Anand! favor returned to the french GM! this was a nice positional win.
+2 isn't bad performance, apart from 30...Rxb2 in his only loss... I dont see where Anand played weak.

Congratulations Magnus! well played! you truly are amazing. I wish to see MAGNUS VARIATIONS in some openings in time to come, as you grow this game further.

Congrats to Toppy as well, allz well that endz well. time to make a fresh beginning.

...

continuing last discussion, I am here to defend my analysis and support for Anand. Who for me is greatest ever till date, given his onboard and offboard activities.

Reposting...

...

World chess is getting competitive by the day. So many above 2700 is no fluke.
Players are WORKING HARD and its NOT their GENIUS that makes them top players. MOST hard work goes in finding ways to SURPRISE your opponent in OPENINGS.

the level of opposition in Karpov, Kasparov days is nothing as compared to today and what will be in future. Everyone has a computer at home and anyone can become super-GM sitting at home if they want to. (see Nakamura)

Magnus played Olympiad thinking he was playing second rate players, so no need to disclose his HARDWORK, and play random openings. He got a rude shock that without help of PREPARATION, there is not a wide gap between chess players in current age.
…

For one small example, I could beat VISHY in that SIMUL game, because he allowed me luxury of space in OPENING.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVLFftfqwuI

If ANAND had decided to stick to his most dangerous opening choices, I simply had no chance as he out-prepares me by giant margin.

PREPARATION is as important as BULLETS in the war. It can’t be wasted for lesser purpose, therefore my reasoning…

Congrats to Carlsen though I think he missed a win in there somewhere. Perhaps 31. Qd2 !

Boo Topalov won. I wanted him out of the top 5 and in worse form!

Oh and the obligatory 'first'

An outstanding +4 performance by Magnus Carlsen. He showed his fighting spirit and the ability to generate attacks from any position. He might have won even more games, but still a dominating performance - the kid is good! I'm looking forward to seeing him in the Candidates Matches next year.

After winning the last game, Anand got to a respectable +2. But I think he can do better. If Anand had a weakness, I would say it's in the openings, especially with white. Being a life-long 1.e4 player, he started to play 1.d4 shortly before the Kramnik match (probably to avoid 6 games of Petroff), and started to play the Catalan right at the Topalov match. He's talented enough to play them well, but these positions don't come naturally to him as they do with someone like Kramnik. With the black pieces, however, Anand is actually fine. In fact, he is ambidextrous in that he wins quite often with black, as opposed to most top players who mainly win with the white pieces.

Bacrot had a great start, beating Anand in a solid game. But after his blunder against Topalov, he probably lost heart, and ended with a bad game against Anand in the final round. Still, the overall result of +0 is fine for the strength of the tournament.

Tpoalov had another disappointing result, but at least he was able to save some face by winning his final game to get to -1. Hopefully he will get back on track to winning at the highest levels. By the way, why hasn't Topalov been playing his beloved Najdorf? Is he saving it for the Candidates Matches next year or doesn't he like it anymore?

Gashimov had a respectable result while Wang Yue must be disappointed with his performance.

@ foo - indeed! I was planing to write a book on it. you stopped me right on time :)

(I remember someone wrote one wrt fischer! anyway I just wanted to make a point wrt preparation.)
...

hey, I didn't know Wang Yue was winning against Toppy today! he is totally out of sorts.

Nice to see Anand on top of rating list! Its like a frog race among him Magnus and Lev. BTW won't Lev's tournament count? won't he be second and Magnus third in Nov list???

time for a break till London fiesta. oh I hate these breaks, why can't they play blitz or something everyday.

