First! First! Got the first round pairings right here, baby! Get'em while they're hot. Morozevich-Kasimdzhanov, Polgar-Anand, Leko-Topalov, Svidler-Adams. Games start at 2pm EST, 6pm GMT, 3pm Argentine time. Full schedule here. A great round, with winning chances for all eight players. But they're all going to be great rounds. Message board winner prediction poll results: Anand 48%, Leko 20%; Topalov 16%; Polgar 8%; Svidler 4%; Morozevich 3%; Adams 1%; Kasimdzhanov 0%. Not even a courtesy vote for Kasim, but maybe that's because the pollster misspelled his name.
The official site doesn't even have the pairings up yet, failing its first test. [Update: Now if you click the player photos you get SOME of the pairings?! Only the player's games with white. Bizarre.] They are also trying to charge $40 to register to watch the games live. This isn't a money-making scheme because anyone with a brain knows by now that no one pays. Nor do they even have the Dortmund 05 pretext of attracting more spectators to San Luis. So why? To stop the server from being totally crushed is one reason. Not that it will help too much, as they will find out. Countdown to free live games and/or none at all due to traffic 10, 9, 8...
[This is the official r1 thread, so feel free to post results as they come in.]
My 1st round prediction:
Moro 1-0 Kasim
Polgar = Anand
Leko = Topolov
Svidler = Adams
Kasimdzhanov will surprise this board and will not place last. I've already picked Anand, J. Polgar and Leko... in that order. Polgar does well against these guys. Svidler could be surprising good or surprisingly bad.
Moro 1/2 Kasim
Polgar 1/2 Anand
Leko 1/2 Topolov
Svidler 1/2 Adams
The funny thinkg is that if you live outside Argentina you'll be charged US$ 40, and if you live in Argentina, you are charged $ 40 (local currency). 1US$ = 3$.
Do they think people outside Argentina have money to burn, or just plain stupid?
Where are other internet sites showing the games for free other than chessgames.com? I would like to watch two or possible three games live at once if possible. Thanks for your help.
Shr0p.
And considering the quality of the organisers site so far, what guarantee is there that you will see the games uninterupted even if you pay...
The official site MISSED game Topalov-KasimJanov... (round 7 ?)
shr0p, of course ICC will broadcast everything..
Svidler-Adams +=
I think Adams must have suffered a psychological blow from the Hydra match.. I'm afraid he might go down in flames.
Morozevich-Kasimdzhanov +=
Moro is long due a good tourney. Hero or zero, I think hero.
Leko-Topalov =
Leko and Topalov wont risk much.. drawn in 18 moves.
Polgar-Anand -+
Time to stop messing around and write your name in the history books as world champ vishy.
My predictions for Round One!
Svidler-Adams 0-1 (Adams has gained confidence from Hydra match and is not afraid of carbon-based opposition)
Moro-Kasim 1-0 (Moro is a genius, Kasim is what he is)
Leko-Topal 1-0 (Topalov will overstep)
Polgar-Anand = (Anand is bland and Judit is boring, so a boring result is natural)
"Time to stop messing around and write your name in the history books as world champ vishy"... Anand has already been FIDE World Champion.
Draw by far the most likely result in all games except probably Moro-Kasim.
I love that comment, "...and is not afraid of carbon-based opposition."
I'm not sure why you guys are predicting a unanimous Morozevich win over Kasimdzhanov. If you beat Dreev, Ivanchuk, Topalov and Adams in the same tournament, then it's certainly not automatic for Morozevich. In fact Morozevich could drop this game very easily. Kasimdzhanov has a more even temperament and has little pressure on him. Are you all merely looking at ratings to make predictions?
Anand-Polgar boring?? I hope that was a joke because you should remember the Mainz match a few years ago... an 8-game bench-clearing brawl.
Hmm . . . I can't help but think that these are the most intriguing version of match-ups for the first round possible. I have to wonder if it was planned.
The first round will end with wins by Anand and Topalov.
Svidler-Adams, Polgar-Anand and Leko-Topalov could all easily be (relatively) short draws.
Nigel Short, who is putting commentaries on the official site, describes Mickey Adams as "the greatest British chess player of the 21st century". I wonder what point he is trying to make.
Hi Mig,
Thanks for the daily updates. Are you in San Luis, Argentina? Is there an official pairing chart for all rounds?
I will write daily prediction, commentary and report on www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com as well for the Hungarian national newspaper.
Thanks again and have fun :)
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
www.SusanPolgar.com
I found Short's comment quite amusing.
He could have said "the greatest chess player Cornwall has ever produced".
Mig: I like the idea of having Nigel provide commentary, but I really wish they would get you to do the website and power-blogging like you did for the US Championships.
Kasimdzhanov tied with Ivanchuk in the longer games (which were still shorter than the San Luis games will be). Then won in the tiebreaks.
From Chessbase:
"Kasimdzhanov had a brief flirtation with the top ten three years ago and has since dropped back. He didn't have to work too hard in the decisive game because Ivanchuk pulled one of his famous early resignations, walking away on move 27 in a pawn-down endgame. Sure it was lost, and we can't speak for humans, but we know Fritz would have played on!"
