Comments on: Three draws in 7th round Nanjing

By: unknown

unknown — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:55:13 +0000

Carlsen – Wang Yue 1-0
Leko – Topalov 0-1
Jakovenko – Radjabov 1-0.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:12:07 +0000

Interesting stuff about openings in the round7 games: Carlsen and Topalov played “a topical line” leading to a home-cooked draw; Peter Doggers calls the game “theoretically speaking … highly importany” (I won’t disagree).

Radjabov played a quiet, non-theoretical setup, “unambitious” sensu Doggers – and here I am not sure if I can agree. Nakamura played similar stuff twice at the Olympiad, beating “decent” opponents as Harikrishna and Khenkin. No match for Leko, I agree … then what about the last game of the Kasparov-Karpov match (Sevilla 1987)? In a must-win situation, Kasparov successfully played the Reti. So, paraphrasing a comment by acirce on Dailydirt: It’s not the opening, it’s what you get out of it in the end … .

By: vooruitgang

vooruitgang — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:03:41 +0000

@Michael X Tractor: haha lol…At least he didn’t have his hands in his pockets! Long live Victor the terrible! An inspiration to us all.

By: Michael X Tractor

Michael X Tractor — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:33:20 +0000

I see the Vulgar Bulgar doesn’t even have the basic good manners to stand up to shake his opponent’s hand. Good job he wasn’t playing Victor Lvovich!

By: villagefool

villagefool — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:57:57 +0000

The prize money should be good enough to pay Kasparov (and keep a little aside). And what a unique, excellent and careful investment this is – I couldn’t think of a more fruitful partnership in chess and even sports altogether! Have you ever heard of two top players of this caliber (and from different nations) working together this closely before?
Magnus’ development will be solid and exciting to follow for many years. He should be the future No. 1 for a long time (maybe similarly dominating as Kasparov was?), so why should he even bother and hurry with bridging the rating gap to Topalov now? Time is on HIS side.
Interestingly and unlike Topalov, Anand chose not to play in Nanjing – probably a wise decision. My bet on this WC match is a clear win for the reigning world champion – should this really be the outcome, the remaining rating gap between T. and C. after Nanjing (if any worth mentioning) will have equalized effortlessly anyway. I look forward to a much more exciting future in chess.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:57:29 +0000

For what it’s worth (I agree with Max that this shouldn’t be Carlsen’s main goal for the time being): He could gain roughly 15 points from winning the three final rounds, not quite enough to “catch” Topalov unless the latter loses a few more points in the same period. Can Carlsen cross 2800? “Yes he can” – I think 2.5/3 in the final rounds would do the job, but again it shouldn’t be his main _short-term_ goal to cross this symbolic boundary.

@Mauricio Valdes: If I remember correctly, rating qualifiers will be determined from the average of the July 2009 and January 2010 rating lists. There are actually two, and Carlsen + Kramnik (currently the favorites) “need not fear” Anand, Topalov and Aronian who are already qualified [either Topalov or Anand won't play because one of them will be world champion by then].
But I cannot answer your first question, noone can at the moment: First the Anand-Topalov match has to take place, and FIDE needs to find a sponsor+venue for the candidates tournament … .

By: Mauricio Valdes

Mauricio Valdes — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:20:13 +0000

Carlsen is looking to qualify to the next WCH Cycle as the top rated player.
Can anybody tell me:
-When is the next Candidates Tournament is gonig to be held?
-The top rated player is going to qualify to this Tournament, when exactly is this top player going to be selected?

By: Farshad

Farshad — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:51:49 +0000

Topalov is not in good mood .but Maybe He is and only he dont want to show his noveltys before his match against ANAND

By: Max

Max — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:47:35 +0000

Trying to overcome Topalov’s elo in this tournament before actually winning it would be counterproductive and arrogant. Carlsen’s exclusive focus should be on being the sole winner of this major tournament, a large enough feat, and something which he has never done before, NOT on bridging the ELO gap. That will come automatically over the next few tournaments if he keeps up his great performances.
I would think Kasparov has told him this (that any good coach would). His game today also suggests this.

By: Iraqi Master

Iraqi Master — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:20:35 +0000

This round was a little boring, some players is just playing for a draw.