Woo-hoo! A WC worth watching, instead of one with quick draws and boring games. My mind will be with Anand, but my heart will be with Boris.
The Candidates!
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AAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Why oh Grischuk why?! You had the chance to prove how to play "within" the system and show how ridiculous it is and the need to reform the current method...the right guy won, and now everything is fine...the system works.
But not all that bad...the 2 guys competing for the world championship are over 40 years old and the youngest bucks were all eliminated in the early rounds. See, all the haters saying age makes you worse at chess. Maybe very old age. But not middle age. Suck on it youngsters...your ancient 35 year old rival that you are hoping will retire in a few years may be your chess nemesis well into YOUR 40's.
Yes...a shocking finish...but why did Grischuk play 33...Nxp rather than NxR?
"The Candidates" was a huge disappointment...first with Carlsen "chickening out"...then the flood of draws...and worst yet...early draws...but it is finally over, and we now know that Gelfand will face Anand (his executioner)...any other result will be a shocking upset (1st against 16th)...
Gelfand is the last person I would have expected to win the Candidates Match.
I think the Round-Robin or Swiss format would have been better suited to flush out the best player to challenge Anand, but oh well.
Lets see how Gelfand does before we jump to any conclusions. If the Anand - Gelfand match is close, it'll be fine. If Anand wins by 6 points lol, then this candidates crap was a total dud.
May 25, 2011
0
#348
has anyone got a better stat here?
Viswanathan Anand beat Boris Gelfand 16 to 7, with 43 draws (66)
What am I saying, Gelfand isn't even a top 10 player... oh well, I wish him luck.
Remember that Gelfand has been one of the very best players in the world for a lot of time, so I would be cautios to call him a pushover. It's not like an IM incredibly won the candidates because all the other players slipped on bananas and got injured. I think his strength is being underestimated (he was underdog also against Kamsky) and I don't know why.
As for the stats I would like to point out that except for Aronian nobody has a good stat against Anand, who is favored against anybody in matchplay because he is probably one of the very best of all times
BTW according to fide stats Anand vs. Carlsen is 4W 1L 12D (tournaments after october 2007).
kco wrote:
has anyone got a better stat here?
Viswanathan Anand beat Boris Gelfand 16 to 7, with 43 draws (66)
Anand is only +3 in classic chess against Gelfand. You can find stats at chessgames.com
+3 is no big deal... now I can't wait for the match.
I'm so proud of Gelfand! He's an inspiration for underdogs like us !!!
- He's an "old man" chess-wise (42 or so).
- He's the only player in the candidates whose country did NOT sponsor his stay at the site. Gelfand paid for his flight ticket and hotel out of his own money.
- He was chosen by virtually no one to win the candidates.
- If you win against Anand, Boris, you will be a Rocky for many of us....
Hope you win !
Both are "old."
Is there an older combined-ages WC?
edit: Petrosian (c. 34) and Botvinnik (c. 52) 1963 WC
goldendog wrote:
Both are "old."
Is there an older combined-ages WC?
edit: Petrosian (c. 34) and Botvinnik (c. 52) 1963 WC
Lasker vs Steinitz the second time around?
dannyhume wrote:
goldendog wrote:
Both are "old."
Is there an older combined-ages WC?
edit: Petrosian (c. 34) and Botvinnik (c. 52) 1963 WC
Lasker vs Steinitz the second time around?
Approx. 90 for Lasker (29)-Steinitz (61) 1897.
Steinitz is underrated.
As an aftermath, it seems that we had the least expected final: Old-timer Gelfand and substitute entrant Grischuk prevailing in such a strong field.
Excellent!
Excellent!
This will be a great WC match between two great players.