Magnus, you wonderful! congrats! After Anand, you are my next fave chess player of all times. Just don't lose your head and stay a good boy and the world will keep loving you.

Those after Anand... I wrote my reasoning about it wrt the pressure and preperation for WCH matches earlier as well... I think its very very very hard for anyone to beat Anand in WCH matches for years to come. Anand is tired of winning tournaments and busy winning World CH matches. priorities are different and so is the approach now.

Brecht: Kasparov has repeatedly said he is not coming back to chess ever again, so I wouldn't bet on it.

@sriramatrix:

As Thomas has pointed out, Anand's focus for the last three years has been the world championships and that too with uncertainty around the dates and the deals.

Two title defence in 3 years with the two different and strong personalities – one an acknowledged master of positional chess, the other a feared master of opening preparation – and all the politics that surrounded them coupled with the total lack of respect for his achievements will take its toll.

It was only after Anand defeated Kramnik in a match he got some respect. Till then even Kasparov spoke of him as a coffee house player inspite of being the best player in world at the time. The clash with Topalov also saw some strange drama being played out.

As has been observed and said before, Anand has used tournaments in the past 3 years mainly to prepare for his title defences. Now he is back into playing tournaments to win them and improve his rating. It is different, and Anand will take some time getting used to playing a new player every day. But he will do it soon, and probably in December’s London Chess Tournament we will see the best of Anand in a tournament.

Well, with Toppy and Anand off form, Carlsen is simply unbeatable (although his play has also been shaky in this tiring tournament)

@John
You forgot the bad performance of Carlsen at the recent Olympiad. The only minor result.

Will there ever be a match between Kasparov and Carlsen? Maybe a demonstration match....like 4 games on classical time control....?

If Kasparov is retired since 2005....why not try a come back and show is some spectacular resistance against Carlsen?

What you guys think? It would receive more attention from me than the whole Magnus versus the world show off.....

greetz

@sriramatrix: Your standards seem extremely high if a >2800 TPR is considered a lacklustre performance by Anand - and for what it's worth, he won two WCh matches recently so there's nothing wrong with his appetite either when it matters most.

By comparison, what to say about Topalov? His head to head record against Carlsen starts getting ridiculous - not just the results, also the quality of his play.

Results Carlsen last 12 months: Nanjing, no 1, Tal Memorial no 2, World Blizt Chmpionship no 1, London Classic, no 1, Corus no 1, Amber no 1, Bazna no 1, Kr.Sund no 1, Bilbao no 3, Nanjing no 1. Pretty impressing.

Lacklustre performance from Anand... think Linares 08 was the last Super GM tournament which he won... seems to miss many "wins" these days... perhaps the appetite is dwindling

Carlsen is the man . His tournament achivements reminds me of Karpov in
the old days . Its really enjoyable to follow this young mans carriere .
Also Topalov , Shirov and Nakamura deserves credit for being fighters on the board . Topalov will be back with as a 2800 player sooner or later .

It is perhaps time for Topalov to reassess his approach to the chess world. I don't think he would be where he is now if he had shown a minimum of respect for his opponents in his world championship matches. Looking for imaginary excuses to explain one's losses is hardly a good way to amend and improve in chess.

Arrogance leads to suicidal mental blindness...
I feel sorry for Topalov today.

He must get rid of a second who seems to have a fake PhD in finding worthless knight sacrifices which requires shamanic rituals on the opponent to succeed. and a manager who only amplifies his worse side of arrogance.

Taking nothing away from carlsen, but todays game was a shameful and shattering loss. I am not a topalov fan, but I feel so bad for him today. I wish he takes a sabbatical, makes friendship with level headed people and gets his sanity back before returning to chess board.

I think Aronian can beat Carlsen....if i remember correctly, Aronian and Carlsen already played semi finals in 2004!

Congrats to Carlsen , the Kid has Topa's number

Carlsen won roughly dozen tournaments in the last couple of years. How about Anand? when was the last time he won a tournament?

