I suppose it's time to kick this fiesta off, no? The FIDE world championship tournament begins in Mexico City tomorrow. Round one begins at 1400 local time, or 3pm EDT, 7pm GMT. That is, it will begin if things on the ground are going better than they are in cyberspace. The official site has had uptime issues and has even more content issues. As far as I can tell, and I'm checking both the English and Spanish versions, nothing has been updated for many days. The countdown has passed and is still up, now in embarrassing negative numbers. Maybe HG Wells is one of the sponsors. Yesterday the site was supposed to broadcast a press conference with the players, but it was canceled at the last minute "due to technical difficulties." I would prepare to get used to that phrase.
I have bittersweet feelings about this because I was supposed to be involved in running the site. I went to Mexico City a year ago and spent several days consulting and outlining content and ways to slowly build the already pretty site into a content machine by the beginning of summer, perhaps using a few local events to test event coverage and broadcasting. I'm not going to air all the laundry, but I was hired and then things broke down after a few months when it became clear I wasn't going to have time to dedicate to doing a proper job. Unfortunately communications fell apart completely and the various manifestos I sent about what needed to happen and what I needed from their side went unanswered. Last I saw and heard, they are a bunch of really well-meaning guys who are doing their best. The problem, which is typical of chess events around the world, is that they hired their friends and chess guys instead of pros. (It's fine to have some loyal friends around, but not in critical positions.) With that I do not mean the look and feel of the site, the current edition of which is a hacked up Mambo version of the beautiful site the German firm Freiland made at the start and that was up a full year ago.
As ever, let us pray that at least the moves, results, and games get out alive. And who knows, maybe they are just laying low and will stun us with a great site and great coverage. I wish them the best, and not just because they hold our fate in their hands! I know the estimable, if often dry, Mihail Marin is supposed to be annotating because I sent him the wire transfer myself. There will be enough of our own attending that news and pics will get out at the usual sources eventually. ChessBase already has a nice report on the technical meeting by Ali Nihat Yazici. I'd love to go, especially since I used to live in Mexico and miss the place, but this is a crazy time for my work with Kasparov. The US edition of his book is coming out October 2 and he has a mini book tour and a tsunami of media appearances before and after. (I'll post a schedule of his TV and radio spots as well as his signings on the East Coast.) My participation will be limited to some radio and podcasting and the usual yammering here. I suspect that a certain Russian opposition politician won't be able to resist chiming in as usual, so keep your eyes peeled for that. (And I don't mean Vladimir Ryzhkov.)
Please keep this thread to the Mexico website and coverage in general. If you have links to content and coverage, post'em here. I've been reading the Mexican papers and a few have player comments that I'll translate. Later today I'll put up a tourney preview for all our predictions and comments that are actually about chess and chessplayers.
My first question, especially if you're there on site: 1) Are there any anti-cheating measures in place? The planned layout I saw had them playing "in the round" with spectators able to walk everywhere. Don't know if this is what's actually happening. Will they delay the broadcast of moves (and not using the MonRoi crash method)? Metal detectors? Bluetooth-sniffing dogs? I certainly hope they've called the Bulgarian ceiling-smashing crew to rip out all the cables in all the ceilings. Maybe that's what went wrong with the press conference broadcast.
Yesterday I tried to access the official site and all I got was error messages.
Today, the site seems to work and everything looks super-fast. I hope it will stay like this during the games.
The 2007 US championships coverage (for men and women) in Stillwater was clearly superior when compared with the World Championship in Mexico. You could see photos and results, follow live games (as long as Internet was working) and vote on-line for brilliancy prizes. This World Championship webpage is a third class- too busy, no updates, crashes, currently not even a link to photos, and seems that they just started to setup (college guys do a better job). Turks are hired perhaps to run the webage, live games based on sensory boards and take photos. They are definitely not professionals, but amateurs. The organizers could have hired pros- Chessbase, ICC or Monroi. Or even trouble maker, super-negative Mig. Probably the organizers are ill-advised or even forced to hire Turkish federation, and will pay for negative publicity. Already technical support could not send announced live press conference, thanks to incompetence. Pathetic for the world championship. Will we see some apology?
