2010 Bilbao Masters (Bilbao, Spain)
The Olympiad has come and gone. It was a magnificent event where many of today’s stars shined. However, these elite players do not get a break from the action. Four of the top ten will face off in Bilbao, Spain for the Bilbao Masters, a six-round double round-robin event.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India headlines the event, but shares billing with world’s top-ranked player in Magnus Carlsen of Norway. The qualifier had been held in Shanghai where Spain’s Alexei Shirov and Russia’s Vladmir Kramnik came in 1st and 2nd. This final stage tournament will last from October 9th to October 15th. The point system will be three points for a win and one for a draw.
| Player |
Nation
|
Flag
|
ELO
|
ranking
|
| Magnus Carlsen |
Norway
|
 |
2826
|
1
|
| Viswanathan Anand |
India
|
 |
2800
|
3
|
| Vladimir Kramnik |
Russia
|
 |
2780
|
5
|
| Alexei Shirov |
Spain
|
 |
2749
|
10
|
Game start: 4:30 PM local time (2:30 PM GMT – 10:30 AM New York / 7:30 AM Pacific daylight).
According to me Kramnik looks like the best bet to qualify for a title match, not Carlsen. Could be wrong though. These young chessplayers can easily do a 180 degree turn.
Gata Kamsky is in excellent position to bring the World Championship back to the U.S. , actually it doesnt look difficult at all according to the limits of their play in theses games, ITS CLEAR, the top guys are having trouble with this “NEW” Knight trick , iHALF-STRATEGY, so UM not surprised at all by theses results in their traditional events, even Kramnik has decided to investigate this “NEW” trick. HAPPY NATIONAL CHESS DAY, U.S.A. !!! Peace.
I doubt Kamsky can even crack the top 5 in the ratings. The only guy outside the 2800 elite (Anand, Kram, Carlsen, Topa) who is freaky enough to become world champ is Ivanchuk.
I have the same sentiments like Mehul, I just dont see Gata taking that at all. Ivanchuck yes maybe just maybe not Gata at the moment.
Gata has a great chance in April…he gets Topalov again — this time NOT in Bulgaria. For all he has accomplished since returning to chess (Chess World Cup 2007 win, clear first at the World Rapid championship this year beating Aronian and Karjakin among others), Kamsky gets virtually no respect. And, oh by the way, he is the reigning US Champion…the title people made such a big deal about when Hikaru won it the year before.
Kamsky has shown that in match play he is still in the super-elite, and he is arguably better now than when he won the Chess World Cup in 07. To write him off as a contender for winning the Candidates Tournament in April is very, very foolish.
Nice to see Carlsen win and get back over 2800…so many haters have come out of the woodwork since he lost a few games (i.e. “he was never in the league with Kasparov”). Please…he hadn’t lost with black in over a year, then loses 4 games with black against super-GMs and he’s now peaked? Whatever.
Everyone goes through rough patches, but Carlsen is still VERY special — name the last time a player won clear first in four super-GM tournaments within a 12 month span (2009 Pearl Spring, 2009 London Chess Classic, 2010 Corus, 2010 Bazna Kings)? Hint, its been a LONG time :). He doesn’t want to show his prep for the Candidates Matches…I’m looking forward to when he unleashes it in April. My favorites to win that tournament and challenge Anand in London in 2012: Carlsen, Kramnik, Aronian with Kamsky as my darkhorse.
“No… he is not in the league of Kasparov.”
At his current age, you’re right — he’s light years ahead of Kasparov when he was 19
“He has actually lost five games in his last eleven (Sjugirov is not a super-GM).”
Note that I said 4 games with BLACK (the 5th loss was his loss to Vishy with W, his first loss with white since January 2010)…prior to the Olympiad, he hadn’t lost with Black in more than a year.
“On Kamsky… we’ll see. I don’t think you’re a gambling man and neither am I, but I doubt if you’d get good odds on Kamsky winning a World Championship at this point.”
I said he’s the darkhorse to win the Candidates Tournament…that’s a lot different than winning the World Championship. I don’t gamble, but I’ll bet the odds on Kamsky in April are better than they were prior to the 2007 Chess World Cup, when everyone was drooling over Radjabov, Aronian, Ivanchuk, Shirov and Carlsen — and we all know how that turned out.
“Unfortunately, he’s not even getting regular invites at top tournaments and is at #35 in the world.”
