Is Deep Blue Anand's surprise second? The photographer just caught it waiting in the wings with the other chess board.

"15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move after move 61"
could it be little to less time for sometimes difficult endgame positions?

we wait for new opening chess moves:)

Wat een schitterende serie foto's ! Scheelt me retourtje Sofia.
What a wonderful series of photo's. They save me a roundtrip to Sofia.

Let the games start.

is it the time correct ( 1st game 14:00 UTC - http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/results.html ) ?

"Silvio Danailov, manager of Topalov and organizer in Sofia, told us that all media have to pay 15,000 Euros to transmit the games live..."
Peter, that was a really a bomb here, a few hours before take-off. Why didnt you mention that before? I know of a few smaller chess sites who plans to transmit and discuss the games.
Ok, it all depends on what is meant by "transmit the games live". All these sites - including ICC and PlayChess - will have to get to moves from the live coverage at the official site and then upload them. In a way you cannot say that they are "transmitting the games live". Or am I wrong on that?

One more thing: This quote also stresses an aspect of this match that has concerned me for some time: How can Danailov both be manager of one of the contestants AND organiser?
I really never heard of that constallation before.

I did mention it before, but only in the comments. I wanted to wait and see what would happen if Playchess and ICC would go live today. (I don't think the smaller sites are in danger.) Getting the moves from the official site and then transmit them will obviously be considered "live" by the organizers.

Great "live" coverage again! What a bunch of terrible ---deleted---, those people who are responsible for this digital disaster. Like the first round of Corus, the masters in China, chess will never be a global sport.

Nice photos Peter! I need to send you a request for permission use.

Good luck with the coverage. I know how challenging it can be, but I'm looking forward to your onsite interviews and press conferences.

Did they check the bathroom for strange cables?

Awesome pictures!!

Chessbase is transmitting the games lives. They're playing really fast so far.

This break my heart :(
I am sure this is last of gruenfeld from Anand's side... and that the champion will bounce back.

The official site was broadcasting a French song during the first break of the commentators. I wonder if they paid the right to broadcast it.

Great play by Topa!

Anand outplayed!!

I think Topalov is cheating

I forgot to mention that the way he (Topalov) cheats is with his Watch.

it seems that Anand did not analyse this position at home before.

of course he did, he played realy super fast first moves

Anand lost...cheating

when he would analyse this position after move 18 and later, he would not lose or play other better moves before.

What should you do if you prepare the Grunfeld for the match and you are crushed...
I guess he will have some alternative but at least it is dissapointing

maybe Anand must play his positional slavic, not grunfeld:)

"I think Topalov is cheating"

Crap.

Maybe "volcano effect"?

He was outplayed, but match is not over. But we must admit that Topalov was better today...

Go Topa!

Danailov's master plan of erupting the volcano finally paid off! Anand will never recover from the inhalation of ashes

Sad day for chess... cheatalov won.

Personnaly, I found this game (one of) the most boring I have ever seen. They played like rockets till move 24, then one blundered (because he did not prepared it) and all ended in 4 moves. Very interesting indeed...

I hope all the games won't go on that way : super fast preparation-play, blunder then immediate victory!

Seems like GM canno't cope or bear anymore holes in their preparations!

Better preparation by Topalov, or else Vishy forgot his, as his position blew up pretty fast. While this match is interesting I think Magnus would beat either of them in a heads up match. Too bad FIDE processes are so slow and messed up that he'll probably be closer to 30 by the time he gets his chance.

here you can see what Anand usually plays:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=12088

this is not gruenfeld with black.

I'm glad this was a hole in the preparation and not a blunder by tiredness from the long trip.
Great photos Peter!

wow! Great win by Topalov. =) Hope Anand bounces back though.=)

"blunder by tiredness from the long trip."

Anand was in Sofia on Tuesday. Game was played on Saturday. at least 3 full days to rest. He didn't walk from Frankfurt, he went by car. Those pictures from the trip (on chessbase) were funny (holes in the road). They were chosen on purpose.

