Report and photos up at ChessBase. Lots of good chess on the first day of the third round. Also some pretty bad chess, fairly typical of the short time control. Bareev was in a tricky position against Bruzon but probably didn't have to blunder it away in a single move. Sutovsky, after an amazing defensive effort against Bacrot, missed an endgame win. It's not simple enough to make me wonder if the score was wrong, but it's something he would have found with more than the increment left.
How interesting would it be to come to play in your chess club, to ask a player rated a little bit above you (let's say 60 points for instance) to play some blitz games, and to hear "No sorry, your rating is too low to play against me". I'm certain the other guy would be instantly called an idiot by everybody.
Oh yes ... not even mentionning the fact that Kramnik was 100 points above Topalov 3 or 4 years ago.
So please, Mr Kramnik, don't forget that Veselin makes it smoother in your ass !!
So what? My remark has nothing to do with the world cup? Yes, I agree, but this world cup is here to find Topalov's opponents for the next cycle. So ... yes, seing serious opponents like Ivanchuk disappearing because they have played ONE bad game is just ridiculous.
On the whole, Ivanchuk is stronger than Topalov
and would certainly defeat him in a match.
On the whole, this world championship sucks. Please Bessel Kok, send Kirsan Illumjinov to hell, and bring us back our zonal and IZ tournaments, followed by candidate matches and a final WC match.
This world cup shows too much blitz. This world cup system sucks. This whole championship sucks. At San-Luis, in case of equality, the world title would have been played in blitz. This whole system is worth nothing.
Blitz means nothing, 30 min games mean nothing, I'm rated 2185 and have already defeated 2600+ players in blitz and 2500+ players in 30 mins. This whole thing is NOT a world championship.
Another point : Just look at the world cup diary : games every day, during 20 days. Energy will be the only criteria, and young players will necessarily prevail. Where's chess, where's sport? Look at everybody's pictures, they are all already exhausted. This world cup is nervously exhausting, and the winner will show big nerves, great energy (and also luck) but probably not the best chess level.
By the way, Mig, you're doing a very nice job with your daily reports on chessbase.com. I have nothing against you, I'm just fed up with chess going down. Even 100 or 150 years ago, Morphy's or Lasker's images were better than Topalov's today ... but every chess player perfectly knows that Illumjinov is FIDE president, and every chess player has already seen his face somewhere.
Personnality cult is emblematic of tyranic and/or stalinian systems. Putin and Kirsan are good friends, now you can see Putin's face everywhere in Russia, and you can't come to www.fide.com without seing Kirsan's face 3 or 4 times on the first page.
I'm just FED UP.
... and last thing, about Bacrot playing Rg6?? and Sutovsky not playing instantly Re7, it just shows how the players are already exhausted and how the whole system is breaking the tubes down.
But nobody speaks against Kirsan. He puts money on the table. All the top chess players much rather to take some thousand dollars now, and nobody thinks about the fact that they'd all get much more, would chess be more mediatic, would fide's job be done more seriously...
It's a pity to say, but people get what they deserve. The top chess players are getting right now what they deserve. Some money today, and they will starve till next world cup, where they will still have to shut up and pray to win blitz games to ... survive.
Such a shame to see that those who have the brain to reach 2600 or 2700 don't have the practical sense to unify and speak together. Or put with other words, it seems that there's no place in a man's body to put together a big brain and big bollocks...
"On the whole, Ivanchuk is stronger than Topalov
and would certainly defeat him in a match."
Well, MAYBE Ivanchuk can defeat Topalov in a match, but he DEFINITELY can lose a match against Topalov's second Cheparinov :))).
BTW, good comeback from Cheparinov today. Topalovian opening, Topalovian pressure and finally the youngster Carlsen,who played quite well overall, blundered a 3-move tactics.
I was quite sceptical about Danailov's statement that he wants to make another world champion in 10 years - Cheparinov, but maybe I am wrong.
Oh Oh It looks like Rouslan is going to leave Chess and take up Big Money Poker.
Sorry to see you leave Rouslan. Your comments have been so constructive and helpful in the past. We will all miss your comments.
However, I must be honest. I will NOT miss your comments.
I strongly support Bessel Kok and sure hope he wins.
I am sitting back and enjoying the World Cup games. The players are playing their hearts out. And being a fan, I feel it is my opportunity to watch and appreciate all that the players are doing.
Well I am NOT FED UP. I am still hungry for more.
