Anand vs. Topalov

Anand v Topalov: who will win this year’s world championship?
Age . . . playing style . . . even gamesmanship. There are many vital factors in the upcoming clash

Ronan Bennett & Daniel King
The Guardian, Tuesday 13 April 2010

Vishy Anand defends his world title against Veselin Topalov in Sofia in a 12-game match starting on 23 April. Most pundits reckon Anand is the better player, but the stats tell us that in their classical chess encounters Topalov has one more win than Anand. It’s only in games with a faster time control that Anand has a big plus score. If the match ends 6-6, Anand will be a clear favourite in the tie-break rapid games.

Age could be a factor. Anand has turned 40. Among top chess players that practically qualifies for a free bus pass. Topalov is five years younger and will be a highly motivated challenger: he has yet to win a “classical” world championship match and he is also playing in front of his home crowd.

Topalov’s team have not been above gamesmanship in past matches. You may recall the infamous “toiletgate” scandal of Elista 2006 when they accused Kramnik of using computer assistance during visits to the restroom. In the runup to this match there has already been an attempt to needle Anand. Topalov has declared that, over the course of the entire match, if Anand wishes to communicate with him, he should do so through the arbiter. Anand and his team have reacted to this posturing with typical discretion and diplomacy. During a recent inspection of the playing site, Anand’s wife and manager, Aruna, stated: “We’ve visited Bulgaria three times and we’ve always been well accepted, which leaves us greatly impressed. I am convinced that after this match we’ll become even better friends.” We’ll see.

Here is the full article.