Leading Chess Players Speak about the Match
On the threshold of the world chess championship match, 64 Chess Review
carried out a survey of the world’s leading chess players. The experts
were asked two questions:
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What do you expect of the forthcoming Anand–Gelfand match?
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The match will take place in the Tretyakov Gallery. Andrei Filatov, the
sponsor of the match, believes that bringing chess and art together can
open a new page in chess history. What do you think of this idea?
Garry Kasparov, thirteenth world chess champion
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The uniqueness of the forthcoming match, as I see it, is in the fact that
for the first time in the modern World Chess Championships history the match
between the legitimate world champion and a legitimate candidate won’t
be a fight for the title of the strongest chess player of the world.
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One can only welcome bringing chess and art together.
Peter Svidler, Grandmaster, holder of the World Cup, chess champion of Russia
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I’m expecting that both Grandmasters will produce the play they
are capable of. Then we’ll get an excellent match, interesting for
both the spectators and the specialists.
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As for a new page, I don’t know – for this Filatov will need
to find like-minded people: one match in the Tretyakov Gallery isn’t
enough. But it would be great if these like-minded people emerged! I like
this initiative very much: this approach to chess should be welcomed and
supported.
Vladimir Kramnik, fourteenth world champion
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Since world championship matches were reduced to 12 games, they have become
more tactical than strategic. The match strategy doesn’t play the
role it once did; I can tell this because I played matches of 16, 14 and
12 games. In a 16-game match not a lot depends on one specific contest.
And when we started to have just 12 games the result of each specific contest
was much more important. Imagine if football were cut to 60 or even 45 minutes
– clearly a lot would change. I would therefore advocate in future
for an increase in the number of games to at least 14.
It’s very difficult to predict the result of a short match. Someone
catches someone out with a gimmick and wins – and that’s it,
the shape of the game changes dramatically. So we’ll be looking at
what actually happens, at each goal that’s scored. In 12 games the
score dominates: the adjustment for the first successful game is too great.
Despite all this it is logical to assume that Anand will play well. He played
well against me, in any case, and Boris Gelfand and I are conceptually close
in our understanding of chess. I won’t say everything I’m thinking
about the forthcoming match – I don’t want to influence either
contestant’s preparations – but in any event it would be reasonable
to expect sharp tactics from Anand. However, I would not rule out the possibility
of him choosing another approach. As a professional, I’m very interested
in how the players approach the match.
- Andrei Filatov’s concept looks very logical: the majority of our
supporters are in the world of culture. In one sense art, music, chess and
science are all related spheres. Whichever fan you look at, they’re
either a Doctor of Science or a musician. The fact that none of these areas
has much money is another matter: it’s not golf or show business. Perhaps
we shouldn’t limit ourselves to any one sphere: we need to popularise
our game through all available channels, for various social strata. In any
case it’s obvious that holding the match in a major global-level museum
is a big plus for chess. It’s harder for me to judge what the museum
will get from it: that’s more a question for the art experts.
My match against Anand took place in Bonn, in a big exhibition centre. There
are always lots of exhibitions there, with lots of interested and cultured
people. That’s a great audience for chess! And it’s not a matter
of cheap popularisation, like playing in a casino or a club. When the game
is played in the Tretyakov or, for example, the Louvre, chess acquires a completely
different status. So I’m totally in favour!
Anatoly Karpov, twelfth world champion
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I’ve known both these Grandmasters for many years. They are close
in age, and it seems to me that the difference in their strength in chess
was more marked in the past. We have to bear in mind that Gelfand still
has ambitions and the desire to scale new heights and become the world champion,
while Anand possibly no longer has the sharpness with which he approached
his first match and his title. Of course, he wants to maintain the status
quo, but does he have the nerves? It seems to me that he is nervously more
worn-out than Gelfand. World championship matches are a matter of nerves,
and the question of motivation can prove to be more important than the purely
chess element. Also, as far as I can tell, Gelfand is still less attached
to the computer than Anand. This could be a source of both minuses and pluses.
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The idea of playing in a museum is very interesting. I remember playing
in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam myself in 1976. It was a strong international
tournament, and I got a lot of pleasure from going to look at a picture
between moves, something I did over two weeks. I played fast in those days!
Of course, it’s not a tournament ahead of us, but a world championship
match – quite a different matter for the contestants, and they’re
not likely to have the opportunity for distractions. But for the spectators
there are more opportunities. I think the idea is very good, and chess lovers
should like it.
Yuri Averbakh, the oldest Grandmaster in the world
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It’s a long time since Moscow saw world championship matches, and
it has missed them. I think the most important point is that Moscow chess
lovers will be pleased to watch a contest at such a high level. The capital
does host some strong tournaments – the Aeroflot Open, the Mikhail
Tal Memorial – but they come a long way behind the world chess championships
in terms of importance. It will be interesting to see how Anand performs
as champion and Gelfand as a player who has defeated some very strong opponents
in the candidates matches. I’m expecting some fascinating games and
a close contest. These matches always move chess forward, create a vogue
and attract new fans.
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Holding the match in the Tretyakov Gallery is an excellent idea which
I like very much. As we know, back in 1935 the fine arts museum hosted the
Second Moscow International Tournament. This decision benefited chess. My
personal experience confirms this. I recall one day playing in Italy, in
a fifteenth-century castle. This made an indelible impression not only on
the spectators but also on the tournament contestants!
Viktor Korchnoi, Grandmaster and repeated challenger for the world championship
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I’m expecting that both players will make excellent use of computer
opportunities and will be able to write new pages in chess theory. I recall
that quite recently Anand used Lasker’s Defence to beat Topalov –
it was simply colossal! However, I’m expecting surprises not just
from Anand but also from Gelfand.
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I’ve never taken part in tournaments or matches held in a museum,
but I would note an undoubted plus of such a location – the quiet,
which is so necessary for chess players’ creativity. But will chess
move into museum galleries? I doubt it. Rather, one might regard it as a
“feature” that the sponsor used to attract more attention to
the match. Chess is currently having difficulties in terms of live spectators.
In the past, thousands of people would come to watch chess matches in person,
but now most of them prefer to watch games on the Internet.
Source:
FIDE
World
Chess Championsip 2012 – some match details
The World Chess Championship 2012 will be a match between the current World
Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the
Candidates tournament. The match will be held under the auspices of FIDE, the
World Chess Federation. The prize fund is US $2.55 million, the winner getting
$1.53 million (60%), the loser $1,02 million (40%).
Schedule
| May 10, 2012 Opening Ceremony
May 11, 2012 Game 1
May 12, 2012 Game 2
May 13, 2012 Rest day
May 14, 2012 Game 3
May 15, 2012 Game 4
May 16, 2012 Rest day
May 17, 2012 Game 5
May 18, 2012 Game 6
May 19, 2012 Rest day
May 20, 2012 Game 7 |
May 21, 2012 Game 8
May 22, 2012 Rest day
May 23, 2012 Game 9
May 24, 2012 Game 10
May 25, 2012 Rest day
May 26, 2012 Game 11
May 27, 2012 Rest day
May 28, 2012 Game 12
May 29, 2012 Rest day
May 30, 2012 Tiebreak games
May 31, 2012 Closing Ceremony |
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