Finally, chess! Your official game one thread here. Site here. Game begins at 10am ET. ICC also running it live. Topalov has the white pieces and can play 1.e4 or 1.d4 with equal probability against Anand. Not that statistics are worth much, but he's had much more success with 1.d4 in recent years.
Update: Wow, now there's a bad way to start a world title defense. Anand bungled his Grunfeld preparation in a very sharp line and Topalov executed him with exquisite efficiency. The lovely knight sac on f6 looks like curtains immediately, though the position was still complex and Anand might have found a few ways to drag it out longer. A stunning defeat that immediately reminded me of Kasparov's loss in the Grunfeld in the second game of his London match against Kramnik. Not that this blunder refutes Anand's main defense against 1.d4 like that did, but he must be as shaken as he looked. There's no time to steady himself with only six whites.
The press conference video is online here, and as luck would have it they hired the same people who do the announcements on the NYC subway and it's 90% incomprehensible. I think I made out Leontxo asking Anand about the playing conditions and his saying they were fine, he just played badly, and Topalov saying that the game wasn't all preparation. I'm sure we'll get much better quality from the redoubtable Doggers at ChessVibes here. At least the organizers haven't warned away everyone capable of competent coverage. But give them time.
Let's play guess-the-opening-and result!
1.d4 - Semi-Slav - draw!
Recycling Mig's post on Game 1 Bonn:
Your might think that because of those initial nerves the first game of a world championship is special mostly for historic reasons, not chess reasons. But we do get action and drama with surprising regularity. There is a relatively high percentage of decisive first games. An amazing 25 of 38 game ones were decisive! That's 65.7% compared to 44.6% decisive for non-first games.
1886 Zukertort-Steinitz. The eventual match winner takes the first game only to lose the next four in a row. Hmm, something I never noticed before: Steinitz trailed at one point in all five of his world championship matches. Even his rout of Chigorin in 1889 wasn't a rout. He trailed the Russian three separate times in the first half of the match.
Lasker won game one of his first four WCh matches (Steinitz twice, Marshall, Tarrasch). Of course Schlechter broke that streak, which Lasker resumed when he flattened Janowski in 1910.
Alekhine put Capablanca on notice with a blistering win in game one. He wouldn't win again for another three weeks. The shortest decisive game one was Alekhine's demolition of his favorite client Bogoljubov in their first match in 1929. Black was getting mated with his king on d7 after 26 moves. Against Euwe, Alekhine won the first game in the match he lost and lost the first game in the match he won.
Botvinnik and Smylov reversed that trend in their three matches. All three first games were decisive and all three were won by the eventual winner of the match. Or, in the case of the 1954 match, by the player who kept his title by virtue of draw odds. Tal famously took out Botvinnik's French in their first match and went on to win. Botvinnik returned the favor a year later, winning game one and the match. The Patriarch also beat Petrosian in game one in 1963, but could score only one more victory and lost his title.
That mirrored how Petrosian lost the crown to Spassky six years later, winning the first game with black but losing the match. Of course the most famous game one of all, one of the most analyzed games in chess history, was Fischer's loss to Spassky. Pawn grab blunder or calculated risk? Only game two from that match was analyzed more. So three new champions in a row lost the first game.
Game one of Korchnoi-Karpov 1978 was the shortest first game ever, an 18-move draw. Three years later Karpov won the first two games and then three out of four. He also started strongly against Kasparov in 1984, though they drew the first two contests. The famous Marathon Match looked more like it would be but a short sprint at the start as Karpov won four and drew five to start. But then...
Kasparov needed 32 games to score his first win over Karpov in their first match in 84. He only needed one game in their second. He did trail in the match after five games, however, and didn't take the lead for good until the 16th game. (Ahh, feels so good to write "16th game." This 12-game stuff is for sissies. 20 ought to be a legal minimum.) The two K's drew the first game in each of their subsequent three matches.
One of the most dramatic first games ever was Kasparov's win over Nigel Short in 1993 -- on time in what had gone from a winning position to a difficult one in time trouble. Short failed to exploit a superior position in game two, lost games three and four and the match was over. Anand and Kasparov 1995 started out with eight consecutive draws, still a record. Anand drew first blood in the 9th game but then, as he put it, had a tiger by the tail and couldn't hold on. Kasparov won four of the next five to make the final score look a lot worse for Anand than the match really was.
Kramnik unveiled the now-legendary Berlin Defense against Kasparov in the very first game of their 2000 match in London. Perhaps even more critically for the eventual result, he demolished Kasparov's choice for black, the Grunfeld, in game two with a strong novelty. Feeling at sea at the board after just two games Kasparov alternately flailed and faltered, not winning a single game from fifteen. Kramnik again started off well in 2004, beating an over-pressing Peter Leko on the black side with some deep preparation in the Petroff. Remarkably, Kramnik's only wins in the match were the first game and the last, which he had to win to tie the match and retain his title.
Against Topalov in 2006, Kramnik jumped out to an early lead again, though more thanks to his opponent than in the earlier matches. Like Leko in 04, Topalov pressed for a win in game one and ended up with a loss. It was even worse for the Bulgarian in the second game, when he had a clear forced win missed by both players and went on to lose again.
Topalov will try and go for the kill in this game, especially after Vishy's long road journey (and a ferry too!)
Does anybody else feel that Topa has won a slight physcological edge over Anand by refusing to accept and offer draws?
