Artwork by Mike Magnan
Topalov has been eliminated by Kamsky and Mamedyarov faced the same fate in the hands of Gelfand. In the mean time, Kramnik, Radjabov, Aronian, and Grischuk will head to the playoff.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Topalov and Mamedyarov eliminated
It looked like Kamsky was on the ropes, with Topalov’s Queen and Knight penetrating and winning pawns; and then his well-timed counterattack with Queen and Knights held the position. A well-deserved match victory! Phil
Great defending by Gata Kamsky!!Will he go all the way again?
…it was high time that Topalov was finally eliminated, as his right to play in the candidates 2011 can be tracked back to his win of San Louis in 2005, that is 6 years ago !!!!!!!!!
How could Topa blow it?
He did an impression of an escape artist against Shankland in US Champs and here he did the ultimate Houdini escape. Go Kamsky!
I would credit the draw more to Topalov’s blunder in a winning position than Kamsky’s defense. Of course, once Topalov erred, it is to Kamsky’s credit that he saw and grasped the opportunity. Kamsky also deserves credit for fighting on, in a position that some online commentators thought was practically resignable.
Four game matches are a joke. This is no way to choose a champion.
BTW, I figure Kamsky is now the slight favorite to win this tournament, with about a 28% chance. We need Nate Silver to crunch the numbers.
WooHoo 🙂 Good Job Mr. Kamsky… I am SO happy you knocked off Topalov. Nobody thought Kamsky had a chance… he sure showed the critics 🙂
choke
Mamedyarov quit like a little girl, lame.
Seems like Topalov does not like playing chess anymore.
Same symptoms against Anand.
Blew it in one move.
He won’t be top again if he does not get rid of Danailov.
Wow, went to bed thinking Kamsky was losted, only to wake up to news he held the game and won the Match.
Kamsky Rocks !!!
Congrats to Gata! OMG! Susan! You simply MUST stop using 10 year old work that I did! It’s embarrasing!! haha..
There were 14 draws out of 16 games played in the first round!
I think this is due to the lousy format of this event to determine Anand’s challenger. Just one slip up, one loss and a player here is in big trouble, as his opponent just needs to play for the draw in the remaining games. That is why all the draws! Everybody
is playing “not to lose”. I believe that the challenger should be chosen by having a double round robin tournament among the top 10 to 12 players in the world.
Too much draws in this event, 14 out from 16 games. Very boring. We should abandon standard/long game and change it to rapid or blitz game.
If we want to see chess become more popular, blitz chess is the answer.
BTW, congrats to Kamsky. He deserve the win!!
Topalov’s era has come to an end. I feel that he has not recovered fully from his defeat in the hands of Anand. Please note that (I hope I am not mistaken)Topalov has lost twice against Anand in the QGD Lasker’s variation. Well done to Anand for creating a psychological burden on Topalov. Credit must be given to Anand!
Topalov can still win this one!