Tommy
Tommy,
Why do you say that my comments were not constructive? I'm not just criticizing, saying that everthing is bad, and bringing in no idea at all. All I've said that today the world championship is much worse than it was 20 years ago.
Zonals, IZ tournaments, candidate matches and world championship, all this DID A LOT to avoid such players like Karpov (in 95), Khalifman, Ponomariov and Khazimdjanov being called FIDE world champions.
The only person openly criticizing here is you, Tommy. You're criticizing me. And you're strictly not answering to what I say.
If you can prove me that ...
1) a cup system can be better than a tournament (IZ) system to tell who deserves to play candidate matches,
2) semi-rapid and blitz can bring something good into a WC cycle to tell who deserves the right to be world champion,
3) the mediatic coverage of chess is better today than it was, for instance, in 72 during Spassky-Fischer or in 78 for Karpov-Korchnoļ (when the whole world was following the events),
4) it's better to base a tournament result on stamina and nerves than on pure chess talent,
... then ok, I'll agree with everything you said. But as long as you don't prove me point by point that I'm wrong, then I see no reason for you to be so aggressive.
I'm not even talking about the huge advantage that was given to the 8 players who did play in San-Luis (just think for instance that Morozevitch, 4th in San-Luis, seats in a golden chair, when Grischuk, Bacrot, Aronian or many other better rated players have to accomplish a miracle to join that final 8 tournament)
Tommy, you've been openly sarcastic and aggressive in your post. So please feel free to answer to what I say, especially about the 4 points above (those points summarize my 2 initial posts).
The quality of the games is becoming worse and worse from round to round, unfortunately, opposite from what one would expect since better players are advancing. I guess everybody is getting tired. Many results feel almost random, and black winning more than white can't be a good sign at this high level.
Tommy, last idea :
"players are playing their hearts out"
No doubt about that, money helps a lot. But then try to tell me how you explain the huge amount of blunders ?
If you read my post, you'll see that I have explanations : playing everyday nerve breaking games is bad. There is no day off in this world cup. If you look at the players pictures, you'll see a lot of exhausted faces (on day 10, 11 days left till the end, the winner will end up like a zombie).
So maybe you're happy to watch the games, but even for a patzer like me, it's not amazingly interesting to watch a game where 2600 or 2700+ players play such big blunders like Bacrot's Kg6 in his last game against Sutovsky.
I'd much rather see real chess, with days off, without blitz. If you're still hungry with that s--t, then ... enjoy your meal.
Rouslan Toumaniantz
Rouslan
I said your comments were constructive.
where do you read the word "not"
Please learn to read English or have it translated for you into your language if your regular language is not english.
when I say
your comments are constructive
and you say I said the opposite.
that is a waste of my time and I will no longer respond to you.
I will add one thing. this is true for everyone. Our happiness always comes from within us. therefore the cause of our unhappiness is ALWAYS caused by inside of ourself. NEVER by anything outside of ourself.
FIDE is NOT the cause of your unhappiness. the cause is inside of you. Look inside of yourself. I know it is super very painful to look inside of ourself. but it must be done.
by the way. I am not the cause of any unhappiness inside of you. I am here to guide you into happiness.
Tommy.
I could do without the blitz & 5 min. games, but it is what it is. Agreed, the play isn't looking good, so I'm looking forward to Corus.
Cheparinov didn't really have a great day, until Carlson committed a howler in time trouble. Up to that point it looked like Carlson was headed for the next round.
Stanislav,
Yes, it's a shame. Cold weather, nerve-breaking games everyday, no day off, the chess level is so bad that even a patzer like me (2185) sees more and more obvious mistakes ...
But it's not easy to understand to the typical US chess player that what's going on is no more chess, that it's not a true world championship.
Shall I add that the typical US chess player is too much aggressive over the board and understands nothing about chess? Those words are not for the very few, real US citizens, who managed to reach a decent play level, but ... the US mentality is not suitable for chess. That's probably why, out of the 20 best US players, you can find only russians, jews, and a japanese, and almost nobody from "wasp" culture (maybe Nick De Firmian ?).
Therefore, Bobby Fischer was probably a genetic mistake produced by CIA. That's why he went nuts, and that's why he's not recognized as a US citizen any more.
Oh and yes ... if you read those words and are shocked, then ... it's HUMOR. Even if there is certainly some part of truth, it's just HUMOR, and has not to be taken seriously. Probably because I'm fed up to read answers to my posts by people who have nothing to say.