-Asim
Developer of PGNReader for mobile
http://asimpereira.tripod.com
Game 1
Topalov - Anand
Exchange Gruenfeld D85
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cd Nd5 5. e4 Nc3 6. bc Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Bd3 b6 12. Qd2 e5 13. Bh6 cd 14. Bg7 Kg7 15. cd
All moves played in first three minutes...
Whoa!! They've met about half their required moves of the first time control in about 2% of their time! All prep!
According to Zurab Azmaiparashvili, 23 ...Bd7 is the only move that is not losing for black.
very dubious Anand's postion, it all hangs on that Qe5 to hold it together (Rc7,d4, Nf6/g5)
Nice moment for comments page to crash, Mig.
Anand is thinking, thinking..it seems that he has been outprepared, bad omen in such a tactical position
23...Kf7 played. Computers are screaming for 24.Nxf6, with white a big plus. Looks like 1-0.
now Nxf6 to doslodge that "all glueing" Qe5 ...and black's position falls to pieces
Oh, Vishy...
I would guess he had looked at the position after 23.Rf3 (natural moves up to that point) but forgot his analysis. Sad, anyway.
I guess this game isn't one to just steady their nerves, huh?
...Computers are screaming for 24.Nxf6..
there's no need for computers here, it is a positional sacrifice, it is diverting the main, pivotal, defender
is the audio commentary streaming on the official site? I can't find a way to listen to Zurab's commentary.
Click on the video link on the right.
I think Anand forgot the preparation. He forgot that Bd7 had to be played before Kf7. Fail.
Advantage Topalov.
looks like Danailov's Volcanic Attack is working on Anand, who has been forced to inhale some toxic ashes that reduced his elo by 100
just like those games against Aronian..
No excuses please very typical Toppy victory a crushing win - as happened before
Thank god I stopped playing the Grünfeld.
Vishy is going down. Topa is READY for this match. This is painful for an Anand fan like me.
This a well known line both sides must have analysed it - but Toppy created complications he always makes it look easy
Yep, I had tried that. If only it would work!
this match seems to have started more like Anand-Kamsky '95 than Anand-Kramnik '08..
Both Topalov and Anand are my favorite players, not sure who to root for. I'm just going to enjoy the games without taking sides.
Anand was playing +3000 elo as long as he was acting out the (computer) preparation script. Then he forgot de line, and it was over.
Strange game the modern chess.
Interestingly, Kamsky made a brief visit on ICC and said after 23.Rf3 that he remembered having analysed the position for _his_ match against Topalov.
His only comment was "didn't look too deep, we looked at it for like half hour or so, black should hold"
it is just sheer pain now for Anand, he should resign and thus cut short the suffering..it is damaging his morale to defend this
I remembe rTopalov being about to win with commentators and kibbitzers screamin against Kramnik, just to overlook all his chances in game 2 (?). waiting for my deja vu...
I remembe rTopalov being about to win with commentators and kibbitzers screamin against Kramnik, just to overlook all his chances in game 2 (?). waiting for my deja vu...
Anand thought for about half an hour - but of course without seconds and engine assistance. And indeed it seems he simply forgot his analyses.
@Thomas..it seems Anand simply forgot his analyses.
he is 40 or so, time to start some other, less intelectually taxing, games.. PR, politics etc
Why is it when Anand loses it often looks like he didn't have a clue what was going on. He gets a lost position two moves out of opening preparation. It was the same with the game he lost to Kramnik in Bonn. But in the games Anand won, Kramnik put up a good fight.
"Well, I know very well what it is to play like an idiot in a World Championship match but, to be honest, I expected better from Anand - especially in the first game." -- Nigel Short (live commentator at chessgames.com)
Did analysts suggest 23..Bd7 24.Rg3 Kf7 as possibly Black's best? Maybe then he confused the lines and played ..Kf7 one move too early.
A nightmare.
Its quite gruesome now really anand should resign
29. Bb5 played. gg.
That's what can happen in sharp lines, where the first mistake is immediately decisive.
@ovidiu: How old are you? I am 42, but even in my younger years I was nowhere close to Anand's and Topalov's level ... ,:)
1-0. Anand will now show he has the same kind of balls as the World Champions of old, and come from behind to win the match.
1 - 0
Topalov takes first blood.
Puts to rest a lot of the pro anand nonsense that was spouted including migloid :)
Topa's ELINT team seems to be in good shape.
After Game 10 of the match in Bonn, Kramnik said "I didn't have to do anything, and the position was winning". Topalov could say the same thing today.
to play chess a lifetime and to lose like this, it makes one wondering if anyone ever gets to know chess
You're quite the Drama Queen Ovidiu. People aren't perfect, that's why the games are played.
Well done. Danailov played well.
Svidler on chess.fm
"Modern chess? Yes. One player doesn't make a single move and the other one goes home a wreck"
"This is how you lose to Topalov. When I play Topalov I'm not afraid he'll outplay me, I'm afraid I won't survive the opening."
I'm Paraphrasing slightly perhaps.
"People aren't perfect"
well now, there are things which they can really understand and then they do them perfectly (like solving an algebric equation), and things like chess
The result and style of the game was not surprising - it was exactly like Toppys last victory against Anand which was also a quick crush straight from home preparation. I expected a Nimzo from Anand although this Grunfeld line had been holding up well both Toppy and Cheparinov have great experience with it.
