Game 6
Game 6
Modern theory can sometimes stump any player, today it happened to Topalov. Esssentially, there was no fight in game 6 of the match, and it’s Vladimir Kramnik’s better home preparation that is to be blamed for the fact. In the endgame resulting immediately from the opening only a symbolic advantage was on the white’s side, and it posed no difficulties for such a skillful in chess technique player, as Kramnik is, to reach draw. It’s under no doubt that the forthcoming games of the match will be filled with fight much more, and today’s “harmless easy walkabout” just turned out to be an exclusion from the rules.
Hensel: ‘They may try to plant a device in Kramnik’s room’ 04.10.2006 After game seven we received a letter written by Kramnik’ manager Carsten Hensel to the head of the World Championship Committee (the correct addressee!) expressing concern that a member of the Topalov team might try to place an electronic device in Kramnik’s room to provoke a new scandal. The Elista War continues.
To the Head of the WCC 2006 Executive Committee Mr. Valery Bovaev
Dear Mr. Bovaev,
I have received information that the Topalov team might try to involve Mr. Kramnik in another scandal. According to this information they might be planning to create a situation by somehow manufacturing “evidence” to prove that Mr. Kramnik is cheating. One of the possibilities is that a member of the Topalov Team may plant an electronic device or something similar in the restroom or toilet of Mr. Kramnik.
The driving force for such an action would be to an attempt to divert attention from the public relation disaster the Topalov Team is currently experiencing, as a result of their previous attempts. In addition they might be hoping to force Mr. Kramnik to stop playing the match and abandon the event.
In order to avoid any such possible attempts as much as possible I would like to suggest the following:
- Any member of Topalov’s team who is given access to Mr. Kramnik’s restroom and toilet should be meticulously checked by a specialist appointed by the organisation. Everything they have in their pockets and any bags they might be carrying shall be removed and not allowed with them in the restrooms and toilets.
- Any team member of Topalov who enters Mr. Kramnik’s room shall be meticulously observed by a specialist during the time he is in the restroom and toilet of Mr. Kramnik.
- Only one team member of Mr. Topalov shall have access to the restroom and toilet of Mr. Kramnik at any given time.
- The organisation shall attend every inspection and confirm that everything was carried out correctly.
- After the inspection of the restroom and toilet of Mr. Kramnik the facilities shall be sealed and only be opened at the time Mr. Kramnik arrives at the playing site. The physical inspection of Mr. Kramnik shall happen in the presence of one Topalov representative. The representative of Mr. Topalov shall have been checked before Mr. Kramnik is inspected (see 1. and 2.). The representative of Mr. Topalov shall have no right to touch or to speak with Mr. Kramnik.
Thank you for attending to this matter. From my point of view these measures might work in order to avoid the next international scandal.
Elista, 3.10.2006 With best regards, Carsten Hensel (Manager to Vladimir Kramnik, Classical World Chess Champion)
Game 7
Game 7
It was the third game in a row that Vladimir Kramnik had to play with black – a unique case in the world match practice! Today he had to solve tasks far from simple, and he’s stood the hard test fine. Having encountered opening problems in the first part of the game, Vladimir kept on playing rather slowly, while his opponent was showering out with his moves as if from a chaingun, having stored a whole extra hour as compared to Kramnik. In the opening Topalov applied a rare but very poisonous move 12.a4 and obtained a long-term initiative. Nevertheless, in a complicated fight Vladimir acted clearly more precise than his opponent and the scales seemed gradually being tipped to his favour. Yet black’s accumulated advantage turned out to be insufficient for a victory, thus draw is a result justified by the course of the game.
Question: Thanks to Silvio Danailov, today we found out that you are a strong player! We were given the paper listing frequencies of your moves coinciding with Fritz 9 main lines. It revealed that 78% of your moves were also suggested by Fritz. In the second game this number equaled 87%! How high this frequency was in today’s game in your opinion?
