Monday, October 13, 2008

And So It Begins

After many months of waiting, the Anand - Kramnik World Chess Championship 2008 has finally arrived.


For a period between October 14 to October 30, these 2 heavyweights will duke it out.

Thankfully, we don't expect to see any Toiletgate scandals anytime soon given the good repute of both participants.

Anand's Seconds:

Peter Heine Nielsen (Denmark), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Radoslav Wojtaszek (Poland) and Surya Shekhar Ganguly (India).

Kramnik's Seconds:

Peter Leko (Hungary), Sergey Rublevskyi (Russia) and Laurent Fressinet (France).

Their choices of seconds are a bit surprising.

Kramnik has Leko (a previous challenger) and a known 1. e4 player while Anand has Kasimdzhanov, a known proponent of the Petroff and of the Anti-Moscow Gambit in the Semi-Slav.

So who would win it?

My heart goes to Anand (for his attacking flair) but my brain tells me Kramnik (due to his match experience).

6 comments:

  1. Anand also has match experience. Remember his matches against Kasparov, Kamsky, ... . So i guess if it comes to experiences both have plenty.

    I guess it all boils down to the magic they will bring on the board. Who had the better preparation, who disected his opponent the best?

    And offcourse Kramniks and Anands healt and how they cope with stress will be an influence on the match.

    Who will be the first to be ahead in the score? How will the player who is behind cope with that? Atleast one can say that it isn't like the Kasparov against Short match where Kasparov said before the match 'It will be Short and it will be short'and the tension who would win was indeed short in that match.

    Anyway, let the games begin. Show us some magic, gentlemen Anand and Kramnik!

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  2. chesstiger: His match vs Kasparov was ages ago and matches vs Kamsky were like 8 game affairs so I would not say he has the experience.

    Kramnik still has a more recent and better match experience and his match temperament is definitely better esp. after the Elista shennanigans. :)

    I certainly hope the games will be exciting!

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  3. Oke, the experience of Anand may be old and molded but that doesn't mean he hasn't experience in match play.

    I doubt that experience will play a big role in the outcome. I guess who is better prepared and who is in form will have a bigger weight on the outcome of this match.

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  4. chesstiger: it's a tad unfortunate at these highest levels of chess, whoever comes best prepared wins.

    but that's how it is. the game starts in another couple of hours!

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  5. WOOHOO!!!!

    Finally! I've been waiting for this. I hope Vishy kicks him in the ding-ding. Well no really that would be mean, but you get my drift, I want Vishy to win.

    Wow, I just realized what a nerd I am. I woohooed a chess match, oh well at least its the championship match.

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  6. we don't expect to see any Toiletgate scandals anytime soon

    Yeah, but Kramnik was the one using the toilet!

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