Nadjorf is a tricky beast at this level. There is a lot of prep that goes into it and you can be 100% sure that every time someone plays e4 against him they have something prepared. The match with Kramnik and Anand have clearly taken a psychological toll on Topalov. He no longer seems to be able to pull out some wild sac as he has done in the past and unbalance the people he needs to beat. . Topalov while he does seem to do well if people walk into his prep he seems to lose confidence if they surprise him or refute his sac and equalize.
Another reason that he isnt playing the najdorf is that trying to do the old Kasparov idea and out preping someone is a bad idea. With todays computers anyone can analyze a very deep line and surprise you.[ look at radjabov and his Kings indian at the top level it has taken a beating] The top players have chosen to be moving targets and never play one thing for too many games. Look at what Carlsen has played against top level players? King's gambit, sicilian dragon, he plays everything. Ivanchuk has done this for years and now Anand has joined it wit adding 1d4 noone is sure what he will play so 25+ move prep is harder to achieve and more guess work. As a result you see more players playing old stuff to shock their opponents (a four knights and playing for a win? really!? WOW!)

To be honest I would rather see Aronian or Carlsen play in the WC matches. They both are doing well and I am no longer excited by seeing 0-2 topalov try for 0-3.

Topalov needs to change something, to try and get back on a winning path. My suggestion would be to change manager and seconds. shake things up because clearly his current situation is not working to get him to the very top.

goose eggs for topalov against Carlsen,.. ouch!

Congrats carlsen..Anand! It hasn't been great but not bad either. One way it is great to see him with decent scores with past 2 tourneys. Especially considering his age the Championship title which needs defending, especially this age of advanced computer chess. I think as of now he can easily beat Carlsen in a championship match. May be kramnik will have to come back to give Anand a fight. anyways nice to see that chess is getting more and more popular with teenage stars like carlsen. Chessvibes! you doing great job keep it up. Cheers

Bacrot gets punished for mid-way beginning to play his standing in the cross-table instead of the positions on the board in front of him.

How come I defend Topalov ... but I think some people are unfair to him or at least exaggerate a bit: Carlsen had two events which were "substandard" on his scale (Olympiad and Bilbao) followed by a spectacular "comeback", Topalov now also has two consecutive bad events. True, Topalov also lost a WCh match - while Anand was the deserved winner (good news as far as I am concerned) it wasn't as crushing as some people seem to imply.

How does Topalov's overall play in Nanjing compare to Linares, which he ended up winning? I would exclude his two games against Carlsen from the analysis - he really seems to have a psychological problem against Magnus, and this isn't "breaking news" any more .... . There's no simple reason why Kramnik and Anand can "handle" Carlsen much better - while Topalov's style might play a role it doesn't explain drastic, almost suicidal losses as their second game in Nanjing.

That being said, I agree that "Topalov needs to change something", what could it be?
- first and foremost learning from his losses rather than arguing them away as he did after the WCh match(es). No comments yet from Topa on his Nanjing result?
- maybe changing his team, but at least in other sports (football) this is an automatic and in any case by itself insufficient cure
- taking a break from chess which he actually seems to do, what is his next event? Maybe Linares in February 2011?

@SXL: At the very least, "midway" is wrong and should be "after round 7". And even then .... : The consolidating draw against Gashimov wasn't crowd-pleasing but understandable, failing to beat the Petroff is nothing unheard of, and losing with black against Anand nothing to be ashamed of.

Nice to see Carlsen go for such a classical line!

@suneet. Enough about beating Anand in a simul. This is the millionth time I have read this from you. Its getting a bit old man. Let it go.

carlsen won 2 games against 5th player.
maybe some motivation after reading kasparov's ideas (he need to work harder etc. ) about his bad shape at his 2 earlier events.

Congratulation to Carlsen!

Great Job Chess Vibes. Thank you for providing the match analysis and videos. I wish to see the final round videos. Come on Vishy. Looking forward for better chess from Vishy. I think Kramnik & Carlsen both stepped up their games. Going to be an exciting 2011.

Carlsen draws thrice and loses once against the undisputed WCC Anand in their last four encounters. Sehr merkwuerdig!

Barring the world championships, which he has won on four separate occasions, but including world cups, world championship cycles (1994 finals) and rapid tournaments, Anand has won sixty-six (66) super GM tournaments.

His last major tournament victory was in 2008 when he won the Linares 2008. Since then he has won 2 world championship title defences.

If we include the events where he has finished runner-up, the count exceeds 100 taking into account Bilbao 2010 and Nanjing 2010.