As was obvious Toppy is a much more difficult opponent than Kramnik because of his dynamic aggressive style. The excuses of course have already started: he needed more rest days, it was just a memory lapse, move mix up blah blah
Some would argue that solving algebraic equations is something humans are even worse at than chess. In fact it is more likely people will some day 'get' chess, than we will ever 'get' the world of algebra. (Though we are far better than computers here, at the moment.)
Anand needs to allow these unsound Toppy-sacs without flinching, placing his trust into his own preparation.
it's not so much that he lost, but that he lost so badly. this must hurt him psychologically. Topalov barely had to think in this game.
Wow, that was a quick crush! Looks like my pre-match prediction of +2 for Topalov is looking good. But I love Vishy, and I hope he brings his stuff for game 2. I want to see a good match. Down one game doesn't mean the match is over. He will draw some blood, and hopefully, it will happen soon.
@andy ..The result and style of the game was not surprising..
yeah, it isn't, only N. Short said on chees.fm the he "expected better from Anand", but I guess he is still a romantic naive.
Anand has to pull one back soon.
Lets not get started on Short - a nasty piece of work at the best of times! Here Ponomariov:
"when Anand played against Kramnik, he used a very tricky tactic. Kramnik is a very good technical player, which he proved in his match againt Topalov, but Anand played much more complicated chess than Topalov and it gave him success. But which new tactic Vishy will use against Topalov is not so clear, because Topalov likes this very complicated chess very much." Quite - what is Anand going to do?
Bad thing for Anand is that he lost the game without any real fight.Topalov just crushed Anand mercilessly without any sweat.
Good thing is that it happened early enough for Anand to learn lessons and come up with his B plan if he has any. I hope Anand will be able to give a similar dose to Topalov tomorrow.
As Big Vlad suggested, Anand greedy agreement to play in Topalov´s cave is the most stupid decision he has made in his career, for Topalov´s team are dangerous cheaters par excellence.
Entire game probably prep. One guy loses badly cos his memory lets him down. Perhaps, or quite likely, Rybka is reponsible for the entire thing.
I love modern chess.
But this ain't chess. It's rote learning. Watching them whipping out the opening moves was just depressing.
Let's hope for some genuine play soon. A Nimzo or a Ruy where we can see their skill in action.
What a completely moronic comment what has this got to do with his loss today?
Too bad it belonged to me
It was the wrong time
And i meant to be
It took a long time
And i knew for now
I can see the day
That i breath for
Friends agree there's a need
To play the game
And to win again
Im winning __ __
Im winning 0 0
Im winning ;
And i don't intend on losing again !________!
!_!
What a wonderful home preparation it was... the best part being that some of the live site computers indicated many of Topalov's moves a either "blunder" or "bad move".
I guess it's the direction of home prep during computer era, you have to play "against" the computer evaluation at home, to find positions that according to computer are "losing" and then navigate your way through the minefield, hoping your instinct (or more powerful hardware) is right.
Or perhaps Anand just had a bad day... but that's how it looks like.
WTF Anand was thinking when entering Grunfeld? It's close, but probably he would be better of by going 1..h5. It's not that Grunfeld completely sucks, but in WC matches this is an absolutely worst opening choice. Many people including Kaspy commented on that: the perimeter of defense is just too big. White can wait for black with a crushing novelty in many different lines, where black should find a narrow path to equality. It doesn't matter how good your preparation is, sooner or later your opponent will find a line you've missed. Besides, Topa had nothing in Grunfeld against Kamsky. Did Anand really think that Topa's team would do nothing about it?
That opening choice is a ridiculous strategical blunder by Anand. I hope Grunfeld was planned just as a 1 game surprise, not as the main black weapon.
in the opposite, it was a delightful comment, however feel free to defend the Topalov´s cheaters team, it tells a lot about yourself.
actually, i think he lost so badly that it comes back around to just being humorous, and shouldn't hurt him too much psychologically.
If this is modern chess, then fuggeddaboutit.
We'll see what's up tomorrow. Maybe Anand was sending a message about being forced to play after that trip - but a better message would be to at least draw the game, which he had in hand.
"Entire game probably prep. One guy loses badly cos his memory lets him down. Perhaps, or quite likely, Rybka is reponsible for the entire thing.
I love modern chess.
But this ain't chess. It's rote learning. Watching them whipping out the opening moves was just depressing."
LOL - problem is the wrong guy won! When Anand won game 2 against Kramnik through prep that was ok but when he loses its not chess LOL If it had been the other way round there would have been drooling and appreciative clapping a la migloid about
“Anand's preparation has reached tremendous levels in recent years and it has more impact in a match than in a tournament.”
Total hypocrasy! People complain about computers and rote learning when their man loses. Well done Topalov a brilliant game which puts him top of the live ratings once more.
I wonder ... how much different this game from a short-draw game? Chess-wise, at least to me, this is a pretty boring game. Yes, there is attack, and sacrifice, but were they exciting?
They both made 22 moves in about 10 minutes (or less), then apparently Anand forgot his prepared lines and lost horribly. Topalov did not have to make any effort during the game. it's all prep/computer work.
I admit if Anand had won the game in the same manner, i would feel better, because "the nice guy" won. But really, it would still be a boring game.
is this how modern chess will ever be? guys dashing out 20+ moves without having think over board? maybe by the time the Carlsen match they would make 30+ moves without thinking. some chess taste is lost for me.
Cry yourself to sleep Aldo your guy got an absolute thrashing arguably the heaviest defeat in the first game of a WCC bar none. But please keep posting about cheating its hilarious. Just remind us how did the Bulgarian cheaters do it this time?
