5/8/2012 – Just three days to go: on Friday, at 15:00h local time – 13:00h CEST, 7 a.m. New York – the first move will be made in the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and his challenger Boris Gelfand in Moscow. To get you in the mood here is all the latest information, newspaper reports, interviews and a special video warm-up session with commentator Andrew Martin.
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Official opening of the FIDE World Championship match
Press release – The opening ceremony for the world chess champion
match will be held in Moscow on 10 May 2012. The ceremony will mark the start
of the three-week match. During the opening ceremony, which will be held in
the Mikhail Vrubel Hall of the State Tretyakov Gallery, it will be determined
which of the match participants will play white during the first game. The drawing
procedure will be conducted by the event’s Chief Arbiter, Ashot Vardapetyan.
The ceremony will conclude with a concert by pianist Denis Matsuev and other
young Russian musicians. The first game of the match will begin at 3.00 p.m.
on 11 May.
Official commentators and VIP guests
The official commentators for the Anand-Gelfand world championship match have
been announced. On each day of play there will be commentary on the games in
Russian by grandmaster Ilya Smirin (Israel), and he’ll be joined by a
number of colleagues: Sergei Rublevsky on 11–12 May, Dmitry Yakovenko
on 14 May, Viorel Bologan on 15 May, Alexander Grischuk on 17–18, 20 and
23–24 May, Peter Svidler on 21 and 26 May, and Vladimir Kramnik on 28
May.
The regular commentator in English will be Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, editor in
chief of New in Chess, and other commentators working with the English-speaking
audience will be Nigel Short on 11–12 May, Jan Timman on 14–15 May,
Joel Lautier on 17 May, Peter Svidler on 18, 23–24 and 28 May, Peter Leko
on 20–21 May, and Vladimir Kramnik on 26 May.
The world champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, the long-standing challenger
for the champion’s title Viktor Korchnoi, the world’s oldest grandmaster
Yuri Averbakh, the composer Vladimir Dashkevich, the pianist Nikolai Lugansky
and other prominent chess players and cultural figures have agreed to be guests
of honour at the match.
Interview with Boris Gelfand and Hans-Walter Schmitt
Our German
news page has carried pre-match interviews with the challenger
Boris Gelfand and with Anand team member Hans-Walter Schmitt. The interviews
were conducted by Dagobert Kohlmeyer. Here are some excerpts:
Boris Gelfand
I have studied the games of my opponent thoroughly and hope to have done everything
necessary for the struggle for the chess crown. Practically, I began preparation
a year ago, when it became clear than that I will be Anand's challenger. I invested
all my energy in order to be as well prepared as possible for the duel. It is
the absolute highlight of my chess career. I retired with my usual training
team to the Austrian town of Waldbach, where we could find the necessary peace
to work, but also for relaxation. In Moscow I will, as in previous competitions,
be supported by GMs Alexander Huzman and Maxim Rodstein. I will not name the
other seconds before the match. We will be staying in a good hotel in Moscow,
but not in the same one as Anand's team.
My goal will be to play in a detached and enlighted fashion, as is necessary
for chess at the highest level. Uncomprimising attack against Anand can be a
fatal strategy – he is the born tactician. But if I have a chance I will
of course go on the attack. Yes, I have discovered weaknesses in his game, but
I will noch discuss them here. That would be foolish. The way to beat Anand
is perfect preparation, good form and a willingness to fight. And some luck,
in order to get the right kind of opening on the board.
Hans-Walter Schmitt
We will be staying in the Hotel Kempinski, next to the Kremlin. It is one of
the best hotels in the area and less than a kilometre from the Tretyakov Gallery.
The mood in Anand's camp is excellent – we have all the usual seconds
and everybody is optimistic. Naturally Anand has achieved everything that is
possible to achieve: the FIDE knockout world championship title, the FIDE tournament
world championship title in Mexico, and two classical World Championship titles.
And also great successes in rapid chess. But I can tell you one thing: this
man will never become tired of chess. Never! He loves the game too much.
