ChessBase Magazine Online

Vladimir Kramnik: I deserved this victory
09.10.2006 – The classical chess world champion was satisfied, the FIDE champion despondent. Vladimir Kramnik answered questions with enthusiasm at the press conference after game ten, Veselin Topalov was subdued. Interesting: what Kramnik felt when he saw 24…f6 and why Topalov played this game-loser. Transcript.
 

Topalov: My manager Danailov did an extraordinary job
09.10.2006 – The Bulgarian daily TRUD has published a candid interview with Veselin Topalov. In it the national hero praises the work of his manager Silvio Danailov, who "won all legal battles", criticises Kramnik for never adhering to any principles, and the ChessBase newspage as a shame for a developed European state. Hot stuff.
 

Boris Spassky recovering from minor stroke
09.10.2006 – During a lecture tour in San Francisco the legendary tenth world champion Boris Spassky, 69, suffered a mild stroke. He was taken to hospital where he is recovering completely, with no loss of physical or mental abilities. Before the incident Spassky gave a simul (+20 =5) and spoke about the current world championship crisis, comparing it to the 1972 problems with Fischer.
 

You want a war? How about Karpov-Korchnoi 1978?
08.10.2006 – If you think the Kramnik-Topalov match is acrimonious, you should look at the 1978 match between Anatoly Karpov and Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi. They battled over yogurt, visitors in the audience, but also viciously on the chessboard. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos looks at game 17.
 

Elista 2006: Kramnik wins game ten, score now 5:5
08.10.2006 – Garry Kasparov, watching the game on Playchess and analysing 24...Bxb5!?, took all of fifty milliseconds to react to Topalov's 24...f6?? "But doesn't that lose? Of course it loses!" Right he was, the game, which had brought Kramnik advantages out of the opening, was now a clear win. With two games to go the score is now 5:5. Report and analysis.
 

Elista 2006: Topalov wins game nine
07.10.2006 – The ninth game of the World Chamionship match between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik was won by FIDE Champion Veselin Topalov. The Bulgarian now leads by 5:4 points, with three games left. A recordbreaking 8,500 visitors logged in simultaneously on the Playchess server, with GM Yasser Seirawan providing live audio commentary. Report and analysis.
 

Korchnoi: 'I would have walked out!'
07.10.2006 – Actually, if we were sensationalist our headline would have been: Viktor Korchnoi: "I agree with Karpov!" For once the great chess veteran of three world championship matches joins his arch-opponent – in these matches and life in general – in supporting Kramnik in the World Championship crisis. Viktor is also worried about chess being dragged into the toilet. How will we find sponsors?
 

Makropoulos on the World Championship Crisis
07.10.2006 – He was in the middle of the events that led to the interruption of the World Championship, the forfeiting of game five, protests of both players, and the resumption of play. But the Sept. 29 report of FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos did not receive the attention it deserved. Here's an audio excerpt from the press conference and the full Makropoulos statement.
 

The role of the Appeals Committee
06.10.2006 – In his "Layman's Guide to Match Officials" Yasser Seirawan restricted the duties of the Appeals Committee to appeals concerning a decision made my the Chief Arbiter of a match. But their powers and duties go further, says GM Bartlomiej Macieja, who had a close encounter with the Appeals Committee during the FIDE world championship in Las Vegas in 1999. Here is his harrowing tale.
 

Elista Express: Topalov wins game eight with black
05.10.2006 – The eighth game between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, a Semi-Slav Meran, ended after four and a half hours and 52 moves with the first over-the-board victory for FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov in this match. The official score is now 4:4, with four games to go. Full report with commentary by Mihail Marin and a remarkable Kramnik interview after game seven.
 

Open letter by GMs Bareev and Svidler
05.10.2006 – With the crisis of the World Championship in full bloom, two friends, colleagues and former seconds of Vladimir Kramnik flew down to Elista to provide moral support. Grandmasters Evgeny Bareev and Peter Svidler spent two days with Kramnik, trying to get his spirits up. Now, back home again, they call for consequences – and sackings.
 

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.