"LOL - problem is the wrong guy won! "
Don't be such a child. I am "rooting" for neither of them and my remarks would have been equally valid if the situation had been reversed.
Shouldnt Topalov be the number one player in the live rating list by now???
Wasn't the Grunfeld played many times in the 1980s K-K World Championship matches? Svidler and others still play it at the highest level today. I wouldn't declare it's demise as imminent.
chessgames.com lists 8 Grunfelds by Anand as black in 2009, including vs Leko, Ivanchuk and Aronian. He won one of them and drew 7, no losses. So Anand should well know his way around the Grunfeld, at the highest levels.
What a rout!Black's rook and bishop in their original position, excluding last bishop move (he could have resigned instead there), knight in the edge, king tossed around like a pinata.
Does anybody know how much time Topalov took? It was Anand himself who tried to surprise by playing the Grunfeld but back-fired badly.
But I agree with other posts in that it was dissaponting, anticlimatic in that there was no real contest.
Does anyone know if they have installed this "curtain" preventing the players to see the audience? On chessvibes it was mentioned that Danailov was using his cell phone in the playing hall.
Also, I find all the electronic equipment on the stage disturbing. It would be quite easy to signal moves to a player by some code making use of blinking lights (noted these air-conditioners?), noise that some of this equipment emits etc. etc. Remember: the games are broadcast live.
Are the players thouroghly checked? You can store an incredible amount of information on a tiny USB-stick. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to come up with some small device that a player hides or wears somewhere on his body, receiving and sending information through haptic/electric signals. You could store and access entire opening books that way.
To me, these things are the most serious threat to chess - especially to top-level (read professional) chess.
> this is a pretty boring game. Yes, there is
> attack, and sacrifice, but were they exciting?
Just stop the engine, think things through with your own brain, and it will be a pretty exciting sac. Nh5 was a weird plan. To my unaided eye the f6 sac looked like good enough for a perpetual, but would it really turn out better for White against accurate defense? Anyhow, awesome piece of preparation. If it really would need just a strong engine to find such lines, why isn't everybody else finding them?
Pray explain how it would allwork. How strong does the haptic force needs to be? What device can generate, say, a 1N force? I am sure that Bulgarian science is much more advance than the USA's, but still it all sounds very interesting.
¨Just remind us how did the Bulgarian cheaters do it this time?¨, well, THIS TIME, Anand asked about postponing 4 days, instead got just 24 hr from FIDE, not from the locals who vehemently denied refreshing time from his 60hr journey to Topalov´s home cave.
Weakned and not prepared as usual, he lost like a disarmed gladiator.
Carry on whining about prep and memory - in fact it was an excellent creative achievement that is not indicated by the computers. The position was difficult and dangerous even if say Bd7 was played rather than Kf7. I have played this line in high level cc as white and frankly could find no way through so appreciate Topalovs great achievement. Incidentally he did exactly he same thing to Anand the last time he beat him.
As long as games like this are rare exceptions, which will remain the case for a very long time, you don't have to worry.
For that matter, the game itself - as in: the moves - should be just as interesting (fascinating, instructive, enjoyable) no matter how quickly they play the moves and regardless if whether or not they had analysed them before. (See Bartleby's post)
This game deserves to be studied no less than any other quick attacking victory.
Though I am cheering for Anand, I must agree Topalov's win today was spectacular! Sacrifices of a pawn, then the knight and on the final move, the exchange, were Topalovian; exciting chess; unafraid of incalculable tactics, his fans must have been breathless!
>> this is a pretty boring game. Yes, there is
>> attack, and sacrifice, but were they exciting?
>
>Just stop the engine, think things through with >your own brain, and it will be a pretty exciting sac
i don't think that would have helped. Topalov made the knight sac within seconds. I would not have enough time to contemplate :-).
the point being we already know that it was all prep work, and it took the excitement out from watching the game.
I remember during Tal Memorial last year, during one game the entire chess community online was waiting for Kramnik to find the right winning move, every one knew what he should do from the computer eval; yet Kramnik took a few moves, then when he finally made the move everyone was very excited (at least I was). The man actually had to muddle his way through it before finding the right move. That makes it an exciting battle. it's not that knowing the computer eval makes the game not exciting, it's knowing that the player, over the board, also knows the computer eval.
LOL great thanks for explaining the cheating clearly FIDE were in on it. Wow I thought the journey was 40 hours not 60 hours. Silly relying on those lying chessbase reports they said he left on Sunday 11 am getting to the Budapest hotel at 22.30 (11.5 hours)then leaving on Monday 8 am and arriving at the destination on Tuesday at 5.30am (21.5 hours)This left only tuesday, wednesday, thursday and friday to recover in his Hilton hotel suite. Now I see he was understandably exhausted and unable to play on the saturday. :=0) Cunning those Bulgarians.
Anand will definitely fight back, but the next game is going to be drawn.
Well put.
as for the signalling: getting help with only three, two or even one move, can be a tremendous advantage, say for example, once you get to the point where your rote-memory ends. I am sure Anand would have appreciated some help before he played 23 ... Kf7.
as for the haptic force: I don't know, but I am sure that specialists in this field could tell us a thing or two about the many possibilties. After all, there is a lot of money at stake, especially at this WC-ship.
>This game deserves to be studied no less than any
> other quick attacking victory.