Ruslan.
I spell like an engineer. Carlsen :)
I really enjoyed the Magnus Carlsen win from the black side. that was a great end game. worthy of taking the time to play it over. easy enough to do on the computer.
the kid is good. I just might become a Magnus Carlsen fan.
Tommy
The US is a mix of cultures and ethnicities, and most are represented in the top 100 US players overall.
Specifically with regard to nonJewish nonRussian nonAsian players, former US Champions GM Christiansen, GM deFirmian, GM Wolff, and GM Walter Browne come to mind immediately. GM Fedorowicz is another, although his family may be catholic rather than protestant, I am not sure.
There are great Jewish chessplayers. There are great Protestant chessplayers. (In Europe, most of the English and Dutch GMs who are not immigrants fall into the latter group.)
I don't think you can count out any particular group, although some are certainly overrepresented relative to their numbers in the general US population.
Respectfully,
Duif
>
Ivanchuk may know more about chess than anyone alive, with the possible exception of Karpov and Kasparov. But I wouldn't bet on him in a match against any of the top eight players in the world....
Tactical weaknesses, nerves, health problems. I have the same problems :-)
oops I was referencing the upthread qtn "On the whole, Ivanchuk is stronger than Topalov
and would certainly defeat him in a match"
Mig---
I plan to take your advice soon. I went through your Blackbelt weekly and have decided to sign up! Thanks for the website. I look forward to the subscription
Hats off to Yuri Shulman who has to be the "sleeper" of the tournament up to this point. The United States is fortunate to have him.
I hate this format. Sevilla 1987 was class. For me Kramnik-Kasparov was personally a great match. Being rated somewhere in between 2400 and 2500 FIDE I appreciated how Kramnik game after another could nullify the greatest player ever (not saying that club players wouldn't appreciate the beauty of it, altho the trend is they favour seeing wild tactical skirmishes) It was fascinating now that you think of it.
Cheparinov-Carlsen offered nothing to me. Neither did say Kamsky-Smirin. So many great players being reduced to blundering nerve wrecks.
Chess shouldn't seek mainsteam approval and I doubt it can realistically seek it. Chess is for chess players. Those who can appreciate Bh3! or Rxf7! or Nd5!. All this TV stuff it has been mostly bs with couple of exceptions, and even then there was more interest in the man vs machine aspect than chess in itself, and Fischer's triumph as a media phenomen was more about cold war emotions than chess.
Ilymzhinov is the worst thing ever to happen to chess (since Fischer's retirement anyway).
Chess can't live on TV but it might attract some corporate sponsorship and a bit more broadsheet media approval if it could protect it's image as an old and noble game of intelligence, creativity and art.
Capablanca-Alekhine, Botvinnik-Tal so many great matches that pushed chess forward and captured the imagination of millions of chess fans.
How have we fallen.
Topalov I think is a disgrace to refuse a match against Kramnik. It's the only way out of this mess. But perhaps Ilymzhinov is lining up some corrupted future dollars and it's not worth it to put the title on line against a player who is arguably more talented than you but merely haven't worked hard in last 5 years.
I would bet my house on Kramnik winning it if those two ever met. He would come fit, prepared, solid and with a point to prove.
Kramnik made a mistake refusing Kasparov a rematch, considering Kasparov's standing in world of chess, but still Garry has partly himself to blame. He did criticize Karpov's right to a rematch in 1980's which resulted in a rule change.
Whoever noted that there is too much short term self-interest going on and the highly intelligent(?) 2700's can't see the bigger picture was spot on.
I just have trouble supporting someone who I think (I have to say 'think' because I have not been able to follow any games) is trying to draw through to the blitz games in order to highlight his strength. Maybe he is not, but this is the feeling I have about Shulman. I really don't like players being able to put off the chess until it gets to blitz.
Shulman didn't have a single draw in his match against Khalifman before the final blitz game. All six previous games were wins for one of the sides.
"This world cup shows too much blitz. This world cup system sucks. This whole championship sucks. At San-Luis, in case of equality, the world title would have been played in blitz. This whole system is worth nothing."
I've beaten a couple of the guys who played in this tournament in 5 0 games on ICC. And I'm ****ing terrible (so don't ask me for my handle). I got lucky one time against Darcy Lima, played 2 Qe2 against Alekhine's, caught him away from what he knew (i've played this a hundred times) and won. And that's what happens in blitz, (though usually by Blacktrying to capitalize on the draw=win rule). You see arcane lines which are probably (objectively) bad, but that one player doesn't have time to bust at the board in a 5-minute game, unless he's got a chip in his head.
