Chess World Championships: Brain Games

The World Chess Championship starts today in Mexico with eight top brains locked in a 14-round all-play-all Category 21 double round tournament. Anand is a favourite along with Kramnik but all eyes will also be on dark horse Levon Aronian, writes Vijay Tagore

Three World Championships in three years — San Luis 2005, Elista 2006 and now Mexico City 2007. Strange? Stranger things have happened in chess. Stranger things could happen too. Three-in-three could be four-in-four, if Mexico goes according to the script. Or if Vladimir Kramnik does not win.

One can scarce find fault with Fide though. ICC, after all, is conducting a second World Cup in six months and virtually a third in the last 11 months. Fide, one should infer, cares players better, burn-out, overkill or whatever...

The players, however, are unfazed about the frequency. Viswanathan Anand, for one, believes that that gone are the days of 4-year or 2-year cycles. He believes in an yearly cycle.

The Indian maestro could well be playing another world championship in less than 12 months, if he ends up winning the title as he has to play a rematch against Kramnik. That, of course, should not be a big IF.

Going by the rating, form and reputation, the Indian Grandmaster is the best bet. Even Garry Kasparov has little doubt. In a recent interview to DNA, he said it as much stating: “I’m no way trying to please your readers saying Vishy Anand is the clear favourite.”

Anand, of course, has no illusions about is chances. “I’ll be making a mistake if I go to Mexico thinking it will be easy for me,” he told DNA. For the record he is the highest rated player at 2792, 23 Elo points ahead of Kramnik. His consistency is unmatched and he is good at tournament play as compared to Kramnik, who is good in match play.

Kramnik, who has qualified to the tournament by toppling San Luis winner Veselin Topalov in a bitterly-fought unification match in Elista last year, is in the best of form.

Only player to have beaten Kasparov in a match, the Russian will be one of the two biggest challengers to Anand, who would be aiming for his second world crown. In the best of form, Kramnik — a complete player — has been preparing hard for Mexico and the 32-year-old Russian has good chance too.

The second big challenge for the Indian GM will be from Levon Aronian, a young prodigy, who has been making giant strides lately.

A dangerous player, the 25-year-old Armenian has beaten both Anand and Kramnik in the classical chess. Anand, in fact, suffered a bad defeat against Aronian in Linares this year.

An ever-improving player, Aronian is known for tactical brilliance and is a threat for Anand and Kramnik. The real dark horse. In fact Mexico 2007 is a three-horse race with one of the three certain to take lift the crown on October 11. Anand, of course, is slightly ahead.

Among other contenders, Boris Gelfand, is though experienced yet not good enough to be a force in the Category 21 tournament, as is Russian Peter Svidler who is solid but not strong enough to challenge the top three.

Alexander Grischuk, the youngest of the eight competitors, is regarded as a future world champion but he may have to wait for his time.

And finally Peter Leko, who dethroned Kramnik as the Brain Games champion a few years ago, is a solid, strong and aggressive player just as Alexander Morozevich, who is radically attacking and unthinkably erratic. In one word, unpredictable.

But the chess world, rather the Category 21 tournament, is not for the unpredictables. It is for the players, who are needed to possess immense mental and physically energy besides mathematical, creatively and tactical brilliance.