I agree. how black rook/bishop/knight don't have enough time to enter play is an prime example of how dangerous having the initiative, and piece mobility can be.
the spectacular sacrifices was just an expected consequence of some 60hr of involuntary pilgrimage to Bulgaria... give the man enough bread and water that he shows all about the 64 squares for sure, however this is not the case, and the WC is already defined. As said before, it was a stupid idea to play there.
I remember the first time I was able, in a tournament game, to play one of those Fred Reinfeld combinations, right out of the opening. It was a Guicco Piano where I move the pinned Nf3, the opponent takes my queen, but I sac on f7 and mate in in the center with the knights. I didn't feel the least bit guilty that I had seen the whole game before - I was simply applying my superior chess knowledge.
So give Topalov the same credit - so what if he knew the whole line from some analysis? He has memorized (or, can remember) thousands of lines with traps and poisoned pawns, that's how the game works, and Topalov applied his superior knowledge of the position to win the game. That's what some games will be like, at their level.
Maybe the win looks spectacular, however (in line with previous posters):
- the pawn sacrifice: played several times before
- the knight sacrifice: the idea is obvious, the rest (does it work? does it yield more than a perpetual?) can be checked by engines if it is still part of your home preparation. And Nh5 isn't such a weird plan either - everything else failing, the knight can return into play via g3
- the final exchange sacrifice: come on, a simple forced win.
So where are the "incalculable tactics"? Such a remark would be justified for Anand's Bonn win against Kramnik, which andy mentioned: the pawn sacrifice was a new concept and somewhat speculative (I think engines initially don't like the idea), and he still had to work over the board to clinch victory.
Today's game may still be worth studying ... it seems already clear where black went wrong, so analyses should focus on what might have happened after 23.-Bd7.
About the Grunfeld (which I play myself at my level): it's easy in hindsight to blame Anand for his opening choice, yet it is justified to call it risky (especially if he still was tired). The Ka-Ka matches in the 1980's predated engine analyses at the current level - and preparation for matches goes deeper than for individual tournament games.
Since you do not know, it would be nice to have some idea of technical difficulties involved and electronic (counter)measures taken before accusing somebody of cheating.
> Topalov made the knight sac within seconds.
> I would not have enough time to contemplate
And how long did it take for you to work out if it was winning, or a speculative attack, or a safety exit for a repetition?
Did you anticipate how dangerous the f6 sac was when Topalov committed himself with Nf4?
I was not accusing anyone of cheating. I was asking about countermeasures taken (the "curtain") and voiced my concern about what TO ME seem to be more (signalling) or less (devices on your body) obvious possibilities of cheating.
Thomas, had it all been so simple, would Anand have fallen for it all? Or are you in the "Anand was still asleep" school? Come on, I am no Topalov fan, but this was prime steak Topalov today, daring, risky, sac'ing things right and left... Were you so sure Nf6 worked? I liked h4 myself, also. Everyone should be so calm denuding his king in Anand's face.
The so-called psychological advantage created by the draw refusal is not really an advantage: if they want to draw, they will play until bare kings.
> And how long did it take for you to work out if it
> was winning, or a speculative attack, or a safety
> exit for a repetition?
>Did you anticipate how dangerous the f6 sac was >when Topalov committed himself with Nf4?
i guess i don't understand you meant by asking this question. To reply to the question - i did not have enough time to work out anything, nor anticipate much of anything (of course, beside from purely from looking at the moves one can see that white is building up a dangerous attack). Topalov (and Anand) already show it it to me, within +/-10 minutes, by move 23. by the time Anand took the first long thinking, about 10 minutes, for the fateful 23... Kf7 (and the rest of the online community has time to catch a breath from the flying moves) it was pretty clear what white's intention was.
Please note that i am not saying that this is very good prep from Topalov. It is. I am merely saying that it makes watching the game not exciting.
Grunfeld is an OK opening, but not for the WC match. Kasparov played a number of Grunfelds in 80's against Karpov and lost 5 of them, won only 1 (on a 2 move blunder). In the tournaments at the time he was very successful with the Grunfeld. In retrospect Kaspy criticized his own opening choice with the same argument that I gave above: too many lines to defend, not worth it.
In the tournament the level of preparation is incomparable to the WC match, therefore if you play Grunefeld only occasionally, the risk that you are going to get killed with an opening novelty is tolerable. Still, it happens from time to time, here is an example: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1486774
Even more importantly, in the tournament your opponent cannot try this line, then another line, than another, until he found your weakness. So making Grunefeld your main opening works OK in tournaments, but is rather foolish in a match.
"Come on, I am no Topalov fan, but this was prime steak Topalov today, daring, risky, sac'ing things right and left... Were you so sure Nf6 worked?"
We weren't , but Topa were. Judging by time-management this was all home cooking. I think even Leko wouldn't hesitate to sack that horse under such circumstances.
Can anyone post a translation of any interesting points that were discussed in the post-game press conference?
I am pulling for Anand, but nothing--not volcano, or bus trip, or translucent curtain, nothing--excuses 23. ... Kf7.