Dreev was defeated by Cuban Lenier Dominguez, not Kasimdzhanov, in round 4.
Against Topalov , again the longer games were drawn, and Kasimdzhanov won in the rapids tiebreak phase. And again from chessbase:
"The surprise is complete. First Rustam Kasimdzhanov held Veselin Topalov to four straight draws in their semifinal match. Then he outplayed the Bulgarian and eliminated him by winning both rapid tiebreak games. We have become used to the Uzbekistani's unflappable play. Despite being much worse in several games along the way in Tripoli he refuses to blunder and has lost only one game of 22 played, to Grischuk in the quarterfinals.:
And finally against Adams, the same story: the minimatch was won in the rapids teibreak phase. Chessbase final report:
"In a shock victory Uzbek GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov defeated Britain's Michael Adams in the tiebreak games today to win the FIDE world championship in Libya. Adams was clearly winning with white in the first game, then let it slip and in the end lost. In the second game "Kasim" held the draw quite easily. "
Obviously even to tie with Adams, Topalov, and Ivanchuk is a great accomplishment. But it was in the Rapids games that Kasimdzhanov scored his victories against these players.
Beating Adams, Ivanchuk, and Topalov in the same rapids event shows without question you are a great rapids player. But it is not so much of a predictor for San Luis.
Respectfully,
Duif
One lesson to be learned from the longer games in Tripoli: GM Kasimdzhanov has VERY good nerves, and is not easily pressured into making a fatal error, even when he has a theoretically worse position. That will undoubtedly serve him well in San Luis.
Daaim: i didn't follow chess a few years ago, so i didn't see their games back then, maybe i'll run across them annotated somewhere sometime, i'm just talking from my experience based on a a bit over a year of observing, which i realize isn't that extensive :)
it will be Topalov/anand for first and second place and third will be kasim and fourth will be adams
Btw, could someone help me and tell if it's possible to follow the games with Nigel's commentary somewhere? i have a vague idea even paying the 40 bucks wouldn't give me his commentary...which could be worth it. Or maybe his commentary is only available to spectators in San Luis?
Svidler, looks like a russian bear :)
http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=812
Duif,
I'm surprised.
Those commentaries clearly berate the abilities of Kasimjanov. You're right. He did not beat Dreev; he beat Grischuk... who's equal if not slightly stronger than Dreev. So Topalov, Ivanchuk, Adams, and Grischuk. Not a bad quartet of scalps... in ONE tournament.
First, it was NOT a "rapids event" as you're stating, but rapid tiebreaks were used. The four players mentioned are thought to be stronger than Kasimjanov regardless. Who picked Kasimjanov to win? Second, Kasimjanov didn't TIE against these players... he BEAT them. You don't say someone won a rapid tournament if only the tiebreak was decided that way. The strongest players with the exception of Ivanchuk got through. Third, each player had the same conditions and rules and to denude his accomplishment because he played by the rules is unfair.
I doubt if the same scrutiny would have been given to Topalov had he won. How many GMs can beat those four players in the same tournament at ANY form of chess? Not many.
I love the caption, "Kasimdzhanov making a movement." Not sure that has the ring to it they're after.
Daaim,
No question it was an outstanding accomplishment. I'm just saying that the formats are so different, you can't use a Tripoli performance by anyone to predict their performance in San Luis.
Regards,
Duif
Yes, to do well in San Luis Kasim will have to win games at a classical time control against the world's best. Perhaps he's capable of doing that, but he's never done it before so why pretend he has?
Susan, and anyone else trying to work up a schedule...
The pairings as posted on the official site had some contradictions. Some of them have been resolved. Topalov and Kasimdzhanov are still each missing round 7, but it looks like Topalov has white against Kasimdzhanovfor that round.
I have converted what was there this morning to a day by day schedule for my news page, but it may change again, I don't know.
If you'd like to see what I came up with, it's here.
http://jaderiver.com/chess/hotchess.html
But you might want to wait until the official site posts something final.
Regards,
Duif
Nick,
I must admit he has scored a number of wins over strong players in shortened time controls, but with all due respect, Kasimjanov (supposedly the correct English spelling) did not once reach a 2700 rating by NOT beating the world's best in classical time. Of course, he's capable, but you say he has NEVER done so before... I don't understand. He's beaten van Wely, Bologan, Bareev, Polgar, Ivanchuk, Dreev and other strong GMs. What is your definition of "world's best"?
Nick Faulks,
To be fair, GM Kasimdzhanov has had some excellent results at long time controls (he was a top 20 player a few years BEFORE winning in Tripoli).
In October 2001, he was ranked #11 in the world at 2701, rated ahead of Shirov, Gelfand, Svidler, Polgar, and Ponomariov, among others.
He'd just never won a major top level tournament at that time, but he certainly had wins at long time controls against some top 20 players. He defeated Dreev at Corus in 2002, for example, and defeated van Wely once or twice.