Kramnik: A proper analysis must take into consideration that in the second game we both blundered a mate in three! First of all, this 87% is total nonsense – everything depends on the time allotted to the engine for analyzing a given position. Secondly, Topalov’s percentages in San Luis, for example, were even higher. And, thirdly, it is clear already that the opponent’s team is using the dirtiest of tricks to mess with my mind. I do not want to blame them; I just feel sorry for them. But all these scandals can only harm chess. Everything that already happened and will surely happen later in the match must become known to the chess community, and Danailov’s conduct must be investigated by the Ethics Committee. I have never faced more unethical conduct with respect to organizers and me. I feel sorry about this.
Vladimir, this last week was indeed black for you: playing three Blacks in a row is a unique case in the WCC matches. Are you satisfied with sporting result of these games, and how do you assess their content?
I cannot say I experienced any serious problems in the first two games. However, today’s game was rather difficult; at some point my position was dangerous, and I was short on time, but then I simply outplayed the opponent. Maybe Black had some winning chances after the first time control, but Veselin defended very accurately, and they evaporated… Three draws as Black is acceptable result. Everything goes according to the plan. Tomorrow I’ll finally have White – I almost forgot the feeling…
How could you explain your lengthy thought in today’s game?
Obviously, I ran into Topalov’s preparation. Veselin played his opening moves at machine gun speed. The value of moves in the position that occurred after the opening was high, so I took my time. If you haven’t studied certain position at home, you need a lot of time to grasp the essence of it at the board. Maybe I played too slowly, but I succeeded.
Technology is becoming dominant in our world, and chess is no longer the issue between one man and another man. What do you think about it?
Of course, chess has been changed much since the computers appeared; we even started to understand it differently. I am convinced that all major events like world championship, etc., must be played under total control aimed against using external assistance. The earlier it happens, the better it is. This is like doping control in other sports. Here in Elista the players do not have even a theoretical chance to use external help. One requires very strong imagination for inventing stories like Mr. Danailov does. If the measures taken here are taken in other major tournaments, computer technologies will not pose a threat to chess. Otherwise anything can happen. I think it is time for FIDE to include such rules into their regulations. This does not require much investments; certainly not thousands dollars. Most major tournaments have sufficient funds.
You mentioned that you expect more dirty tricks from the Bulgarian side. Do you have any idea what to expect?
I guess you should ask this question on the next press conference. To be honest, I cannot think of anything my opponents can complain about.
Game 8
Game 8
In game 8 Vladimir Kramnik chose a calm variation that often turns out to be an omen of draw, but Topalov surpized Volodya with a rare branch that is considered to be dangerous for black. In the resulting position both opponents acted irreproachably, but at one moment Vladimir was failed by his desire to play safer – instead of continuing his attack (it must be said, it was risky yet followed from the requirements of the position) he preferred seemingly harmless yet potentially dangerous endgame. It turned out far from easy to defend the endgame, it’s even difficult to point out a moment at which black’s advantage became decisive. This way or another, Topalov’s technique proved to be up to the mark, and the score of the match got levelled.
After Veselin Topalov refused to attend press conferences together with his opponent, they lost much of their appeal. There are neither questions to both players, nor contradicting opinions leading to debates… In order to make the press meetings more diverse, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov joined each of the players this evening. First he was assisted by Vladimir Kramnik (due to seniority?), and then – by Veselin Topalov.
– Vladimir, your supporters anticipated this game for about a week. A week and two days, to be more precise: your last game as White was played on September 26. What happened? Why such long-awaited game ended so unsatisfactory?
– Maybe because it was anticipated too long… Actually, I played very sluggishly. It happens. I know from my experience at the World championships that one cannot always play at one’s best. From time to time there are bad days. Today I was not playing like myself, handing the whole game poorly. There is nothing to fear: I’ll relax tomorrow, and everything will be okay at the finish. Bad days just happen…
– Could it be caused by complacency after three Black draws?
– I don’t believe I lost because I was complacent. On the contrary, I played aggressively today, trying to win. But the game developed unsuccessfully – the opponent was lucky to see all his pieces arriving at proper locations sharp on time. His position did not fall apart almost by a miracle. Then I overpressed, and ended up in an unpleasant endgame. In addition, I defended in the worst possible way. I considered the position drawish, but it wasn’t so simple. After 37…g3 I see no saving chances for White.