Many congratulations to Magnus! He is indeed playing like a future world champion. Undoubtedly, he is the best tournament player in the world today and it is only a matter of time before he becomes the world chess champion. He seems unstoppable at the moment.

I have been a big fan of Anand for so many years but it is painful to see him not winning tournaments.No wonder the WCC crown has lost its sheen compared to yesteryears.Earlier the WC used to be the best player in the world and would win most of the tournaments.Today there are 5 players
who can beat any other man on their day(Anand,Kramnik,Topalov,Aronian,Ivanchuk in no particular order) and then there is MC who can wipe the floor with all of them.

Will Boris Gelfand or Ruslan Ponomariov be any contenders for the WCC -crown?

Three cheers for Magnus Carlsen. He's been the most successful chess tournament winner this year. And his future looks very bright. A shooting star.
Now that he's firmly established himself within the elite, he should never forget that he's only as good as his latest hit!
Enjoy your day in the sun young man.

@Brecht: Boris Gelfand is paired against Aronian in the quarterfinal candidate cycle for the WC match of 2012. Ponomariov is not among the 8 contenders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship_2012

@ Sunseet Stop making excuses for Anand all the time! If Anand were the undisputed best chessplayer in the world (which you claim he is) then why doesnt he win any tournaments any more? That he is 'tired' of winning tournaments like this because he wants to prepare for World championships....come on! First of all, I dont see why not winning tournaments is in any ay helping your championship chances. Secondly, and more importantly, remember, that old,grumpy,bad boy with a temper Gary Kasparov, also known as the best chessplayer of all time, he wasnt 'tired' of winning tournaments because he had to prepare for the WC. or none of that priorities BS! He crushed his opponents because he was the best, not because his 'priorities' were different. I have the utmost respect for Anand, who may in fact be the best chessplayer today.....but he has to prove it not only in matches every 2years but also in tournaments like this. (even though Wijk aan Zee is the greatest tournamenbt to win of course)

Congratulations GM Carlsen! Good to see you getting back in form. GM Topalov is a professional...he will get back into shape. Thank you for the coverage and excellent video.

@Macauley: Lol small hill! That reminds me of what my father used to tell me..."If you can't be good, be careful"!

Great result for Carlsen. He shrugged off his recent indifferent performance in style.

It is amazing that people still question the legitimacy of Anand. He is the WC because he handed a beatdown to every challenger. Can;t say that for anybody else in this tournament (Carlsen included).

Well done Carlsen! Sorry to see Topalov play this way. Topalov is a great talent. Perhaps his recent marriage caused some distractions. I know my rating dropped after my marriage! :)

In response to some of the other comments, I would love to see Kasparov come back. I know he can't be number one but he can still produce some great chess. Look at the wonderfull games Lasker provided us even after he passed his prime.

This idea that a legend needs to retire in his prime is hogwash. Jordan tried that in basketball and saw how difficult it was to hold back his competetive spirit. I can't think of anyone more competetive than Kasparov! I know Kasparov would love to come back and show some of his ideas to this younger generation. I just hope his pride to be #1 doesn't get in his way.

Just seeing Kasparov's name in tournaments again will be a huge boost to chess popularity!

to Solomon: that 's what i meant...if Kasparov was back...he would give some nice games as well, even against Carlsen....he doesn't need to become fully professional, but maybe exhibition matches....would be nice....

I remember that before the Bonn WC match, Topalov ironically pointed out that the match would not be interesting, because it was a match between world's no 5 and no 6 players. Now it looks like Grischuk might overtake him in the rating list, so that _he_ will be no 6 in the world, his lowest place in many years.

i think Topalov makes only a short break, he will come back for 4final wc matches:)

Kasparov can try to play strategic and positional chess.

Don't blame Anand, Carslen is simply really good.

He is really good in tournaments and I feel that he is so good and stable on the board that he could beat anybody in a match play without the need to prepare for month.

He give the impression that if you're not able to outplay him in the opening, your chance to beat him are very very low, unless he blunder because tactically the guy is very good.