Pre-match news stories on Anand Gelfand
The international news media has started to warm to the upcoming match –
especially, for obvious reasons, in India and Israel. Here are some receint
articles:
Indian
Express: Game of thrones
World championship matches contribute to opening theory, with each player developing
“smart bombs” to demolish the opponent’s defences. In the
2008 match in Bonn, Anand, a lifelong king-pawn player, shocked Vladimir Kramnik
by switching to the queen pawn. Referring to Anand’s new ability to play
both types of openings, computer chess guru Frederic Friedel drew an analogy
from snooker saying, “Anand is now like Ronnie O’Sullivan –
he can play both sides of the table!”. Chess fans are agog over the strategy
that will be adopted by Anand now. Will he continue with the queen-pawn against
Gelfand? Or return to his roots? After all, the surprise value of “1.d4”
is no longer present. – Unlike the previous match in Sofia, which saw
elaborate anti-cheating measures, including cellphone jammers, this will be
a duel between gentlemen. Apart from the standard transparent screen separating
the players from the audience, Anand and Gelfand have agreed to drop the more
extreme of the measures.
DNA:
Viswanathan Anand's mission Moscow
Viswanathan Anand is a sort of an anti-thesis in chess, any sport, in fact.
At a time when the age of the world champions is sizably shrinking, the Indian
Grandmaster stands tall in the chess world. At 42, he is one of the oldest world
champions. Across sports! In a few days from now, he will set out on a mission
to defend that crown which he has so astoundingly won four times over a period
of ten years. The passage of time since the first title in 2000 in Tehran has
failed to diminish his unquenchable spirit and unbreakable will. Be it against
Vladimir Kramnik in 2008 or Veselin Topalov in 2010, Anand played at a level
that was inconceivable among his peers. He has wowed friends, foes and critics
alike and invited some purple prose too. “I always considered him to be
a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess,”
says Kramnik. “At the given moment, I think he’s the best in the
world in terms of play.”
NDTV
Sports: Anand must not take Gelfand lightly: Ganguly As Indian ace Viswanathan Anand gears to defend his World Chess Championship
title against Boris Gelfand later this month, GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly feels
it will be "foolish to underestimate the Israeli". Ganguly, Anand's
second in the four-member team, is leaving for Moscow on Thursday for the May
11-30 event. As this would be the Israeli's first shot at the championship,
Ganguly said Gelfand would be highly motivated to prove a point. "A great
positional player, Gelfand is among the top players of the world for last ten
years or so. It will be foolish to underestimate him. He will give his 100 per
cent. He is a classical player with a deep knowledge of the game. His playing
style is very traditional, very typical of the Soviet mindset. But the way he
reads a game is simply outstanding. The biggest quality of Anand is he never
stops learning. He is always open to suggestions. As a second, I have different
responsibilities. I have to give him new ideas about the opening move. It is
a very intricate process of research and development. I have learnt a lot of
things from him during this period."
Picture of Gelfand in 1974 – from the ChessBase Players Encyclopedia
Indian
Express: Meet the Candidate
Circa 1972: Abram Gelfand, an engineer in Minsk, Soviet Belarus, got his five-year
old son Boris a children’s book on chess, Journey to the Chess Kingdom.
When Gelfand junior asked his father a few days later if he could read something
else, Abram understandably thought chess didn’t hold much interest for
the kid. It was, of course, not so. In Gelfand’s words: “My dad
couldn’t even imagine that I’d gulped down the whole book in one
day and therefore wanted something new.” Incredible as the story is, it
is unlikely to faze most chess insiders. Photo-albums of most grandmasters are
bound to have a picture of the player as a kid, sitting in an oversized chair,
legs in free swing. Precocity is a given for players at the elite level, and
it was no different with Gelfand. – This article is a comprehensive,
well-written bio of the Challenger.
Haaretz:
Between Israel and Russia, chess is more than just a game
Sport, science or culture? This eternal question has forever evoked debate among
chess aficionados who view the game as a sport, and those who consider sport
a matter of physical exertion. In the view of the wealthy Russian businessman
Andrey Filatov, the dilemma was resolved a long time ago. Chess is simply his
great love, a unique combination of sport and culture. This month Filatov, the
main sponsor of the duel for the title of chess world champion, will give lovers
of the game and of art something unique. At his suggestion, the battle between
the current champion, grand master Viswanathan Anand of India and Israeli grand
master Boris Gelfand, will be held in Moscow in the famous Tretyakov Gallery.
