A knock-out, actually. Swiss #1 Vadim Milov scored a big upset in the Corsica event when Vishy Anand melted down against him in the blitz playoff final. Before that they swapped wins with black. It's not to be chalked up to luck as Milov took out Polgar, Naiditsch, and Almasi on the way, not to mention qualifying from the Open in the first place. This broke Anand's streak of winning the event every year since the island of Corsica was formed from lava.
But Anand played one of the most remarkable games of the event when he knocked out Mickey Adams with a tremendous sacrifice. In the diagram, seven moves after a knight sac on move 28, Anand played 35...Bf5!, leading to two rooks versus a queen endgame he won. Brilliant stuff.
It says much of Anand's hierarchy that his losing in the final of a KO looks like a setback. Same goes for his equal 2-3 in San Luis. His high-quality play is so effortless that it looks like we should expect +2 as a baseline, which isn't really fair. It will be interesting to see if he can keep pace with Topalov, who has yet to prove such consistency. Corus will be quite a show.
Is Black won after the queen sac? Here is a line:
35... Bf5 36. Rxg3 fxg3 37. Ng5 gxf2 38. Kf1 Bxe4 39. Nxe4
No, not a forced win. A computer would probably have little trouble drawing with queen versus two rooks and a pawn. But very hard for a human to defend.
Thx Mig. Off topic [I posted it last night on your previous entry] Do you have any information about the Topalov - Kramnik match? Carsten Hensel said we would hear the result in two weeks, now we are very close to the end of that two weeks and there is just silence.
Email is fine, thanks. If I had any information on that I would share it. They certainly aren't in any hurry. Kramnik has no leverage and Topalov wants to see if he has anything to gain. Carsten has nothing to say unless he says it with cash!
you should note that Anand lost in the Blitz 5 3 final playoff, not rapid.
Anand also lost to Milov with black in 1997 in the Credit Suisse rapid i think.
I read in Leo Barden's column in the Guardian that if the Kramnik-Topalov negotiations fall through, then Kramnik will 'offer' a re-match with Kasparov!?!
What the..? Mig, any idea if there some specific information behind that?
Coming back to Anand, does it seem that he has lost an edge to his play?
I recall an earlier younger Anand who wasn't afraid of mixing it up. (he once beat Kasparov with a 4. Qxd4 Sicilian) Now a days, if he can't get an advantage in the opening he seems quite content to draw. (I'm speaking of other equally strong players of course, GMs not in his league continue to get thrashed regularly)
Last time I remember him playing chancily is his game with black against Morozevich in Corus this year. any one has any other examples? the two games he tried mixing it up in San luis, were the ones he lost horribly.
Maybe this is a temporary phase though, he seems to re-invent his game every now and then. I think the one that got away was a Kasparov-Anand rematch in 1999. (Kasparov claimed that anand would be too 'weak' and chose to play kramnik instead.)
What are the odds of a Naka-Anand blitz match on ICC? Probably slim- but wouldn't that be fun to watch? I would pay fifteen bucks to see Vishy sweat. Kasparnot
Who are the world's best blitz players currently? Wasn't there a blitz tourney with all the top GMs on one of the rest days in Corus some years ago?
I know that Tal and Fischer were probably the greatest ever in their day.
Well at least online, clearly best with years of ICC evidence, Nakamura, Kamsky, Grischuk, Mamedov/Mamedyarov/Radjabov, Morozevich, Aronian, Schmaltz, Kasparov..
I don't see anyone beating Naka in bullet. :)