Stanley Peters - You make the claim "It was only after Anand defeated Kramnik in a match he got some respect. Till then even Kasparov spoke of him as a coffee house player inspite of being the best player in world at the time." Would you cite your source? I don't believe Kasparov ever spoke of Anand using this term.

I saw Topa's play today completely anti-positional, full of holes and weakening pawn advances. He erred when his position was already a Swiss cheese..

As I predicted, Topalov heading to last place, a place where he'll stay there for a long time.
Next defeat will be to Wang Yue...
Go, Wang!!

Congrats to Carlsen... the wonderful boy.

Anand has set himself a specific goal for this year that he would like reclaim the top spot in the rankings as well.
I do not know what strategy Anand is going to use, but this set goal is good for all chess fans. I think we have two results in the recent tounaments where his willingness to play longer have paid divedends - interestingly both are against Magnus.
Firts one with black at Bilbao, where in a fairly drawn position, he played on a couple of moves where Magnus miscalculated. The second of course is the endgame in round 8 against Magnus he again contnued to play when Magnus did not find the winning continuation and the game was a draw.
Earlier Anand may have settled for a draw or resigned in either of these situations.
Magnus is really playing fantastic chess and I think we will continue to see a very spirited tussle between the top players

Magnus shows all the signs of a future world champion. If he plays a title match against Anand the only thing i can say is that opening preparation will be key, If Magnus gets help from Garry Kasparov i believe he will have an edge. If not i think it will be an even match.

@Yasif: Referring to Kasparov is a bit irrelevant at this moment in time - the days of a single dominant player are gone. Methinks it's actually good for chess if the winner of any given tournament isn't known in advance - despite Carlsen's impressive record I dare to say not even when he is among the participants, for two main reasons:
- He was vulnerable at the Olympiad and Bilbao, it seems still premature to say that these were just accidents and Nanjing-style victories are "business as usual".
- He never 'wiped the floor' with Kramnik ... .

@Solomon: "I know Kasparov would love to ... show some of his ideas to this younger generation."
That's what he did (and maybe to a lesser extent still does) by coaching Carlsen. From his perspective, that's a safer way than returning to the tournament scene himself. When things go well, he takes and claims part of the credit - when things don't go well, he can and did say that Carlsen doesn't listen to his advice ... . So it's a win-win situation, while he would have quite something to lose by playing himself - beyond exhibition matches against carefully chosen opponents such as Karpov.

well, if opponents play rubbish in equal endgames, Anand could have won more games as well. its chess, not boxing, that 20 will always be greater than 19 and win.

for true picture, count number of good moves and bad moves, and rate them for performance rather than just win or loss. a win by force and a win by blunders or pathetic play are different things... we dont have that level of analysis yet from any GMs or dedicated source.
as per what limited analysis I could do from last 4-5 months, Anand isn't playing worse than anyone else out there.

as of strategies, we all are speculators here. and even Anand can't guarantee what he follows will work. I am just giving my opinion based on patterns I see. you have every right to disagree and give your own analysis.

"- He was vulnerable at the Olympiad and Bilbao, it seems still premature to say that these were just accidents and Nanjing-style victories are “business as usual”."

In your dreams, that's just the usual Thomas Anti Carlsen Hype.

He lost two games in Bilbao, and played a lot of weird openings in the Olympiad. Apart from that he won just about everything, Nanjing 2009+2010, London 2009, Corus 2010, Amber 2010, Bazna 2010, World Blitz Ch ship 2009. A perfect record except for 2nd at 2009 Tal Memorial.

wrt Kasparov, see how many WCH matches he play and how far apart. and see his performance in them. just playing karpov always means he just had to prepare for ONE guy for ages. Rookie Anand and Short in 90s were hardly a challenge. and he couldn't dismantle a SINGLE opening variation of Kramnik.
not taking anything away from him. I am big kasparov fan as well, but his challenge was nothing as compared to daunting and repetitive challenges Anand has overcome since 99.

and if you know what preparation and disclosing preparation means, Anand's subdued strategy becomes obvious.

