Viswanathan Anand labels Topalov’s excuse ‘lame’
Updated on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 17:53 IST
New Delhi: India’s chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand reacted sharply to world No. 2 Veselin Topalov’s comments that the former should not have been proud of taking help from his earlier foes Kasporov and Kramnik.
“It is a lame excuse, I took more of an emotional support from them”, Anand told reporters after an interview of Topalov was published in an Indian daily.
The interview quoted Topalov taking a pot-shot at Anand saying, “I do not think Anand should be very proud of this. Especially by the fact he accepted help from the first two. I have been among the chess elite for 15 years and perfectly remember how Kasparov treated Anand for years. And not long before the World Championship match in Bonn 2008, Anand had to stand the arrogant statements of his opponent in the press. I would never accept help from people who humiliated me for years even for free. But it seems Anand is different.”
Source: http://www.zeenews.com
It’s exciting to see public jabs at each other.
Topalov needs to take a toilet break or something
Topalov stop making lame excuses and prepare for the candidates match. Carlsen, Kramnik and Aronian are not going to be push-overs.
I think the offer itself, from Kramnik and Kasparov, spoke well of the relative respect Anand truly gets among his peers compared to Topalov. I am sure they respect Topalov’s ability over the chess board, but not much else. I have heard about some of the things that Kasparov is reported to have done or said about Anand, but I have heard absolutely nothing about Kramnik disrespecting anyone in his sport. This sounds like another backhanded slap at Kramnik from the Topalov camp.
Topo is giving gay chess players a bad name
I don’t believe these stories of potshots and jabs at each other.
I think chess is just so boring that some players and reporters are looking for ways to spice it up with scandals and high profile rivalry. Chess always stayed above water and kept from sinking by cooking up such subtle, nicely played, but probably untrue stories of world championship candidates at loggerheads.
The only believable ones are probably Karpov-Korchnoi, Karpov-Kasparov, etc. But where the Russians are not involved, believe me, don’t believe any claims of high profile beef or rivalry.
Anand is a gentleman. Topalov is a gentleman, who might be a bit too passionate about chess. But men are okay. So please let the stories die.
More proof you never outgrow junior high school.
Clearly Topalov seems vindictive after the defeat! I expected more gracful behavior in defeat from an ex-WC and two time WCC challenger. Even Danialov has spoken like a sore looser in his post championship interview with a huge egoistic remark that “I will never exchange Cheparinov for all of these guys together (Refering Kasparov, Kramnik and Carlsen). Cheparinov is much better and much more creative than Kasparov, Carlsen, etc.” Danialov and Topalov both claim to bring about big change in chess and work hard to brings sponsors, general upliftment of chess, blah blah…why don’t they bother to portray themselves in a positive light??? I think Topalov+Danialov+Cheparinov engage in too much of cribbing, accusing, negative imagination!! So the moment they speak out anything ‘negativity’ spills out. They seriously need an image makeover if they really want to promote chess and themselves!! I wish topalov-Danialov good luck!
Topalov needs to take a toilet break or something
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lol..LMAO..nice quip
Topa needs to know when to shut up specially when he has LOST! duh!
why has anand not commented on how Kasparov had treated him in the past ?
Topalov should be condemned playing match after match against Kamsky, with Rustam as final arbiter in any disputes about toilets, orange juices, psychics, or whatever.
Topalov doesn’t deserve an after-match. Let him boil his eggs on his own and ignore, he already lost the match.
Topalov is not endearing himself by making these comments. No wonder Anand got support from elite GM’s like Kramnik, Carlsen and Kasparov. I’m glad Anand retained the title.
It’s a shame though, you get this in most sports were people say things about each other, Topalov got a point and Anand had to respond I guess. One of the reasons I like Susan Polgar is she always took a loss like a true pro and came back stronger without the need to act like a child. Kasparov was really moody after a loss and has had a few jibes at Kramnik who won their WC match fair and square! It’s just really sad the the top guys act like this. Everyone loses a game here and there, you just got to congratulate the opponent for doing a better job and learn from your mistakes!
Anand should be proud of putting any past bad feelings aside and working with K&K. This shows the true character and class that Anand has compared to Topalov. It sounds like Topalov needs to still grow up.
Sour grapes from Topa. Tsk, tsk. I hope he is not becoming a sore loser.
A commenter asked why Anand never said anything about what Kasparov had said about him. Granting for the moment that Kasparov said anything (proof of this?), it would just show how classy Anand is.
That sure looks like a KGB agent! 🙂
“It’s a lame excuse” ?????
What is Anand talking about? Where in Topalov’s statement is he saying, “I lost because Kramnik and Kasparov helped Anand”?
So, once again, what is “lame” and what “excuses” what?
Some years ago I regarded Topalov favourably.
This regard well and truly disappeared upon his disgusting over-the-top support for Ilyumzhinov’s reelection in 2006.
Of course they conspired ‘Plan B’ together for the 2006 Elista match should it happen that Topalov looked like he might lose.
This latest match and Topalov’s after comments just go to confirm how far off the rails he has gone.
Topalov had no right to this match in the first place, of course.
It would be interesting to see if topalov has the ability to play a match against Anand, kramnik or Carlsen without supercomputers helping his preperation. Topalov should be “ashamed” that despite the enormous resources that the bulgarian govt provided him, he lost soundly. Of course his OTB tactics are pretty “Lame” and worthy of a 2400 player as seen in all the games.
I think most people does not know what they are talking about. How can you win a game against a top chess player with some advice from another player before a match. Do you think Kasprov, Kramnic or anybody can tell something which will help Anand win an actual match. Taking ideas from somebody is one thing but actually playing on the board is completely different. It shows the versality and understanding of Anand about the game of chess that he can take advice from anybody and play a good game. When somebody loses a match be graceful and accept that the other person was better on that given day. It does not mean you are not good or another day you could not have beaten him. Anand has suffered defeat many times in his career. But he has come back stronger every time. I have never read anythig he has said bad about the person who beat him. That is the greatness of Anand everybody loves. He is a great player and a gentleman.
Look at the ugly Friedel-interview with Anand where Anand completely lost his style. It’s crazy if the winner of a match is joking about the loser. I missed respect for the little country Bulgaria. Not a single word of thanks for the organisers. In the past I disliked Topalov because of Danailov but now I like him because of his thoughtful reaction on Anand’s arrogance. Anand and his wife too have no sense of honor and pride.