Yes, Aronian is too nice and too happy for his own good.
You all should get watching the Aronian/Anand match right now
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That's why Aronian is my favorite player, his positive attitude is so admirable.
This sort of attitude toward winning isn't unique to chess. Coaches in many sports don't like seeing players smiling after losing.
Personally, I have no problem with that. Smiling and joking after an important loss is the way some people relieve the tension they feel. You can't really tell how whether a person lacks fighting spirit by their demeanor after the game.
I agree, it endears Aronian to me that he is able to smile. It may be that those who scowl and suffer have a better chance to become champions, but what is more important, a place in the history books, or one's own experience in life? It was one of the transcendentalists who said something like, life is what goes through a man's head all day, and it seems Aronian is having himself a nice life :).
I sense a certain amount of restraint (or a lack thereof) in each player's comments on this game. Like true chess players they are very strategic in their answers: Anand admits that it was preparation and honestly conceeds there is a certain amount of comfort in playing a position that you know is theoretically sound, but emphasizes that he did not fully remember all the lines and had to double check and improvise to a degree, particularly f5; Aronian smiles embarassedly and basically says that he stepped on a landmine made for some other war, but takes nothing away from its potency; Carlsen focuses on the positive and non-commitally calls it "mind-blowing", which for me is code for computer assisted; and my favorite response was Giri's who, when asked if he had seen the game said something like, "Yes, I saw it. And I think Anand saw it too, many times on his computer." Ahhh Giri, I'm beginning to like you :D
pfren wrote:
It's quite clear that Garrik meant anoyne wanting to be a world champion, or close to that, should have a huge ego, and Aronian doesn't.
Is he not close to that?
It seems some people think Aronian should bang his head against the wall or kick a concrete column after such a drubbing , like Ivanchuk is known to do ? I prefer his reaction to loss over Ivanchuks and Kasparovs both . You dont have to act like a jerk just because you lost, even when you lose badly.
In a situation such as yesterday sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say 'fair enough, didn't see that coming, well played'. Especially when you fall into something that has been prepped and you're trying to refute it OTB. Aronian did that well, his interview was very magnaminous. Just like: 'yeah, got caught in a trap, didn't know it, now i know'
Well, Anand should start hiding his prep quickly before people think he's good again ;)
Off the top of my head Euwe and Tal were both 'lacking' the gigantic ego Kasparov feels is necessary to become world champion, maybe Smyslov and Spassky as well. Petrosian used massive paranoia to become champion and that would indicate his ego or self esteem was somewhat lacking. Anand is simply the most well adjusted champion since Euwe but he knows he's good. Steinitz, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov in their different ways did have the 'correct' personality type though...some of them in spades!
Its one of the great things about Chess that such disparate characters could all be fantastic players and even today Carlsen doesn't give off the air of a man bent on destroying his opponents will in every game so I don't really buy into the huge ego requirement...
jesterville wrote:
...is there no other way, where all players would have gotten to play equal Black and White?
Very simple - 15 players (or any odd number) instead of 14; each player has 7 games as White, 7 as Black and one day off. But then there´d be arguments about whether it´s better to have your day off at the beginning or on the last day
Yeah... I'd much rather have my bye (rest day) two-thirds of the way through the tournament than have it after my last game is finished.
Ill take mine the day before my toughest match, go watch tomorrow´s opponent, stand behind him and make muffled snorting noises every now and then.
jesterville wrote:
...is there no other way, where all players would have gotten to play equal Black and White?
Very simple - 15 players (or any odd number) instead of 14; each player has 7 games as White, 7 as Black and one day off. But then there´d be arguments about whether it´s better to have your day off at the beginning or on the last day
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If having an odd number of players would level the playing field re Black & White pieces, why would they keep on inviting even numbers to Tournaments? In this case they could have had 13 or 15 to keep the play honest.
Anand vs Carlsen is going to be huge !
This was an amazing game! This analysis was on Chessbase. Awesome game.
this is my immortal game. just finished it
The Aronian Anand game posted above should be Anand's immortal, who else agrees?
Agree.
That you don't have the right mentality - you should be gutted not smiling.