Anand is new world number 1 and world champion now. congratulations :)

After rd 10 I guess Anand would be about 2808 and carlsen after his draw be about 2811 or so?

@foo;

Yes, Anand would be 2808.2 and Carlsen 2811.5.

However these would be live ratings only, since in the November 2010 Fide List, Anand would be 2804 and Carlsen 2803 (I think this is the November rating for Magnus).

And from November 2010 onwards, these ratings would be used for calculations for the rating changes till the January rating list is published. So both Carlsen and Anand would have the opportunity to change the lives ratings during the months of November and December 2010. They both are playing the London Classic for sure.

@foo;

Sorry, a mistake in my earlier post.

Anand would be 2808.2 and Carlsen 2811.5.

However these would be live ratings only, since in the November 2010 Fide List, Anand would be 2804 and Carlsen 2801, if the usual cut-off of 15th October 2010 is applied.

And from November 2010 onwards, these ratings would be used for calculations for the rating changes till the January rating list is published (what this means is Carlsen would not be losing rating points for drawing with Anand). So both Carlsen and Anand would have the opportunity to change the lives ratings during the months of November and December 2010. They both are playing the London Classic for sure.

@SXL,

I think you are unfair with Bacrot. He simply blundered in heavy time trouble, since
he was better with black against Topalov this was a big blow that kinda spoilt the rest of his tournament. If he d won this he would have came back on Carlsen and securing second place giving him some mojo for the games to come, this loss put him off for first place and probably he knew it was very hard to fight to keep this second place.

@Stanley Peters: You may still be wrong :) - Carlsen's live rating before Nanjing was 2801.5 which should be rounded to 2802 for the November list (or does FIDE consider the second digit behind the decimal point?). This is terribly important because Aronian is now at 2801.4 which will become 2801, or his official rating might be 2804 if Shanghai is "ignored" (it still isn't mentioned on the FIDE rating pages).

Of course I am ironic .... but the point is that the current situation (live or FIDE-official) is just a snapshot in time. Aronian (who plays Tal Memorial) or even Kramnik (coming from behind, but playing Tal Memorial and London) could also be #1 on the January 2011 list.

@Stanley Peters;

Thanks Stanley!

@Thomas

If the cut-off date is applied on the 15th of October 2010 (it is usually the middle of the month) Anand's rating would be 2803.8 rounded off to 2804, Carlsen's rating would be 2801.5 rounded off to 2801 (FIDE ignores 0.1 to 0.5; anything from 0.6 to 0.9 is rounded off to 1) and Aronian's rating would be 2793.8 rounded off to 2794.

So this is what the FIDE November list should like:

1. Anand 2804
2. Carlsen 2801
3. Aronian 2794

If the 15th October cut-off date is not applied, then the cut-off date would be 31st of October in which case, Carlsen would be No. 1 on the list followed by Anand and Aronian. However, the admin behind publishing the ratings on 1st of Nov would be too great. Hence I am pretty confident the cut-off date would be 15th of October 2010.

And yes, absolutely. It is very likely that one of Aronian, Kramnik or Carlsen would be World No.1 in January 2011 list. Kramnik is playing both London Classic and Tal Memorial and I am sure Carlsen and Arionian are 2 tournaments before the end of this year. Vishy is only playing in the London Classic as of now. So he may still improve his rating but probably won't be in the reckoning for the No.1 position in the January list.

Now Wang Yue has to pick his next category 7 tournament to boast his rating back to old levels...

It is indeed surprising how badly Wang Yue played in this tournament. He is an exceptionally strong GM but maybe couldn't handle the pressure of playing at home.

@Jan yep! seems similar to China's Trading practices/currency manipulation and everything else ;)

Stanley, yes but ... the European Club Cup is an official FIDE event and as such exempted from rating deadlines - proof: it is mentioned on the FIDE rating pages, e.g. for Aronian
http://ratings.fide.com/individual_calculations.phtml?idnumber=13300474&...
But, as I wrote before, Shanghai isn't mentioned ... .

Are you sure that Carlsen and Aronian will play two more rated events before the end of 2010? Which ones in addition to Tal Memorial and London, respectively? Regarding Anand's chances for the official #1 spot, they are intact IF he beats Carlsen in London - things are (still) that close that every single game matters.