He had some great games against Anand and Shirov at Leon, but to be honest I can't remember if those were rapids games that year or not. But I know he had a win against Shirov at the Olympiad. And he's had long time control wins over Bareev, Ivanchuk, Sutovsky, Bologan, Akopian, Bacrot, J Polgar, Svidler, and others over his career.
So, yes, he's a longshot, but he's certainly played legitimate high 2600 level chess over several years.
All I meant to say was that I didn't feel his result in Tripoli was a predictor for San Luis. But GM Kasimdzhanov has played at Hoogovens, Corus, Moscow, and other strong events in the past, and you don't get to be a top 15 player without some significant accomplishments against other top level players.
Respectfully,
Duif
Daaim,
Most people use the English transliteration from the official FIDE records, because if you don't, the database entries get mixed up. (Hence Serjey Karjakin, for example.)
So I think it's best to use the FIDE version for now...
http://www.fide.com/ratings/card.phtml?event=14200244
Regards,
Duif
"Anand has already been FIDE World Champion."
Fide World Champion? Great..I think you know what I meant, sigh.
Duif,
I appreciate your pointing out Kasimdzhanov's record... most people apparently do not know this.
BTW, I believe the wins against Anand and Shiov were rapids.
I understand about his name. That's how I had been spelling it in all of my coverage, but I didn't know it was incorrect. I notice in the dbases it is "Kasimdzhanov" but I've seen pictures where the placard at the table read "Kasimjanov."
I'll stick with Kasimdzhanov.
This is my wish for the 1st round:
Moro 1-0 Kasim
Polgar = Anand
Leko 0-1 Topolov
Svidler 0-1 Adams
ok, I've spent a few minutes checking Kasim's record in non-rapid games against the other seven in San Luis. I found one win and ten losses.
I got to know the guy in Bled, liked him a lot and hope he does well, but why are there always people insisting that black is white?
Nick,
I think we agree on the basic issue, which is that Kasimdzhanov, as of this moment, is likely to fare worse than the rest of the field unless somebody plays below expectations. On the other hand, he seems to be very levelheaded and with excellent nerves, so he's less likely to collapse even if he has some initial bad positions.
On his record, you are correct, I was in error...the Moscow Grand Prix games were rapids, and I didn't realize that the Hoogovens games were from the blitz event. So his wins against Svidler and J. Polgar were not in long games.
However, the finals match at Tripoli had a number of decisive games in the long time controls. Kasimdzhanov won two and lost two to Adams there. So he must have had at least two wins, if just from that.
And he was definitely #11 at one point:
http://www.fide.com/ratings/toparc.phtml?cod=21
Obviously trying to sort out the San Luis schedule has fried my brain to some extent. ;)
Anyway, my apologies for the confusion.
Duif
Still in NY. Of course I wanted to be there. I was approached by the organizers to go to San Luis and run the website, actually. But I'm on insane deadlines working with Kasparov on his book all of September and October and wasn't going to be able to go. I offered a compromise of running things from here, web-wise at least, and we discussed that for a while, but clearly that wasn't an optimal solution. Better than what they've got, I must say from the looks of things, but still not the same as being there.
As for Kasim, he's a tough cookie for sure. Also a nice guy and I hope he does well. But unless he has seriously upgraded in several ways since Linares he's in for a rough time. (He lost to Topalov and Anand in Linares, to Leko and Moro in 02, so I'm not sure about your sources, Nick!) As for his credentials, coming out ahead of a rock like Adams in the FIDE final last year is all you really need.
Nick,
Only now do I understand that you are only talking about his record against players at San Luis , but he will most certainly beat your "researched" 1-10 score in this tournament. Of course my point was he has beaten players of high-caliber in classical time controls and got his 2700 rating doing just that.
We shall see.
Not very well-played games today, on the whole (Moro-Kasim still going on but I expect them to draw). Topalov was lost against Leko but went on to win. Amazing, how does he do it? Anand did a good job punishing Polgar. In Svidler-Adams they could have played on but the position looked balanced.
We all know 2200 players who routinely get horrid positions against other 2200 players and then swindle them. You think it shouldn't happen 500 points higher but it does.
Anand's game made a fabulous impression on me anyway. I mean this move Kh8 was fantastic. Only after Rg8 did I understand it. Qb7! when everyone is crying b4 wasn't bad either. Just so patient. Bf4 was a bit strange, Qd7 seemed just so much more natural.
It's great to have Short commenting on the match. He's outspoken, and does not hesitate to call it as he sees it, e.g., his characterization of Polgar's play as "inept" when weaker players might have opted for more cautious descriptions, such as "a bit aimless."
Wow, a tough day for Hungary.
Acirce, give the blog a break. You predicted this morning:
"Svidler-Adams, Polgar-Anand and Leko-Topalov could all easily be (relatively) short draws." . Now you say:
"Not very well-played games today, on the whole"
I think you must have wanted to see the short draws, or you fell asleep this afternoon and missed some fine chess.
Evening/night here in Europe. And it was not a prediction, just stating a possible outcome. Why would I have wanted that?