– How do you plan to recover from such psychological blow as losing as White? Will you rest, or analyze the game to find all the mistakes?..
– I do not analyze my games during matches. And there is no psychological blow: a loss is a loss, no big deal. I am not going to cry to my pillow because of that; I am too old for it. We will play on. I’ll try making the best use of the rest day. The match situation is quite acceptable.
– Vladimir, you said it was not your day. Had you come across any unpleasant parallels: Brissago, game 8, White pieces…
– I did not think about it. And yes, indeed… Hmm… Well, something similar happens in almost every match. It is important to avoid such failures occurring more than once.
– Veselin, if I remember correctly, after the Game 2 you visited church, but failed to win. However, you won immediately after stopping to attend joint press conferences with Kramnik…
– To be honest, I don’t think there is direct relation between these two events. I just was lucky in the opening, managed to catch him on my preparation. I will abstain from judging his play, but the ending is very complex. Maybe I also made a couple of second-best moves, but generally I am happy with this game.
– Don’t you think the match develops in a non-standard way: when you attack, you lose, and the same happens when the initiative is in Kramnik’s hands…
– Actually, I don’t think the initiative in today’s game was in Vladimir’s hands. I won two pieces for a rook – only Black can be better after it. Generally, I don’t believe Vladimir imposed his will on me – we both went for a decisive battle, and… so it happened.
– Kramnik is an expert in the Meran. Have you chosen this opening on purpose, in order to affect your opponent psychologically? – There is no psychology, I just like the opening. I also studied it. Kramnik played the Meran a lot with both colors about ten years ago, but we are playing today…
– A question to the FIDE President. How do you assess the current match situation?
K.I.: The most important is to have decisive games. Chess fans, and I speak on their behalf at the moment, are usually afraid to see dull struggle and weak intrigue. They want to see bloodshed, so to speak. And I am glad the plot is becoming more exciting! The score is equal with just four games let, two Blacks and two Whites. Public interest to the match is rising. Neither Volodya nor Veselin are hiding in bushes – they go to hand-to-hand fight. Chess fans like it, and I like it too, as chess player and FIDE President.
V.T.: In case you haven’t noticed, we are playing by Sofia rules: there were no draws without playing. This is the only way to make tournaments more exciting. In my opinion, FIDE should introduce this rule in all major tournaments.
– Veselin, do you think if the level of play was higher, there would have been more draws?
– There were many draws in recent matches (Kasparov-Kramnik and Kramnik-Leko) because the players did not want taking risks, and not because the level of play was higher. Draw is a normal result by itself, but quick draws is a big problem for chess, and we must take measures against them.
– What are your plans for the next game: take Kramnik nice and warm, win the match in classical chess, or play a tie-break?
– Anyhow. The result is of course important, but I arrived in Elista not to win in the match, but to show champion’s play. People must enjoy our games, otherwise what are we playing for?
Game 9
Game 9
In game 9 of the match Topalov applied an interesting opening idea and achieved a position giving good hopes for advantage, and, what’s more important, with with clear positional prospects. After Kramnik once again in the match denied an attempt to cut the Gordian knot in concrete variations he found himself without any counterplay in an utmost unfavourable from a positional point of view situation. To save such a position from a perfectly skillful attacking player is hardly any real. In a fact, there was no fight. Bearing in mind the course of events in the last two games, I dare say a champion is likely to be determined.
For the first time in the history of split press conferences Topalov enjoyed more attention from the media than Kramnik. Of course – the Bulgarian has clearly seized the match initiative, and everybody wanted to know his secret. Vladimir came first, as usual. Looking at the Russian, one could hardly tell he just lost two games in a row, and is losing the match with three games to go…
– It has been said that the course of a championship match follows the law of communicating vessels: the better plays one, the worse plays the other one. The last games of this match seem to confirm it. What’s going on?