Um... Anand has won TWO - re T-W-O World Championship matches (2006 Bonn over Kramnik and Topalov 2010). Maybe you're thinking of his humiliating match loss in 1995 vs Kasparov to get to three? Or maybe you're thinking of his tournament win in 2007? Or his FIDE knockout championship?

Topalov is dropping places, and his second Chepanirov maybe be out of top 100 this time. (77 in last list).

He needs to get proper seconds who are either Theorists or a top 50 Player atleast. His current one is none of the above. maybe time to collaborate with Ponomariov again (dont take money from him this time).

Though I love Topalov bashing at times, I don't want him to disappear.

A great tournament, just a pity they didn't play in the beautiful Chinese suits like last year (see also http://ogatodoalekhine.blogspot.com/2009/09/magnifico.html) :)

actually that is one of the best parts Rini is the ditching of those ugly Chinese monstrosities.

Off topic: I wonder why players are being payed in euros for a tournament played in China.

It is interesting that the tournament eventually finished with the 'opening-ceremony'...

Thomas, you are spot on. You are right, my apologies for presuming the very 'old' FIDE rules still existed.

According to the current FIDE Handbook (B. Permanent Commissions) clause 7.13, European Club Cup championship will be rated. So Aronian's performance as of the end of the championship will be taken into account.

This means Aronian's rating for the November list will be 2801 (2801.4 rounded off to 2801).

Carlsen's and Anand's performance will be rated for all games played till the end of the Bilbao Championship.

So Magnus's rating will be 2801 (2801.5 rounded off to 2801).

Magnus has played 14 games (till the 15th of October 2010 - the period for his rating calculation) to Aronian's 22 (till the 24th of October 2010 - his period of rating calculation) but he is still likely to be above Aronian in the rating list because from my past experience 2801.5 counts as higher than 2801.4 as per FIDE rating list publications.

Anand's rating will be 2804 (2803.8 rounded off to 2804).

So this is what the FIDE November 2010 Rating List will look like:

1. Anand 2804
2. Magnus 2801
3. Aronian 2801
4. Kramnik 2791

Many thanks Thomas for pointing out the correct direction, and opening my eyes.

@Suneet:

Suneet, many congratulations on your simul win over Anand! You deserve a lot of credit for that.

It is stretching things a bit though to assume it is only about opening preparations and that the top chess players are not geniuses. Of course it could very well depend on what your interpretation of a genius is. And it is, in my humble opinion, preposterous to say Nakamura is just a product of a computer in front of him.

But if, deep within you, you do feel that it is just about opening preparation, then you have some serious talent yourself and I would recommend you take up serious chess if are still under 30 years of age. It's actually worth giving it a shot if you are talented enough.

For me personally, it was very difficult. I got my third GM norm when I was 21, and then tried for the next 3 years to cross Elo 2500 to fulfil my GM requirements but I couldn't.

I really tried, working upto 16-18 hours a day. I could not go past Elo 2487. Inspite of having all the facilities London could provide. Just couldn't, and then I gave up. Had to earn a proper living as well. Luckily so, as I would never have made my millions in chess. I was just not good enough.

I am a contemporary of Anand, Ivanchuk and Gelfand and of course my real name is not Stanley Peters. I am still on close terms with 2 of them. And I have been soundly beaten by all 3 of them, although on an occasion or two before they became super-GMs I have drawn games with them in tournaments (they were still GMs but not super-GMs).

To me, anyone above 2650 is someone with special abilities, and anyone 2700 is a genius. As for above 2800, I have nothing to say - it is beyond the limits of my imagination.

All the best!

@Cal Daniel: "ugly chinese monstrosities" sounds like a cultural prejudice to me.
The players weren't obliged to wear he clothes but several did.
Especially some women looked gorgeous, Martha Fierro Baquero, for example :)

All I can say, I looooooooove you chess vibes!!! ;)

Its not a bias, its just the truth. Those were some of the worst outfits I'd ever seen. If you read the comments in regards to them, all agreed with me. Hence why they weren't REQUIRED to wear them again this year. Yes thats right, it was REQUIRED by contract last year not a CHOICE of the players. The players only choice was WHICH ugly outfit to wear.

