Getting the item up early since I hope to get some sleep at some point. Post results as you see'em. Get your pairings here. Anand-Topalov is the heavyweight duel of the day. Anand scorched the FIDE champ in the first half, and Topalov isn't one to lick his wounds and let discretion be the better part of valor when he's out of form. And another loss won't hurt Topalov as much as a win would buoy him, so he might go for it even with black.
Leader Kamsky has black against Bacrot, who showed signs of life against Anand yesterday after playing tamely for a few rounds. Ponomariov will try to get off the mat with white against Svidler, who said yesterday that his win against Topalov was one of his best games.
Update: Another round of rich, fabulous chess. And decisive chess! Topalov played "very well, very imaginatively" (Kasparov) today to beat Anand with black in the Najdorf. As I mentioned in the ChessBase wrap-up (now with many on-site photos), instead of the usual long castle, Vishy played for clarity on the queenside and castled short. Topalov wasn't having it and gave up a pawn for rook penetration. He later sacrificed on f3 and an endgame arose that was very tough to defend. A wonderful game.
Ponomariov's won an impressive game over Svidler. He squeezed the maximum out of his space advantage. I'm not sure how White is going to win if Black declines to take the knight on move 40 though. White gets a passed pawn in a queen endgame but there are checks enough to draw fairly easily. Bacrot got into trouble against Kamsky suprisingly quickly out of an unusual Slav line. Kamsky let him off the hook later by pushing the h-pawn prematurely, but it was still another strong effort.
Kamsky now leads by a full point over Anand and has white against Anand and Topalov yet to come.
Those boards on the Mtel site are sure hard on the eyes.
Any evaluations on the games ?
Here's my take, untarnished by GM analysis:
Bacrot - Kamsky, move 39: Black is slightly better, probably not enough for a win though.
Anand - Topalov, move 39: Black has the better chances in the endgame once he gets his kingside rolling.
Ponomariov - Svidler, move 31: White is firmly in control.
I'd agree except that now (move 42), Kamsky's position is looking seriously good. If he takes on a2, then the black a-pawn looks hard to stop.
Also just my take, be interested to see what the pros think..
I'd offer my opinion on today's games but:
"Have you ever seen a monkey examining a watch?"--Steinitz.
Seems to me Anand blundered with 46.Bxd5 - he should've taken on d5 a move earlier... now he had to give up h2 (anything else loses at least a piece) and black's 3 connected passers will win.
Pono-Svidler is now just "a matter of technique", as they say - white has an extra pawn and the better-placed heavy pieces.
Bacrot - Kamsky, move 49: I think Kamsky's chances of winning this endgame are very low....
Pono beat Svidler, Topalov beat Anand, and Bacrot - Kamsky just drew.
Pono beats Svidler. Who was the guy who said yesterday that Pono's an imposter, and his rating isn't real?
Topalov beats Anand. Who was the guy who said yesterday that Topalov is an imposter, and his rating isn't real?
I bet they were using computers LOL :P
It's finally over! The Topster wins against Vishy, Gata and Bacrot draw (Gata must have been better in the middlegame, but Etienne was tenacious in defending), and Ruslan held his advantage to win against Peter. Three rounds to go and Gata extends his lead by a full point over Anand...
I should have refreshed the page first! ~lol~ :-)
Tomorrow, it's Kamsky-Anand, and if Gata wins, he'll win the tournament with 2 rounds to spare. Who would've have believed it to be possible a week ago?
Peace...
Entertaining contests today, all three games. Anand went awry despite what looked like a favorable position earlier on, so Kamsky's draw now puts him a full point ahead of the field with three rounds to go. He still must meet Anand and Topalov again, but has looked very good thus far with the white pieces. so thinga look good for him.
Hotep,
Maliq
Hotep,
Maliq
WAKE UP! Mig,
Sleep is for retired people!
:-)
what an exciting tournament. With the exception of the off day I've gotten nothing but "Mig sleep" due to the fact that the games take place during my normal slumber period. It's been worth it though to experience Kamsky's "impossible" results. I hope once his work is done and he's able to let his hair down he'll feel joy mixed with a craving to keep pushing forward. I'd give half my kingdom for an authorized Kamsky T-shirt to wear as I follow him on ICC. I've already spray painted in large stenciled letters "GATA" on my left trouser leg and "KAMSKY" on the right.
"It's been worth it though to experience Kamsky's "impossible" results. I hope once his work is done and he's able to let his hair down he'll feel joy mixed with a craving to keep pushing forward."
Have you seen any photos of him lately? He has no hair to let down.
Seriously, let's see how he does in the three remaining games. He still has to face two players thirsting for revenge (Anand, Svidler), and another who is always dangerous (Topalov). In his favor, he has two Whites in the remaining three games, but the usual disadvantage of the Black pieces has been practically non-existent in this tournament. Over 21 games so far, White is only +1.
Actually, only Topolov was using a computer. It must hurt to put in it first thing in the morning, and take it out last thing at night. Now I just realized that my man Kamsky is using one also, has to be with that result. I hope they don't catch him during the next three rounds.
Interesting stat regarding only a +1 with white. I'm not sure if it has anything to with the no draw clause, but I'm enjoying these longer games. I didn't realize until yesterday that Bacrot was playing in this tournament. :o
"Actually, only Topolov was using a computer. It must hurt to put in it first thing in the morning, and take it out last thing at night. Now I just realized that my man Kamsky is using one also, has to be with that result. I hope they don't catch him during the next three rounds."
Why do you think Topalov used computers? He should have been clear first if he actually DID use one, because computers are much better than humans. And Why do you think Kamsky is cheating just by the results? I mean, COME OOOONN! His games are all so positional, and his endgame is great! How could someone play that way, if computers suck at positional play and endgame? And don't forget, Kamsky used to be No. 3! and almost won Karpov! It is totally possible for him to win that many games without a computer.
Exlixir,
See the little symbol [:o] at the end of my post. Can you say tongue-in-cheek? It's called levity, and every now and then we can all use some.
Great stuff! From now on, in addition to "I've never beaten a healthy man," we'll have "I've never pulled an upset without having illicit computer assistance."
last year Kramnik described another high voltage game between Anand-Kramnik as '22nd century chess'... compare that to Kramnik's losses to Topalov (was it 18 moves?) ... a match between Anand-Topalov match would do chess a lot more good than any other at present. but as for the chess world ... well that's a different story isn't it?
Hmmm....It seems as if I'm a reverse jinx on Ponomariov. Just after than I post comments that Pono might be a bit outclassed by his M-Tel rivals--and he manages to notch his first win of the event, in fine style.
We'll see if he can salvage the rest of the event with some more wins.
Topalov won!!!
He is really the best, he won last 4 games,he is unstopable....
Topalov won Mtel Masters!!!
Now his ELO will be higner than Kasparov before his retirement.Kramnik can not stop him,coz he forgot how to play chess already.