A whole LOT of the problems with the site is the time it takes to pull in all those ugly little banners on the sides.
The countdown is embarrasing indeed.
Question for you, Mig: do you actually do any programming with PHP. .Net, ASP, Coldfusion, etc?
Or is your experience mostly related to setting up other people's applications (blogs, CMSs, etc.), like this blog?
I'm asking because I know (and greatly respect) your work as a commentator, but I have never seen any original programming work from you - the type that the Mexico organizers badly need.
As usual Kasparov nominates his favourite rabbit and again it's Anand: that means that either his nemesis Kramnik or youth Aronian will win Mexico !
Talking about the living legend, It's feasible that some players could have enjoyed his precious help in order to prepare better a sort of ¨all-in game¨ against the top rabbit.
Nevertheless, this easy strategy, beat the top rabbit, is mandatory considering that we have 4 Russians, better to say, 6 former Soviets, giving Anand a nice opportunity to feel like the crushed Fischer in Curacao...
If that is so, we may expect even a ¨weaker¨ winner here, like Petrosjan ops, Leko!
As usual Kasparov nominates his favourite rabbit and again it's Anand: that means that either his nemesis Kramnik or youth Aronian will win Mexico !
Talking about the living legend, It's feasible that some players could have enjoyed his precious help in order to prepare better a sort of ¨all-in game¨ against the top rabbit.
Nevertheless, this easy strategy, beat the top rabbit, is mandatory considering that we have 4 Russians, better to say, 6 former Soviets, giving Anand a nice opportunity to feel like the crushed Fischer in Curacao...
If that is so, we may expect even a ¨weaker¨ winner here, like Petrosjan ops, Leko!
One nice side effect of Mig not running the site is we will get nice full (and usually constructive) criticism of both the event and its official coverage.
The gap in previews seems to be dominant everywhere. I looked at Chessbase yesterday or the day before and didn't realize the tournament was starting tomorrow. I went to Chesspro and saw a single preview from Sutovsky which started by making the same comment about Chesspro's coverage (where is it?).
really ,the world championship's site SUCKS !!
@holent:
From the chessbase site:
"[Kasparov] on who will win the World Championship in Mexico: 'I'm in no way trying to please your readers by saying that Vishy Anand is the clear favourite.'"
Talk about a statement that can be interpreted in any way you like...
I do not believe there will be cheating. So let's concentrate on chess.
This WC seems to have little coverage. I know that ICC will have coment, as well as chessbase, but both will be payed. http://www.chessdom.com/wcc-mexico-chess-2007/live-commentary will have 2 IMs and a GM commenting, I liked them before, hope they keep it up. But they do not say if they will cover all the games or 1 per day.
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com says she will be on site, but will she have time for commenting? Maybe we can expect nice post reports.
And I am sure for the Russian speakers they will enjoy http://www.chesspro.ru
Russian speaking readers can also enjoy http://crestbook.com
True that. Where can we find translation?
"Nevertheless, this easy strategy, beat the top rabbit, is mandatory considering that we have 4 Russians, better to say, 6 former Soviets, giving Anand a nice opportunity to feel like the crushed Fischer in Curacao..."
45 years is a pretty long time for any single bout of bad sportsmanship. Time to just admit that Fischer lost that tournament because he wasn't the best.
By the way Emil Sutovsky has reached after a nice and detailed analysis of pros and cons the same forecast: Kramnik and Aronian are the real contenders in Mexico, not Anand, as Kasparov has whispered elsewhere.
take a look at: www.chesspro.ru
Who are the players' seconds?
Kramnik = Van Wely
What about the others?
Leko = Petrossian
TWIC will have daily coverage from the spot, photos and so on as well as comments on the games.
I've put up a little introduction to the event at:
http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/event/mex07/rd0.html
It is a particularly difficult event to predict. Cases (some not that strong, maybe) can be made for most of the players. I have a bit of a feeling for Kramnik to be honest but I don't think you can rule out the world number one Anand (neither can you make him "clear favourite" for that matter), if he gets going he's shown he can win a lot of games. As people have mentioned, Aronian is also a dark horse.
