Chess politics - The shakeout from Sofia

Author

The shakeout from Sofia

Gunsberg

2005-05-29, 8:31 pm

Obviously, Topalov is the big winner from the event. He was able to
win 4 out of his 10 games, defeating Anand and Kramnik in the process.
His games were full of fight and dynamic ideas. It will be interesting
to see whether he will dominate in Dortmund, in July. Leko ought to be
well prepared, and motivated to make his own statement. I think that
Leko is a bit stronger than Topalov, but that Topalov is getting
maximum results.

Anand had a break-even event, at least with regard to rating
points. However, he missed a golden opportunity to score a big
tournament win. A mere +1 has to be a bit of a disapointment to him.
Indeed, he was lucky to get one of Kramnik's gift points. Is Vishy
getting too complacent?

Polgar can count this event as a success. Finishing equal further
establishes her credentials as a Top 10 player. She was also the only
player not to lose to Topalov. While she lost to Kramnik, her score of
1.5/4 from her games with Anand and Kramnik certainly reflect a
maturation of her game.

It was ironic that Judit had the fewest decisive games, given that
she showed her fighing spirit throughout the event. Over the 10 games
that she contested, she played a total of 582 moves. In 7 of the
rounds, her game was the one that lasted the most moves. She played the
Sicilian against 1.e4--not the Petroff or Ruy Lopez Berlin.
Impressively, she eschewed a draw by repetition in her 2nd game vs.
Topalov. She clearly wanted to send a message that if Topalov or others
were going to play exchange sacrifices agianst her, they may have to
suffer for the draw in the end.

Ponomariov has demonstrated that he belongs in the 2700 + ELO club,
but even with this solid result, I think that he is marginal as a Top
10 player. Still, he was picked by many pundits to finish last, so this
is a clear success for him. Kramnik "forced" him to play for the full
point in Round # 6, by playing what looked to be a speculative and not
quite sound sacrifice. And his loss to Topalov in Round #9 was
gruesome. Pono showed no sense of danger in that game... Still, one
can't quarrel with results.

Adams has had a couple of dismal events in a row. Indeed, just as
was the case with Linares, Adams would get promising positions, and
then lose the thread. His win over Kramnik has to be consolation, but
he needs to get a grip on his form. He'll also be playing at Dortmund,
and it will be interesting to see if he can play a complete game. If
so, he can vie for the win. If not, his prospects for San Luis are
bleak. Adams started out well enough, and stood at +1 after the first
leg. But then he lost 3 out of the next 4 games, including 2 as White.

What about Kramnik?? Well, who would have wagered miney on the
proposition that Kramnik would have the most decisive games out of all
of the players? Let us not forget that he did score 2 wins. For him
that would not be atypical--+2 would be sufficient to have him vying
for 2nd or 3rd Place. But for Kramnik to lose **4** games in one event?
Has that ever happened before? This, from the player who had an
undefeated streak of 80+ games....

Let's not even talk about the blunders. One thing is for sure: his
rating is taking a pounding. He better recover from whatever his
problem is, or he might drift out of the Top 10. I can't imagine him
finishing with a minus score in Dortmund, but with Leko, Topalov,
Adams, and Svidler in attendance, if he is at less than his best, he
will taste defeat.

It should be mentioned that there were other winners and losers at
Sofia:

Alas, 1.e4 seems to be moribund at the moment.

White can hope for a small edge against the Lopez Berlin, and about
nothing against the Petroff.

Out of the 8 Petroffs that were played at Sofia, the score was
+3-1=4. However, Black was about equal in all of the games that he
lost.

Maybe somebody like Ivanchuk will start experimenting with the
Steinitz variation, which might be a bit less played out at this point.

For a dedicated 1.e4 player like Judit, this has to give pause for
thought, about whether she needs to diversify her opening repetoire. In
2 of her games as White, she faced the Ruy Lopez Berlin, and in two
others, she faced the Petroff.

Mtel Masters Sofia BUL (BUL), 12-22 v 2005 cat. XX (2747)
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2778 ** =1 == 01 =1 =1 6.5 2850
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2785 =0 ** == == =1 =1 5.5 2775
3 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2732 == == ** == 0= =1 5.0 2749
4 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2695 10 == == ** 01 == 5.0 2757
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2753 =0 =0 1= 10 ** 0= 4.0 2673
6 Adams, Michael g ENG 2737 =0 =0 =0 == 1= ** 4.0 2676
-------------------------------------------------------------

Round 1 (May 12, 2005)

Adams, Michael - Polgar, Judit 1/2 74 B47 Sicilian
Paulsen
Kramnik, Vladimir - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1-0 60 B17 Caro Kann
Anand, Viswanathan - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 60 B80 Sicilian
Scheveningen