@Stanley Peters: You're welcome, no big deal ... . "Rating priority" for official FIDE events (i.e. deadlines don't apply) isn't that new, I first heard of it about two years ago when the first edition of Nanjing wasn't rated for the Jan 2009 list, but a parallel FIDE Grand Prix event that finished later was rated. At the time, Topalov fans were disappointed to mad because their hero was officially still below 2800 for another three months ... .

I am not sure that Carlsen will be officially ahead of Aronian based on an invisible number behind the decimal point - we will know in about two days. Aronian might actually be official #1 (tied with Anand, but more rated games) if Shanghai isn't rated for the upcoming list.

This time, such issues (organizers/federations failing to submit timely rating reports to FIDE) only affect the rather futile distinction between numbers 1, 2 and 3. Things were more serious in July 2009 because that list counted towards the rating spot for the candidates event. Shirov's official rating could have been anywhere between 2715 and 2764 depending on whether one, both or none of MTel (which he won) and Poikovsky (where he finished last) were included. Back then, both events were rated at the end. Now Shirov may be the main victim if Shanghai isn't rated: He gained 16 points in Shanghai but lost a total of 30 points in several other events - for the time being, his "expected rating change" is -30.

@Stanley Peters! Then are you Stuart Rachaels (think he was a contemporary of Anand/Ivanchuk and very exceited by title 'GM'..I happened to play him in UAB campus) ..by any chance.. ???pro'ly not..cause I think stuart made 2500..but who knows :)

Carlsen's ease of play is reminiscent of the young Karpov. A brilliant victory for the world's number one rated player!

@foo

You are very good indeed!

Unfortunately, I am not Stuart Rachels but he is my contemporary and exactly the same era as myself. He is American though.

If my memory serves me right, Stuart never got to his 3rd GM norm (he only had 2 GM norms and retired a year earlier than me) and his rating never went past 2485.

Please bear in mind though that in those days crossing 2500 was a big deal.

Stuart was an extremely talented player and by todays standards would be rated well above 2550. He played and lost to Kasparov in 1988 and I was beaten by Kasparov, obviously, the following year but I managed to stretch Kasparov to 96 moves!

@Thomas:

I agree with you.

This whole rating process should be made a bit more transparent so that it is fairer to players (for ex, if Shirov is actually worth 2765 in Nov 2010 but rated 2715, then he would be adding on rating points on to his live score by drawing with players rated 2730 or so, whereas he should actually be losing rating points) and also for the fans.

Having said that, we are in a better position now than we were before regarding the Fide rating list.

Arguing about outfits? WTF?? I thought the traditional Chinese outfits were pretty cool. Very richly done in terms of detail and color. For those who hated it...Old Navy is having a sale...jump on it bitches!

1989-Kasparov-96 moves...

Miguel Illescas-Cordoba

CAL | daniel seems to have some hidden feelings towards the Chinese and their customs. Your utter lack of respect is disturbing. You are clearly quite narrow minded and uneducated and possibly racist. Do you call every traditional outfit from different cultures "monstrosities"? Saying things in absolutes when they are completely subjective shows you have some thinking problems. Therefore I assume you are not a very good chess player.

Miguel Illescas is a full GM who reached around 2630 (back in the 90s made it to around number 30 in the world).

Hmm, the chessgames.com database is probably incomplete: there only two players lasted for more than 90 moves against Kasparov back in 1989, Gata Kamsky and Nigel Short :)

:-)

It's there in the databases, there were more than 2 Kasparov games that lasted 90 moves, in fact at least 2 of those made it past a hundred.

I would be indeed be naive if I were to give out the year and the number of moves if I thought I could be traced back so easily!

In any case you shouldn't believe anyone on the net! :-) and I obviously am not Gata and Nigel. I don't wear the mighty glasses that Gata used to wear in the late eighties/early nineties and neither have I got the charm, the grace, and the arrogant dignity of Nigel.