Conspiracy theory #1: Maybe the real Anand realy could not make on time to the match, so his German handlers sent a double just to start the match. He asked for a 3 day-postponement and he got only one, but he was honest, he really needed 3 days. So, just to not give Danailov the reason to cancel the event and then claim fabulous amounts of money as compensation for losses, they have to send someone as Anand. To make it credible, enter Mr. Friedel with his website - chessbase -, publishing a tearful story of a supposed dramatic trip, in the last minute, from the heart of Germany to Sofia (at least, they did not claim that they were robbed in Romania, let alone kidnapped for a ransom). This can easily make into a screenplay for a Hollywood movie, the kind of those consistently making the Razzie lists. Anyways, the poor guy playing the Anand character was on his own over the board, and he only could remember one piece of analysis he happened to overhear while preparing for the role, you know, trying to mimic typical moves of the real person such as scratching the head, picking the nose, etc., including chess typical moves. Now, if you did not teach him the right moves, it's not his fault, nobody probably thought that this situation can appear in real life.
Conspiracy theory #2: how many times Topalov went to the washroom during this game?
Conspiracy theory #3: the Bulgarian system of transmitting moves provided instantly by Rybka+Fritz+Junior+Shredder running quitely in the next room, seems to work to perfection. As a matter of fact, they had an extra day to fix the glitches. No need for toilet plugs for Blackberry's or such.
I know, all these sound crazy, don't bother to reply. Ha, ha ha!
I nominate 16. ... Qd6 as the losing move, even though my suggested alternative, 16. ... Bb7 still allows 17. f4 and a K-side attack. (Maybe 16. ... Bd7 instead?)
Once the black Queen is committed to holding black's center together, partly with 16. ... Qd6 and more fully after 18. ... Qe5, it lost its mobility, even though it surveyed from b8 to h2, and down to a1, too. Black's most powerful piece, sitting on one of the most powerful center squares, is hamstrung by needing to defend pawns on d4 and f6, and blockade e4. Topalov's queen in contrast, was free to run around wherever needed.
> I am merely saying that it makes watching the
> game not exciting.
And I am saying watching the game was exciting. It was for me, and probably for everybody else who didn't know the computer eval.
In my opinion, that is an outstanding observation.
Repeating the Grunfeld in game 3: bravery/challenge/line in the sand, madness, or just not gonna happen?
Here's the link to the post-game press conference in case you didn't know: http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/press1.html
Well, thanks, but don't get carried away.
I must point out a player rated multiple elo classes above me, Svidler was saying Qd6 was fine and any Grunfeld player would play it; but I saw how the Q got stuck at e5 later. I'm not at all well versed in the alternatives to Qd6, and am still trying alternatives. (I haven't turned on the engine yet, which could render all my speculation moot.)
The audio of the press conference is awful, any transcription around?
Why on earth is the press conference in Spanish?!
>> I am merely saying that it makes watching the
>> game not exciting.
>And I am saying watching the game was exciting. It >was for me, and probably for everybody else who >didn't know the computer eval.
to a certain extent I agree with you. however what would then be the different between watching a live game and reading the moves from a chess book?
[ I am not trying to be argumentative here, just having a chance to sound off my thoughts ]
Let's say, for example, Fischer's (crazy) theory that the games between K&K matches were all pre-arranged. Someone watching it live would feel exciting as well (and they did ... no computer eval back then). What would happened if they had all known that all the moves were pre-arranged. Those were still beautiful moves/games, but would they still be exciting to watch?
Main reason why we don't like short draws is because there is no actual fighting over the board.
I would submit that the game today was not a fighting game.
16.-Qd6 was a novelty "anticipated" by Svidler, 16.-Bb7 is Karjakin-Carlsen, Foros 2008
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1494446
[which I didn't remember, but which is mentioned on Chessvibes and Chessmind]
That game was drawn quickly after the same f4-f5 and Rf3 plan for white. But maybe Carlsen was in trouble at some stage (and as rumors go, he was helping Anand a bit with match preparations?).
Moving back to your earlier comment and applying my 1900-ish chess understanding:
21. h4 may be a very little bit risky in the long term IF black somehow managed to take over the initiative on the kingside. However, for the time being only white can benefit from open lines - black hasn't even finished his development.
After 23.Rf3, Anand sank into deep thought (before both had been blitzing) - hard to imagine that he/they overlooked this obvious move in preparation, so it is much more likely that he forgot his prep. Whether tiredness played a role, who knows? It happened to other top players before ... .
24.Nf6: - all I said is that I would have considered it. Once again, if it still was preparation, engines take care of the rest. Ironically, the knight sacrifice (which was in the air anyway) became strong, indeed decisive because Anand tried or pretended to prevent it. Vishy probably can't laugh about it now, but maybe later if things still go well for him in the coming days.
From Kasparov - Kramnik onward we have had short matches. Whoever disarms his opponent's weapons the most or springs the earliest TNs will win. This can be like Kramnik's conceptual ideas in the Berlin or like today's game with computer analysis.
Nice win by Topa.
Anand simply reversed moves, playing first Kf7 rather than Bd7. Blunders happen. There was nothing wrong with his preparation, and there was nothing wrong with his choice of the Gruenfeld.
Pre-arranged games and short draws mean both players choose not to fight.
But today's game was different. It was a rather one-sided fight because Topalov had obviously analyzed it all in advance, and Anand didn't find the resources to put up more resistance. That's rare at this level, but like a lopsided 4:1 in the Champions League quarter-finals, sometimes it happens.
I still think Topalov's attacking idea Nf4-h5xf6 is quite remarkable. I still think the pawn sacrifice that paved the way for this obscure attack is typical Topalov. I still struggle to understand if Anand had better options to deflect the knight sac. For me, it was a short, crisp game one with a fine piece of aggression at its core.
