Anand v Gelfand

[Matt Mackenzie]

Bit early to right Anand off though. You don't have to look very hard for examples of World Champions being on the brink of being deposed, often against players who "clearly weren't the best player in the World", only to pull it back at the last.

Of course, but his play so far has been horribly lacklustre (as it has mostly been for a bit now, in truth) He also doesn't exactly look a happy bunny atm

[John McKenna]

Mats Winther>... The opening choice that Gelfand makes is illogical.<
As usual Mats backs that up with clear but offbeat reasoning above.
In the 1995 WC match in NY, Anand played 1.e4 and faced Kasparov's Scheveningen in games 1,3,5,7 and yet again in game 9, which Anand won to break the sequence of 8 draws.
In this match it is Boris who is repeating the same intial move but Anand who is repeating the same defence. Who is being illogical?

[Jonathan Bryant]

I know, Martin - snooker is another example which is often fairly used. But this would be a very unusual thing FOR CHESS........

Even in 2000, Kramnik was widely seen as GK's main challenger (plus, of course, his "bogey" player)

Chelsea: champions of Europe and yet not even in the top two clubs in London.

I agree, though, it would be a significant change for chess. *Perhaps* it would lead to a world where the title of World Chess Champion becomes redundant. Tennis does well enough with a #1 on the rating list without feeling the need it has to have a World Champion. Why not chess.

(NB: I'm not advocating this)

[Leonard Barden]

Anand has just dropped to No 6 in the daily live ratings, below Radjabov and Nakamura......

[Paul McKeown]

Matt, according to the link that Richard Bates has provided, Jeff Sonas's calculations indicate that Euwe was the no. 1 rated player for a significant period during the 1930's. As for Gelfand, the live ratings place him 16th, at 2738, with Carlsen top at 2835. A gap of less than 100 Elo points would tend to indicate the abundance of top quality players today, rather than support, "Gelfand, wtf is Gelfand?"

[Matt Mackenzie]

I'm not really arguing that, tbf. Rather echoing what is likely to be a widespread reaction out there if he does indeed win........

(take a look at chessgames.com, for example )

[Roger de Coverly]

So what's the verdict? 15... Qb8 was dubious?

According to Peter Leko commentating at the official site, allowing Gelfand to trade on the c file was inaccurate. In the game, White played Rxc8 and Black felt Bxc8 was necessary, after which Gelfand seized the c file with Qc2 and followed up with Qc7. The suggestion was that Black should trade first with Rxc2 in order to equalise.

[JustinHorton]

Might the demands for change in how this is decided become irresistible??

In favour of what?

[Matt Mackenzie]

A very good question, Justin.

Though not having Candidates matches consisting of just four classical games might be a reasonable start

[Jonathan Bryant]

I'm not really arguing that, tbf. Rather echoing what is likely to be a widespread reaction out there if he does indeed win........

(take a look at chessgames.com, for example )

I don't think you have to go to a chessgames comments page to see a problem.

Gelfand is clearly by historic (and current) standards a very good player indeed. What is even more clear, however, is that he's not the very best player in the world right now. In the long run, should this continue it would be hard to see the World Championship retaining its status.

The fact that there have been periods in the past when the Champ has not been the #1 doesn't change that. It depends how far away from #1 and for how long. For this reason, we could see the same issues arise even if Vishy wins.

[JustinHorton]

A very good question, Justin.

Though not having Candidates matches consisting of just four classical games might be a reasonable start

Bear in mind that you have to have a system that the players will accept. It may be that they're not keen to play long Candidates' matches any more.

[Ian Kingston]

Something a little different in Game 8: a King's Indian with a novelty by Gelfand at move 7.

[Matthew Turner]

Game 8 looks set to be quite interesting, innovative play from both sides. You often see football matches where the commentator says this game needs a goal and perhaps this match needed a win, lets hope we now have 5 exciting encounters to look forward to.
When you consider the strength of the two players then I think you have to remember this is match play. Gelfand might be the 16th highest rated (tournament) player in the World, but I am convinced he would be considerably higher ranked as a match player. For example, I think he would stand a good chance (i.e. better than 50%) against Nakamura or Radjabov who are rated above Anand.

[Matt Mackenzie]

That is a very fair point, Matthew - though equally, I think it is fairly uncommon for the discrepancy between matches and tournaments to be that extreme?

[Matthew Turner]

Matt,
Yes, the World has changed, databases and preparation have gone to a whole new level, so it is more likely that a player could become a 'match specialist'.