SPASSKIJ in1972 won the 1st WCC game on move 27 (!) by Bobby Fischer - but he lost the WCC match! So let´s wait what happens the next 11 (?) games! Surprise - Surprise - Miracles! :-)

No, Spasskij won in 56 moves. If you are talking about Bxh2?, that was on move 29, and is no longer considered the decisive mistake.

LOL. Anand played an opening which he almost never played to surprise Topa.
This is a well known strategy in the history of WCC; however Topa expected that and has prepared openings which Anand never played as well.

Looks like anti-...-anti-anti strategy.

@Dr. Wolfgang Berghorn;

analysys later proved that even after the miserable Bxh2!?; Fisher was able to force a draw in 3 ways.

Shouldnt Topalov be the number one player in the live rating list by now???
;)

To MARTIN MATTHIESEN:
Thanks, you are correct as to move 29 instead of 27 in the 1st game of Spassky - Fischer 1972! But why (sic!) Fischer captured the poisened pawn by 29 ... Bxh2? remains a mystery to this day! It certainly was sort of a psychological provocation, wasn´t it?! A (later) draw was even possible as has been analysed afterwards by computers - not over the chess board! - "Actual" decisions by ANAND will follow, hopefully! :-)

If Kasparov has this opening, position after move 18 on his laptop?

it is sad that players can not improvise over board, when they are out of book.
this happened also as Anand played against Aronian in russia last time.

This win is something Topalov needed. As Aronian mentioned, Topalov, despite his enormous strength, blunders time to time. I suppose this is something common to tactical attacking players; they get impatient and lose control sometimes. With this win, psychologically, he will be more in control. So this win is a great boost, both practically and psychologically, for Topalov.That being said, with his oath to follow Sofia Rule, he cannot play for draws, at least theoretically. That might play favor for Anand. This is, of course, remained to be seen.

As for Anand, I hope this is an effect of traveling hustle and fatigue, not the form. This is an important match, and I hope he will recover, both physically and psychologically, quickly. This is a world champion match, which has been awaited for a long time, so let's hope to see the best from both players.

I more and more tend to think that with their intensive-precise and correct preparations and their aim at foreseeing the game to its conclusion, they are trapping themselves, barring them from the possibility of either improve on their play or improvise by ordering complications.

(please forgive my impolitness, my handle was incomplete in my last post)

Why did that bodybuilder appeared on stage?????? This is the most random thing that happened in chess ever since Tal caught himself thinking about a hippopotamus while playing against Vasiukov. With the difference, however, that the bodybuilder was real, and the hippopotamus a figment of Tal's overheated imagination.

"But why (sic!) Fischer captured the poisened pawn by 29 … Bxh2? remains a mystery to this day!"

He had miscalculated and thought it was going to escape after 30. g3 h5 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 h3. Missed 33. Kg4 Bg1 34. Kxh3 Bxf2 35.Bd2 keeping it trapped. So he told Fine and it seems very plausible.

Shocking loss for Anand. However, there is still time for him to make up. It's just the first game of the match, and I hope he recovers after this loss since Anand is a known fighter. Today he run into Topalov's preparation. It's interesting to know what Anand will do and will have to avoid in the next game.

Instead of comparing with Fischer, this reminds me of game 2 of Kasparov-Kramnik: Kramnik outprepared Kasparov and crushed his Grunfeld, which Kasparov avoided in the rest of the match.

They should play Fischer Random Chess to avoid preparations and just play chess...

no more gruenfeld please...

Military Club seems jinxed... change the venue :(

no more grunfeld games in WCs now... Its alright Topalov, Anand will bounce back.

@unknown

Maybe you have a point. If the future of superGM chess is remembering prep to move 40, then I'm off to play dominos.

:-)

Congrats to Veselin Topalov. Fantastic preparation; I really think it is inappropriate to repeat this cheating crap over and over again. Btw. is anything known about the identity of the seconds of both players?

@SXL, domino would be worse, I read some time ago that with computer assistance, searchers have 'solved' the game. Result: draw.