Most of the opinions here seems emotionally triggered, equivalent to the betting pole of Anand winning BIG. While I am convinced Nf6 is home prep & very impressive. Without comps, GM’s kibitzing could not find the accurate follow up to the ‘end'.
One thing we 'emotional' or biased chess patzers have to remember, this is only one line of thousands of lines of one opening. It is not the nature of the victory that shocked me, but the fact Topalov is even heavily prepared (based on speed of play) in a line that the odds of Anand playing where remote.
The real question Anand fans should ask themselves, if Topalov is heavily prepared here, then how well is he prepared in Anand's repertoire.
World Championship matches of the modern era are decided heavily in the opening, and who outfoxes who. And with these short matches, it will probably be the sole decisive decider.
Either Anand has opening 'Bombs’; which I'm sure he does or tries to outplay Topalov from neutral positions; which I do not believe he can or 50/50 to be more precise.
But of course Topalov does make Big unprovoked blunders sometimes...we shall see.
"It is not the nature of the victory that shocked me, but the fact Topalov is even heavily prepared (based on speed of play) in a line that the odds of Anand playing where remote."
Nonsense, he played the Grunfeld more than once. Of course Topalov was ready.
Today's win put Topalov back in No. 1 ranking and dropped Anand to No. 4: http://chess.liverating.org/
24.Rh3 is also winning, btw.
Indeed!
"World Championship matches of the modern era are decided heavily in the opening, and who outfoxes who. And with these short matches, it will probably be the sole decisive decider."
Yes, even the top players in the Modern era tend to react poorly to surprising novelties, or perhaps get discouraged when they are out prepared.
Anand has a bit of a history with getting sucked into opponent's preparation. Just look at games 10-14 in his 1995 match vs. Kasparov. Also look at how feebly Kasparov himself played, when confronted with Anand's Scandinavian, of Kramnik's "Berlin Wall". Most especially, Game 6 in his 2nd match vs Deep Blue...
Extreme opening preparation is nothing new: On one occasion, Karpov famously crushed Kortchnoy's Sicilian Dragon, where from first move to last, all the moves had been prepared for him by his opening team. The line had been analyzed out to mate, but Karpov not only got the vital point in the match, but all of the credit for playing a brilliancy as well.
Will Anand fold (like Kasparov did against Kramnik)? Will he crack (As Kramnik did against Anand :-)? We'll see in the next few games. If the position that arises after the suggested improvement 23...Bd7 is the best that Anand can hope for in the Grunfeld, maybe he ought to play a different Defense to 1.d4!? It looks like that he needs to walk a Razor's Edge in a sharp position, where White has most of the upside.
Now that Topalov has the lead, I expect that he will be suddenly amenable to accepting draw offers from Anand, especially when Anand has the White pieces. It would be amusing if he stuck to the "Sofia Rules" protocol, even when it would not be in his interest to do so. Yeah, suppose that Anand offers a draw in Game #12, which will concede the match. You think that Topalov will decline on principle, and insist on playing the game out to bare Kings?
Frankly, Anand ought to try to have Topalov "Hoist by his own Petard", by playing the White Pieces for a small, but lasting advantage, and just keep pieces on the board, and give Topa problems to solve
If Anand opens with 1. e4, I expect that Topalov will respond with a Petroff. Anand can probe for his first 1-2 Whites, but he'll need to find a way to seriously pressure Topalov.
Topalov will probably shift to 1.e4 himself, by midway through the match. He is someone who is keen to keep the psychological initiative.
Since Anand successfully employed the Scandinavian against Kasparov, he might want to try the Dutch Defense if Topalov continues to essay 1.d4 It could provoke Topa to over-reach
I think I'd rate Fischer's game 1 loss as worse due to the much larger prestige of the match.
Great! Now if Anand defeats Topalov, he would have defeated the no. 1 player.
If Anand is planning to continue with the Grunfeld, he might as well pack tomorrow. Playing Grunefeld at this level of preparation means taking serious risk for little reward. The arising positions are in Topalov's style. It is true, black has counter-chances in Grunefeld, but the cost of a mistake is vastly different: usually if white makes an error he ends up in a worse, but defensible position, while if black makes an error, he is demolished.
If Anand insists on playing for a win with black, he would be much better off in Kings-Indian, SemiSlav or Anti-Moscow gambit, where the price of mistake for white and for black are comparable, while the perimeter of defence is smaller. I hope he wasn't daft to put all his eggs in the Grunefeld basket.
There'sno need to make any excuses for Anand's loss. He played badly and lost; pure and simple. Whether he mixed up the move order or "lost his thread" - irrelevant. He played a sharp line with Black and lost. If he truly was "tired," he could have played the solid semi-slav and drawn the game without risking with a sharper line in Grunfeld.
Important thing for him is to shake off the loss and play better chess in the remaining games. If he sulks like he did in San Luis 2005 after losing to Kamsky, this would be a disaster,no doubt. Real champions are those that overcome adversity and beat their opponent. Now Anand has a chance to show if he's one of those. Kramnik showed in against Leko by winning the last "must win" game. That's what a real champion does.
>>If he sulks like he did in San Luis 2005 after losing to Kamsky, this would be a disaster,no doubt. <<
I don't remember Kamsky playing San Luis 2005.
Kasimdzhanov, of course, was there, and his minimatch with Anand ended +1-1=0.
And, I don't remember Anand sulking at San Luis 2005, either.