ChessVibes (http://www.chessvibes.com) will do video coverage during the last two weeks - I will fly next Monday.
GM Shipov live commentary (www.crestbook.com) will be relayed in English at www.chessok.com
This is not looking good. No info on the so-slow website, no coverage of press conference, no player analysis by Marin, and now they say they can't hold the opening ceremony in the planned venue! Is there time to fly everyone back to Europe? Or Kalmykia? Or Bulgaria for that matter? This would also give new meaning to the 'negative' time counter on the English page...
The website works better now, as if someone eventually thought of using Radjabov's laptop for server.
Yup, Emmanuel. I am also reading right now that they changed the opening ceremony's vanue. It really looks like they aren't up to the task.
Well, once it starts, every day should be more or less similar. I have seen other events where organizers have big transmition problems the first 2 days (amateurs, as MIG says, think that their web site is up and running when they can reach the web page from their home, and never ask how much the real load will be for production time), and then they do a descent job (of course paying 3 times as much for the contingency and crying for HEEELP to a pro).
Anyway, I am going there for the seventh and 12th rounds(I just can't wait!!). wahooo!
ICC Chess.FM (http://www.chessclub.com) will have all the action when it happens, as it happens! We will be providing some of the best coverage ever produced for a big event such as this - and not just restricted to members-only.
For members, there will be daily live audio and board analyses with Mig hosting our shows, and he'll be joined each day by one of our crack GM commentary team of Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Jon Speelman, John Fedorowicz, Gregory Kaidanov and Nick De Firmian. Macauley Peterson will also have interviews and the latest news direct from the Mexico City press center. For each round, during the show, the New In Chess trivia contest will see a lucky winner receive a one-year subscription to the best chess magazine in the world.
Free to non-members on www.chessclub.com will be Mig's podcast and a daily video diary from Macauley in Mexico. Also available will be a free 15-min Game of the Day video from one of our GM commentary team. Does it get any better than this? Well, only if you have ringside seat in Mexico City!
Where are the first round pairings?
Thanks.
>I am also reading right now that they changed the opening ceremony's vanue. It really looks like they aren't up to the task.
You must be joking amigo, all is exactly as mexican as we have always expected it to be...iariba..andere,andere.
But for following this event we can always hope that the business minded ICC is sending a gringo to Mexico to relay the moves using the cell-phone.
Official site is ...as expected. Who cares about the official site? We will follow games on FICS/ICC/playchess/chesspro/crestbook anyway. The real worry is that coverage everywhere sucks. Where are the big previews, statistical analysis of chances, juicy bits of past games of the protagonists, interviews, prediction competitions, etc? Where are normal meaningful news? There is already plenty to report. For example, who are the seconds. We don't even know the draw yet, less then 24 hours before the clocks start! Instead of any useful info we get pictures of Makro on chessbase. Dismal job by the organizers is expected, but chess sites should know better. Come on guys, step up your coverage.
Btw, I was surprised, almost shocked to learn that van Wely is Kramnik's second. Van Wely has the most aggressive opening repertoire imaginable: Najdorf, Meran, Botwinnik or Moscow lines in Slav as black, the most principled variations everywhere. Kramnik ditching Petroff for Najdorf, Slav for Moscow line or playing main lines as white instead of squeezing a small plus in some god forsaken sideline? I don't believe it. So why such a choice of second then?
When will the pairings be up?
Well, Van Wely has plenty of experience in things like the Sveshnikov and the Semi-Slav, both of which Kramnik has also played extensively. There was a Meran even against Topalov in Elista.
They also have in common that they are specialists on the Bayonet line against the KID. Well, except against Radjabov but he's not in Mexico anyway :-)
I doubt it indicates a huge change in Kramnik's openings. At most it may mean going back to what he's already been playing. But I still expect some usual Petrovs and stuff. He may be ready for sharper things but only take them out of the toolbox when needed.
Let me see if I have this right (it's not like I'm going to find it at the tournament Web site):
Whoever wins in Mexico is declared World Champion.
If it's Kramnik, then Topalov gets a world championship against him.
If it's someone other than Kramnik, then Kramnik gets a match against the world champion for the title.