You should try go or shogi instead.

Their second is Rybka Third

this is heartbreaking start :(
but fischer and kasparov (against Anand) came back strongly. I hope for same from Anand.

Peter, do you have any informations about the seconds?

congratulations to Topa! He played very calmly today. I hope the match will end the way it started now :)
One thing is sure at least ... it will not be a boring competition as now Anand will do everything he can to fight back

Oups sorry, i confounded with checks (these are solved)! Dominos are fine!

Peter, the venue look beatiful, indeed. May be you can take a closer picture of the nice paintings there.

All seconds I heard about:

Anand - Heine Nielsen, Ganguly

Topalov - Cheparinov, L'Ami, Smeets

@VladimirOo

Yup. It's checkers that's solved. Dominos is nice for a fine relaxed evening with friends.

I've spent some time looking into Go, but it makes me feel I'm working on mapping out the spread of a bacterial colony - quite unfair, of course, the game is inordinately intricate.

Hmm. Chinese chess, has that been mangled by computers yet? I understand the rules don't allow for draws, at least that's something.

Fischer Random is fun, but GMs don't like it because it does frequently make them look like they have no clue. Better to remember forty moves, I guess.

I was absolutely amazed that Anand played Kf7. I'm embarrassingly far from his level, but I just knew that it was not a done move, was itching to see that Bishop do something, anything ...

Ah, well.

hmmm..........:-( i strongly hope Anand bounces back for the good of Chess.

Poor choice of opening for Anand. Topalov is likely to have analyzed the Grunfeld in depth while preparing for his match against Kamsky. If Domínguez is part of Topalov's team then Anand was expected to avoid both the Grunfeld and the Najdorf with both colours altogether. I was expecting a Slav!! Let's hope we can watch a better game tomorrow.

When are the World Champions going to finally admit once and for all that the Gruenfeld is crap?! Man, from Smyslov to Fischer to Kasparov, and now Anand, no matter how many time they get kicked to the curb, they just won't learn!

Waaaa i know im just a sucky amateur player but even i don't play my 'version' of the grunfeld against players with a higher rating then me(and there are alot of those;) because usually they know the theory behind it but still....I was really surprised by this opening being played today. and if you didn't notice it yes yes i am rooting for mr.Anand 8)

he will come back from this like nothing has happened (maybe he will give topalov a draw first, to confuse him.but no more then that :p )

I hope Topa will manage to consolidate the lead. It would be interesting to see Anand trying to fight back. With the match against Kramnik he never felt behind, but now it is different

I have it from a good source that Anand is suckering Topa into a false sense of comfort. Vishy's special weapon will spring out in the next game or two, shocking Topa into a coma.

Crush that volcano heated butt!!

I agree with unknown. Classical chess is now so full of prep that it's pointless. Fischer Random Chess is the best idea. I can't help thinking that apart from people who love chess no else gives a damn about this or any other world championship chess match. Although I love the game of chess, at the moment I can't help but think it will never be a world wide sport watched by the masses - not just chess junkies - until the people who run FIDE are removed and a new set of media minded people with a real desire to get chess onto all major TV networks are in place. Also there is a real sense that chess is still corrupt at the highest levels. It seems to me that this great game is and always will be tainted by those who have the power to fix the game of chess. Also I think the world chess championships should take place every year. Maybe Carlsen is the best hope for classical chess in the future, but I doubt it because the people who run the game have no idea how to make it popular to a world wide audience.

Peter, beautiful photos, beautiful video, beautiful work. Thanks for the effort to bring such historical moment to our homes.

Greetings from Merano!.
Paolo

Go Topalov! make us all proud!!!

Stuff the message - it's who's saying it that counts

Looks like a great venue!

>> The players shook hands, and then suddenly a very big guy entered the stage. It was bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman from Texas, USA, who shook hands with the players.

"Why he was there remains a mystery."

Silvio Danailov's flying circus.

The game seems like preparation so why Topalov wants to pretend otherwise I don't understand. Kasparov used to rub it in his out prepared opponents face.

