No Outright Favorite in Sofia World Chess Class Anand vs. Topalov
Sports April 23, 2010, Friday
www.novinite.com
Bookmakers and chess master disagree over who is the favorite in the World Chess Title Match in Sofia, Viswanathan Anand of India or Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov.
The first game of the match is scheduled for 3 pm on Saturday as it was put off by a day because world champion Anand had troubled getting to Sofia when air traffic in Europe came to a standstill over the Iceland volcanic ash cloud.
The betting odds of international bookmakers are between 1.65 and 1.82 for a victory of Anand, and between 2.05 and 2.10 for a victory of Topalov.
According to the colleagues of the two players, however, Topalov is in a slightly better position to win precisely because the match is in Sofia.
“First, of course, I hope, as every chess player, it will be an interesting match. Because, OK, everybody wants to see something. We know both of them like to attack, to sacrifice something, and to play good chess. In this match, if I will bet, I will bet for Topalov, because he will play in Sofia. He has better chances, because last time he played bad against Kamsky but now I think he wll play well. It’s not possible he will play bad twice!,” Azerbaijani player Vugar Gashimov who is 12th in the FIDE ranking told chessvibes.
“First of all I expect this to be the most interesting match since Kasparov-Kramnik. I think in Sofia Topalov is the slight favourite but I think otherwise the chances would be completely equal. He usually plays good there, and also I think Vishy doesn’t like to be under pressure so it will be a little bit difficult,” Alexander Grishuk, 7th in the FIDE ranking, is quoted as saying.
According to another Russian chess master, Sergey Karjakin, “Maybe it’s a little bit to the advantage of Veselin because he’s a little bit younger and I think basically he has more energy than Vishy but I don’t know, we will see.”
Topalov and Anand will play 12 games. In case they finish with a tie, they will hold a tiebreaker including 4 games of fast chess.
Source: http://www.novinite.com
I cant help but wonder why Anand accepted the match in Sofia as opposed to a neutral country I believe Kramnik mentioned that it was in the FIDE rules that the champion has the right to demand the match take place in a neutral location.
you realize that Kramnik played vs Topalov in his own country, right ? too many Anand-lovers here to be honest. There is not much money in chess; we should take our sponsorship where we can and expand from there. Anand may be disadvantaged however actually holding a world champ. rather than having a war of words will really be much more beneficial to chess.
For what it’s worth, here is their recent performance (from chessgames.com). This is for all opponents, and all types of formats (tournament, match, rapid, etc.)
Since 2007 (last 3 + delta years):
Topalov as White – 123 games
wins 52
losses 9
draws 62
Anand as White – 213 games
wins 94
losses 17
draws 102
Anand as Black – 182 games
wins 51
losses 26
draws 105
Topalov as Black – 122 games
wins 31
losses 34
draws 57
Anand is a brave guy. His motivation is meet and beat a lion in it’s own den. Let Topalov and co. do whatever they want. They cannot think of a better move than Anand on the chess board. Go Vishy!