand of the Appeals Committee members involved. In person: Mr. Makropolous, Mr. Azmaiparashivili (well known as a close friend to Mr. Danailov), Mr. Gelfer (now replaced by Mr. Vega). Therefore Mr. Kramnik requests to exchange the mentioned persons immediately. Enough is enough.
We would like to add that the recent decision not only insults Mr. Kramnik but is clearly critizing both the excellent work of the local organisation at Elista and the nominated arbiters. Yesterday evening the chief arbiter and the head of the excutive committee once again confirmed that the indirect accusations of cheating are nonsense.
The protests of the Topalov team into the direction of Mr. Kramnik and the suspicions in the press release of Mr. Topalov are utterly disgraceful and are touching Mr. Kramnik’s privacy. We do not think that the Topalov team has any right of getting access to the recordings. This shall be job of the nominated arbiters only.
The Topalov team includes a parapsychologist and more people which are obviously having no other tasks as to distract and to insult Mr. Kramnik especially since their team is realizing that Mr. Topalov finds himself in a difficult situation. This is what we call an utterly unfair behaviour which is not in accordance with the FIDE Code of Ethics. The decision taken by the Appeals Committee can only be seen as another attempt to disturb Mr. Kramniks concentration since it is difficult to understand what kind of improvement it shall be to have one toilet instead of two.
Our team does not trust the objectivity of the Appeals Committee anymore. Therefore it makes no sense for us to bring a protest to this table and Mr. Kramnik strongly insists once again that the members of the Appeals Committee will be changed immediately and that the heads of the Organizing Committee are taking their responsibilities.
In the meanwhile Mr. Kramnik will stop playing this match as long as FIDE is not ready to respect Mr. Kramnik’s rights, in this case to use the toilet of his own restroom whenever he wishes to do so.
Further and more detailed legal investigations are already in process.
On behalf of Vladimir Kramnik
Yours sincerely,
Carsten Hensel
(Manager to Vladimir Kramnik, Classical World Chess Champion)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-29 13:19:45)
FIDE world championship (suspicions)
A "toiletgate" : Kramnik visiting the bathroom unreasonably often (according to Bulgarian delegation), video surveillance in rest rooms, Topalov threatening to stop the match, FIDE decisions (common toilets, players accompanied...), now Kramnik threatening to stop the match !
Tension is high, reminds us old memories :) ..
Can this world chess championship be finished yet ??
http://www.chessbase.com
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-29 15:57:14)
Fischer vs. Spassky ?
Vladimir Kramnik did not play game 5 !
All this reminds me the first match Fischer vs. Spassky... In a documentary, Boris Spassky said he lost the match when he accepted Fischer's new conditions (ie. playing in another room) in order to continue to play...
Seems to be quite the same situation here...
Now who made the mistake : Kramnik, Topalov or FIDE... I hope game 5 will be replayed.
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-29 16:56:32)
Re:
If game number 5 is declared a loss for Kramnik due to forfeit, then Kramnik made a bad choice by not playing, as it's almost a free point for Topalov who was 2 points adrift. It would seem Topalov's team's psychological warfare/psychological trap has won over by closing the gap. If game number 5 is replayed, Kramnik has gained the upper hand in psychology, and Topalov's team's supposed psychology has backfired on them. I think FIDE is in a very awkward position. FIDE should clearly state who's accusations are true or false and make immediate, clear decisions regarding the whole situation. Otherwise, the World Championship will be seen as a real fiasco.
Nigel Davies (2006-09-29 22:59:40)
Topalov's Outrageous Accusation
I'm of the opinion that Topalov's accusations are an outrageous bit of gamesmanship - there's no evidence whatsoever that Kramnik was 'cheating' in some way so this looks like an attempt to embarrass him.
If Kramnik sticks to his guns this will backfire on Topalov. I don't believe Kramnik should continue whilst his opponent (backed, in its actions by the 'appeal committee) is essentially saying that he was cheating in some way. At one time this would have meant pistols at dawn.
Nigel
PS. There's more at my blog: http://www.gmgrowl.com
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-29 23:40:07)
Re:
Nigel, you seem to have a good point there. If the members of the appeals committee have clear connections to Topalov's team, then the situation is clearly tilted in Topalov's favour.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-30 03:31:40)
Topalov vs. FIDE vs. Kramnik
I agree with you, Nigel.
Obviously Topalov's team 'manipulates' FIDE against Kramnik. Worked quite well... But now the situation seems to be best for both Topalov and Kramnik... If the match does not continue Kramnik will stay clear classical World Chess Champion (3-1) with a new legitimacy, Topalov will stay clear FIDE World Chess Champion (playing the best chess) and FIDE will remain... the organizer of chess championships in Kalmykia... :/
Finally, only FIDE made a clear mistake during the event, but is it so important... Kramnik wins, Topalov wins, Ilyumzhinov always wins...
I hope the match will continue but I'm not very optimistic.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-30 03:39:05)
Vladimir Kramnik - Open letter
Open Letter To
FIDE President
Kirsan Iljumshinov
Russian Chess Federation
Elista, 29. September 2006
Requests of Vladimir Kramnik
• To proceed with GAME 5
Clause 3.17.1., Schedule 2 of the contract:
“All protests must be submitted in writing to the Appeals Committee not more than 2 hours after the relevant playing session.”
The protest made by the Topalov Team were not made within this window after game 4 (27 September 2006) but only hit the FIDE Office and the Appeals Committee on the rest day (28 September 2006). Therefore the protests are not even relevant and should have been rejected by the Appeals Committee immediately.
Clause 3.18.3., Schedule 2 of the contract:
“After the World Chess Championship Committee agrees with the Organizers on the arrangements in respect of the tournament hall, facilities etc. etc. etc……., no objections from the participants shall be acceptable as long as the conditions are in accordance with the rights of the players granted in their agreements.”
This clause clearly underlines the statement made in today’s Open letter: “By starting the match both participants agreed all the playing conditions de facto and de jure and the conditions are therefore legally binding. Any change of the playing conditions without a good reason would in our understanding request the approval of both players which is not the case here.”
Therefore it is clear that the Appeals Committee took a completely wrong decision and was obviously not even aware of the Rules and Regulations. The decision of Chief Arbiter Mr. Gijssen to forfeit game 5 was clearly based on a wrong decision of the Appeals Committee and shall be nullified.
Mr. Kramnik is ready to continue the match and to play the 5th game (with a leading score of 3:1) on the conditions that were accepted prior to the start of the match.
• Toilet issue
The toilets connected to the restrooms shall be opened again. This request is in accordance with clauses 3.17.1. and 3.18.3 (see above) and in the general understanding that by starting of the match both participants agreed to all the playing conditions. Any change of the playing conditions without a good reason would require the approval of both players which is not the case here.
Mr. Kramnik is ready to accept even stricter controls by sealing the toilets before and after inspections. Inspections shall be done before and after each game.
• Exchange of members of the Appeals Committee
We repeat that the Kramnik team does not trust the objectivity of the Appeals Committee anymore. It is evident from this letter and our first Open Letter today that the existing Appeals Committee is biased and incompetent. Mr. Kramnik strongly insists once again that the members of the Appeals Committee will be exchanged immediately.
• Access to Recordings
As Mr. Kramnik in the press conference stated he did not sign a contract for acting in a reality show. The recordings shall be observed by the arbiters. Neither Team Topalov nor Team Kramnik shall have access to the recordings. Investigations shall be in the sole responsibility of the Arbiters.
• Requested Apology
Last but not least Mr. Kramnik believes that Mr. Danailov should apologize to Mr. Kramnik in writing. Remarks such as:
“If the match were to continue, the World Champion will refrain from shaking hands with Mr. Kramnik before the games and will not take part in joint press conferences with him.” and “Veselin Topalov is disturbed by the suspicious behavior of his opponent Mr. Vladimir Kramnik who takes his most significant decisions in the bathroom.” are clearly insulting.
On behalf of Vladimir Kramnik
Yours sincerely,
Carsten Hensel
(Manager to Vladimir Kramnik, Classical World Chess Champion)
Rodrigo Jaroszewski (2006-09-30 08:04:38)
Re:
I think Kram's manager is right on spot there: Contract states that you have to file your complain up to 2 hours after the game in which a possible incident has occurred. Danailov's letter was sent on a rest day, so it shouldn't even have been discussed at all!
Topalov should had filed that complain after game 4, pertaining to something that happened in game 4 (not 3), instead of going to watch his precious Levski get trounced by Drogba's hat-trick. Did his mamma ever teach him to do his homework before watching TV?
Nigel Davies (2006-09-30 09:07:48)
Legitimacy
This is (or should have been) the real point of these championships from FIDE's point of view. Rather than being seen as a banana republic with a paper champion their aim should have been to establish legitimacy for their cycle and organisation. FIDE established itself by taking over the World Chess Championships with the death of Alekhine. If it can no longer do that, a large part of its raison d'etre disappears, in my view.
I'm not sure they realise it yet, but if Topalov 'wins' from his 1-3 position with some trumped up accusation of cheating, their legitimacy is not enhanced. Quite the opposite in fact.
Kramnik goes home with a very strong claim to being the REAL World Champion (he beat Kasparov in a match) and having allowed FIDE to demonstrate its true colours. I think that the odds of him establishing his own cycle will have improved dramatically, he just needs a sponsor.
Nigel
Dinesh De Silva (2006-10-01 07:34:31)
Re:
Hello!
What's the latest news?!....... Is the Kramnik vs Topalov match going ahead?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-02 15:11:16)
Kramnik plays under protest
Official statement and protest by V. Kramnik
To FIDE President H.E. Kirsan Iljumshinov
To the WCC Appeals Committee
On 2 October 2006 my manager received the following decision from FIDE:
“Tomorrow, 2 October 2006, at 15.00, the 6th Game of the World Chess Championship Match a Topalov-Kramnik with the score 3:2 in favour of Kramnik, will take place.”
Based on this decision I make the following statement:
I inform that I am ready to proceed playing the match by reserving all my rights. My further participation will be subject to the condition to clarify my rights regarding game five at later stage.