That is unfortunate, but when the rating difference between world #35 and #6 is smaller than that between world #6 and world #1, it says a lot more about the tournament organizers than it does about Kamsky’s ability.
“I didn’t like the Topalov-Kamsky match in Bulgaria either, but Anand played in Bulgaria too (as the World Champion)… and won the match after 40 hours on a bus and only one day rest! Anand proved to be better prepared than Topalov. Kamsky was said to have poor preparation against Topalov and fell into time pressure a few times.”
That’s because Anand is clearly better than Kamsky, which he has proven in match play in the past. In the Candidates Tournament, however, only Topalov has previously beaten Kamsky in a match (that includes Kramnik, who Kamsky crushed in matchplay in the 90s less than 2 years before Kramnik became world #1 for the first time in 1996).
“Lev Aronian is definitely a player and depending on which Ivanchuk shows up, he can definitely be a contender. There are also many other young players who are rapidly rising in strength. (FIDE List)”
Aronian is another player who doesn’t get nearly the respect he deserves…I think part of it was his poor showing at the 2007 World Championship, but besides Carlsen and Kramnik, he is the only other person I believe is capable of beating Anand in a World Championship match…but he has to get there first.
I think the only two players in Kasparov’s league (relative to their times) are Bobby Fischer (of course) and Paul Morphy. Carlsen has a LOOOONNNGGG way to go before he can claim to be anywhere near spitting distance of Kasparov’s aura. That said, what about Vishy Anand? We are talking 21st century chess where it may be impossible for a single player to remain World champ for more than two cycles…I say if Vishy manages to hold on to his crown for another 4 years in the extreme-computer era he should be considered among the greatest.
For the upcoming candidates contests my money is on Kramnik and Ivanchuk (If this strange man can keep his sanity intact for a month or so). Carlsen still needs to mature I think, but I would not write off a young genius like him…In 1981, not many were confident that Kasparov would be world champ in a mere 4 years though they did recognise him as the biggest talent around. Let’s see. It’s going to be very exciting. Buckle up!!
That’s why Anand being World Champion is the best thing to happen for chess in a long time — it has helped to reverse the damage Kasparov did to the game when he broke away from FIDE in 1993 and then consistently proved that he couldn’t secure funding for his own organization, and also prevented someone like Danilov from attaining extreme power (if Topalov had won).
Kramnik was never this nice or engaging when he was champion, BTW — lets not forget that (he would have never agreed to play Topalov in Bulgaria and instead would have left the Championship cycle in chaos had he been in Anand’s position). When the Champion is a man of integrity (i.e. Anand), everything else follows suit.
Mehul…Ivanchuk didn’t qualify for the Candidates tournament. He is very gifted, but his nerves tend to let him down when it matters most (i.e. 2002 FIDE title match against Ponomariov).
BTW, Anand is already among the greatest…undisputed champion for at least 5 years (2007-2012), plus FIDE champion from 2000-2002, plus world title contender since 1991. If he retains the title in 2012, then you’d have to think seriously about placing him ahead of Karpov in the GOAT debate — still behind Kasparov, but not very far behind.
Looking forward to seeing Carlsen, Anand and Topalov play in China next week…should be interesting :).
Daaim,
I agree about Kasparov, and I would put Fischer at #2 all-time behind him. Right now, to me, Anand is anywhere between 5th and 7th all-time, but if he wins in 2012, he could move all the way up to #2 all time IMO. Longevity should not be underestimated, and is the major knock against Fischer being GOAT.
Kasparov brought much to the game, and his willingness to advance the sport at the cost of his own personal reputation (i.e. risk of losing) aided the game a great degree. Just his willingness to play Deep Blue bolstered chess in the headlines in 1996 and 1997, but came a a great cost — Intel was jealous about the 1996 match and in retaliation revoked its sponsorship of the PCA, and Kasparov lost the 1997 match.
I’m sure Justus will learn from these experiences…it happens to every young master-level player against GMs….I missed a win against Kamsky in 1993 and went on to lose — it happens :).
I would still take Kasparov’s games over anybody elses. The depth, drama and imagination of his play is as yet unmatched. That said, Anand perhaps has more potential than kasparov or maybe even Fischer to pull off big sponsorship…all those billionaires in his backyard and the fact that he is a pretty big national celeb in India.