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Question: Who will win the Candidates' Tournament, 2014?


* This poll has now closed *
Vishy Anand 9 (6.7%) Dmitry Andreikin 0 (0.0%) Levon Aronian 52 (38.5%) Sergey Karjakin 5 (3.7%) Vladimir Kramnik 51 (37.8%) Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2 (1.5%) Peter Svidler 7 (5.2%) Veselin Topalov 9 (6.7%) Total votes: 135 « Created by: Smyslov_Fan on: 03/03/14 at 03:18:21 »

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Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! (Read 82625 times)

FischerTal Senior Member Offline I Love Chess Books Posts: 307 Location: England Joined: 04/11/08	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #234 - 03/31/14 at 20:13:10	Post Tools	Print Post
	I would not overrate Anand's win here, his performance rating in this his best performance for years is still less than Carlsen's average rating over many events. If Karajakin had won that ending in round 13 which he was extremely close to doing then it would be Karajakin , my prediction, who would have gone through rather than Anand. To me it seemed round by round the results of the other players meant their scores kept evening out so no one emerged as a close challenge to Anand. Aronian sad to say seems to have a mental block in Candidates tournament , interestingly though he does really well in team events where I cannot remember a great Anand performance in an Olympiad. Kramnik seemed to crack up for a few rounds after losing to Topalov Yet Aronian let him off and he agreed an insipid draw Anand's achievement though to win this candidates in Russia with 4 Russians in the field is tremendous though, as Anand seems to play below par in India he might be better off playing Carlsen in Norway! My feeling is the rematch will be even more favourable to Carlsen who now has more experience at this level and has had another year to develop


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Keano God Member Offline Money doesn't talk, it swears. Posts: 2916 Location: Toulouse Joined: 05/25/05 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #233 - 03/31/14 at 19:01:20	Post Tools	Print Post
	Bonsai wrote on 03/31/14 at 15:36:23: I would not underestimate the achievement of Anand to win this tournament in such a convincing fashion. If Kramnik or Aronian has won like this, we would all be talking about how their perfect technique, fantastic calculation and iron invulnerability will make it really hard to Carlsen to do the same to them as he did to Anand in the last match. It's only because Anand lost that last match so clearly and hasn't had that many great tournaments in the last few years that we question how impressed we should be with his performance, isn't it? And Carlsen feeling complacent about Anand ("didn't I just beat that guy in a totally convincing fashion, this will be easy...") would be exactly what might give Anand a better chance this time than last time. And perhaps losing the title was what it took to really re-motivate Anand properly?! Who knows. Completely agree. Also Anand was in dismal form in the first match, if he brings his A game this time Carlsen will have a real struggle on his hands. Also shorter matches these days will favour Anand. Anyway whatever about that match his victory in this tournament was inspirational to all players all over the world, and a good poke in the eye to Kasparov and all his age discriminatory statements. Fantastic result for chess, the best in years. Well done Anand.


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ErictheRed God Member Offline USCF National Master Posts: 2533 Location: USA Joined: 10/02/05	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #232 - 03/31/14 at 17:02:16	Post Tools	Print Post
	Bonsai wrote on 03/31/14 at 15:36:23: I would not underestimate the achievement of Anand to win this tournament in such a convincing fashion. If Kramnik or Aronian has won like this, we would all be talking about their perfect technique, fantastic calculation and iron invulnerability... I agree, it was quite an achievement for Anand. But let's not get overly excited; these were (mostly) the players that he's already shown himself to be superior to in the past, and he looked terribly outclassed against Carlsen very recently. Without his fantastic opening preparation I don't think Anand is clearly a stronger player than many of the other top GMs, and we've seen Carlsen easily bypass his opening preparation once already. If Anand catches Carlsen in some prepared lines, I expect the match to be much more competitive. If Carlsen can just "play chess" (even in fairly dull positions) again, I don't expect anything substantially different from the last time around.


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Bonsai God Member Offline Posts: 622 Joined: 03/13/04 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #231 - 03/31/14 at 15:36:23	Post Tools	Print Post
	RoleyPoley wrote on 03/31/14 at 14:26:39: But the difficulty in this candidates match in assessing Anand's form is that most of the games people have been commenting on the poor moves made by his rivals. I havent been left with the feeling that he has played all that well against his opponents.....and they have certainly not played well against each other. In the last candidates tournament it felt like several players stood out. Maybe that is a good thing for him, but equally it may just paper over any cracks in his game. I would not underestimate the achievement of Anand to win this tournament in such a convincing fashion. If Kramnik or Aronian has won like this, we would all be talking about how their perfect technique, fantastic calculation and iron invulnerability will make it really hard to Carlsen to do the same to them as he did to Anand in the last match. It's only because Anand lost that last match so clearly and hasn't had that many great tournaments in the last few years that we question how impressed we should be with his performance, isn't it? And Carlsen feeling complacent about Anand ("didn't I just beat that guy in a totally convincing fashion, this will be easy...") would be exactly what might give Anand a better chance this time than last time. And perhaps losing the title was what it took to really re-motivate Anand properly?! Who knows.