I do not agree with the decision made by FIDE and I formally protest against it. The decisions made on my requests, especially the resignation of the Appeals Committee, opening the toilets to the restrooms again, are chrystal clear admissions of FIDE of having taken a false decision. Logically FIDE admits herewith that it was a mistake to start game five by violating the rules and regulations of the competition and by changing the agreed playing rules and conditions during the match without my approval.
I deeply regret the unsportsmanlike and unequaled behaviour of my opponent whom FIDE donated a victory outside of the board by using dirty tricks.
High level functionaries inside FIDE once again were making the professional part of the chess world a disgraceful playground of their own interests. I strongly believe and hope that the course of these events made it obvious to everyone that drastic changes with regard to the professional management structures inside FIDE are evident.
By deciding just a couple of hours ago I had to assess between my personal interests and the interests of the entire chess world. It is very difficult to play under these circumstances. But I came to the conclusion to proceed under protest because I do not want to disappoint the overwhelming majority of the chess fans which are hoping for the unification since so many years.
I also had in mind the people of Kalmykia which are doing their utmost to organize this match on the highest level possible.
Last but not least I would like to thank very much for all the support I experienced during these days.
Elista, 2 October 2006
Vladimir Kramnik
Classical World Chess Champion
Rodrigo Jaroszewski (2006-10-02 15:17:48)
Argh!
"Question to Topalov: Veselin, with what feeling will you come to play tomorrow?
With great enthusiasm. I am tired of rest!"
On the other front: "unfortunately, Vladimir could not appear here – he is not feeling well"
Disgusting! It's a good thing they opened the toilets, because I need one to puke right now! So they give in on everything, except on the 3:2 score, just to get Kramnik less advantage and to wear him out. Argh!
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-02 16:03:25)
FIDE vs. Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik - Veselin Topalov (game 5)
0-1
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-02 16:06:15)
After toilet gate...
Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik (game 6)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 c5 8.e4 Bg6 9.Be3 cxd4 10.Qxd4 Qxd4 11.Bxd4 Nfd7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bxc4 a6 14.Ke2 Rg8 15.Rhd1 Rc8 16.b3 Bc5 17.a5 Ke7 18.Na4 Bb4 19.Nb6 Nxb6 20.Bxb6 f6 21.Rd3 Rc6 22.h4 Rgc8 23.g4 Bc5 24.Rad1 Bxb6 25.Rd7+ Kf8 26.axb6 Rxb6 27.R1d6 Rxd6 28.Rxd6 Rc6 29.Rxc6 bxc6 30.b4 e5 31.Bxa6 1/2-1/2
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-04 16:21:00)
Danailov accuses Kramnik of using Fritz9
The manager of Topalov (Silvio Danailov) now accuses Kramnik of cheating, using Fritz 9.
Here are his statistics :
Game 1 :
From 75 moves: After move 12, from 65 remaining moves 41 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (63% of matches)
Game 2 :
From 63 moves: After move 17, from 46 remaining moves 40 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (87% of matches)
Game 3 :
From 38 moves: After move 10, from 46 remaining moves 40 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (87% of matches)
Game 4 :
From 54 moves: After move 14, from 40 remaining moves 30 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (75% of matches)
Game 6 :
From 31 moves: After move 13, from 18 remaining moves 14 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (78% of matches)
Out of 5 games, 78% of Vladimir Kramnik’s moves would match with the first line of Fritz 9.
Seems to be a lot but is it enough ? (no IMO, and it simply doesn't mean anything at all...)
Furthermore, it seems to be very hard to prove, as the "first line" of Fritz 9 depends on many parameters... It's probably easy to obtain this result on demand, or to say at a 2800 level, if it doesn't match with Fritz moves, that it matches with Shredder, Junior or Hydra or... :(
The only conclusion is Kramnik's style is closer to Fritz than other engines..
(what a scoop...)
Topalov's team has probably no other choice now than to attack & attack until death... This is clearly psychological attack, this match could end really dirty :/
I think these statistics are really too conclusive so that it's realistic ! .. Kramnik is not stupid : There's no need to play Fritz first line to win against Topalov (and finally be accused of using Fritz 9), and it's certainly not the best way to win either...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-06 11:57:32)
Game 7 : Draw
Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik (game 7)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 c5 7. O-O a6 8.
Bb3 cxd4 9. exd4 Nc6 10. Nc3 Be7 11. Re1 O-O 12. a4 Bd7 13. Ne5 Be8 14. Be3
Rc8 15. Rc1 Nb4 16. Qf3 Bc6 17. Qh3 Bd5 18. Nxd5 Nbxd5 19. Rcd1 Rc7 20. Bg5
Qc8 21. Qf3 Rd8 22. h4 h6 23. Bc1 Bb4 24. Rf1 Bd6 25. g3 b6 26. Qe2 Ne7 27.
Rfe1 Bxe5 28. dxe5 Rxd1 29. Qxd1 Nfd5 30. Bd2 Rc5 31. Qg4 Nf5 32. Qe4 b5
33. h5 bxa4 34. Qxa4 Rb5 35. Rc1 Qb7 36. Bc2 Nb6 37. Qg4 Rxb2 38. Be4 Qd7
39. Be1 Nd5 40. Bd3 Nb4 41. Bf1 Nd3 42. Qd1 Nxe5 43. Qxd7 Nxd7 44. Rc8+ Kh7
45. Rc7 Rb1 46. Rxd7 Rxe1 47. Rxf7 a5 48. Kg2 Kg8 49. Ra7 Re5 50. g4 Nd6
51. Bd3 Kf8 52. Bg6 Rd5 53. f3 e5 54. Kf2 Rd2+ 55. Ke1 Rd5 56. Ke2 Rb5 57.
Rd7 Rd5 58. Ra7 Rb5 59. Bd3 Rd5 60. Bg6 1/2-1/2
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-06 11:59:22)
Topalov wins game 8
Vladimir Kramnik - Veselin Topalov (game 8)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8.
Be2 Bb7 9. O-O b4 10. Na4 c5 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. Bb5+ Ncd7 13. Ne5 Qc7 14.
Qd4 Rd8 15. Bd2 Qa5 16. Bc6 Be7 17. Rfc1 Bxc6 18. Nxc6 Qxa4 19. Nxd8 Bxd8
20. Qxb4 Qxb4 21. Bxb4 Nd5 22. Bd6 f5 23. Rc8 N5b6 24. Rc6 Be7 25. Rd1 Kf7
26. Rc7 Ra8 27. Rb7 Ke8 28. Bxe7 Kxe7 29. Rc1 a5 30. Rc6 Nd5 31. h4 h6 32.
a4 g5 33. hxg5 hxg5 34. Kf1 g4 35. Ke2 N5f6 36. b3 Ne8 37. f3 g3 38. Rc1
Nef6 39. f4 Kd6 40. Kf3 Nd5 41. Kxg3 Nc5 42. Rg7 Rb8 43. Ra7 Rg8+ 44. Kf3
Ne4 45. Ra6+ Ke7 46. Rxa5 Rg3+ 47. Ke2 Rxe3+ 48. Kf1 Rxb3 49. Ra7+ Kf6 50.
Ra8 Nxf4 51. Ra1 Rb2 52. a5 Rf2+ 0-1
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-07 20:20:04)
Topalov takes the lead
Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik (game 9)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.a3 Nbd7 9.g3 Be7 10.f4 dxc4 11.Bxc4 0-0 12.e4 b5 13.Be2 b4 14.axb4 Bxb4 15.Bf3 Qb6 16.0-0 e5 17.Be3 Rad8 18.Na4 Qb8 19.Qc2 exf4 20.Bxf4 Qb7 21.Rad1 Rfe8 22.Bg5 Be7 23.Kh1 Nh7 24.Be3 Bg5 25.Bg1 Nhf8 26.h4 Be7 27.e5 Nb8 28.Nc3 Bb4 29.Qg2 Qc8 30.Rc1 Bxc3 31.bxc3 Ne6 32.Bg4 Qc7 33.Rcd1 Nd7 34.Qa2 Nb6 35.Rf3 Nf8 36.Rdf1 Re7 37.Be3 Nh7 38.Rxf7 Nd5 39.R7f3 1-0
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-08 17:36:39)
Kramnik wins Game 10
Vladimir Kramnik - Veselin Topalov (game 10)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Bf4 Nbd7 9.Qc2 a5 10.Rd1 Nh5 11.Bc1 b5 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.e4 dxe4 14.Qxe4 Rb8 15.Qe2 Nhf6 16.Bf4 Rb6 17.Ne5 Nd5 18.Bxd5 exd5 19.Nc3 Nf6 20.Nxb5 Ba6 21.a4 Ne4 22.Rdc1 Qe8 23.Rc7 Bd8 24.Ra7 f6 25.Nd7 Rf7 26.Nxb6 Rxa7 27.Nxd5 Rd7 28.Ndc3 Rxd4 29.Re1 f5 30.Qc2 Rb4 31.Nd5 Rxb5 32.axb5 Qxb5 33.Nc7 Qc4 34.Qd1 Bxc7 35.Qd7 h6 36.Qxc7 Qb4 37.Qb8+ Qxb8 38.Bxb8 Nd2 39.Ra1 g5 40.f4 Nb3 41.Ra3 Bc4 42.Bc7 g4 43.Bxa5 1-0
Rodrigo Jaroszewski (2006-10-10 05:27:08)
Re:
Use Toga II if you're looking for a freeware one. Crafty was simply too unreliable. 15 minutes of brute-force search, returning ~18-ply results with slight advantage; then I'd play them one by one and about the 10th ply, *bang*, a blunder. Very nice if you're trying to emulate Topalov-Kramnik, but not nice if you want to get some good advice.
The trick is to have a general understanding of the opening, and notice when the game has entered the realm of the middlegame (this is still very blurry for me, but I'm getting the hang of it). Then you just have to try to learn as much as you can about basic middlegame concepts. That's as far as my understanding goes up to now, tactics and strategy are not within my grasp yet.
Of course, this is for total noobs like me, if you know more you'd like to test more advanced concepts.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-10 16:16:37)
To be continued...