Spectators who come to enjoy the beauty of the game of kings, will at the same
time be able to take in the fantastic Russian art collection, one of the biggest
and best in the world. – An extensive report on Andrey Filatov, who
has donated $5 million to bring the world championship match toe Moscow.
Jerusalem
Post: Israel's chess master readies for championship
Like most of Israel’s top chess players he is a native of the former Soviet
Union, where chess was a wellrespected sport, as opposed to Israel where it
is far down the list of beloved sports long after soccer, basketball and matkot,
beach paddleball. In Israel, Gelfand enjoys a meager level of support from the
country that belies his prominence in the international chess world. According
to Burnstein [general-secretary of the Israel Chess Federation], Gelfand has
a team of four or five coaches that he pays for mainly out of his own pocket,
using the prize winnings from former tournaments to support his training. Before
leaving for the Swiss Alps last week, where he has shut himself off from distractions
back in Israel, Gelfand gave a press conference in Tel Aviv where he spoke about
being a chess grandmaster in Israel. “In the USSR if you tell people you
are a chess player they tell you way to go, bravo. Here, you tell people and
they say, OK, but where do you work, what do you do? “I hope that in the
coming years, there will be respect for the profession in Israel, and kids who
study chess will get respect,” he said, his words breaking with emotion
mid-sentence at the prospect of a better future for chess in Israel.
Andrew Martin's pre-match warm-up
Chess trainer and IM Andrew Martin, who will be producing video game analysis
of all the games of the World Championship match, starts off with warm-up session
which will give you an impression of what to expect. He starts his commentary
with some interesting remarks:
In 35 games of classical chess the score is only 6:5 in Anand's favour,
with 24 draws.
In spite of this on the official web site poll a whopping 82% think Anand
is going to win this match – but I am really not so sure: Gelfand
is a really tough cookie.Let's recall that Gelfand in his 2011 Candidates
series beat Mamedyarov, Kamsky and then Grischuk in short matches.
Just to whet your appetite I'm going to show you a game they played ín
Wijk aan Zee back in 1996 – an absolutely spectacular game.
I'm looking forward to this match – it could be very interesting
with lots of sharp play. Everything I think will hinge on how many points
each of the players can score with the white pieces.
"Only a few more days to go," says Andrew. "I'll be covering
the match game by game. The games will usually appear the morning after –
when I've had time to look at them and digest what's actually happened. [You
will find Andrew Martin's video commentary in our reports].
Andrew David Martin (born 18th May 1957 in West Ham, London)
is an English chess player with the title of International Master. He has won
various national and international tournaments and has been playing for years
in the Four Nations Chess League, at present (July 2009) for Wood Green Hilsmark
Kingfisher, previously for the Camberley Chess Club. Martin received his IM
title in1984. He earned his first grandmaster norm in the British Championship
of 1997 in Brighton. Martin was a commentator on the chess world championship
between Kasparov and Kramnik in 2000.
On the 21st February 2004 Martin set a new world record for simultaneous chess.
He faced 321 chess players at the same time. His result was: 294 wins, 26 draws
and only one loss. Martin is known as a professional chess teacher and head
trainer of the English youth team. He trains eight schools (Yateley Manor, Aldro,
Millfield, Sunningdale, Waverley School, St Michael’s Sandhurst, Wellington
College, Salesian College). Martin is a chess columnist, an author of chess
books and the author of various instructional videos. He was the publisher of
the series Trends Publications. Martin lives in Sandhurst, England, is married
and the father of two daughters and two sons. His present Elo rating is 2423
(as of July 2009).
The World Chess Championship 2012 will be a match between the current World
Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the
Candidates tournament. The match will be held under the auspices of FIDE, the
World Chess Federation. The prize fund is US $2.55 million, the winner getting
$1.53 million (60%), the loser $1,02 million (40%).
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