Tonight I attempt to defend Vladimir Kramnik from those who cast stones at the former World Chess Champion. I believe the upcoming 2008 World Chess Championship will be an exciting event played between two outstanding chess players who are wonderful ambassadors for the game of chess. Below are my opinions about the three most common critical myths that hauntContinue reading “Unfair Criticism of Kramnik”
Tag Archives: world chess championships
Kramnik vs. Anand 2008 (preview game revisited)
Seven Days until the Anand vs. Kramnik 2008 World Championship Match. I am revisiting a game they played in 2007 at the request of several fans of my blog. Kramnik-Anand 9/13/2007 was a Moscow variation of the Semi-Slav Defense. The Moscow variation which starts after 5…h6 can lead to very sharp play especially because Anand gambits aContinue reading “Kramnik vs. Anand 2008 (preview game revisited)”
World Computer Chess Championships 2008
On 9/28/2008 the 16’th World Computer Chess Championships began in Beijing, China. The IGCA has scheduled an eleven round accelerated swiss tournament format for the top chess engines in the world to compete for the the title of World Computer Chess Champion 2008. The accelerated swiss structure strikes me as odd being that there are onlyContinue reading “World Computer Chess Championships 2008”
India in the Chess Spotlight
The sub-continent that invented the game of chess in the sixth century is now becoming the focus of chess in the twenty-first century. Viswanathan Anand, the current World Chess Champion, has ignited a nationalistic enthusiasm for the “Game of Kings” not seen since the Soviet era. Anand has received rock star status in hisContinue reading “India in the Chess Spotlight”
The 2700 Club Is Becoming Crowded!
The October 2008 FIDE Rating List now has 32 players with ratings above 2700. Here they are in order of ranking: Rank Name Country Rating 1Topalov, VeselinBUL 2791 2Morozevich, AlexanderRUS 2787 3Ivanchuk, VassilyUKR 2786 4Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2786 5Anand, Viswanathan IND 2783 6Kramnik, VladimirRUS 2772 7Aronian, Levon ARM 2757 8Radjabov, TeimourAZE 2751 9Leko, Peter HUN 2747Continue reading “The 2700 Club Is Becoming Crowded!”
Can Kramnik Win With The Black Pieces? Will It Matter?
Between 1989 and 2008 Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik played 51 head-to-head games under classical conditions. The results below show that Kramnik has yet to win a game as black when up against Anand. This is a remarkable statistic based on the number of match-ups these two chess players have had. Vladimir Kramnik’s win with white and draw with blackContinue reading “Can Kramnik Win With The Black Pieces? Will It Matter?”
15 Days Until The World Chess Championships
Tonight we look at another brilliancy from the current World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand. This game was played before Anand was World Champion and after his opponent Anatoly Karpov had lost his title to Garry Kasparov. Once again we see Anand’s desire to be adventurous in the opening by playing the off-beat line 4. e4Continue reading “15 Days Until The World Chess Championships”