Open Letter
To
FIDE President
H.E. Kirsan Illyumzhinov
To
Head of the 2006 Executive Committee
Mr. Valery Bovaev
Dear Mr President, Gentlemen,
Having received innumerable published and unpublished inquiries I would like to clarify, in the name of Vladimir Kramnik and his team, our position in the decision taken by FIDE regarding the fifth game of the current World Championship match.
As you know Vladimir Kramnik is playing the current match under protest. Nothing has changed in our attitude, which is documented by Kramnik’s actions around the fifth game and our statements, protests and letters:
29.09.2006:
http://www.kramnik.com/eng/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=104
02.10.2006:
http://www.kramnik.com/eng/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=106
04.10.2006:
http://www.kramnik.com/eng/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=107
Consistent with this standpoint Vladimir Kramnik will be playing this match, including a possible tiebreak, up to the last move under protest.
Should the decision of FIDE regarding the fifth game have any influence on the awarding of the World Championship title, with Mr Topalov receiving the title after being granted a free point for the unplayed game, Mr Kramnik declares unequivocally: “I will not recognize Mr Topalov as World Champion under these conditions, and I will take legal action against FIDE at the end of the World Championship.”
The damage done to Mr Kramnik in public opinion (e.g. the slander campaign) after the illegal release of private video images by the then FIDE Appeals Committee or the WCC 2006 Executive Committee to the Topalov team, and the subsequent release of these video images and private information of Mr Kramnik in his restroom to the mass media, as well as the interruption of the match, which broke Mr Kramnik’s concentration and playing rhythm, will all be part of the legal action which will be initiated.
As a sign of good will Mr Kramnik once again requests FIDE to arrange for game five to be played out on the board immediately after game 12. This in our opinion is the only way to alleviate the personal, sporting, judicial and ethical injuries that have been incurred by Mr Kramnik.
Elista, October 10, 2006
On behalf of Vladimir Kramnik
Yours sincerely
Carsten Hensel
(Manager to Vladimir Kramnik, Classical World Chess Champion)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-10 18:39:24)
Game 11 : Draw
Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik (game 11)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Rb1 Nbd7 9.c5 a5 10.a3 e5 11.b4 axb4 12.axb4 Qc7 13.f4 exf4 14.exf4 Be7 15.Be2 Nf8 16.0-0 Ne6 17.g3 Qd7 18.Qd3 Ne4 19.Nxe4 dxe4 20.Qxe4 Qxd4+ 21.Qxd4 Nxd4 22.Bc4 0-0 23.Kg2 Ra4 24.Rd1 Rd8 25.Be3 Bf6 26.g4 Kf8 27.Bf2 Ne6 28.Rxd8+ Bxd8 29.f5 gxf5 30.gxf5 Nf4+ 31.Kf3 Nh5 32.Rb3 Bc7 33.h4 Nf6 34.Bd3 Nd7 35.Be4 Ne5+ 36.Kg2 Ra2 37.Bb1 Rd2 38.Kf1 Ng4 39.Bg1 Bh2 40.Ke1 Rd5 41.Bf2 Ke7 42.h5 Nxf2 43.Kxf2 Kf6 44.Kf3 Rd4 45.b5 Rc4 46.bxc6 bxc6 47.Rb6 Rxc5 48.Be4 Kg5 49.Rxc6 Ra5 50.Rb6 Ra3+ 51.Kg2 Bc7 52.Rb7 Rc3 53.Kf2 Kxh5 54.Bd5 f6 55.Ke2 Kg4 56.Be4 Kf4 57.Bd3 Rc5 58.Rb4+ Kg3 59.Rc4 Re5+ 60.Re4 Ra5 61.Re3+ Kg2 62.Be4+ Kh2 63.Rb3 Ra2+ 64.Kd3 Bf4 65.Kc4 Re2 66.Kd5 1/2-1/2
It is still possible Kramnik walks out the match if next (and last) game is a draw too... :/
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-12 18:24:22)
Game 12 : Draw
Vladimir Kramnik - Veselin Topalov (game 12)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.g3 Nbd7 9.Bd2 Bb4 10.Qb3 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne4 12.Bg2 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 f5 14.0-0 Qe7 15.cxd5 exd5 16.b4 Nf6 17.Rfc1 Ne4 18.Qb2 0-0 19.b5 Rac8 20.bxc6 bxc6 21.Qe2 g5 22.Rab1 Qd7 23.Rc2 Rf6 24.Rbc1 g4 25.Rb2 Rh6 26.Qa6 Rc7 27.Rb8+ Kh7 28.Qa3 Rb7 29.Qf8 Rxb8 30.Qxb8 Qf7 31.Qc8 Qh5 32.Kf1 Nd2+ 33.Ke1 Nc4 34.Bf1 Rf6 35.Bxc4 dxc4 36.Rxc4 Qxh2 37.Ke2 Qh1 38.Rc5 Qb1 39.Qa6 Qb2+ 40.Kf1 Qb1+ 41.Ke2 Qb2+ 42.Kf1 Rh6 43.Qd3 g6 44.Qb3 Rh1+ 45.Kg2 Rh2+ 46.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 47.Kh1 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-13 14:59:59)
Rapid games : Kramnik leads...
Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik (rapid 1)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.e4 Bg6 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Re8 15.Ne1 Rc8 16.f4 Bxe1 17.Rxe1 Bg6 18.Bf1 Rc2 19.b3 Qa5 20.Bb5 Rd8 21.Re2 Rcc8 22.Bd2 Qb6 23.Rf2 a6 24.Bf1 Rc6 25.b4 Rc2 26.b5 a5 27.Bc3 Rxf2 28.Qxf2 Qa7 29.Qd2 Ra8 30.Rc1 Nb6 31.Bb2 Nxa4 32.Ba3 h6 33.h3 Be4 34.Kh2 Nb6 35.Bc5 a4 36.Ra1 Nc4 37.Bxc4 b6 38.Qe3 Rc8 39.Bf1 bxc5 40.dxc5 Qxc5 41.Qxc5 Rxc5 42.b6 Rc6 43.b7 Rb6 44.Ba6 d4 45.Rxa4 Bxb7 46.Bxb7 Rxb7 47.Rxd4 1/2-1/2
Vladimir Kramnik - Veselin Topalov (rapid 2)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.b3 0-0 8.Be2 b6 9.0-0 Bb7 10.Bb2 Re8 11.Rad1 Qe7 12.Rfe1 Rac8 13.Bd3 e5 14.e4 dxc4 15.Bxc4 b5 16.Bf1 g6 17.Qd2 Rcd8 18.Qg5 a6 19.h3 exd4 20.Nxd4 Qe5 21.Qxe5 Nxe5 22.Nc2 g5 23.Bc1 h6 24.Be3 c5 25.f3 Bf8 26.Bf2 Bc8 27.Ne3 Be6 28.Ned5 Bxd5 29.exd5 Ned7 30.Rxe8 Rxe8 31.a4 b4 32.Ne4 Nxe4 33.fxe4 Nf6 34.d6 Nxe4 35.d7 Rd8 36.Bxa6 f5 37.a5 Bg7 38.Bc4+ Kf8 39.a6 Nxf2 40.Kxf2 Bd4+ 41.Rxd4 cxd4 42.a7 Ke7 43.Bd5 Kxd7 44.a8Q Rxa8 45.Bxa8 1-0
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-13 17:57:26)
Kramnik world champion !
Congratulations to Vladimir Kramnik ! ..
I was to say "this is a great day for chess" but I think I'll wait to see how FIDE will manage it... At least this is a great day for Kramnik :)
The story "ends well" at first sight, but can Topalov sue Fide as I read it already...
To be continued.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-14 18:33:37)
Chess and Go diagrams / Forum update
A major update for FICGS forums (& blogs) !
Now you can insert Chess & Go diagrams in messages...
(useful to submit chess problems, analysis and so on...)
See the FAQ in help section - http://www.ficgs.com/help.html - for details, in example here is the position of the last game in the FIDE world chess championship between Veselin Topalov & Vladimir Kramnik, just before Topalov blunder 44. ...Rxc5 ??
ChessPosition (see diagram)
Diagrams format is quite simple (see Help), please note only one diagram / position will be displayed per message.
Also minor bugs (links, search functions) corrected...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-25 11:47:22)
Once upon a time in Kalmykia
An interesting interview of FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov about future of chess, reunification match and other things...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3448
I can't resist this quote :
Misha Savinov : Bearing in mind successful unification, do you see a chance of Kasparov returning to chess?
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov :
In my opinion, Garry will not return. His age will not permit him returning, chess advanced too far. But, of course, we would all be happy if he returns. Actually, I would be happy if not only Kasparov, but also Spassky and Fischer come back. If they do, I am ready to organize a supermatch of FIDE champions. A good idea, by the way! We’ll invite Vassily Vassilyevich Smyslov, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Khalifman, Kasimdzhanov, Topalov, Anand, Ponomariov… It is going to be a good supertournament!
Misha Savinov : In Elista?
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov : In Elista. And, probably, it will be 25-minute games, double round-robin. I wonder if Fischer accepts the invitation, what do you think? We will announce the winner a superabsolute champion (laughs)!
Misha Savinov :
One can call it an open championship of Kalmykia…
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov :
Are you suggesting inviting the Kalmyk champion of 1978? I think I could play 25-minute games…
.....
Jaimie Wilson (2006-10-29 14:59:07)
Chess quizz :-)
Good to hear Topalov speaking so frankly.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-30 08:54:15)
Re: JUDIT POLGAR
Hi Dinesh.
Seems to be a question a money ?! .. If I remember correctly, Sergey Karjakin was to play Topalov with a 1 M$ prize fund (?), so why not a Judit Polgar vs. Vladimir Kramnik match...
She (probably) only needs a good sponsor and a serious preparation to create such an interesting event... I'm sure Kramnik would play it. I don't remember Judit playing a 6+ game match, but I feel it would be hard for her, first because of Kramnik style (& Judit's).
Anyway, great performance at Essent with a 2-0 mini-match against V. Topalov and I. Sokolov !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-31 12:02:00)
Chess videos : Youtube
Some interesting chess videos on Youtube...