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ErictheRed God Member Offline USCF National Master Posts: 2533 Location: USA Joined: 10/02/05	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #230 - 03/31/14 at 14:51:52	Post Tools	Print Post
	IMJohnCox wrote on 03/31/14 at 12:01:03: >When a champion from the younger generation eventually emerges, Didn't that already happen?! Of course I meant to write "challenger," as I already had in a previous post in this thread.


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RoleyPoley YaBB Moderator Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 741 Location: London Joined: 12/29/13 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #229 - 03/31/14 at 14:26:39	Post Tools	Print Post
	ReneDescartes wrote on 03/31/14 at 14:09:46: Smyslov_Fan wrote on 03/31/14 at 06:31:13: I rather doubt that Carlsen will suffer as Tal did in 1961. He doesn't have major health issues, and he doesn't drink excessively (at least, nothing like that has been reported). The rematch will probably resemble Alekhin-Bogoljubov II or Karpov-Korchnoi II more than anything Botvinnik pulled off. The odds in the last Carlsen-Anand match were such that it was more likely that Carlsen would win 7-3 than that Anand would win at all. I don't see a good reason to expect Anand to perform better next time. The match won't be in India, he won't be as well rested, and Carlsen will still be hungry to win. I think Carlsen is still favored to win, but I don't think this is like the two matches mentioned, if only because Anand's past and present strength is comparable to that of Botvinnik, not of a near-the-top-but-never-there player like Bogolyubov or Korchnoi. Anand's victory in this Candidates' is much more convincing than was Carlsen's in the last. This match will be like something never seen before, say Lasker-Capablanca II 1924 or Botvinnik-Fischer II 1965. A rematch between a rejuvenated great ex-champion and a great new champion, players of tremendous historical stature at opposite, and almost symmetrical, stages of their careers. But the difficulty in this candidates match in assessing Anand's form is that most of the games people have been commenting on the poor moves made by his rivals. I havent been left with the feeling that he has played all that well against his opponents.....and they have certainly not played well against each other. In the last candidates tournament it felt like several players stood out. Maybe that is a good thing for him, but equally it may just paper over any cracks in his game.

	"As Mikhail Tal would say ' Let's have a bit of hooliganism! '" Victor Bologan.
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up and comer Senior Member Offline Posts: 252 Joined: 10/20/08 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #228 - 03/31/14 at 14:24:47	Post Tools	Print Post
	ANDREW BRETT wrote on 03/30/14 at 08:37:10: Didn't expect Vishy to be so competitive - only in Rd 13 was he in some kind of trouble and that is why he won ! That said, surprised Aronian/Topalov didn't play the Berlin as I doubt if Vishy had anything too good against it - see the Karjakin game. Aronian - who I tipped to win seems to feel the pressure of these candidates tournaments- can't but help that he played too much before hand. Kramnik- pretty good with white . Seemed unready for non mainstream 1d4/c4 ideas. Wasn't in form that Karajakin game was terrible ! Svidler- just isn't consistent enough - has the talent to win but just doesn't deliver all the time. Mame/Andreikin - both have impressed me - Mame almost was in contention and Andreikin proved he deserved to be there and wasn't out of his depth. Tops - well he wasn't at his best - v. good crush of Kram with white. Karjakin - nothing out of the ordinary- still kudos for his anti-Kramnik 3Bf4. Still can't believe what Kram played there given that Kamsky plays it and might be within his prep ! Anand will surely go 1d4 next match . I think his problems with Magnus are more to do with the fact that Carlsen's middlegame/endgame is stronger. Expect Carlsen will simply aim to get a game of chess rather than a theoretical clash. Still expect him (MC) to win comfortably but perhaps not by +3 I disagree with you about Karjakin, he showed great ingenuity with his positional sacrifices, winning both games he sacced his rook for a minor piece. He impressed me a lot this tournament, I think he might be able to get inside the top 2-5 rated now.

	uscf - 2250
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ReneDescartes God Member Offline Qu'est-ce donc que je suis? Une chose qui pense. Posts: 1236 Joined: 05/17/10 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #227 - 03/31/14 at 14:09:46	Post Tools	Print Post
	Smyslov_Fan wrote on 03/31/14 at 06:31:13: I rather doubt that Carlsen will suffer as Tal did in 1961. He doesn't have major health issues, and he doesn't drink excessively (at least, nothing like that has been reported). The rematch will probably resemble Alekhin-Bogoljubov II or Karpov-Korchnoi II more than anything Botvinnik pulled off. The odds in the last Carlsen-Anand match were such that it was more likely that Carlsen would win 7-3 than that Anand would win at all. I don't see a good reason to expect Anand to perform better next time. The match won't be in India, he won't be as well rested, and Carlsen will still be hungry to win. I think Carlsen is still favored to win, but I don't think this is like the two matches mentioned, if only because Anand's past and present strength is comparable to that of Botvinnik, not of a near-the-top-but-never-there player like Bogolyubov or Korchnoi. And Anand's victory in this Candidates' is much more convincing than was Carlsen's in the last--over the same Kramnik, Aronian, and Svidler.. This match will be like something never seen before, say Lasker-Capablanca II 1924 or Botvinnik-Fischer II 1965. A rematch between a rejuvenated great ex-champion and a great new champion, players of tremendous historical stature at opposite, and almost symmetrical, stages of their careers.