Yes, as Paolo Quiesa indicates, this was an excellent report by Peter who is highly articulate and wonderfully clear. Keep up the great work.

'Read between the lines,
What's ****** up and everything's alright
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive
And I walk alone'

Why the song reference? Because there's no sound in the press conference? I can see mouths moving but no enunciation?

I really need to learn how to lip read

"The game seems like preparation so why Topalov wants to pretend otherwise I don’t understand. Kasparov used to rub it in his out prepared opponents face."

Topalov should borrow his "I used a nuke to kill a bug". (Or however he expressed it exactly.)

I think that in Bulgaria, body-builders are gods.

Hi Peter,

How are you doing? How is Sofia?

One question: I have seen anywhere a mention of the teams of secondants helping the players. Could you give their names in one of your next articles?

Have fun!
Antti

Thanx for great pics and vid.

I wonder what bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman has whispered to Anand just before the game, but somehow Anand wasn't himself anymore

I think the bodybuilder is the personal bodyguard of Danailov, leader of the Bulgarian maffia. He is organisor AND manager, and asks 15000 bucks for the rights to show the moves. Transmission seems to work like shait. WTF????

Trivia question: What's the most unsuccessful opening for Black in world championship matches? The Grünfeld seems to be a very good candidate!

Saw this over at chessgames. The body builder was in town to open a body building center yesterday, together with the PM, and to participate in a competition, starting today.

http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2010-04-25&article=32890

Talking about openings on WCh matches: the last time when 1. e4 won a GAME was in 1995! 15 years ago!!! I'm curious to see if 1.e4 will appear here! ...and will it win? :)

@Peter: Thanks for the wonderful coverage! Did you spot the player's seconds? Do you have exact information on who these are?

Juste an amuzing point: when Anand outprepared Kramnik in 2008 every body was saying "that's a great home preparation ... fantastic ...". When Topalov "outprepared ?!" Anand in this first game, people are saying let's switch to random chess.

I have to mention that a strong player in classical chess remains strong in random chess; and a weak player in classical chess remains weak in random chess. I claim (without proof ) that even if we switch to random chess we could have the same rating list of top players.

Classical chess and in particular the study of theory, the patterns and the ideas behind openings is one of the most interesting ways to improve in chess for 95% of players (i.e. medium players: 1700-2200 elo).

The paradox is that the idea of random chess was suggested by a player who was known by his deep opening/home preparation (Fisher). It is more natural that random chess would be suggested by practical players who did not pay important attention to theory (like Spassky, karpov) (Important attention according to champions standars).

At the press conference I asked Topalov whether Nxf6 was still preparation, since he continued to play fast afterwards. He didn't want to admit it, and said it was all very natural, but as Dejan Bojkov pointed out on his blog, "later on he confessed for the Bulgarian National Television that the game was very easy since Anand felt into an opening preparation".

@SXL, @VladimirOo; I beleive that even if chess is solved (proved to be dead draw) this does not change a lot of things because:

1/either the proof is constructive, i.e. it give you the way (strategy) to force a draw with both colors and hence its size would be equal to the number of the atoms of the universe and no-body can remember the way to force a draw. (looks like a table base but for the hole game and not just for endgames)

2/or the proof is not constructive, I mean that it ensures that Chess is dead draw BUT it does not tell you HOW to draw (many of mathematical proofs are not constructive).

Hence in both cases the status of chess as a complicated/practical game does not change if we prove that it is dead draw.

lol @ Alexander....Hilarious...

Cmon Vishy! Wipe the smile of Topalov's face...

>Do you have any information about the seconds?

There are sixty in one minute. :-)

@ Zeblakov

Yes, a valid point. BUT - computers/processors are just getting faster and faster, and more and more is "solved." A leap already compared to back then.

If WCC is going to become a question of firing off home prep, then where's the appeal of the game actual game? It would be like two golfers sitting on a bench mapping out the whole 18 holes to one another, including all eventualities, without actually ever teeing off - if you ask me.

wow, great Topalov is already 10 minutes before the game sitting at the table:) he likes it.

anyone know the score statistic of grunfeld opening in wch matches?