Sofia Polgar vs. Viktor Korchnoi (wow ! :))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxeiGipoFSE
Kramnik vs. Topalov (Elista, 2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va9Hxr7bfEk
Kasparov simultaneous exhibition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqvMSgxj6O4
Game Over (Kasparov vs. Deep Blue) trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ias_bmSCev4
Kasparov vs. Altavista :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPIpWMCKEbk
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-14 16:47:18)
Kramnik vs. Deep Fritz, 2006
In less than 2 weeks from now, classical & FIDE world champion Vladimir Kramnik will play the best (at least most famous) chess program Deep Fritz 10 !
From november 25 to december 5, 2006 at the Federal Art Hall in Bonn. One million US dollars for Kramnik if he defeats Deep Fritz, half this amount otherwise...
We did not forget the previous match in Bahrain (2002), that ended with a 3-3 score.
Do you feel Fritz improved enough to beat a player like Kramnik, who most probably improved his play too... Will Kramnik play rather different openings than in his match against Topalov ? .. Anyway it should be an interesting match to follow.
A few links :
http://www.kramnik.com/eng/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=95
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2947
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-16 03:55:35)
Topalov vs. Kramnik v2, is it worth ?
I don't know how many times Kramnik will have to defend his title if challengers provide the money, but I'm quite disappointed with this news of a match scheduled only 6 months after the previous one.
I suggest they organize a match Topalov vs. Deep Fritz 10 (reigning world champion) first...
What do you think ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-16 04:05:26)
Topalov vs. Kramnik v2, is it worth ?
Responding to myself, according to FIDE rules there could be a match about every 6 months (WCH tournament or Prize funded)...
Obviously good for world champion (and for FIDE), but maybe that's also good for chess after all. What disturbs me more is last result against Deep Fritz :/
James Stripes (2006-12-16 16:19:10)
bad timing, but
World Championships should be decided by matches, nit by a tournament such as that planned in Mexico. Topalov was never a legitimate champion, but he is perhaps now a legitimate champion (and FIDE finally recognizes the legitimate champion again). If this challenge by Topalov succeeds in derailing Mexico, it will have accomplished a useful purpose.
Of course I'm lookin forward to watching the games in Mexico, and would be wholehearted in support if it were a qualifying tournament. Thus Topalov should be playing, rather than Kramnik; the winner should then challnge Kramnik with the full backing of FIDE.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-26 15:43:07)
Topalov disqualified for three years ?
Carsten Hensel (Vladimir Kramnik's manager) has submitted a complaint to FIDE, Veselin Topalov would have broken the ethical code of FIDE in a ABC interview.
More in Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3562
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-28 10:47:52)
Cheating : Future is now
An indian player (rated 1900, suddenly 2484) gets ten year ban from FIDE for cheating... Using a bluetooth device stitched into his cap to receive external computer assistance.
Source - http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3573
A new danger for OTB chess... Could suspicion (like Topalov-Kramnik match) kill the game ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-21 13:48:44)
Go and chess, IGN Goama newsletter
From IGN Goama newsletter by Alexander Dinerchtein - http://www.gogame.info
Go and Chess Two Games, Shared Experiences
Chess and go show are similar in many ways, yet it's always strange to see how the masters of each game try to "invent the wheel", instead of benefiting from the knowledge of their colleagues.
Let's consider sharing experiences!
These ideas can be useful even for strong Asian Go professionals:
1. Currently, only a few pros use Go databases and programs for studying. It is easy to find commentaries, written by 9-dan masters, which state that a move is new and has never been played before. Yet if one checks such moves in Go databases, one can sometimes find up to 100 examples from professional games. How can they cheat the readers who study these commentaries?
Once in Korea, I showed the Bigo Assistant program (similar to GoGod, MoyoGo and SmartGo) to Lee Sedol's brother Lee Sanghun, 5-dan, who is the director of a large children's Go school. He was surprised and said that the program looked very useful, and he added that he had never met this kind of program before. He even suggested deleting all amateur games and games played on Go servers, because of their low quality. I promised to order the programs and to install them on the school's computers if he liked this idea, but he did not follow up. Lee Sanghun, 5-dan was not able to break the traditions of his forefathers …
2. Even such top chess players as Kasparov, Kramnik and Topalov enlist the support of trainers during important tournaments and matches. During the Communist era, almost every Russian grandmaster worked on behalf of world championship candidates. Our government forced them to help, to show them new moves and ideas. Those who refused to help were punished severely: for example, sometimes a player would be prohibited from playing in tournaments abroad and would be refused foreign visas.
We do not see this in Go. Everyone thinks only about his or her own self. Do you know who is currently assisting Lee Changho? I don't know, either!
3. I would like to say a few words about playing technique. Chess players often used to write the move on paper first and then make it on the board. This helps to avoid impulsive moves and to prevent blunders. Go masters record the game afterwards, and so one can often find terrible mistakes, such as overlooking ataris and recapturing ko without playing a ko threat first. As an example you may see Black's move number 271 from this game:
http://www.go4go.net/v2/modules/collection/sgfview.php?id=10828
I am sure that if a player looked at their move at least twice before they write it on paper and after they would not make such mistakes.
4. Even top Go tournaments are usually run by the knock-out system so we often see sensational results. Mightn’t it be reasonable to think about increasing the number of games in each round? If rounds were best-of-three (in case of time constraints, it would be possible to use blitz time controls for the third game), it would help to minimize sensations.
How about organising a definitive World Go Championship? Chess players have contested one for more than 100 years, and competitions for this World Championship have revealed the very best players of each generation. In Go it's harder to tell which player is true champion. In 2006, for instance, one international tournament was won by Lee Changho and another one by Lee Sedol, while Cho U won the largest amount of prize money. Whom can we call the World Champion? Who can say which tournament is the most important : LG, Samsung, Fujitsu, Chunlan or another? We don't even have a unified rating system …
If we determined a single World Go Champion, he might earn the same degree of popularity as Garry Kasparov achieved in chess, and this could have a very positive influence on Go popularity around the world!
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-11 16:42:09)
Topalov suspected
Investigations to come. FIDE & ACP, Pavel Tregubov accusations...
Is Silvio Danailov the 'teddy bear' of Topalov ? :)
The whole story :
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=741182
Really strange to see Veselin Topalov under attack the same way Vladimir Kramnik was.. by him. To be continued.
Elmer Valderrama (2007-02-11 19:56:12)
Topalov suspected
Following the article's gestures argument ("touches his nose, touches
his toes, touches the ground, and turn around") I think
this must make him his 'teddy' by definition
8-}
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-13 11:27:24)
Kasparov's last game
I quite like this one too :)
Kasparov vs. Topalov (Linares)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht_yJBU3C30&NR
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-18 00:05:00)
Morelia Linares 2007
Super-GM tournament of Morelia-Linares starts... with Topalov, Ivanchuk, Leko, Morozevich, Svidler, Carlsen, Anand and Aronian.
Will Topalov be affected by rumors ?
Let's see who will make the best predictions ? :)
My final standings :
1. Aronian, 2. Topalov, 3. Leko, 4. Anand, 5. Svidler, 6. Morozevich, 7. Ivanchuk, 8. Carlsen
Catalin Ionescu (2007-02-18 23:58:41)
Topalov or Leko ?
1. Topalov 2. Leko 3. Svidler 4. Aronian 5. Carlsen 6. Anand 7. Ivanchuk 8. Morozevich
(right now the round 2 is playing)
I think Carlsen will be the surprise of this tournament :)
Nicola Lupinacci (2007-02-23 09:13:39)
Magnus Carlsen is now at the top
After round 5 Carlsen lead with 3.5/5, winning against Topalov, while Anand lose against Aronian.
This is a great tournament, with leaders that can lose a game also against the last player. Really interesting :-D
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-23 11:54:47)
Kasparov
I wonder how Garry Kasparov would do in this tournament without any more preparation :)
This round 5 was full of surprises... I think Topalov will have a better 2nd part again, like Aronian. But Carlsen could make my predictions false :/
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-24 00:11:01)
Carlsen vs. Topalov
Interesting, the last game Carlsen vs. Topalov was a draw when Topalov resigned...
ChessPosition (see diagram)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-24 00:12:00)
Carlsen vs. Topalov
Black to move (of course).
Chessbase : "In fact Carlsen shows the horrified former world champion the defence immediately after he had resigned"
Horrified, at least...
Dinesh De Silva (2007-02-24 06:58:50)
Re:
...., Qd5+ leads to an easy draw. How did Topalov miss it? A mystery.
Marc Lacrosse (2007-02-24 21:22:11)
not so simple ...
"I think Kasparov is the best for his aggressivity, Capablanca for his semplicity, and Alechine for his tattics."
This is way too simple...
Remember Kasparov drawing game after game for recovering after Karpov led by 5-0 in their match ...
Capablanca's play was full of tactics (I would better say full of sophisticated ways to avoid tactics - which _is_ tactics at a supreme degree).
Alekhine's tactics were most of the time allowed by too weak opposition. Among great tactical geniuses far stronger than Alekhine in this field I would cite Bronstein, Tal, Spassky, Nezmetdinov, Fischer, Shirov, Kasparov, Topalov ...
But there are also :
- Positional geniuses : Morphy, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Petrosian, and an entire class above them all Karpov, Ivanchuk, Kramnik.
- Opening prep geniuses : Botvinnik, Fischer, Kasparov
- Endgame geniuses : Rubinstein, Karpov, Korchnoi...
Well a difficult question because all top class players had several masterpieces in any of these fields ...
Nicola Lupinacci (2007-02-25 11:30:19)
Round 6
All game drawn, Carlsen still lead
This is the standings after six rounds:
Carlsen 4
Aronian 3.5
Anand 3.5
Leko 3
Svidler 3
Ivanchuk 3
Topalov 2
Morozevich 2
Next round:
Peter Leko - Vishy Anand
Vassily Ivanchuk - Levon Aronian
Veselin Topalov - Alex. Morozevich
Peter Svidler - Magnus Carlsen
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-26 09:19:55)
Round 7
Another fighting round, with Anand, Topalov & Ivanchuk winning...
