Are you hearing more about Naka on US chess servers ( here and ICC ) ? If so, what do you expect ? If Armenia has a chess server I am sure you will hear much more about Aronian and if Ukraine has one they will talk more of Ivanchuk I suspect.... don't you ?
Why all the fuss about Nakamura?
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May 17, 2011
0
#3
You got it, Deranged. Chess is not the only competitive activity where people ignore what country players come from. It is perhaps asking a bit too much of people to expect them to have restrained their opinion of Fischer, based on the existence of a player who was 9 at the time when Fischer reached his peak and who would win the World Championship (at the second attempt), 13 years later.
May 17, 2011
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#4
Of course this is the reason. Look at how many Kamsky lovers there are. Why? Because he became an American. It's sickening. The greatest tennis players the world has ever known play right now, yet people still talk about Andy Roddick. It's a sick, twisted nationalistic nightmare that I can't wake-up from
Fezzik wrote:
Naka is American, as LN said. He's also a very vocal member of ICC where he has gained a cult status for his amazing bullet prowess.
In short, Nakamura is young, flamboyant, and American.
Aronian is about five years older, and much more reserved. His chess is also a bit less flamboyant. However, he too has played quite a bit on ICC. Relatively few people know about this side of him though because he's quiet about it.
What's Aronian's handle on ICC ??
Umm ... Naka just won Tata Steel. That was huge!
May 17, 2011
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#7
trysts wrote:
Of course this is the reason. Look at how many Kamsky lovers there are. Why? Because he became an American. It's sickening. The greatest tennis players the world has ever known play right now, yet people still talk about Andy Roddick. It's a sick, twisted nationalistic nightmare that I can't wake-up from
trysts has surely put her finger on the greatest problem facing the world. Forget global warming, overpopulation, resource depletion. People being biased towards sportsmen from their own country is the sort of thing that makes me want to go out and invade somewhere, just to blow off a bit of steam.
(where's the irony emoticon, just when I need it? (To avoid the people who are inevitably going to treat this post as a literal statement)).
All the above reasons for Nakamura's popularity is true, however, I usually think that his agressive play and opening choice has something to do it with aswell. Atleast that's why I like him.
Why anyone cares for Kamsky is beyond me though, can you really be so biased and patriotic for your own country that you cheer on a guy that has the charisma of a soap?
May 17, 2011
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#9
Elroch wrote:
trysts wrote:
Of course this is the reason. Look at how many Kamsky lovers there are. Why? Because he became an American. It's sickening. The greatest tennis players the world has ever known play right now, yet people still talk about Andy Roddick. It's a sick, twisted nationalistic nightmare that I can't wake-up from
trysts has surely put her finger on the greatest problem facing the world. Forget global warming, overpopulation, resource depletion. People being biased towards sportsmen from their own country is the sort of thing that makes me want to go out and invade somewhere, just to blow off a bit of steam.
(where's the irony emoticon, just when I need it? (To avoid the people who are inevitably going to treat this post as a literal statement)).
Yes, I have somehow failed to mention global warming, and overpopulation when talking about American nationalism. It just slipped my mind.
Tricklev wrote:
All the above reasons for Nakamura's popularity is true, however, I usually think that his agressive play and opening choice has something to do it with aswell. Atleast that's why I like him.
Why anyone cares for Kamsky is beyond me though, can you really be so biased and patriotic for your own country that you cheer on a guy that has the charisma of a soap?
Kamsky reminds me of Reshevsky and Lasker; great fighting spirit and determination. He is also a great defender. Charisma is not required to be a strong chess player.
I think the guy is an interesting character; harmless & a little bit provocative.
Deranged wrote:
I think that this is the reason why Fischer was given so much more credit than he deserved. Sure, he was a world champion, but not for long, nor was he the greatest chess player of all times (Kasparov was).
Why don't you ask Reb to explain the influence of Fischer? First he fought on the board like nobody else, neither before, nor after. There was no such thing for him as taking a draw in 7 moves, as today's players. Secondly you should see the chess prizes before Fischer: they were symbolical. So maybe he was not the strongest player ever, but he was for sure the most influential. Until he appeared chess was mostly some game played in the Soviet Union.
This is what the fuss is about.
Screw Roddick! Federer is where it is at!
enough tennis talk, i cant wait to see Nakamura take this match.
trysts wrote:
Poop on Nakamura, Federer would destroy him
instead of chess-boxing, is it chess-tennis?
May 17, 2011
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#18
NrthrnKnght wrote:
Ahhh excuse me Andy-boy couldnt carry John McEnroes Jock!!!!
I watched an old match between McEnroe and Borg when they played each other at the U.S. Open. I don't know what year it was, but it was pretty old. They were wearing really short shorts. Anyway, those players hardly ever hit the ball hard, they weren't very fast, and they made a ton of mistakes. Those two were so bad, that even Andy Roddick would have beat them!
Elroch wrote:
You got it, Deranged. Chess is not the only competitive activity where people ignore what country players come from. It is perhaps asking a bit too much of people to expect them to have restrained their opinion of Fischer, based on the existence of a player who was 9 at the time when Fischer reached his peak and who would win the World Championship (at the second attempt), 13 years later.
I see we're back into comparisons again. Picture this---Kasparov had a silver spoon compared to Fischer. The state was giving Garry money---even his mother was getting money. He had the best chess teachers Russia could provide.
Look at Fischer, he had to go up against the Russian juggernaut everytime he got close to the title. They would lie, cheat and steal to keep the title in Russia. If it wasnt for Fischer getting the rules changed---Russia would never have lost the title.
Kasparov had smooth sailing.
Bobby had to crawl through a mine field!
Be honest now---How do you think Bobby would have reacted if the govt had told him he must lose to Reshevsky in the next round? Russian masters were like sheep. They did what they were told and ate grass!
Nakamura is rank 8th in the world, but I hear more about him than I hear about Aronian who is rank 3, or Ivanchuk who is rank 5.
Why is Nakamura so famous when he's not even in the top 5 chess players in the world, nor has ever been?
Is it just because he's from the USA? If Nakamura was another Russian grandmaster, would he still be just as popular?
I think that this is the reason why Fischer was given so much more credit than he deserved. Sure, he was a world champion, but not for long, nor was he the greatest chess player of all times (Kasparov was).