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Natalia loves football, so she willingly accepted a honorary guest invitation to the opening of a new season in Saratov.
After the first period was over, four renowned sportsmen and Natalia were invited to compete in the "best penalty" contest. Let me introduce the contenders: Russian boxing champion (U75, 2009) Artem Chebotarev and his coach Edilbay Kaziev, captain of the Crystal hockey team Alexei Krivonozhkin and Pavel Mel'nikov, bronze Olympic medalist (1996) and World Cup medalist (1998, 1999) in rowing.
In the first round all but one contestants scored a goal and proceeded further. Tension was growing up, and in round 2 no one manage to penetrate the goalkeeper's defense. Finally, in round 3 the winner was determined. And...Natalia was the only one who scored!
Natalia has been awarded a premium leather case (worth over $400) - not exactly a lady's prize, but who could have thought that she would come on top? Anyway, the local team won the match, and Natalia returned from the game fully satisfied with the event.
Thanks to our friends from Europe Echecs for the videos!
As Topalov and Anand are heading for the 1st rest day, we can already draw some conclusions.
In Game 1 Anand tried to surprise his opponent by choosing the Gruenfeld Defense. However, Veselin excels in dynamic positions of that type. His home preparation turned out to be better, so after one inaccurate move by the World Champion the struggle was basically over. Topalov won quite impressively and spent only about 30 minutes per game. Everyone was now interested in only one thing: will Viswanathan recover from the blow his mighty opponent has delivered?
In Game 2 Anand proved that top-level chess is not only about the moves, it's also about psychology. By sacrificing a pawn in the Catalan opening he has reversed the roles. Topalov doesn't like passive positions, he is known for his attacking skills, not being a super-defender. An even more surprising decision by Anand was to offer queen exchange and proceed to an endgame where Black was a pawn up (with White having some compensation for it). Topalov failed to switch gears, kept playing aggressively, and saw his position fall apart after a few dubious moves. This defeat may be even more painful than the one Anand has suffered.
Another factor is that it's always better to head for the rest day after winning a game than after losing. Therefore, the 1-1 score doesn't say much. A lot of exciting chess fighting can be expected in the remaining 10 games!
It's time for the weekly Q&As! Feel free to send me new ones:
Q1: Should I play stronger players to improve?
A1: Yes, playing reasonably stronger (100-200 ELO points) opponents allows one to learn something new without getting mercilessly crushed every time. Facing too strong or too weak opponents is not that productive.
Q2: Everyone is excited about facing strong opposition, why do GMs play in open tournaments then? A2: For GMs it's a chance to earn some money by beating their colleagues and lower-rated players. Not everyone gets invited to elite tournaments with large appearance fees and prizes, you know.
Q3: Anand or Topalov?
A3: While I admire Topalov's aggressive style, Anand seems to be a more well-rounded player. Home turf might be able to compensate for this by motivating Veselin...or, on the contrary, put too much pressure on him! It's hard to evaluate the chances now, but it feels like a very close fight. Let's hope the chess match is going to be exciting and courteous!
Q4: What chess database do you use? A4: When I was a kid I had chess books and exercise books with neatly hand-written variations. Now things are less romantic: ChessBase, Chess Assistant, TWICs and occasional other downloads.
Q5: Do GMs live in the "eat, sleep, chess" way? A5: I hear that sometimes from people who envy stronger players and want to justify themselves ("I would have been Kasparov if blah-blah-blah"). The funny thing is that they often actually spend more time on chess than the GMs they are referring to.
Q6: Do you drink a lot of coffee during the games? A6: No, I prefer eating chocolate, fruit, and sipping mineral water or tea. Coffee gets one excited, it's easy to blunder or burn out too early if you drink it cup after cup during the games.
Q7: Do you remember all your games? A7: No, my memory in this respect is far from perfect. I know some super GMs who seem to remember thousands of games, but that is more of an exception than rule.