I still believe in my predictions... (if not, who will do it ? :))
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-03 13:32:43)
FIDE world championship, Mexico
Here is the decision of the FIDE President (Kirsan Ilyumzhinov) in respect of the World Chess Championship cycle :
http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1277
Now if Kramnik wins in Mexico, Topalov will play his match against him... But if Kramnik loses his title, he (Kramnik) will play a match against the winner.
Conclusion : Topalov will support Kramnik in Mexico :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-04 12:57:00)
Round 9
Great game Topalov vs. Ivanchuk... Morozevich beats Leko. Carlsen & Anand still lead. It seems my predictions will be quite wrong :) .. To be continued.
Jaimie Wilson (2007-03-04 16:49:00)
Ivanchuk
A shame that grandmaster Vassily was very low on time against Topalov. It really was a good game.
Catalin Ionescu (2007-03-04 22:48:57)
round 10
Again Anand defeats Carlsen :) ...
What a great match between Leko and Topalov ... after 7 hours the game was a draw. Excellent !!!
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-05 09:59:16)
Vishy Anand
Vishy Anand now leads Morelia-Linares tournament by one full point... I thought this tournament wouldn't be his peak of form, but he's always surprising :)
Nice game Leko-Topalov, indeed... and a 84 moves draw.
Nicola Lupinacci (2007-03-06 20:24:54)
round 11
Carlsen beats Ivanchuk, now the standing is:
Anand 7
Carlsen 6.5
Svidler, Aronian, Ivanchuk 5.5
Topalov 5
Morozevich, Leko 4.5
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-10 22:40:51)
Final standings
Morozevich beats Topalov in a dead draw ending at round 13, Morozevich beats Svidler with Black in the next & last round... In the final standings, after a horrible start, Morozevich is second with Carlsen ! (who lost to Peter Leko in the last round). Topalov is last with Leko. Really incredible tournament, very hard to predict all long.
Vishy Anand wins the tournament by one full point !
Final standings :
1/ Anand : 8,5
2/ Morozevich : 7,5
3/ Carlsen : 7,5
4/ Aronian : 7
5/ Svidler : 7
6/ Ivanchuk : 6,5
7/ Topalov : 6
8/ Leko : 6
... even harder that lottery :)))
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-01 15:21:45)
Anand number one, or not...
Vishwanathan Anand was announced to be ranked #1 on the next FIDE rating list. Finally, Veselin Topalov is still ranked first on the list that was published yesterday. Protestations by the indian federation... The results of Morelia-Linares should be included in the next list to be published very soon. Quite strange mistake !? :)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3768
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-02 21:52:55)
Anand number 1 !
Here is the FIDE elo, 2007 april list.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3771
1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2786
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2772
3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772
4 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2762
5 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2759
6 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2757
7 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2747
8 Leko, Peter g HUN 2738
9 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2736
10 Adams, Michael g ENG 2734
11 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733
12 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2729
13 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2727
14 Navara, David g CZE 2720
15 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2717
16 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2717
17 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2709
18 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2708
19 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2705
20 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2699
21 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2698
22 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2693
23 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2693
24 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2691
25 Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2690
Nice to see a player like Morozevich at this level...
Nick Burrows (2007-04-30 16:31:33)
T vs K - Cochrane Gambit
Heres the game Thibault!?
[Event "XVI Ciudad de Linares 99"]
[Site "Linares ESP"]
[Date "1999.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "8"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Veselin Topalov"]
[Black "Vladimir Kramnik"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[PlyCount "62"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. Nc3 c5 6. Bc4+
Be6 7. Bxe6+ Kxe6 8. d4 Kf7 9. dxc5 Nc6 10. Qe2 Qd7 11. Be3
dxc5 12. f4 Re8 13. e5 Ng4 14. Rd1 Qf5 15. O-O h5 16. Bc1 Nd4
17. Qc4+ Kg6 18. h3 Nh6 19. Nb5 a6 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Qxd4 Rc8
22. Qb6+ Kh7 23. Qxb7 Rxc2 24. Be3 Qg6 25. Rc1 Rxc1 26. Rxc1
Nf5 27. Bf2 h4 28. Rc7 Ng3 29. Kh2 Nf1+ 30. Kg1 Qb1 31. Bxh4
Bc5+ 1/2-1/2
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-13 16:24:06)
M-Tel Masters in Sofia
Another hard start for Veselin Topalov, this time in M-Tel Masters, Sofia (Bulgaria)... After three rounds, the standings are :
1. Mamedyarov 2,5 / 3
2. Adams 2 / 3
3. Sasikiran 2 / 3
4. Nisipeanu 1,5 / 3
5. Topalov 0,5 / 3
6. Kamsky 0,5 / 3
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3854
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-21 20:27:04)
Topalov wins M-Tel Masters
... incredible outcome, Topalov takes sole victory in M-Tel Masters with a surprising 5,5 / 10 !
Also his performance is 2751 while his rating is 2772, so he'll lose some points because of this tournament...
Graham Cridland (2007-05-29 18:21:09)
M-Tel
Weird tournament. Topalov failed to impress against a weak field, when you would have expected a really strong performance. He needs to study a bit I think. Very surprised by Adams' result, that's just not acceptable to him I'm sure...
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-01 18:05:21)
Vladimir Kramnik interview
An interesting interview with Vladimir Kramnik on the current world of chess in Chessbase news, speaking of the chess world championship in Mexico, the current format, the place of Topalov in it, also his illness and married life... Very clear, looks like his chess :)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3894
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3899
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-13 14:55:34)
The battle of Elista
The last part of the interview, Vladimir Kramnik on game 5 in his match against Veselin Topalov, when he didn't appear at the board :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3912
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-16 02:26:35)
WCH rules
Hannes, any tournament, any championship, any game (!) is a contract that players accept before to play. As Kramnik said, the same for Topalov about FIDE WCH in Mexico... Peter made it. That is fair ! .. IMHO
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-20 22:54:33)
Internet chess
Well, the discussion with Tryfon Gavriel continues at TCCMB. As I had to explain the way I make FICGS, I copy my responses here :
http://ancients.correspondencechess.com/index.php?topic=109.15
Hello again Tryfon !
That's a very interesting discussion...
Actually I have to explain FICGS in its whole to respond :) .. To be continued for sure..
While registering a new member wrote to me a few months ago "Thanks for creating this ultimate chess challenge" or so... That's exactly what I try to do, mostly with the FICGS championship knockout & round-robin rules... Players just want challenge, that's the only assumption I start with, so I try to create interesting challenges. About the intellectual part, you're right but I'm quite sure that top level correspondence chess players still consider their game as an intellectual challenge, much more than a brute force or computer skills one. That's not the case for Advanced chess with fast time controls.
Let's take a look at the bicycle races again... The "Tour de France" is dying IMO.. because everyone understood we "don't know" if the champion is ok.. If doping was allowed (it would be a scandal for health of course), I'm sure the interest would raise again ! I think it is the same for chess & for everything else... The "Tour de France" syndrom happened in Elista with the match Kramnik vs. Topalov... It will have consequences. We need champions and we want true champions, every means are ok for this ! .. So the "engines allowed" rule is the only one possible or reasonable in my opinion.
Of course, chess & correspondence chess are changing, because these "walls" are nearer & nearer... maybe chess will die, maybe not.. The main problem is that in 1997, a super computer became World Champion... this year a "simple" computer Deep Fritz became world champion, soon Rybka on a cellular phone... :) Who is really interested to be a champion in "human category" ? FIDE world chess championship will continue to progressively lose its interest IMO...
Correspondence chess is just starting to grow in popularity and is told to be dying already. Surely correspondence chess will ask more & more time at a high level to win a few points, but it is possible to create more challenge by ie. changing the rating rules (the "design" of Elo rating system will become a problem).. Then, if it is not enough, we'll look for other challenges... It's told for years that Go (Weiqi) will replace chess in western countries... why not Big chess as the "brain only" game if there can't be doping in it.. just trying, as there's no other solution :)
A word about Poker of course, as it's probably the fastest growing game in popularity : IMO this game is at a stade like chess in year 1900, but the same problem will happen, even quicker. At a high level the game will be just more and more boring (if you wish to win real money) or chancy (in a wch tournament), or you'll have to always find weak players (well, not very challenging).
About the simultaneous exhibition against Alekhine or Capablanca, I'm not sure at all they would crush everyone at our chess servers, they are undoubtly more talented than all of us, but I feel it wouldn't be enough in all cases to win against correspondence chess style of play & knowledge accumulated for 50 years... A few players rated OTB 2000-2200 could draw against them IMO...
At last, yes I'm a fan of Sun Tzu's "The art of war" :) .. I strongly believe that correspondence chess will not die in the next few years because players will follow its principles more and more, as the only way to win ! .. Big chess follows the same principles... and Go is the most challenging game because of it too !
Tryfon, I'm not sure that we're opposite in our vision of chess ! .. Our servers have obviousy different goals, nothing more.. I do enjoy playing mad blitz games without chess engines... I just believe that the future of internet chess is "serious (engines allowed, rated) correspondence chess" on one hand and "human chess for fun (no engines, unrated)" on the other hand... The other ways look like nonsense to me.
I hope it responds.
Best wishes, Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-23 19:46:32)
Dortmund 2007
The Dortmund 2007 tournament just started, a category 20 event with Vladimir Kramnik (recovering from illness), Viswanathan Anand, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Peter Leko, Boris Gelfand and Magnus Carlsen...
Who is the man of the moment, able to win such a tourney in your opinion ?
... well, and where is Veselin Topalov ?!
Alexander Shalamanov (2007-06-26 11:17:01)
Topalov issue
The fact is the tourney in question has been arranged and promoted by Ch.Henzel, Kramnik's manager, so it stands to reason that Topalov is a persona non grata for them. Likewise, Kramnik was a persona non grata in the Sofia tourney.
Cheers,
Alexander
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-31 09:45:23)
FIDE, Topalov, Danailov & Short
FIDE Ethics Commission rules on Topalov/Danailov and Short
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4083
Much to read... Any opinion ?