Please confirm, as I know there are others out there just as confused as I am.
Are you only allowed to have one second? If not, I suspect Kramnik has at least two. Van Wely would be of help if Kramnik doesn't have the lead in the tournament and has to play aggressively, while somebody else (Illescas?) is the other second as specialist in normal Kramnik style.
Also, Vlad and most of the Russians are probably handicapped by the fact that Russian championship is taking place right now--two of Kramnik's three seconds in Elista are playing right now (Motylev and Rublevsky). Strange scheduling by the Russians--you would think the organizers would want to have the players available as seconds for their four Mexico City-playing countrymen.
I'm sure you can have as many seconds as you can feed. Good point on the Russian championship. It is about to end though, which probably means that seconds will arrive soon in droves not only for Kramnik, but for the other guys too.
Here's my bold prediction on the number of KID's played in Mexico: 0.
R, you are correct... at least according to the latest version of FIDE nonsense.
Anyone know what the 1st round pairings are? Any "chess journalists" reading this?
www.chessdom gives tha the pairings
Round 1
Kramnik - Svidler
Grishchuk - Leko
Anand - Gelfand
Morozevich - Aronian
Mig, did you do the montage at the top, the banner? Looks very nice.
My predictions for round 1:
Kramnik-Svidler 1-0 (Vlad picks off the b pawn in Svid's Grunfeld; wins in 53)
Grischuk-Leko 1/2 (black novelty in Ruy Lopez, move 22, equalizes for black)
Anand-Gelfand 1-0 (black develops promising attack; white holds and wins)
Morozevich-Aronian 1/2 (obscure opening line; black gets better structure, white gets dynamic play)
Kramnik and Van Wely have one more thing common and that is a well-established animosity with the Topalov Team. :)
The first round might already be crucial.
Anand and Kramnik should win their white games.
Aronian can put pressure on his fellow favorites with a black win.
I expect Gelfand to be the only Sicilian player. The others will all play the Ruy Lopez or the Petroff. Morozovich might play a French or two.
Gelfand has the benefit that his opponents will not have spent too much time preparing against the Najdorf.
The same applies to Svidler, he is the only non-"Slav or Queen's Indian" player of the group.
I'm curious if his Grunfeld will stand.
dream pairings for both Kramnik and Anand. What better than starting off this 'tournament of tournaments' than with two bunnies?
Am not too sure of Aronian though. He can take solace in that Moro often bombs in the opening rounds, and bombs badly at that.
I believe that Svidler will skip completely during this tournament and may have prepared the slav.
I believe that Svidler will skip completely during this tournament and may have prepared the slav.
I think it's a tricky pairing for both Anand and Kramnik since they are 'supposed' to win (at least) with White against Gelfand and Svidler (the two 'underdogs of the tourney') but it's not always easy to get going from the very first round and in case of a draw you might feel like having lost a good opportunity with White.
Amit, why do you think Svidler will skip throughout the tournament, is it for exercise? Certainly it should do him good, judging by the cheerfully rotund nature of his appearance! However I am puzzled by the practicality of the thing, how can you skip while playing chess? Does he plan to use a skipping rope?! Wont this upset the pieces on the board?! How about the rest of the players? Gosh, this whole idea of skipping is fraught with difficulties!
Hmmm..Kramnik will start with 2 whites and his first black is against Anand on Sat. Anand has a difficult black against Aronian tomorrow!
Looks like Anand will have to play catch up with Kramnik unless he wins the direct encounter.
Duncan
Kramnik did say around Corus that his (Black) repertoire was geared towards matchplay (Topalov and Fritz) and that come Mexico he'd be ready with a "tournament" repertoire to allow potential wins with Black.
I make Vlad very strong favourite. I have a suspicion that he might switch to Reti as white as well. We'll see. Early rounds will be rivetting.....
Duncan, where did you find out the pairings after day 1
Anands second is Peter Heine Nielsen.
Brian,
I don't think that Kramnik will change his repertoire. +3 will probably be enough for first place. He does not desperately need a black win. I expect him to play very solid with black using the slav and the petroff of ruy lopez.
