José Martínez Leads Kramnik 7-5

by ChessBase
8/20/2024 – After an intense first day of games, José Martínez has taken a 7-5 lead over former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. The event, which features both online and over-the-board matches, is designed to address the hot topic of cheating in chess. “I noticed that the online part was working perfectly this time," said Kramnik, "no lag, no bugs, and no fair play issues." You can join many top players watching the encounter for two more days. | Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for World Chess.
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José Martínez puts Kramnik’s allegations under question 

London, August 20, 2024 — José Martínez, an online chess prodigy from Peru, secured a 7-5 lead against former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik on the first day of the dramatic event taking place in London.

Earlier this year, Kramnik questioned Martinez’s performance in online tournaments and challenged him to a duel aimed at addressing the larger issue of online cheating. Kramnik’s theory is that if one can play brilliantly online, he or she can show similar performance in over-the-board tournaments, where cheating is close to impossible, and the Clash of Blames is the event that will help determine whether Kramnik’s fair play questions against ‘online chess stars’ is founded.

There are two more days of the Clash of Blames, each day featuring six online and six over-the-board games in blitz time control — the same that is traditionally used for online tournaments. Whoever scores 18.5 points first — wins.

This is where you can watch the games live or replay the video later

Leading Chess organisation, World Chess, brought in Pinkerton, the world’s oldest detective agency, to ensure fair play. Pinkerton detectives were onsite, conducting in-depth checks on the players and the venue to ensure the players are absolutely certain the fair play integrity is maintained. 

The online part of the event is held on chessarena.com, the official FIDE gaming platform featuring advanced anti-cheating technology, after the players’ previous attempt to hold the tournament earlier this year was undermined by malfunctioning software provided by chess.com, due to clock resynchronization. Following the games on 19th August, Vladimir Kramnik said:

“I noticed that the online part was working perfectly this time—no lag, no bugs, and no fair play issues. I really hope it continues like this, as this is the whole reason we organized this match: to ensure professional, normal chess can be played. In the previous event, the clock was jumping for both of us, which was frustrating. You can truly enjoy chess when everything works as it should.”

The scale of the event and attention from the chess world was evident by the event’s media coverage and the line-up of guests—including high-profile names in British Chess such as David Howell, Hans Niemann, and British chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan. The Q&A session with the players was a highlight of the evening, where both Kramnik and Martínez shared insights on their games and praised the anti-cheating measures and overall organization of the tournament.

The event was free to watch on the World Chess YouTube channel as well as those of Hikaru Nakamura, and Levitov Chess, among others. 

The event will continue for two more days, with games on August 20 and 21 starting at 16:00 UK time. Each day will feature 6 online games on FIDE Online Arena and 6 over-the-board games, all played with a 3+2 time control. The first player to reach 18.5 points will win the tournament and receive a 12,000 EUR prize, while the runner-up will secure 8,000 EUR. Watch the games live on our YouTube channel.

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arzi arzi 8/25/2024 05:31
lajosarpad, I wish Kramnik would understand the simple fact that people make mistakes, even himself. My perception of him would change back to what it was before if he could admit he was wrong. A man who says he was wrong is a great man that anyone can appreciate. I imagine Martínez would appreciate it too. Could it be that Kramnik has been a role model for him in chess as well?

Perhaps Topalov's biggest mistake was choosing Danailov as his representative? Danailov controlled Topalov's thoughts and actions so much that he made Topalov agree to all the absurd accusations. The attacks went so far into personalities that the relationship between Kramnik and Topalov was ruined for the rest of their lives. Some people were ready to do anything for money.
lajosarpad lajosarpad 8/24/2024 12:54
@Arzi I 99% agree with you, even though I still think that in 2006 it was Danailov & Topalov who were channeling the focus from a fantastic match to Kramnik's peeing. I fully blame Topalov & Danailov for their misconduct. Kramnik was one of the chess players whom I greatly admired and even though as a Hungarian I was at the edge of my seat, rooting for Lékó in 2004 and in the process learned English just to get the news earlier, I recognized Kramnik as the deserved World Champion, despite not being able to best Lékó and ending the match on 7-7. I considered is match with Topalov to be a clash between evil (accuser and trash talker trolls) and good (a grandmaster who decides to continue the match even though the world would side with him anyways), now he moved to the darker side of chess history.

@PhishMaster I absolutely hoped for Martínez here and Niemann there. I think both of them should get an honest apology from Kramnik and Carlsen, respectively.
PhishMaster PhishMaster 8/21/2024 04:49
After this, and I REALLY hope Martínez wins, Kramnik should have to go with Martínez and watch him play online for a few hours, or during a Titled Tuesday.

@lajosarpad I have also thought about the irony of Kramnik's accusations...Sad, and pathetic.

I am also enjoying watching Hans Niemann win his matches. Yes, he made mistakes when he was younger, but I never have believed that he cheated over the board.
arzi arzi 8/21/2024 12:39
Both Kramnik and Carlsen have been my favorite chess players in the past. Their own stupidity has changed my thoughts about them. The arguments between Topalov and Kramnik in their World Championship match gave the impression that Topalov was to blame for everything. However, Kramnik's strange statements in recent years have started to change my opinion of him. Maybe it wasn't all Topalov's fault after all?
Carlsen was also ok, but his stupid talk about Niemann changed my opinion about him as well. Some people just can't admit their own mistakes and keep repeating the same stupid things again and again.
lajosarpad lajosarpad 8/21/2024 10:39
It's sad to see that none other than Vladimir Kramnik, the person who was accused with cheating in 2006 and whom back then I supported because I always support the accused until I see convincing evidence of the allegation, the same Kramnik is now on the other side and makes allegations himself. He should be ashamed, because he behaves just like Topalov, who, after being accused by Short in 2005 was, with the aid of Danailov making similar accusations himself. Being a sore loser can destroy the hard-earned reputation of super grandmasters. It's sad.
arzi arzi 8/21/2024 06:53
Doesn't Kramnik find something vaguely dishonest about this match as well, if he doesn't happen to win it?!
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