I have to agree with you - blitz shouldn't ultimately decide a world championship.
Speaking of too much Blitz chess, did anybody replay the Champion of Champions (CofC) games on the Internet Chess Club (ICC)?
The games were played for a cash prize of $500, plus a slot in the US Championship. In the end, the 4 Semi-finalists were: IM Andrei Florean (Michigan), Bradley Denton (Mississippi), FM Dmitri Zilberstein (the "State" of Northern California), and IM Mark Ginsburg (Arizona).
Florean defeated Denton in the "Eastern Conference" Championship Semi-Final match, while Zilberstein beat Ginsburg in the "Western Conference" Championship Semi-Final.
Thus, Florean and Zilberstein were paired in the Final. They traded wins in 2 SD/60 + 3 sec., then in the 3 minute + 1 sec games. Finally, the match was decided in a decisive game, where Zilberstein had White and 5 minutes, while Florean had Black, and 4 minutes, but with the "Draw Odds".
There were some really ugly blunders this weekend, especially in the Blitz games. In the last game, Zilberstein tossed a whole Rook in a winning endgame (he was up an Exchange plus a pawn), by moving his Rook to a square that was guarded by Florean's Bishop. Zilberstein must have felt doubly bad, since he apparently had a huge time advantage, with 2:10 left, compared to Florean's 33 seconds.
While it is good that it was an IM who qualified from this event, the quality of the games was pretty dismal. Overall, the CofC event seems more like chess farce than anything else...
Speaking of too much Blitz chess, did anybody replay the Champion of Champions (CofC) games on the Internet Chess Club (ICC)?
The games were played for a cash prize of $500, plus a slot in the US Championship. In the end, the 4 Semi-finalists were: IM Andrei Florean (Michigan), Bradley Denton (Mississippi), FM Dmitri Zilberstein (the "State" of Northern California), and IM Mark Ginsburg (Arizona).
Florean defeated Denton in the "Eastern Conference" Championship Semi-Final match, while Zilberstein beat Ginsburg in the "Western Conference" Championship Semi-Final.
Thus, Florean and Zilberstein were paired in the Final. They traded wins in 2 SD/60 + 3 sec., then in the 3 minute + 1 sec games. Finally, the match was decided in a decisive game, where Zilberstein had White and 5 minutes, while Florean had Black, and 4 minutes, but with the "Draw Odds".
There were some really ugly blunders this weekend, especially in the Blitz games. In the last game, Zilberstein tossed a whole Rook in a winning endgame (he was up an Exchange plus a pawn), by moving his Rook to a square that was guarded by Florean's Bishop. Zilberstein must have felt doubly bad, since he apparently had a huge time advantage, with 2:10 left, compared to Florean's 33 seconds.
While it is good that it was an IM who qualified from this event, the quality of the games was pretty dismal. Overall, the CofC event seems more like chess farce than anything else...
Speaking of too much Blitz chess, did anybody replay the Champion of Champions (CofC) games on the Internet Chess Club (ICC)?
The games were played for a cash prize of $500, plus a slot in the US Championship. In the end, the 4 Semi-finalists were: IM Andrei Florean (Michigan), Bradley Denton (Mississippi), FM Dmitri Zilberstein (the "State" of Northern California), and IM Mark Ginsburg (Arizona).
Florean defeated Denton in the "Eastern Conference" Championship Semi-Final match, while Zilberstein beat Ginsburg in the "Western Conference" Championship Semi-Final.
Thus, Florean and Zilberstein were paired in the Final. They traded wins in 2 SD/60 + 3 sec., then in the 3 minute + 1 sec games. Finally, the match was decided in a decisive game, where Zilberstein had White and 5 minutes, while Florean had Black, and 4 minutes, but with the "Draw Odds".
There were some really ugly blunders this weekend, especially in the Blitz games. In the last game, Zilberstein tossed a whole Rook in a winning endgame (he was up an Exchange plus a pawn), by moving his Rook to a square that was guarded by Florean's Bishop. Zilberstein must have felt doubly bad, since he apparently had a huge time advantage, with 2:10 left, compared to Florean's 33 seconds.
While it is good that it was an IM who qualified from this event, the quality of the games was pretty dismal. Overall, the CofC event seems more like chess farce than anything else...