It started with 128 dreams to make a splash at the big dance. After 6 rounds, there will only be 2 left standing. We know one will be Gata Kamsky. The other one will either be the young phenom Karjakin or the fierced attacker Shirov.
Most of the big names such as Ivanchuk, Aronian, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Ponomariov, Grischuk, Svidler, Adams, Carlsen, Kasimdzhanov have all been eliminated.
Some unknown or little known warriors emerged such as Enamul Hossain (BAN), Vladislav Nevednichy (ROU), Jun Zhao (CHN), Jianchao Zhou (CHN), David Baramidze (GER) surfaced.
What are the top 3-5 biggest moments / upsets in the World Cup so far?
Here is the official website: http://cup2007.fide.com/results.asp
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Great run by Kamsky.
Susan,
do you know if Gata has a second in Siberia and/or if he prepared openings with another GM ?
his preparations are very effective in this tournament.
Thx in advance
Go Gata! It would be really great for chess in America if he goes all the way.
Karjakin: he has recently been greatly overshadowed by Carlsen in the chess press, but he has amply proved that the future of chess at the moment lies in the hands of the two of them, not just Magnus.
I picked up a rumor that Sutovsky was helping Kamsky as second. But I am not sure if that is correct or not. Susan hopefully can get us the truth on this matter. I was going to ask the same question.
totally agree with ano 12:40 … it’s very strange that the press is making such a hell of a noise about carlsen ( though, he deserves it fully !!! ) and nothing about karjakin …
WHY ???
The World Cup has been great so far. One reason is that every round there was a major upset or at least unexpected losses.
Round 1+2 were notable for Ponomariov losing 1st game and winning 2nd game to advance.
Of course World Blitz Champion Ivantchuk losing in Blitz tiebreak was a shocker.
Carlsen playing 54!!!!! moves per game on average during his 6 rounds shows his fighting spirit, both in games with a microscopic edge (Adams, Cheparinov) and in worse positions (Adams). I think the 54 moves/game is the highest of all players.
And that may be a reason, why Carlsen gets so much more attention than Karjakin. Another reason may be that he is “just another russian”, while Carlsen is the hope of the western hemisphere.
In all ages in all sports there have been good players who never became superstars because they lacked charisma or the element that fascinates people. Carlsen seems to have that.
Shirov winning all his matches without tie-break prior to the semis with a 2900+ performance was another highlight.
Well, and then Kamsky. His determination and strength to work his way back to the very top are admireable. In my eyes he is the clear favourite in the final.
if karjakin wins the world cup, and then against topalov, and then against the big boss, then what, everybody will talk about his charisma , about russia the great nation of chess etc etc
karjakin is the younget GM of all time
in rapid game, i wouldn’t be surprised that he wins against shirov
i wish him the best !!! to me he is pure light !!!
I beleive except Anand and Kramnik, the only 2 other players who can really have a chance against Topalov are Ivanchuk and Kamsky. Chuky is out already, so Kamsky is the one who should win the cup and challenge Topalov. This way, we get a great compeition between Topalov and America’s hope Kamsky while we already have the greatest match after Kasparov-Karpov era waiting for us – World Chess Championship 2008 between Anand and Kramnik. I beleive people will like to see a Anand-Topalov, Anand-Ivanchuk and Anand-Kamsky match in future as opposed to anyone else you name it – Shirov? Nah, he already lost to Anand 3.5.0.5 big time earlier. Aronian, not enough to be the top of the world yet. Carlsen, count for him in future, not now. Kamsky was particulary tough for Anand in past while Topalov can beat anyone any day. Ivanchuk is in his career peak now and can pose trouble to any of Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Kamsky. Lets see how it goes.
Sorry, but…. Karjakin is from the Ukraine, not from Russia!
@Ashik: Did you know that according to the online database (4,2 Million games), Kamsky has never been able to win a single game against Topalov? He lost several games though…
Karjakin has been able to win some, even recently with black. The best score against Topalov has Shirov, which is about 50%.
I’m looking forward to a match Shirov-Kramnik, nevertheless wish Kamsky all the best. I was a great fan of him earlier and admire what he has pulled off so far. Great come back!
The fact that Kamsky defeated Anand repeatedly accounts to his ability to win against any opponent in his good day. He is a natural talent and over time will grow stronger. Don’t only go by statistics. Remember what Topalov told Kramnik when he won FIDE chess championship? He told there is almost a 100 ELO difference between him and Kramnik that suggests he is at a different playing level than Kramnik. Indeed we all know how convincingly Kramnik defeated him.
anonymous 7:11:00 PM said:
“if karjakin wins the world cup, and then against topalov, and then against the big boss, then what, everybody will talk about his charisma , about russia the great nation of chess etc etc”
1. a lot of if’s
2. Karpov was respected with all his success but never a superstar – so just winning and winning does not guarantee you a charismatic appearance or the hearts of the fans.
Ergo: Charisma is not a question of success.
3. IF really all you say happens then Karjakin will most likely be seen as the “bad guy” who is in the way of Carlsen.
4. Karjakin is a very good player, noone doubts that and everyone respects him for that.
5. Karjakin was born 12th Januar 1990, more than 1,5 years before the Ukraine existed. He may be ukrainian now, he was born in the USSR.