@SXL;

"If WCC is going to become a question of firing off home prep, then where’s the appeal of the game actual game?"

Nice point. I have a strange feeling about a game which followed 100% home preparation.

I do not consider it a game at all.

This remind me a strange/interesting recent interview of with Fischer: http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=153

they follow the game gulko-shulman 0:1

@Zeblakob

Anand's preparation against Kramnik was very impressive in the sens that it produced position of very high tension or tremendous possibilities (mainly in the Meran). He prepared position where both would have to think OTB, but much more difficul for Kramnik's style. In a sens, a preparation to counter Kramnik's preparation and efforts to fight in familiar positions (with slight and permanent avantage for instance)

Here, these are 'totalitarian' preparations. You work intensively with Rybka, analyse every possibilities and memorize everything until the end of the game. You nearly do not play anymore, just focus on memory and hope that you have stored more variations than you opponents.

To compare, when Anand outprepared Kramnik in the Meran, the latter took time to think, came up with strong ideas, strived for initiative, put up a mess and Anand had to think on his turn. In the end, after terrible fight, Kramnik succumbed.

Here, after opening preparation, everything is settled. 'Have not analysed it ? Messa ita est!'

the game ends sure draw today. move 22

@VladimirOo;

thanks; I see the point and the difference between two kind of preparation : say
a humain one (human deep ideas impossible to be discovered by computers but could be checked by computers) and variational ones where computers do every thing.

The old solgan in computer science: the human think, the machine executes.
The modern chess slogan : the machine computes, the human memorise.

Anand has reached a very comfortable position now on move 31, the pawn a5 will fall. Looks like Anand decided to play a Kramnik on Topalov: play the Catalan, get the queens off the board, and slowly grind the resulting positional advantage.

@Zeblakob

Yep, i see it like this.

The point is that when you make a variational preparation and confront it to another variational one, you are kind of trapped : either you have stocked more, either you immediately lose.

Whereas when you have a human preparation (say like Shirov), you can afford to mess things up when in a difficult situation because you have co-built a semi-computeresque position with you variational opponent: in that case, you might be a little or a lot under when strictly evaluating, but you might also pose terrible problems to an opponent deprived from his computer and obliged to think in a position that he has not prepared.

I believe that, at this pace, Tal is the future.

1-1 for sure!

Looking forward to 7-1 victory margin for Anand.
Go Vishy, go!!!

but at the move 22 the game was draw.

By the way, anyone else felt a little weird seeing Anand's 23...Kf7 get no less than TWO question marks on some sites? I mean, okay, it turned out to be a bad move, but its refutation was outstanding and moreover completely non-obvious, so marking it as a 'clear blunder' seems a bit harsh and sensational. Or am I seeing too much in this?

DEAR SIR,
I´LIKE TO ASSIST TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP, DO YOU KNOW WHO I HAVE TO CONTACT TO FOR IT ?
THANKS IN ADAVANCE

JAvier;

there are many choices:
1. live games + video at officiel web site:
http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/results.html
2. live games with chat: http://livechess.chessdom.com/site/

But if you want to assist to the World Championship as a "player" it is difficult to help you because even the world number 1 has some (bureactratic) difficulties to joint the Championship

Looking forward to 7-1 victory margin for Anand.
Go Vishy, go!!!

Anand has reached a very comfortable position now on move 31, the pawn a5 will fall. Looks like Anand decided to play a Kramnik on Topalov: play the Catalan, get the queens off the board, and slowly grind the resulting positional advantage.

Anand has reached a very comfortable position now on move 31, the pawn a5 will fall. Looks like Anand decided to play a Kramnik on Topalov: play the Catalan, get the queens off the board, and slowly grind the resulting positional advantage.

Anand has reached a very comfortable position now on move 31, the pawn a5 will fall. Looks like Anand decided to play a Kramnik on Topalov: play the Catalan, get the queens off the board, and slowly grind the resulting positional advantage.