– I have no idea. Let us hope it is just temporary. Actually, it would be nice to come out of the opening with better positions. It is difficult to play well in positions such as the one I got today. Topalov’s novelty turned very strong – at least for one game. I didn’t manage to find adequate response to it. Already 12…b5 was played because I could not find anything satisfactory, especially bearing in mind that it was all opponent’s preparation. After the opening, I continued resisting because it was inconvenient for me to resign that early, but the game was basically decided by the move 17. One could play brilliantly afterwards, but it wouldn’t change anything. So far my openings are disastrous. It is easy to play good in good positions, and vice versa. If I manage solving my opening problems, everything should be different.
– Topalov managed to lure you on his territory in the recent games…
– Yes, he did. I have to draw some conclusions for my opening preparation in order to obtain at least acceptable positions …
– Looking at recent tournaments, one can see that Topalov always starts slowly, and then increases his speed to a maximum. Is there a chance to alter this in the remaining games?
– I realize that the situation has worsened for me, but it is too early for raising an alarm – there are three games to play, and I’ll have White in two of them. I’ll keep playing and fighting, and let us discuss general trends after the match. I’ll do my best to return the lead.
– So, you don’t feel any desperation?
– I don’t. Why it has to be desperate? After all, two games back Topalov was in the same situation. I had been in a worse position against Leko two years ago, with only a game to play…
– Vladimir, how did you spend your day off?
– I visited the Khurul, but somehow it didn’t help…
– After the Game 4 you were in a hurry for the Champions League match. Today Russian national team is playing – and you finished just on time to watch it. Are you happy?
– I didn’t know about this game, to be honest. But okay, in this situation I’ll probably watch the game.
Topalov followed his ritual and appeared in the press room only after Kramnik left it. There was a broad smile on his face. His manager Silvio Danailov was shining, too.
– Veselin, how could you explain this sudden change of décor in the match?
– The main thing I did is calmed down. If one forgets the score, it is obvious that the initiative was mine during the whole match. I did not deserve losing in the first and especially in the second game. It deprived me of confidence to some extent, but I did not lose the desire to win. I saw that I played well, so it was important to continue going in the same direction.
– You won the previous game in light jacket and light tie, but changed your suit today. Aren’t you superstitious?
– I don’t remember what I wore for the Game 8. And yes, I am not superstitious – it is a bad habit.
– You got an overwhelming advantage with surprising ease …
– Black’s trouble started after he pushed the b-pawn; probably he should have played differently. I used a good novelty, but one cannot say it gives White a decisive advantage. The move 10.f4 is invented by my second Vallejo – he specializes on this variation and worked a lot in Elista. So, you see the fruits of our work!
– Veselin, do you think the match is over after your two wins?
– No, I don’t think so. Vladimir has two Whites in his possession. Let us not forget that he recovered from the same situation against Leko. I have to continue playing as before – there is no room for complacency.
– But you are not Leko!
– Yes, I am not Leko. Nevertheless, having two Blacks against Kramnik is not easy.
– All the recent supertournaments followed the same scenario – you start poorly, then gain enormous speed and win. It seems the match in Elista follows the same path, too. Is there any reasonable explanation to it?
– I don’t have any clear idea. Endurance? I also get tired… The most important is that I catch my rhythm in the middle of the distance. I begin playing quickly, confidently and strongly. So, my strength multiplies at the finish, and hope it will happen in Elista, too. I want to repeat: I won two games, but this is not the end. The match will end only after the last game.
– You showed novelties in most of your games. How does it affect the course of the match?
– Constant opening advantage is a big asset. So far I had no reasons to complain about the pre-match preparation. We made a high-quality job; albeit I’d prefer to discuss it only after the match.
– Kramnik said he is not satisfied with the work of his team. Could you tell about your helpers? Also, how did Francisco Vallejo and Alexander Onischuk appear in your team?
– I am very happy with their work. Vallejo is a very original player, full of ideas, and today’s game reveals that his understanding is also quite decent. It is interesting to work with him. In addition, Paco is experienced trainer, he worked with Anand. Alexander Onischuk is a very good grandmaster who also helps me understanding local mentality. As you know, he helped Karpov here in Elista in 1996 – this was another important factor. Some of his advices were very useful and helpful.
– Veselin, there are three games left to play. Will you try playing calmer, or stick to your style?
– I don’t want to comment my plans. The only thing I can say is that this is my first long match, so I have no experience in match strategy.