Round 2 (May 13, 2005)

Kramnik, Vladimir - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 32 C42 Petroff's
Defence
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Polgar, Judit 1/2 78 B55 Sicilian
Rauzer
Topalov, Veselin - Adams, Michael 1/2 26 C88 Ruy Lopez
Closed

Round 3 (May 14, 2005)

Adams, Michael - Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 41 C42 Petroff's
Defence
Anand, Viswanathan - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 33 C42 Petroff's
Defence
Polgar, Judit - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 60 C67 Ruy Lopez
Berlin

Round 4 (May 15, 2005)

Adams, Michael - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 27 B13 Caro Kann
Exchange
Topalov, Veselin - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 52 C42 Petroff's
Defence
Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 70 B46 Sicilian
Paulsen

Round 5 (May 16, 2005)

Kramnik, Vladimir - Polgar, Judit 1-0 62 E32 Nimzo Indian
4.Qc2
Anand, Viswanathan - Adams, Michael 1/2 54 A30 English
Symmetrical
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 40 E06 Catalan

Round 6 (May 18, 2005)

Topalov, Veselin - Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 52 E15 Queens Indian
Polgar, Judit - Adams, Michael 1-0 52 C42 Petroff's
Defence
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 45 E12 Queens Indian
Petrosian

Round 7 (May 19, 2005)

Anand, Viswanathan - Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 20 C42 Petroff's
Defence
Polgar, Judit - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 29 C67 Ruy Lopez
Berlin
Adams, Michael - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 54 B91 Sicilian
Najdorf with 6.g3

Round 8 (May 20, 2005)

Topalov, Veselin - Polgar, Judit 1/2 68 B48 Sicilian
Paulsen
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 54 A30 English
Symmetrical
Kramnik, Vladimir - Adams, Michael 1/2 53 C99 Ruy Lopez
Chigorin

Round 9 (May 21, 2005)

Topalov, Veselin - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1-0 30 E15 Queens Indian
Polgar, Judit - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 44 C42 Petroff's
Defence
Adams, Michael - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 60 C42 Petroff's
Defence

Round 10 (May 22, 2005)

Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1/2 45 B49 Sicilian
Paulsen
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Adams, Michael 1/2 53 C77 Ruy Lopez
Anderssen
Kramnik, Vladimir - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 34 B80 Sicilian
Scheveningen

Larry Tapper

2005-05-29, 8:31 pm

(slightly off topic)

Mark Houlsby wrote:

quote:

> Now... I happen to believe that the greatest player who ever lived was
> Tigran Petrosian...

Mark,

I don't know if you're being serious here or just making a rhetorical
point. But if you really are a Petrosian fan, I want to mention that
Colin Crouch's How to Defend in Chess, which came out a few years ago,
is one of the most interesting analytic assessments of Petrosian's play
I've seen in a long time. You may not have noticed it because the
book's title is a bit misleading --- it sounds like a primer of sorts,
but what it really is is an in-depth study of games by Lasker and
Petrosian.

There's also some very good material on Petrosian's style in John
Watson's books on modern strategy.

Larry T.

StanB

2005-05-30, 8:32 pm

"Angelo DePalma" <adpspammersgotohell@tellurian.net> wrote in message
news:uvudndFykK6vHgrfRVn-pQ@garden.net...

quote:

>
> Goddammit, read the definition you retrieved. To "treat" -- did I "treat"
> Kramnik or did I "refer" to him. Did I "affront" him without communicating
> with him? That would appear to be impossible if he didn't see my comments.
> Note that the *OBSOLETE* definition is simply "to make an attack on. It
> says "see synonyms at offend" -- did I offend Kramnik, or did I offend
> you? Even more important, WHY are you offended about something I wrote
> about someone else? I think you have some sort of sexual attraction to
> tall, lanky, sometimes-ill Russians with bad manners.

I see you're still making friends with all.

Mark Houlsby

2005-05-30, 8:32 pm

>I'm tired of hearing about Krammy's mystery illness, which he contracted, by
Jove, just as he was on the brink of losing his non-existent world
championship title to Leko. Fortunately Vlad recovered long enough to
win
the last game w/ the Blacks and tie the match, thus re-claiming his
nonexistent title, before falling into a six-month relapse. There are a

couple of guys in my club who never lose a game unless they're sick or
have
just played the "worst game" of their lives. Yawn.

HUH? Who said anything about a "...mystery illness..."? Who wants to
hear anything about you or your club? How is that relevant to your
insulting top players?

Get a grip, Angelo!