ChessPub Forum - WCC Mexico City 2007

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Question: Who will be the next world champion?


* This poll has now closed *
Kramnik 21 (38.2%) Anand 16 (29.1%) Leko 0 (0.0%) Aronian 9 (16.4%) Morozevich 1 (1.8%) Grischuk 0 (0.0%) Svidler 1 (1.8%) Gelfand 0 (0.0%) Topalov should have been invited 7 (12.7%) Total votes: 55 « Created by: thibdb13 on: 08/23/07 at 15:39:39 »

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WCC Mexico City 2007 (Read 55990 times)

Prince-Nez Senior Member Offline Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Posts: 251 Joined: 03/23/05	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #72 - 09/19/07 at 15:21:57	Post Tools	Print Post
	lnn2 wrote on 09/19/07 at 15:01:37: The Petroff is definitely not the end of 1. e4, but I cannot believe in that trendy 5. Nc3 against the Petroff. It's interesting, but un-principled. As Kasimzhanov said in his recent Petroff DVD, the only way for White to prove an advantage in the Petroff is to target the Black knight on e4, and that means White should play the main lines starting with 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 or 8. Re1, the latter being less worked out and a fertile field for investigation imho. I certainly hope you are correct. But, in a tournament for the World Championship, which you would think the players might prepare for just a tad or so, Anand (the number one player in the world) apparently didn't bring much new or potent and Leko (a normally well-prepared player) just decided to sit the matter out against Kramnik after banging his head against Gelfand. There is a Petroff malaise in the chess world for sure. and Maybe Rybka could bust Krammy's Petroff...

	We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. &&~ Henry James
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Smyslov_Fan God Member Correspondence fan Offline Progress depends on the unreasonable man. ~GBS Posts: 6902 Joined: 06/15/05	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #71 - 09/19/07 at 15:15:06	Post Tools	Print Post
	Anand has quietly taken the lead in the tournament. Kramnik still looks like his main rival, but Gelfand is now even with him. This will make the next few rounds especially tense! Who's bringing the popcorn?


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lnn2 God Member Offline Posts: 1504 Location: nc Joined: 09/22/04	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #70 - 09/19/07 at 15:01:37	Post Tools	Print Post
	Prince-Nez wrote on 09/18/07 at 22:42:57: It seems that Kramnik has essentially neutralized 1.e4. A bit depressing, actually. The Petroff is definitely not the end of 1. e4, but I cannot believe in that trendy 5. Nc3 against the Petroff. It's interesting, but un-principled. As Kasimzhanov said in his recent Petroff DVD, the only way for White to prove an advantage in the Petroff is to target the Black knight on e4, and that means White should play the main lines starting with 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 or 8. Re1, the latter being less worked out and a fertile field for investigation imho.


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chk God Member Offline a pawn is a pawn Posts: 1063 Location: Athens Joined: 10/26/06 Gender:	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #69 - 09/19/07 at 11:06:41	Post Tools	Print Post
	And he can play the Najdorf.. (I expect some fireworks in the second part of the event)

	"I play honestly and I play to win. If I lose, I take my medicine." - Bobby
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thibdb13 God Member Offline Tal was the best Posts: 974 Location: Mechelen Joined: 01/25/07 Gender:	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #68 - 09/19/07 at 10:49:49	Post Tools	Print Post
	I am quite (and pleasantly) surprised by Gelfand's performance. Before the tournament, he was the only player I would not give any chance to win the title and was persuaded he should fight to avoid the last place. Now after 5 games, he has 3 points, did not lose any game and, from what I could see, never came into big problems during his games.

	Yusupov once said that “The problem with the Dutch Defence is that later in many positions the best move would be ...f5-f7” but he is surely wrong.
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Prince-Nez Senior Member Offline Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Posts: 251 Joined: 03/23/05	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #67 - 09/18/07 at 22:42:57	Post Tools	Print Post
	It seems that Kramnik has essentially neutralized 1.e4. A bit depressing, actually. Perhaps Berliner was right about 1.d4 being the best move.

	We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. &&~ Henry James
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HgMan God Member Offline Demand me nothing: What you know, you know Posts: 2330 Location: Up on Cripple Creek Joined: 11/09/04 Gender:	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #66 - 09/17/07 at 22:25:06	Post Tools	Print Post
	Smyslov_Fan wrote on 09/17/07 at 06:50:50: I get the feeling that Kramnik is pushing a bit too much. He was right to play to the end in his game against Anand, but this time it seemed like spending a great deal of energy just for the sake of spending energy. This is a long tournament and Kramnik should accept that a game is drawn when it's drawn and not when there's no material left at all. On the other hand, Svidler needed a quick draw as White because his play seems to be a full level below that of the field. Aronian and Morozevich are living up to the expectations that they would have the most fireworks with two decisive results each, but Kramnik and Anand are still the clear favorites. Leko looked rusty in his Sunday loss. I had wondered aloud previously if he had been playing enough games before the tournament, and now Leko looks likely to finish in the bottom half unless he can play himself into shape. Only four rounds have been played and there's going to be a lot of interesting chess. I'm still rooting for Kramnik and Anand but so far Morozevich has really impressed me with his maturity. Watch for Moro to pick up several seemingly easy points. (There really are no easy points to be had in this tournament.) I was thinking the same thing, but suspect that Kramnik has an excellent sense of his own health and abilities. And if he's playing these out, I suspect it means he's in excellent form. Watch out!

