Oh okay, well I'd have a broader definition that would include sustained put-ons, and ruckuses (rucki?) in the name of fun. It doesn't necessarily have to be intended to make people angry.

I wasn't trolling (thralling?) - I just wanted to talk about boxing with some knowledgeable fans but unfortunately the people at the boxing forums are too scary so I thought "this is a nice place with some nice people. Perhaps here I can finally be myself and not feel bullied and harassed."

FIDE has rapid and blitz ratings now.

Anand is the first top player with current FIDE rapid rating- and he is 2794 after winning the tiebreak against Gelfand. http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=5000017

Interesting new design of the FIDE rating website, with Red for Rapid and BLue for BLitz.

I reckon someone will very soon break 2900- in blitz or rapid!

Blitz might even make 3000 within a couple of years.

The faster time controls can have more games and vary more.

Obviously the standard rating is all that really matters though- if someone makes 2900 in blitz I don't think it will be such a big deal.

One thing I've always enjoyed about rapid and blitz games was the absence of ratings...

Anand is a great champ and like Kramnik before him its a breath of fresh air to read their interviews.

Based on his comments I think we can clearly see that the players view matches as a much bigger deal than tournaments.



First game without any sleep? I think at this time in his long and outstanding career he would not have a sleepless night before any round of any "super tournament."

Its only the matches that bring on this sort of intensity. I figure that is why the players tend to dislike them. They aren't as easy as tournaments. But tournaments lack the intensity.

Nfm, it is good to see you and to see you stick to you stand on match play! Because lot of people have changed tunes and now favoring tournament play as Anand has become unbeatable in one-on-one. Even your favorite Kramnik said "At the given moment I don’t see who can compete with him (Anand) when he’s on form. Perhaps only Carlsen in his very best condition, though probably not. I think he’ll only leave the stage when he weakens himself and ceases to maintain that extremely high level." Kramnik on chess, Anand.. interview

Hey PircAlert, IF Garry Kasparov was still playing, and, if he was still "on form", Garry would STILL be able to compete with Viswanathan Anand in one-on-one match play!


Chess Fan

Even though I agree with it, that opinion is actually an opinion, and endlessly claiming it as fact won't make it one.

In extreme cases, I might not even agree with the opinion. For instance, I'd rather have a 20 round tournament than a 2 game match.

I haven't seen any flip-flops and Pirc didn't name any names of people who had. I think that if Pirc has seen this, the people in question were not serious, and were merely making fun of his devotion to Anand. For one thing, I haven't seen any match fans changing sides recently, and for another, haven't seen anyone besides Pirc who regards Anand as unbeatable in match play. The general consensus seems to be that he looked pretty weak against Mr. Mitzvah.

Chess Fan, maybe But I definitely like your choice of words this time!

Popular opinion is wrong. You don't judge a player's weakness by your performance score. You judge it by move quality. I believe that is where the difference come between a popular opinion and a good or top GM assessment. Gelfand played near perfect chess in the first half. Anand risked in the 7th game and paid the price. He decided to play it safe after the equalizer. Anand was almost flawless except for the 7th game risk. I believe in the 3rd game or so Kasparov assessed the position wrong and said Anand missed a win but Anand assessment was right and it a an equal position. Some of these wrong comments could have influenced the popular opinion along with other things but I would say the general consensus was not correct.