With white he will use the catalan. It has brought him very good results lately, why would he change that?
>I make Vlad very strong favourite.
Vlady will not fight to win. It is against his nature and anyway why doing it ? To play again Topalov ? Is it better for him to secure a match against anyone else.
In fact the winner of this tournament is already decided WHATEVER will happen on the chessboards in the following days.
Relax people, this is not an american tragedy it is a mexican comedy.
Suresh, I received an email with the bullettin in pdf. Probably I had registered...but I don't remember.
Duncan
Mefisto - maybe so but I bet he has a plan B repertoire if he's desperate for wins......
I doubt Kramnik will win today. They are very good friends with Svidler, and usually easily draw all their games without much fighting. It will be hard for Vlad psychologically to play tough for win vs. Petr. Also, don't discount Petr's deep knowledge of Vlad's mentality, playing habits, and even past preparation notes.
r, not exactly; check this links about the new WCC cycle:
http://www.chessninja.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=6&t=001597
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3948
Ritch
Look at this message on the home page of the World Championship:
“Dear Chess Friends, We apologise for the problems on the website these last few days, but we have been testing the games transmission software and links with our ISP, Telmex, to ensure that we offer the maximum reliability during the World Championship. This has meant that the web site has been unavailable and we trust that in the next few days you will see the big improvement that has been achieved. World Chess Championship Organising Committee.”
Still no single photo from the opening ceremony. What an amateurish start. Why they did not get tests done weeks before the championship. Webpage down for days- how much credibility they lost, including sponsor and spectator confidence. Makro, Geoffrey and Ali Nihat’s work, and poor performances as many times before. The same was in Dresden and in Elista. Eventually they will be able to take out their heads from the sand, and admit that they need professional help.
I don't know what working with seconds is like in reality, but I think they are pretty important in the preparation process and it would suck to have them not arrive till a couple of days into the tournament and straight from a very competitive tournament themselves.
osbender: "Btw, I was surprised, almost shocked to learn that van Wely is Kramnik's second. Van Wely has the most aggressive opening repertoire imaginable: Najdorf, Meran, Botwinnik or Moscow lines in Slav as black, the most principled variations everywhere. Kramnik ditching Petroff for Najdorf, Slav for Moscow line or playing main lines as white instead of squeezing a small plus in some god forsaken sideline? I don't believe it. So why such a choice of second then?"
Isn't the point of having seconds is to provide coverage in areas that the principle is weak in? Why should Kramnik hire seconds that are authorities in the Petroff and Slav if he himself is one of the foremost authorities in those openings? It would be like having two white-squared bishops on board, a redundancy of effort.
Better to have seconds that specialize in openings your *opponents* are likely to use that you are not as familiar with. It is not so Kramnik can change his own openings, but to prepare for what he might face. Seems really obvious to me.
Very often, a second might well be more knowledgeable (about various specific aspects of the game) than the Super GM whom he works for, even with respect to a particular opening which that GM has employed in serious competitions as a mainstay of his repetoire. At any rate, a Second will pore through the games of opponents, and try to spot vulnerabilities, or opportunities to uncork a TN. And it often happens in events like this that certain tabias become very topical, as several of the players are willing to play into both sides of the variation. Theoretical developments take place on a round by round basis, and it has to be nice to have a Second who can whip up the Chess equivalent of an Executive Summary.
My predictions:
Aronian 8.5 +3 (+5 -2 =7)
Kramnik 8.5 +3 (+4 -1 =9)
Leko 8.0 +2 (+2 -0 =12)
Gelfand 7.5 +1 (+3 -2 =9)
Anand 7.5 Even (+2 -2 =10)
Svidler 6.0 -2 (+1 -3 =10)
Morozevich 5.5 -3 (+3 -6 =5)
Grischuk 4.5 -4 (+0 -4 =10)
Stern,
"Better to have seconds that specialize in openings your *opponents* are likely to use that you are not as familiar with."
Sounds logical in theory, not so in practice. How Kramnik will benefit from van Wely's expertise in Najdorf if he's opening with d4? Or what is the use of his expertise in anti-Moscow gambit if Kramnik is playing Bxf6?