Andrew Stephenson (2007-09-12 16:51:49)
Gene
ok Gene let me give you my experience as to why you should use an engine in cc. 1) I have learnt a lot about certain openings and I remember lot more effective systems 2) finding the truth about a position is fun and instructive 3) I have acquired some endgame knowledge I never would have got. 4) Generally I wil try to understand why the engines like certain moves and drill down into the position trying altrentives until I get it. Sometimes in very wild positions its tough. Most of the the time this reinforces principles of develpoment pawn structure piece dynamism and I find it rubs off on my understanding. One proviso - if you take on too many games a lot of this wont work!
Facing a much lower rated player you have to do research and prepare something - trotting down the main line poisened pawn Najdorf may not be the way to go. A lot of top players go for catalan and english openings hoping to utilise their chess knowledge and research.
One thing is for sure always playing the best move of your engine is going to drop 1/2 points and lose some games and that includes Rybka. Finally all this stuff is done by all the top professionals in the otb chess. One example I faced the line that Kramnik got crushed with by Topalov playing b5 and f4. I looked at the game notes and databases and couldnt find a good response 45 minutes with fritz and I cracked it and in the process gained some insight into the opening. In fact its a harmless variation if you know the antidote but over the board one slip and Kram was toasted
Andrew Stephenson (2007-09-13 06:35:12)
Ratings
Hi Phillip
I don't know what "an unsynchronised rating system" is. However at the rate of play 40/20 for example I am not sure I would be able to improve so much on the engines first choices. At the free style tournament stand alones do pretty well. If I needed 45 minutes to find one best move in the Topalov Kramnik line..... So yes a centaur can easily have a higher rating than the engine(s) he is using at cc time rates (on the same hardware). For one thing the centaur can use different engines and for another its a bit like taking a move back all the time and pushing past any horizon limitations plus there is the restrictions of opening books that all engines have. However I am not going to play my own cc games against Fritz 10 (Fritz 9 in my case)by giving it 1 day or even 10 minutes per move because I am not motivated - you need the human element for that. Hope that helps.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-17 16:18:47)
Schuster-Figlio
I have... Definitely I don't like the "speed up" formula, that happened ie. in the Kramnik vs. Topalov match, it changes the nature of the match and adds some more 'random' factors, up to sudden death - White must win - which is no more chess. In our case this wouldn't be correspondence chess anymore (added to potential difficulties to play blitz games).
Anyway no rule can break the tie "properly", at least this rule allows the strongest player by rating (in case of 8 draws) to move to the next stage, which is quite logical IMO.
Albert H. Alberts (2007-09-18 17:04:14)
110 best chess moves ever
All: Dutch GM Tim Krabbe has compiled "110 best chess moves ever".I computerevaluated them.Most of them are spotted by machines and if not: they are refuted. Notably nr. Topalov-Shirov and a classic 1960 Spasski-Bronstein.www.howtofoolfritz.com.
Albert Alberts Amsterdam.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-09 01:05:28)
Chess sponsorship
An interesting discussion about chess sponsorship started on ChessDiscussions.com (Susan Polgar forums)
http://www.chessdiscussion.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=504
Several issues : "How to bring chess to the masses ?", "How to make chess a show ?", "What kind of sponsorship is possible ?"
Susan obviously thinks that OTB chess still has a great potential and that organizations could do much better to promote it... Here's my last response in the thread (reminds some old threads here) :
<<<
In other words, you say that chess has a show-potential like any other sport that could be used and that isn't...
For sure traditional marketing methods could help to promote OTB chess, and chess organizations could do much better... but is chess "bankable", just like an actor ? .. I just saw one more comparison between chess & poker in the thread "How to bring chess to the masses", but there's a major problem in chess that doesn't exist in poker or soccer : "everything can't happen", at least at a first sight, actually the way people can see it...
FIDE tried to change some things, ie. time controls, wch cycle but that's not enough, obviously. Anyone can win a lost hand at texas hold'em against any professional player, like any 2nd division soccer team can beat the Real Madrid once... Of course long-time statistics will be always favourable to the best players, but it takes a much longer time... Everything can happen in any event in these games (poker wch, soccer world cup). The probability for a real surprise that makes buzz is much lower at chess, the same best players invariably play the best tournaments, won statistically (ie.) 20% by Anand, 19% by Topalov, 18% by Kramnik and so on... quite boring.
The only interesting chess events follow the same scheme : David vs. Goliath, the buzz-genius 12 boy vs. Kramnik, mystery-Deep Blue vs. Kasparov, Anna Kournikova vs. Fischer & so on... nowadays the man vs. machine match is no more interesting since any home computer is stronger than HAL 9000 or Kramnik and there's no clear world champion (too many FIDE wch, different cycles..)
Chess needs real events and I'm curious to see the ones "that could bring chess to the masses" in the future... Maybe I'm a bit pessimistic, at least for OTB chess, but I'm very interested to see how good marketing methods will be able to transform our chess world... Just wait, hope & see :)
Best regards, Thibault
>>>
I'm now working again on SEO (Search Engines Optimization) for FICGS, more and more players find us via Google... Of course one next step is to sponsor the FICGS WCH & freestyle tournaments but it is a hard task for sure... All comment and suggestions on this issue are welcome :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-17 02:42:31)
FIDE world cup / WCH
Gata Kamsky (2714) just won the FIDE world cup final match against Alexei Shirov (2739) : 2.5 - 1.5 in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia).
According to a recent FIDE rule, he should challenge the former world champion : Veselin Topalov. So he may play the reigning world champion after that (if he wins of course, if Anand keeps his title until there and if I understood well, not sure). Okokok...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-02-15 14:36:07)
Kamsky vs. Topalov 2008
FIDE has announced its decision to accept the US $150,000 bid made by the Bulgarian Chess Federation, unless a country comes up with a US $250,000 bid by April 11th. The Kamsky vs. Topalov match is scheduled for the end of year 2008, after the Anand vs. Kramnik match.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4448
Now, a small test : Who is the current chess world champion ?
(you could also ask to 5 people who don't necessarily play chess around you and leave the results here.. could be interesting :))
Nicola Lupinacci (2008-02-16 14:30:28)
Unfortunately, Kramnik
Unfortunately I think Kramnik is the current champion, and if he lose his title against Anand or the winner of topalov-kamsky match, i think he will continue to proclame that he is the world chess champion...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-02-27 12:55:45)
Morozevich on FIDE Grand Prix
An interesting interview of Alexander Morozevich in Sport-Express (russian) translated in Chessbase.com
http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?154431
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4477
Morozevich shares his views about the new FIDE WCH cycle, its length (that can be compared to a correspondence chess championship) & the lack of informations around it. Anand, Kramnik & Topalov wouldn't play FIDE Grand Prix also. One more call to get back to the original chess world championship format...
Andrew Stephenson (2008-05-07 05:15:58)
f4 or not f4
1.0 Pablo here is a link you should read: http://www.avlerchess.com/chess-analysis/A_BRAND_NEW_Chessbase_9_for_sale_on_eBay_92649.html
2.0 Mr Repa here is a comment about the Dutch defense: "Black's ...f5 stakes a serious claim to the e4 square and looks towards an attack on White's kingside in the middlegame. However, it weakens Black's own kingside somewhat, and does nothing to contribute to Black's development" My point exactly about 1 f4
3.0 Mr Repa's chess federation of canada rating is listed as 2010 with an active rating of 1737. If he reaches am expected rating here of, by his account, 2370+ then everyone will be impressed particularly as Mr Repa says "I think I'm a bit out gunned here.I'm running BATTLE CHESS on a Commodore 64. I believe its running at 1.023 MHz."
4.0 It might be battle chess that accounted for the following cc (!) game as black he played against Torsten Opas 1.e4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.exd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Be7 7.Ne5 Bd7 8.O-O O-O 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 a6 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.Re1 Re8 13.Qf3 Qd6 14.Re3 Qb4 15.Rae1 Bd8 16.Qf5 Qxd4 (oops)17.Bxf6 Bxf6 and the game is already lost
5.0 Together with his loss with 1f4 that he forgot about here is another example of the correct treatment of f4 by black against Mr Repa 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 g6 4.b3 Bg7 5.Bb2 O-O 6.Be2 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.d3 c5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.d4 e6 11.Nd2 Nc6 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 completely dead for white no prospects and duly drawn. Like I said 1 f4 is a waste at cc. I doubt we shall see Mr Repa use it again against a good opponent on this site.
6.0 All the games I referred to were white victories OTB with 1. f4 "Look what happened to Evgeny Alexseev as black - a very strong 2600+ GM at the time - he continued 6 ..b6 7 h3 c5 8 Qe1 Bb7 9 g4 and lost to IM Sengupta." Alexseev lost and the criticisms of IM Sengupta's moves by Mr Repa are quite funny - thats the whole point. At cc Sengupta's play would not be impressive but otb it was effective. Incidentally the game was played in 2004 in India
8.0 1 g4 is like 1 b4? Well that is clearly wrong. There have been no GM - GM encounters with 1 g4 there have been several with 1 b4 including Topalov v Malakhatsov. Over 50 IM's and a dozen GM's have played 1 b4 very few have ever played g4. 1 f4 has been championed by GM Jakubiec who is the only GM who has played it regularly.
9.0 "What is weird is that the conversation began with quite civil exchanges before tiny criticisms quickly escalated to nuclear mode despite my genuine and exhaustive efforts at diffusion and removal of misinterpretation" Can anyone guess who is being written about here on another chess site?
Andrew Stephenson (2008-05-15 10:11:02)
Benoni
Hi Garvin
No f4 occurred in just 1 game but Hector played the sequence Nf6 and e6. This year Topalov, Aronian Malakhov and Gashimov have all allowed f4 in the Benoni but it only happened in the Gashimov game. Top GM games seem to have a bias towards Sicilians Slavs and Semi slavs. Is it true that the Ruy Lopez is not so popular at top cc? It is extremely popular at GM level perhaps this reflects a bias at cc at the top level for Queenside openings. It certainly seems a lot easier to get a draw against e4 at cc.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-03 21:37:20)
FIDE rating list oct. 2008
FIDE published the October 2008 rating list, the 5 top ranking players are in a 8 points range only...