	"Luck favours the prepared mind." --Louis Pasteur
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JonHecht Senior Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 345 Joined: 01/17/07	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #65 - 09/17/07 at 21:08:10	Post Tools	Print Post
	TopNotch wrote on 09/17/07 at 18:02:05: e2e4 wrote on 08/24/07 at 06:42:19: Quote: Hasn't Anand already won the fide-ch once? Yes the one in 2000, but who remembers ... For that matter Khalifman and Kasimdzhanov were world champions too, but who remembers. Toppy I won made it to the semi-finals of the FIDE Knockout.


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Smyslov_Fan God Member Correspondence fan Offline Progress depends on the unreasonable man. ~GBS Posts: 6902 Joined: 06/15/05	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #64 - 09/17/07 at 19:50:07	Post Tools	Print Post
	I repeat myself, but I hope you won't mind too much: The FIDE knockout world championship events were interesting, but they are not the same caliber or even in the same line of descent that this World Championship is. This World Championship carries the unbroken royal lineage of Botvinnik-Kasparov-Kramnik and is in my opinion the true World Championship. Nobody has mentioned that Epishin or Berliner were world champions either. They won in Correspondence Chess. We're talking about the World Chess Championship. It's understood by the casual chess fan so I don't see why it's so hard for others to understand. Even Anand considers this to be a different species than his knock-out title. I'm a bit surprised by Svidler's public disappointment in his result against the Petroff. He chose a tame line and seemed almost eager to get an early rest day. If I was in the tournament and had Black against Svidler I'd be sorely tempted to play the Petroff after these comments. Unfortunately for Svidler, I think there are several players who think they can beat him even as Black.


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TopNotch God Member Offline I only look 1 move ahead, but its always the best Posts: 2211 Joined: 01/04/03 Gender:	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #63 - 09/17/07 at 18:02:05	Post Tools	Print Post
	e2e4 wrote on 08/24/07 at 06:42:19: Quote: Hasn't Anand already won the fide-ch once? Yes the one in 2000, but who remembers ... For that matter Khalifman and Kasimdzhanov were world champions too, but who remembers. Toppy

	The man who tries to do something and fails is infinitely better than he who tries to do nothing and succeeds - Lloyd Jones
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Prince-Nez Senior Member Offline Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Posts: 251 Joined: 03/23/05	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #62 - 09/17/07 at 17:57:56	Post Tools	Print Post
	From Ian Rogers Chess Life Online column on Svidler v. Gelfand and the Petroff: "The head-banging against the Petroff wall continues," said a disappointed Svidler after the game, "with the same result as always. After the slightest inaccuracy you have nothing. After16 ...Qd7 I should have played 17.Qd3 keeping queens on the board and at least then the game continues. With queens off the board Black doesn't even have to play accurately." At the post-game press conference Spanish journalist Leontxo Garcia made the mistake of suggesting that if so many Petroff games were being seen and being boring, perhaps it was time to turn to Fischer Random/ Chess 960, where the pieces on the first rank are shuffled before the start of the game. Svidler, who had already taken issue with the press conference MC for translating 'head-banging' as 'a discussion', was not amused - "There is a time and a place for Chess 960 and it's not here!"

	We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. &&~ Henry James
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JonHecht Senior Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 345 Joined: 01/17/07	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #61 - 09/17/07 at 15:39:30	Post Tools	Print Post
	So rather than a quick little grandmaster draw, those who are watching online (because they say it is for the viewers) have to watch a long tedious game with little fun in it, because they can't bare to leave and have something exciting happen when they are gone. Hours wasted for the sake of fighting chess! Darn you, ghost of Bobby Fischer!!!! Oh wait... he's still alive, isn't he?


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castlerock God Member Offline Erro Ergo Sum Posts: 842 Location: Chennai Joined: 02/24/05 Gender:	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #60 - 09/17/07 at 14:57:14	Post Tools	Print Post
	Point. May be Cox is right, SF. In the name of fighting chess, probably, short dull draws are getting converted to long dull draws. (I don't mean this game)

	CastleRock
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Smyslov_Fan God Member Correspondence fan Offline Progress depends on the unreasonable man. ~GBS Posts: 6902 Joined: 06/15/05	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #59 - 09/17/07 at 14:41:52	Post Tools	Print Post
	Castlerock, As you probably read, I thought Kramnik was riht to fight it out against Anand (he could have drawn a few moves earlier, such as once the rooks were traded and the outcome was clear). I'm more concerned that this is a trend, as was seen in his trying to create something out of nothing in the B vs N ending and not accepting the draw until all the pawns had been removed.


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castlerock God Member Offline Erro Ergo Sum Posts: 842 Location: Chennai Joined: 02/24/05 Gender:	Re: WCC Mexico City 2007 Reply #58 - 09/17/07 at 08:33:27	Post Tools	Print Post
	Smyslov_Fan wrote on 09/17/07 at 06:50:50: I get the feeling that Kramnik is pushing a bit too much. He was right to play to the end in his game against Anand, but this time it seemed like spending a great deal of energy just for the sake of spending energy. This is a long tournament and Kramnik should accept that a game is drawn when it's drawn and not when there's no material left at all. Anand has lost from similar positions a couple of times. He even quipped once “I brought my Rook Endings book this time”. His distaste for theoretically drawn ending, when you still have to work to prove it, is common knowledge in India. I would have tried the same thing had I been Kramnik.

	CastleRock
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