>>If he sulks like he did in San Luis 2005 after losing to Kamsky, this would be a disaster,no doubt.<<
I don't remember Kamsky playing in San Luis 2005.
Kasimdzhanov, of course, was there, and his mini-match with Anand ended +1-1=0.
And, I don't remember Anand sulking at San Luis 2005, either.
Great comment. The day's best by a mile.
the majority of people posting in this thread are so far away from reality it is frightening. Just like how most polls put Anand as a 2:1 favourite.... Topalov won the game today fair and square and really it is quite impressive opening preparation(which is the most important aspect of top level chess). I was neutral but it is so disturbing to see the constant excuses and speculations of cheating that the Anand crowd throws that I have to cheer for Topalov.
Hi,
The loss in the first game is not only a setback,but a big psychological blow.
1) Can Anand comeback,showing fighting spirit?
2) In recent tournaments,Anand preferred to play sterile chess,where he could not loose.Is that too responsible here?
That is what happens when you watch movies (LOTR) instead of revising before an exam...
:-)
Speaking from experience are we?
I thought Anand was carrying quite a bit of timber - the guy definitely looks overweight needs to dial back the starch and milk sweets. Tophead on the other hand looked a lean and mean hawk.
I expect Anand to come out all guns blazing and play his best prep today. It has to be d4 and I expect a semi slav slug fest with an outside chance of a surprise english. Its definitely not a day to bash your head against the Petroff or Caro kahn.
1-0 by itself is not a big practical problem as long as the pyschological effect has not been too bad but another loss and Anand is dog or should I say Hawk meat.
Rough translation from the few spanish comments on the press release. I'm afraid I couldn't do much more than this... the audio is just too bad and I can barely hear the words.
---
Reporter: Yes, question for Mr. Anand and another one for Mr. Topalov. I wanted to ask Mr. Anand if, besides today's result, he's ok with the match organization conditions,
Anand: Yes, well... I don't think we're looking for .
Reporter: Thank you very much. And to Mr. Topalov, whether today's victory depended heavily on preparation or at some point during the game he had to improvise.
Topalov: many attack themes, sacrifices, were based on home study. I can't tell you exactly where did my preparation end but... well, the last moves were mine.
---
Again, sorry. I can't figure out what the hell they are saying in those garblegarbles.
Reporter: Yes, question for Mr. Anand and another one for Mr. Topalov. I wanted to ask Mr. Anand if, besides today's result, he's ok with the match organization conditions,
Anand: Yes, well... I don't think we're looking for "garblegarble"
Reporter: Thank you very much. And to Mr. Topalov, whether today's victory depended heavily on preparation or at some point during the game he had to improvise.
Topalov: "garblegarble" Many attack themes, sacrifices, were based on home study. I can't tell you exactly where did my preparation end but... well, the last moves were mine.
---
Didn't show the garblegarbles before :-P
Just a "getting it off my chest post", but IMHO, a pretty disgraceful performance by Vishy. I don't care if he messed up his pre-game prep move order-he had tons of time on his clock and he should have bloody well sat on his hands and thought it through. Not doing that was just sloppiness and not much better (at this level...)than just hanging a piece. C'mon, he's the World Champ and one of the greates players of our age, he has a responsibility not to lose like THIS.
If this is just a symptom of "modern chess" where a player has to keep blitzing out his opening moves until his opponent slows down to prove his prep is better, well, maybe you get what you deserve...
Kudos to Topalov on a fine execution...I can't be certain of the times, but I was watching the game on ICC and it seemed like he took somewhere around 15 minutes on the N-sac on f6. I think there is a good chance this wasn't prepared - who would expect Vishy to come up with ...Kf7??.
So, a real horrorshow from Vishy (one of the most awful games in modern WC history) a nice execution from Topalov (though does anyone really thing most GMs wouldn't have found Nxf6!).
Good news for Vishy is that it was such a howler that hopefully he can just laugh it off. At the end of it all, no matter how bad, you still can't lose more than one point per game.
"but I was watching the game on ICC and it seemed like he took somewhere around 15 minutes on the N-sac on f6"
ICC's timestamp says 8 minutes.
Ok, 8:31, but it's certainly not exact down to the second. Topalov's longest think in the game, anyhow.
"24.Nxf6!! And it seems that White is already winning. At the short press-conference Peter Doggers from chessvibes.com asked him if this was still part of his home preparation since he thought for some 5-6 minutes and continued to practically blitz after that. Topalov hesitated for a while, and then replied that "This is quite a typical sacrifice". However, later on he confessed for the Bulgarian National Television that the game was very easy since Anand felt into an opening preparation. I am pretty sure that 24.Nf6 is home made." http://dejanbojkov.blogspot.com/2010/04/topalov-starts-with-win.html
Maybe Topalov wanted to leave the impression [to Anand] that he can find such things easily and routinely in rapid and blitz, hence is not afraid of tiebreaks?
I bet you that Anand will play the Grunfeld again, in the 3rd game. Another system pehaps, but Grunfeld nevertheless...
During the press-conference Topa didn't say yes or no. Kramnik/Anand in a similar situation were simply saying that they are not going to discuss opening because there is still match to play. Same here, some glib answer so that not to reveal too much. To anyone with a clue it is obvious that nxf6 was home cooked.
Sorry, meant to write Kazim, not Kamsky. HE did sulk after that loss and Topa ended up winning. Even Kapy commented on Vishy's nerves after his San Luis performance where he started off very good and then fell apart.
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