I still wonder what would happen in case of a come back by the King (Gary Kasparov) .. Great thing to see a player like Morozevich at the 2nd place.
Rank Name Title Country Rating
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2791
2 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2787
3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2786
4 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2786
5 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2783
6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772
7 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2757
8 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2751
9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2747
10 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2737
11 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736
12 Adams, Michael g ENG 2734
13 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2732
14 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2731
15 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2730
16 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2729
17 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2727
18 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726
19 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2720
20 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2719
21 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2719
22 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2719
23 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2719
24 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2716
25 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2715
26 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2714
27 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2711
28 Ni, Hua g CHN 2710
29 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2705
30 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2704
31 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2703
32 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2702
33 Cheparinov, Ivan g BUL 2696
34 Wang, Hao g CHN 2696
35 Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2694
36 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2686
37 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROU 2684
38 Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2682
39 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2682
40 Milov, Vadim g SUI 2681
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-03 21:46:16)
Anand vs. Kramnik
While the match Kamsky vs. Topalov still seems uncertain, the match Anand vs. Kramnik for the FIDE world chess championship is quickly approaching... After many good & bad results recently for both players, any favourite ? :)
As for me, I have no idea... chess just looks like lotery sometimes.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-30 12:22:04)
Games 10 and 11
GM Kramnik (2772) - GM Anand (2783) [E21]
WCh Bonn GER (10), 27.10.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.0-0 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5 18.Re1 c5 19.Qa5 Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2 21.Bf4 e5 22.Be3 Bg4 23.Qa6 f6 24.a4 Qf7 25.Bf1 Be6 26.Rab1 c4 27.a5 Na4 28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6 1-0
GM Anand (2783) - GM Kramnik (2772) [B96]
WCh Bonn GER (11), 29.10.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.0-0-0 exf5 13.Qe3 Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3 1/2-1/2
The game and the match are over, Anand will play the final match for the FIDE World Chess Champion title against Veselin Topalov or Gata Kamsky.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-30 17:09:52)
Is Vishy Anand world champion ?
I do not understand anything anymore to the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle :( .. Is Anand the FIDE world champion 2008 as I can read it or was this match the semi final in the cycle ? The other match was (maybe in my mind only) Kamsky vs. Topalov .. and as far as I can remember there was some sponsors problems or so... What happened to this match ? Simply cancelled ??
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-07 14:59:07)
Kamsky vs. Topalov
"Kamsky vs. Topalov" to sell...
Roustam Kamsky, father of world championship candidates Gata Kamsky had hard words against FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov : "I do not have any faith in FIDE and Mr. Ilyumzhinov who in front of the whole world breached his word, which is not the first time. Also, I do not have much faith in Mr. Makropoulos, a personal friend of Mr. Danailov."
More surprising, he said a few words about the former match Anand vs. Kasparov : "I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate Vishy Anand on his true victory. This is his third victory at the world championship. I think he could have achieved even more success if during his match against Kasparov he did not have as his trusted seconds grandmasters from the former Soviet Union. I was very impressed by the organization of Anand’s match in Bonn, Germany, except that the match should have been played between Kamsky and Anand. It was unjust to allow Russian GM Kramnik to play three world championship matches, in 2006, 2007, 2008, without a proper selection, just so Russia can maintain the world championship title."
The whole open letter is intersting to read...
Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5002
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5000
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-09 00:08:30)
Fire on board...
Open letter by Gata Kamsky :
"Dear President, gentelmen, Susan,
When I first saw Bill's letter I was happy, because finally USCF has been showing strong support for their representative. Whether there could be a better solution or a more diplomatic one is a good question, but the reality is that there is no time to negotiate and given FIDE's strong-arm history of negotiating, it is not likely to succeed.
When I spoke with FIDE Vice President Mr. Makropoulos in Greece, it was decided that both my team and Mr. Topalov's team would meet during the rest day at the Olympiad in Dresden to negotiate and discuss everything, including technical details. With their last public statement, Mr. Illumjinov not only attempted to revoke his personal guarantee of the match, but he also imposed the time limit of one week for the players to acceed to his demands and at the same time re-awarded the bid to the Bulgarian Federation, which was the original FIDE's intention in the first place. You all are aware of the clause in the FIDE regulation for this "special" match that gave the Bulgarian Chess Federation a privilege of matching any bid that is coming from my side, which effectively ruined any attempt to find and submit a bid from the United States.
Throughout the negotiations with my managers, FIDE did nothing to find a sponsor on their own, despite the fact that it was solely FIDE's decision to create this match, and thus to allow Mr. Topalov a backdoor into the final steps of the qualification proceedings for the world championship title, quite unfairly, I might add.
FIDE's entire purpose, for chess players, for fairness, has been changed into a special interest group organization and I personally believe that any negotiations with FIDE rulers or tsars, or whatever you like to call them, will be unsuccessful.
The time for the negotiation is over and the only way to fight FIDE is to expose their mistakes, and perhaps fight them in a court of law if and when FIDE broke the law. Therefore, I would respectfully request all USCF Board members to unite and find ways to make sure that justice and fairness will prevail.
Sincerely,
Gata Kamsky
Saturday, November 8, 2008"
More informations on Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5004
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-15 19:34:43)
Elista Grand Prix starts
Finally a category 19 tournament started in "City Chess" - Elista, Kalmykia.
The participants :
1
Radjabov
Teimour
AZE
2751
2
Leko
Peter
HUN
2747
3
Jakovenko
Dmitry
RUS
2737
4
Wang
Yue
CHN
2736
5
Mamedyarov
Shakhriyar
AZE
2731
6
Eljanov
Pavel
UKR
2720
7
Grischuk
Alexander
RUS
2719
8
Alekseev
Evgeny
RUS
2715
9
Bacrot
Etienne
FRA
2705
10
Gashimov
Vugar
AZE
2703
11
Cheparinov
Ivan
BUL
2696
12
Akopian
Vladimir
ARM
2679
13
Kasimzhanov
Rustam
UZB
2672
14
Inarkiev
Ernesto
RUS
2669
Without Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Adams, Carlsen...
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-14 13:29:46)
Topalov vs. Kamsky
The match between Veselin Topalov & Gataulla Kamskiy (Gata Kamsky) is about to start, a former challenger of Vladimir Kramnik and a former challenger of Anatoly Karpov in the FIDE World Championship, quite surprising.
Both usually make amazing performances in top chess tournaments, but not exactly as regularly as Garry Kasparov. Who do you expect to win such a match ?
The prize fund is $250,000, the winner should play current FIDE world champion Viswanathan Anand later this year.
More to read in an interview with Veselin Topalov in Chessbase news, particularly on the Lvov bid, originally of $750,000.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5207
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-25 00:21:15)
Topalov vs. Kamsky games
Topalov now leads by 3.5 / 2.5
Two games left to equalize...
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-27 16:23:19)
Topalov beats Kamsky
The bulgarian super GM Veselin Topalov won his candidates match against Gata Kamsky 4.5 - 2.5
So we'll have a match Anand vs. Topalov for the FIDE world championship final match, right ? Any favourite ?!
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-10 18:25:31)
Topalov vs. Anand
Veselin Topalov vs. Viswanathan Anand [reigning FIDE world champion] is the final match in the current FIDE world championship cycle, but it is now official that FIDE postponed the match already, from September 2009 to (at least) April 20th, 2010, and opened a new bidding process.
Where will the match take place ? To be continued.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-15 18:17:32)
Anand vs. Computer
I don't remember Anand playing a match against a computer like Deep Blue, Deep Fritz, Junior, Rybka & so on... But it is quite possible to find a few games like Anand vs. Fritz 3, 4 or other old programs in chess databases IMO.
Anyway, it is quite hard for me to answer your question as I still think the world is divided into 2 categories, Garry Kasparov and those who dig :) (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, of course) .. More seriously, Anand is probably one of these 4 or 5 best players of all times, but who may be quite irregular (or just human), unlike Kasparov. Tal was another genius, maybe more a gambler, but none (Topalov, Anand, Kramnik...) ever reached the level of Garry Kasparov in my opinion.
I'm not sure Anand will be interested in losing to a chess computer, particularly as even Fritz is getting stronger & stronger.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-04-01 18:09:47)
FIDE rating list April 2009
The new FIDE rating list is out.
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2812
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2783
3 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2770
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2759
5 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2756
6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2754
7 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2753
8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2751
9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751
10 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2748
Veselin Topalov is ranked number 1 again, over the 2800 mark. Magnus Carlsen is more and more impressive.
You may find a more complete list in Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5323
Nick Burrows (2009-04-01 20:01:57)
ratings
It's good that Anand & Topalov will play a match - they have both been in the top 3 or 4 for many year, and right now are the best 2 players in the world
Surely within 2 years Magnus will be unstopable!?
I very much like the play of Aronian, plays with great creativity...
Thibault de Vassal (2009-07-01 16:20:17)
FIDE rating list, july 1st 2009
The new FIDE rating list is out, Veselin Topalov (2813) still tops it 25 points ahead of FIDE world champion Viswanathan Anand (2788), in third place Magnus Carlsen (2772)...
All players rated over 2700 :
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2813
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788
3 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2772
4 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2768
5 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2760
6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2759
7 Leko, Peter g HUN 2756
8 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2756
9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2755
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2751
11 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2740
12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2739
13 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736
14 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2733
15 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2732
16 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2727
17 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2721
18 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717
19 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2717
20 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2717
21 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2716
22 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2716
23 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2716
24 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2714
25 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2712
26 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2710
27 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2710
28 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2707
29 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2703
30 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2703
31 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2703
32 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2702
33 Ni, Hua g CHN 2701
Thibault de Vassal (2009-09-02 18:00:40)
FIDE chess rating list, september 2009
As Veselin Topalov (former FIDE world champion) & Viswanathan Anand (current FIDE world champion) did not play any game since the july rating list has been published, they remain number 1 & number 2 in the top rankings, but their followers played quite many games : Levon Aronian is now number 3 with 2773 points while Vladimir Kramnik & Magnus Carlsen are number 4 and 5 with 2772 elo points.