Is it just me, or does Anand look alot older than he actually is. I mean, I thought he was 50 odd, but he is still in his 30's!

Anand is not in his 30's. He is almost 41.

I completely agree with Suneet , Thomas . Those days are over when you have only 2 players competing for WC .....
kasparov-Karpov
Karpov- korchnoi
Fischer-Spassky etc..........
Now you have 4-5-6 players who are at the same highest level ...
i.e. Anand , Carlsen , Kramnik , Topalov , Aronian and may be Ivanchuk.
There can be any winner when they play each other , tournament results shows Carlsen to be strongest among them but he still needs to qualify to challenge Anand .........
Kasparov played only few ( over close to 20 years :-) ) matches compared to WC cycle demands these days. Who wants to loose the WC crown , Anand is really obsessed with WC crown and if you have to judge Anand now just judge on his WC performance , he has put all his energy to defeat Kramnik and Topalov convincingly ..please note no tie break was required.

It is OK to say Carlsen is probably the strongest tournament player now but thinking Anand have not achieved anything last few years is ridiculous. I think he has got everything he wanted and Carlsen needs to prove himself in Candidate matches and then probably in title match against Anand .

lets talk about who is best after that , till then enjoy chess. We will always have opinion that Topalov , Carlesn , Kramnik is stronger than Anand but at the moment they need to qualify to compete for the WC crown .............

"Nanjing 2009+2010, London 2009, Corus 2010, Amber 2010, Bazna 2010, World Blitz Ch ship 2009. A perfect record except for 2nd at 2009 Tal Memorial."

That list is amazing but nothing will stop the talk about Carlsen being hyped, overrated, lucky etc. It isn't just Carlsen winning everything, but his performances in several of the events are incredible for a teenager (especially Nanjing 2009, Bazna 2010, Nanjing 2010).

Carlsen is the best player in the world again? 2 weeks ago you all were saying that he is done. What happened? :)

Magnificent Magnus !

@sander Can you tell us how times Anand has won the Corus tournament?

Congrats to Magnus Carlsen ! It is simply amazing that Magnus Carlsen is just 20 years old and is beating everyone ! I can just imagine how good he will be in 20 yearsfrom now and how many championships he will win in the future ! I also would like to point out that i would love to see a live feed of the games played , zooming in on the chess board while the players make their moves and also zooming in on the faces of the players the players, with live commentating would be great ! Also if there is a 6 player tournament i think the top 6 rated players should be on the list !

Yes Bhabatosh , please note that Kramnik only had to go to a tiebreak because Topalov was awarded a free point while Kramnik was defending himself against accusations of cheating.

Anand reminds me of Petrosian. Petrosian did not win most of the tournaments in which he participated while World Champion, but nobody could beat in in the World Championship for six years. Very solid player who rarely loses.

Carlsen is in danger of losing out because of the chaotic system for choosing the challanger today. The matches are too short and there is a large element of luck now unlike when Karpov/Korchnoi/Kasparov were going through the Candidates. I agree he is playing better than anyone atm, but I'm not certain we will even see Anand-Carlsen in the near future.

@rogge + gg: I meant exactly what I wrote. So when I wrote that Carlsen's results are impressive, I mean it. When I say "Nanjing-style results", I mean Nanjing-style results - which can be defined in terms of percentage score, TPR or "noone else could even think or dream about winning the event". This happened in three classical events, (coincidence or not) it never happened when Kramnik also participated. So when I say that Carlsen never wiped the floor with Kramnik, I mean that Carlsen never wiped the floor with Kramnik!

When I say that Carlsen is hyped, I refer to people pretending (sort of) that
- all his tournaments were like Nanjing or Bazna - too much to ask from him or anyone else (even from Kasparov at the peak of his career?), but then let's not pretend .... .
- he is already world champion, when other correctly point out that he is four matches away from the title.

I never said he's overrated, I would actually say that's by definition impossible (referring to Elo). I never said he is always lucky - but he may be lucky in individual games or tournaments (he said so himself regarding Corus, who are his fans to disagree?).