What were some of the biggest surprises at the 2011 Tal Memorial? Anand with 9 draws? Gelfand and Kramnik at -2? Nakamura at -3? Nepomniachtchi at +1? Or something else? What is your take?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Surprises?
Kramnik at -2 Nakamura -3 for sure. Gelfand was about where I expected him to be. Anand was of course not tryng TOO hard so that’s no surprise given the match coming up. Nepomniamitchi was a pleasant surprise…and the rest ended up about where they were expected. A last round clutch win (With Black) which gave it a dramatic ending as Carlsen wins the tournament because of the (black wins TB rule!) Must be vehing for Aronian ..who missed Bc7 in that first game against Carlsen. Great tournament though..Too many draws was my feeling but a great tourney nonetheless.
Nakamura, clear last. I could have done that.
Forget him. Invite me. I’ll play for airfare, room and board.
Nakamura simply got cocky. Refusing to play in US Championships to focus on world championship even as the losses against Carlsen piles up.
I can understand why Kasparov might want such a collaboration with Nakamura to be kept quiet because clearly, he is not to par to the elite. Ok he is a talent for sure having won Tata Steel, a prestigious tournaments, but as Carlsen has said… he’s done nothing since then. And today, he beat Nakamura with black.
If I thought Neponiatchi would be a punching bag with Carlsen having white, then I was so wrong. Carlsen has black and crushes Nakamura.
My advice, invite other players other than Nakamura and let them prove to the world what they can do. In fact, I don’t get it why Judit Polgar is not on that stage fighting for first place!!!
Nepo was the big surprise for me, almost won the thing!
Kramnik was also a surprise, I feel a bit sorry for him.
Anand didn’t win because nobody made a single mistake against him! He surely has has started preparing for the title match and is being very methodical about it. Back in Bilbao he was always opening with e4 and here he always chose d4. In Bilbao he lost two games because he did not handle the (rare-)openings of Ivanchuk and Aronian well. No such surprises here at Tal….and he held on against everyone without breaking a sweat.
Yes, Vishy Anand is starting to look unbeatable again at the top level. We now wait and see what winning ideas he brings to the table in 2012.
There is a proverb ” You can take the horse to the water.. You cannot make it drink “. A trainer can only do so much..
…that MC did not win more games. The other players won’t risk against him.
Anand should not be invited to tournaments anymore, he didn`t even TRY to win one game, a disgrace for a WC
“…he didn`t even TRY to win one game, a disgrace for a WC”
I agree. It indicates either he has lost fighting spirit like an aging Karpov or he is testing himself. In either case both Anand and Gelfand should not have been invited. Instead, Judit’s presence could have made the tournament a lot more interesting. She would have surely brought some upsets with her fighting style.
“…he didn`t even TRY to win one game, a disgrace for a WC”
I agree. It indicates either he has lost fighting spirit like an aging Karpov or he is testing himself. In either case both Anand and Gelfand should not have been invited. Instead, Judit’s presence could have made the tournament a lot more interesting. She would have surely brought some upsets with her fighting style.