Here are the 2700+ players :
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2813
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788
3 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2773
4 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2772
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772
6 Leko, Peter g HUN 2762
7 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2757
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2756
9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2756
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750
11 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2742
12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2741
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2741
14 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2740
15 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736
16 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2735
17 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2733
18 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2730
19 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2725
20 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2722
21 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2721
22 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2719
23 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2718
24 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2717
25 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2715
26 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2711
27 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2710
28 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2709
29 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2706
30 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2703
31 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2702
32 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2702
Nick Burrows (2009-09-07 12:03:38)
Carlsen training with Kasparov!
Roll over Anand & Topalov!
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5742
William Taylor (2009-09-08 00:45:12)
Depends
It depends whether you mean a solid, consistent number 1, or just being number 1 on one two-month period's rating list. The latter could happen at any time - he has been number 1 briefly on the live rankings before - though admittedly Topalov has quite a lead at the moment. I think Carlsen is still some way from being a dominant number 1 in the way Kaspy was though - that may not happen at all of course, and if it does I think it will take at least a year but probably rather longer.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-09-29 20:17:35)
Carlsen leads the Nanjing tournament
The Nanjing tournament starts quite well for Magnus Carlsen, who won his first game with the scotch opening against Peter Leko (maybe the influence of Garry Kasparov), and won his second game against Veselin Topalov !
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-03 11:40:33)
FIDE november rating list
Finally, Magnus Carlsen crossed the 2800 mark and reaches the 2nd place on the FIDE november rating list, ahead of world champion Viswanathan Anand. The next months will be interesting, at last :)
FIDE November 1st 2009 – Top 20 Players
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games BirthYear
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2810 10 1975
2 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2801 10 1990
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 0 1969
4 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2786 13 1982
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772 0 1975
6 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2758 11 1986
7 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2758 11 1968
8 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2754 17 1976
9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2752 10 1979
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750 0 1977
11 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2748 10 1987
12 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2739 13 1969
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2739 5 1983
14 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 13 1983
15 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2736 10 1983
16 Wang, Yue g CHN 2734 27 1987
17 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2729 15 1983
18 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2723 12 1990
19 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2719 25 1985
20 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2719 18 1972
More details in the Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5879
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-23 15:47:05)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
So it seems that a FIDE world championship match is to start between current FIDE world champion Viswanathan Anand and former world champion Veselin Topalov...
I'm not even sure if this is a kind of "semi-final" or if this is a final match in the cycle... In my memory, Veselin Topalov beat Gata Kamsky and V. Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik, right?
Anyway a first problem occured with Anand asking FIDE to postpon the start of the match by one day because of the lack of airplanes as a consequence of the icelandic volcano (yes, Bobby Fischer stroke again! :)), the psychological war started and Silvio Danailov already threatened to sue FIDE.
What do you expect to happen during this match? Who is your favourite?
Mircea Hrubaru (2010-04-24 10:01:04)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
I hope that the whole mess will stop after this WCC match and things will come back to the normal cycle, even if the whole logic behind the cycle seems fuzzy...
I think Vishy will win, but I'm afraid of attempts to repeat the "toiletgate" in any variant. It started already with the transportation issue...
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-25 02:55:31)
Topalov wins Game 1
Mircea Hrubaru (2010-04-25 13:51:18)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
We must credit our mate Dmitry Domanov for the 16...Qd6!? move (1/2-1/2 Stephenson, Andrew (2256) - Domanov, Dmitry (2202) / FICGS__CHESS__WCH_ROUND_ROBIN_FINAL__000003 (1), FICGS 2008 and 0-1 Agustin, Santos (2010) - Domanov, Dmitry (2181) / FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_09__000006 (1), FICGS 2009).
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-25 17:56:03)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
Wasn't this move played before?
So maybe Anand is following your games guys ;)
Garvin Gray (2010-04-25 17:59:11)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
He did not follow it well then :P
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-25 20:06:21)
Anand wins Game 2 ! 1-1
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-28 08:55:53)
Game 3 is a draw
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-28 21:22:41)
Game 4: Anand wins again
How to explain so many wins in this match? Let's hope it can continue like this as a way to promote chess as a still living & not drawish game. Do you think that the players took many risks so far? Nice game anyway.
Mircea Hrubaru (2010-04-28 22:14:49)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
I think we should put aside the first game. In my view black played allright until the blunder 23...Kf7? which gave white the chance to blow away black's position with 23. Nxf6!! (Anand saw the pawn in f6 under the threat Nxf6 and that's why he defended with the king, but I think he didn't consider the immediate capture).
In games 2 and 4 Anand showed a superb preparation in an opening that haunts Topalov since his match against Kramnik. Game 2 showed a Topalov looking for deadly attacks and ignoring the lack of sufficient force in the attack. Until now the game with the highest quality is surely game 4, where 10. Na3!? caught Topalov offguard. Between them Anand showed in game 3 that he can chill out and play for safety.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-30 21:08:53)
Game 5, draw
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-02 16:17:36)
Game 6 draw, Anand still leads
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-03 23:33:36)
Game 7, draw again
Mircea Hrubaru (2010-05-05 09:24:06)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
Hi Thib,
Maybe you can publish something on your game against Robert Leemans in which you followed the line in the game Maletin-Amonatov (18. Rac1). Did you consider 18. a5 to continue?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-05 15:41:56)
Topalov wins Game 8
Topalov strikes back in Game 8, now the score is 4-4, and as Mircea noticed it, the game follows a line until move 18 in another game played here "de Vassal vs. Leemans 1/2-1/2", I'm not sure if 18.a5 is a real improvement but it worked well against a world champion, at least!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-08 20:50:45)
Games 9 & 10 ended in a draw
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-11 18:50:39)
Anand wins game 12 !
Quite a surprise to me, Anand beats Topalov with Black in the very last game... He is chess world champion again ! Congratulations to him!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-11 19:13:45)
Anand is new world champion
30... f5 !
Tano-Urayoan Russi Roman (2010-05-12 19:31:36)
Rybka 4, news, tests & results
By the way it is stated here http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8300 (article is in spanish) by Cheparinov that Topalov's team had access to Rybka 4 during preparation. Also new Rybka opening book author, Jiri Dufek, was on Topalov's team.
Tano-Urayoan Russi Roman (2010-05-13 03:25:06)
Rybka 4, news, tests & results
This was posted in the Hiarcs forum by Harvey Williamson:" Now it is all over it is time to share a little secret. The day before the World Championship final in Sofia started I had a conversation with Vishy's team. For the duration of the match they have had access to my fast 8/16 core machine as well as all my databases and Hiarcs opening books. Also, of course, all the engines on my machine. I Hope this managed to negate slightly the fact that Topalov had access to the latest Rybka on its Cluster for a few months leading up leading up to the final."
Daniel Parmet (2010-05-14 10:41:15)
Rybka 4, news, tests & results
you know an interesting thing i've noticed by listening to these post match interviews with Anand...
He is saying he expected Topalov to switch openings alot and not be so persistent. I wonder if Topalov was so persistent because he had Rybka 4 and he knew Anand did not.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-17 21:20:21)
Topalov used Rybka 4 before the match
"(...) the team of Veselin Topalov would have spent 100,000 Euros to secure a 112 core computer cluster, with the latest Rybka 4 program exclusively reserved for their use until the end of the match."
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6340
Wow...
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-04 19:59:41)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
True Lazaro... :)
(I moved the topic into this one)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-07-03 13:03:04)
FIDE ratings july 2010
Once again, Magnus Carlsen makes the news with the 2nd highest rating ever reached (2826)...
Rank Name Title Nation Rating
1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2826
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2803
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2800
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2790
5 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2783
6 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2761
7 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2760
8 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2755
9 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2749
10 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2748
11 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2747
12 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2739
13 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2739
14 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2734
15 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2734
16 Leko, Peter g HUN 2734
17 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2732
18 Navara, David g CZE 2731
19 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2729
20 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2726
21 Wang, Hao g CHN 2724
22 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2723
23 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2723
24 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2722
25 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2720
26 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2719
27 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2717
28 Wang, Yue g CHN 2716
29 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2716
30 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2715
31 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2713
32 Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2710
33 Tomashevsky, Evgeny g RUS 2708
34 Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2706
35 Adams, Michael g ENG 2706
36 Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2701
37 Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2700
38 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2699
39 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2697
40 Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2697
41 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2697
42 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2695
43 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2691
44 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2691
45 Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2690
46 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2690
47 Efimenko, Zahar g UKR 2689
48 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2688
49 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2686
50 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2685
There are 2 results for topalov in wikichess.
Telmo Escobar (2086)
d4 d5 c4 c6 Nf3 Nf6 e3 Bf5 Nc3 e6 Nh4 Bg6 Nxg6 hxg6 a3 Nbd7 g3 Be7 f4 dxc4 Bxc4 O-O e4 b5 Be2 b4 axb4 Bxb4 Bf3 Qb6 O-O
White is much better, Topalov-Kramnik, WCh Elista RUS 2006 (9), 1-0 in 39 moves.
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Contributors : Telmo Escobar
Telmo Escobar (2076)
d4 d5 c4 c6 Nf3 Nf6 Nc3 e6 Bg5 h6 Bh4 dxc4 e4 g5 Bg3 b5 Be2 Bb7 O-O Nbd7 Ne5 Bg7 Nxf7 Kxf7 e5 Nd5 Ne4
As played in Topalov-Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2008. White probably has a reasonable compensation for the sacrifice- and indeed Topalov won that game. Yet the definitive evaluation of this idea is still unclear. Notice that White is threatening 15.Nd6+ winning the bishop, otherwise Black would advantageously play c6-c5.
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Contributors : Telmo Escobar
FICGS : topalov , Wikipedia : topalov , Dmoz : topalov , Google : topalov , Yahoo : topalov
A great player and a great example for many. His book My 60 Memorable Games had a big impact on me. It is a shame he didn't continue to enrich the world of chess with his unparalleled understanding after 1972. (Jan Timman, about Bobby Fischer's death)
I know people who have all the will in the world, but still can't play good Chess. (Bobby Fischer)
First-class players lose to second-class players because second-class players sometimes play a first-class game. (Siegbert Tarrasch)
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