World Championship 2010

[Ian Kingston]

I don't think we have a specific thread for the World Championship match yet, so I've taken the liberty of starting one.

Looking at the photos of the opening ceremony, it looks as though Anand may have problems other than on the chessboard - Ilyumzhinov is photographed several times with Topalov's team, but not at all with Anand. Or am I being too suspicious?

[Arshad Ali]

Looking at the photos of the opening ceremony, it looks as though Anand may have problems other than on the chessboard - Ilyumzhinov is photographed several times with Topalov's team, but not at all with Anand. Or am I being too suspicious?

Au contraire. With Ilyumzhinov you can never be too suspicious and paranoid. Anand is definitely the outsider in Bulgaria.

[David Sedgwick]

A lot may depend on the arbiters, Panagiotis Nikolopoulos and Werner Stubenvoll. Both are known to me personally and I have every confidence in their competence and integrity.

[Arshad Ali]

Interesting piece by Ian Rogers on the treatment Anand is having to endure:

http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10325/585/

The pre-game interviews have also seen the locals slagging off Anand at every opportunity, for being too old, too conservative, disrespectful, derogatory, trying to trick the organisers by pretending he was in Sofia and, worst of all, failing to foresee the disruption the volcano would cause his travel plan.

Suffice it to say that Bulgaria is seeing a match between their national hero and an inconsiderate, arrogant and pompous World Champion.

[TomChivers]

Betfair has Anand as slight favourite, but if I were putting my money on anyone, it'd be Topalov. I think he wants it more, Anand doesn't really seem to enjoy being World Champ.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I agree. Whilst I (rightly) expected him to beat Kramnik, I find it hard to see Anand beating Topalov too.

It is astonishing how little match experience Anand has after 1995. But from what little we know, he seems to have trouble when things start to go wrong. When Kasparov came back at him in 1995 he basically folded, as he he did v Kamsky in the FIDE QF in 1994. In fact he has only once won a match after falling behind, and that was against Kamsky in the PCA Final in 1995. That was not such a trauma since it was a loss on time in an excellent position in game one; he was already level by game three. In other words he has only won matches by virtue of being much stronger than his opponent (not the case against Topalov) or by virtue of dictating the openings (as against Kramnik, but this is less likely to be possible against Topalov).

[Arshad Ali]

I agree. Whilst I (rightly) expected him to beat Kramnik, I find it hard to see Anand beating Topalov too.

It is astonishing how little match experience Anand has after 1995. But from what little we know, he seems to have trouble when things start to go wrong. When Kasparov came back at him in 1995 he basically folded, as he he did v Kamsky in the FIDE QF in 1994. In fact he has only once won a match after falling behind, and that was against Kamsky in the PCA Final in 1995. That was not such a trauma since it was a loss on time in an excellent position in game one; he was already level by game three. In other words he has only won matches by virtue of being much stronger than his opponent (not the case against Topalov) or by virtue of dictating the openings (as against Kramnik, but this is less likely to be possible against Topalov).

Alas, you speak in troth. He doesn't have the killer psyche of a Kasparov, who's like the black knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

[Jonathan Rogers]

I don't know what Kasparov would say about being compared with the Black Knight in Monty Python! - though no doubt Anand and Carlsen could recite the whole scene for his elucidation. I'd like to see that...

Anyway, it starts today. What is the best website for following the action live? Chessbase does not provide a link, which is unusual, and I see elsewhere that there are arguments afoot on that.

[Eoin Devane]

Chessdom's coverage tends to be quite good, in my experience: http://www.chessdom.com/topalov-anand-2 ... ame-1-live or http://livechess.chessdom.com/site/

[Eoin Devane]

The official site is http://www.anand-topalov.com/

[Ian Kingston]

According to ChessVibes,

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

So live coverage may well depend on who Danailov decides to threaten with a lawsuit.

[Matthew Turner]

For what it's worth, I have bet £1.37 on Anand at even money with Betfair. Looks like there are going to be some tense times ahead for me.

[Matthew Turner]

OMG, Nxf6! I think I might done my money. Topalov is at his aggressive best.

[Ben Purton]

*shaking head* o dear... Thought this would be interesting world championship, this has Anand retirement written all over it

[Arshad Ali]

OMG, Nxf6! I think I might done my money. Topalov is at his aggressive best.

But is Anand man enough to accept it?

Looks like it's curtains for Anand.