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IMJohnCox God Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 1551 Location: London Joined: 01/28/06 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #226 - 03/31/14 at 12:01:03	Post Tools	Print Post
	>When a champion from the younger generation eventually emerges, Didn't that already happen?!


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chk God Member Offline a pawn is a pawn Posts: 1063 Location: Athens Joined: 10/26/06 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #225 - 03/31/14 at 11:31:13	Post Tools	Print Post
	MartinC wrote on 03/30/14 at 13:00:33: ... Still, if nothing else, rematches shortly after the first match must be utterly horrible things to mentally deal with for the new champion. Maybe it'll be a bit easier now they're much shorter so a bit less effort invested. This is the most interesting thing I've read. One thing is for sure to me: the psychology of this rematch will be weird!

	"I play honestly and I play to win. If I lose, I take my medicine." - Bobby
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Keano God Member Offline Money doesn't talk, it swears. Posts: 2916 Location: Toulouse Joined: 05/25/05 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #224 - 03/31/14 at 09:05:15	Post Tools	Print Post
	Well it was a great tournament. The only thing that slightly took the gloss off was the appearance of ex-dictator Kirsan Ilyumzhinov at the last round walking around the chessboards making sure he got on the camera.


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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: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #223 - 03/31/14 at 06:31:13	Post Tools	Print Post
	I rather doubt that Carlsen will suffer as Tal did in 1961. He doesn't have major health issues, and he doesn't drink excessively (at least, nothing like that has been reported). The rematch will probably resemble Alekhin-Bogoljubov II or Karpov-Korchnoi II more than anything Botvinnik pulled off. Stating that one player would be more interesting than another is a matter of opinion, not logic or illogic. As much as I like Vishy Anand's chess style and as much as I appreciate his pleasant demeanor, I am very disappointed by the nationalistic sentiments many of his fans on other sites have been spouting. Anand is a great national hero. He is well respected by his peers and is deservedly one of the most liked world champions in chess history. His fans are actually doing him a disservice by attacking those who suggested someone else would have been more interesting this time. The odds in the last Carlsen-Anand match were such that it was more likely that Carlsen would win 7-3 than that Anand would win at all. I don't see a good reason to expect Anand to perform better next time. The match won't be in India, he won't be as well rested, and Carlsen will still be hungry to win.


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RoleyPoley YaBB Moderator Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 741 Location: London Joined: 12/29/13 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #222 - 03/30/14 at 15:19:53	Post Tools	Print Post
	gewgaw wrote on 03/30/14 at 10:11:24: TopNotch wrote on 03/29/14 at 18:47:11: [quote author=4F4D5F4F495F280 link=1393552694/207#207 date=1396115113]Of course, biased indians will disagree, but for chess a match like Carlsen - Kramnik/Aronian would be more interesting. Strange as it may seem to you, but of all the players in this field, the one that will probaly give the most interesting match to Carlsen actually won the tournament. As for being better for chess, what is more intriguing than a well earned re-match. It's not about deserving a shot, it's about earning a shot. Nakamura deserves a shot, Carauana deserves a shot, Ding Liren will probably eventually deserve a shot, etc, but ultimately there can be only one challenger. Gracefully accept it, live with it and stop moaning about it, and no, I am not Indian. Topper [/quote Anand is obviously the winner of this candidate. Was it expected? Well, actually no one bet on Anand, except of biased indians, @topnotch and all smart alecs, who always can be found on the winner side. . Why do you keep prefacing the word Indians with the word Biased?

	"As Mikhail Tal would say ' Let's have a bit of hooliganism! '" Victor Bologan.
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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: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #221 - 03/30/14 at 14:48:07	Post Tools	Print Post
	Carlsen's endgame play is superior to Anand's, while Anand is superior in the opening, in the middle-game it's close to par I think. All in all should be an enthralling match, Anand motivated and hungry again, eager to prove something to himself and the World meets the brash indestructible force for round two. Lets hope for a memorable encounter. Tops

	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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ReneDescartes God Member Offline Qu'est-ce donc que je suis? Une chose qui pense. Posts: 1236 Joined: 05/17/10 Gender:	Re: Who will win this year's Candidates' Tournament! Reply #220 - 03/30/14 at 14:32:23	Post Tools	Print Post
	Congratulations to Anand! He'll use a different match strategy this time, that's for sure. And look for 1.d4.


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