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(Message started by: Fritzlein on Oct 22nd, 2008, 5:54am)
Title: Anand Rocks
Post by Fritzlein on Oct 22nd, 2008, 5:54am
Is anyone watching the chess World Championship?  Viswanathan Anand is absolutely destroying Vladimir Kramnik.  The games, apart from the first, have been quite interesting: unbalanced and sharp.  Although it is too bad that computers watching the match can play better than the contestants in the match, these games are proof that chess is not at all "played out".  There's still plenty of life left in the old game.
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by The_Jeh on Oct 22nd, 2008, 8:11am
I'm watching. In game 5, the refutation to Kramnik's Nxd4 was so deep that it took Fruit running on my home computer over three minutes to find the refutation. The refutation was about 16 half-moves deep in total. Of course, Anand saw it easily. It's kind of hard to believe that Kramnik is the guy who beat Kasparov by watching this match.
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by Arimabuff on Oct 22nd, 2008, 8:55am

on 10/22/08 at 08:11:34, The_Jeh wrote:
I'm watching. In game 5, the refutation to Kramnik's Nxd4 was so deep that it took Fruit running on my home computer over three minutes to find the refutation. The refutation was about 16 half-moves deep in total. Of course, Anand saw it easily. It's kind of hard to believe that Kramnik is the guy who beat Kasparov by watching this match.

I have a hard time admitting that there is so big a difference between them. I think Kramnik may simply be in a slump. That happens in any human activity and Chess is no exception.
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by omar on Oct 23rd, 2008, 6:15am
Actually I didn't know it was going on until my wife told me about it. She saw a news clip about it on one of the Indian channels on TV. I've been following since. I am glad to see that the games are not a series of draws and I am totally amazed that Anand won two of the games with the black pieces. I guess all the trips to the bathroom aren't helping Kramnik this time :-)

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3553

But as they say; it's not over till it's over.
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by RonWeasley on Oct 23rd, 2008, 7:59am
I liked a comment I read about the meta-game.  On his second win as black, the game followed his first win until Anand deviated first.  It said maybe Anand suspected Kramnik had an improvement prepared, so Anand avoided it.

The nearest I can come to that is to avoid bot bashing positions.
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by Arimabuff on Oct 23rd, 2008, 1:18pm

on 10/23/08 at 06:15:33, omar wrote:
...I guess all the trips to the bathroom aren't helping Kramnik this time :-)

What do you mean?
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by Fritzlein on Oct 23rd, 2008, 5:38pm

on 10/22/08 at 08:55:31, Arimabuff wrote:
I have a hard time admitting that there is so big a difference between them. I think Kramnik may simply be in a slump. That happens in any human activity and Chess is no exception.

I also don't think there is a big difference between the skill level of Anand and Kramnik, but I tend to believe in luck more than in slumps.  Anand has only won three in a row, excluding draws.  If you flip a fair coin often enough you will get three heads in a row, or three tails in row.  A run of three doesn't mean that the next flip is any more likely to continue the streak than to break it.  For example, consider my three wins over chessandgo during the 2008 World Arimaa Championship.  :P
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by The_Jeh on Oct 27th, 2008, 9:54am
I guess Kramnik is back.
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by Fritzlein on Oct 27th, 2008, 6:37pm
If Kramnik comes back to win this match after having been down three games with three games to play, it will be the greatest comeback in the history of the chess World Championship.  Even Kasparov coming back from 5-0 down against Karpov pales in comparison, because in that match draws did not count, and anyway it was halted before Kasparov got all the way to 6-5.

Are bookmakers giving odds?  Surely Kramnik is less than 100:1 even with today's win.
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by Arimabuff on Oct 28th, 2008, 2:16pm

on 10/27/08 at 18:37:26, Fritzlein wrote:
If Kramnik comes back to win this match after having been down three games with three games to play, it will be the greatest comeback in the history of the chess World Championship.  Even Kasparov coming back from 5-0 down against Karpov pales in comparison, because in that match draws did not count, and anyway it was halted before Kasparov got all the way to 6-5.

Are bookmakers giving odds?  Surely Kramnik is less than 100:1 even with today's win.

There is a first time for everything.  ;)
Title: Re: Anand Rocks
Post by Fritzlein on Oct 29th, 2008, 12:38pm

on 10/28/08 at 14:16:04, Arimabuff wrote:
There is a first time for everything.  ;)

Indeed, and for this thing the first time will have to be some future year.  Anand secured a draw in game 11, and with it the crown.


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