Gelfand beats Grischuk in the Candidates

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  • #31
    Re: Gelfand beats Grischuk in the Candidates

    Well, I read through all the posts to date on this thread.

    Despite some supporters of Gelfand as a worthy challenger, nobody really has come up with a quality that they remember from his play.

    Yes its great to see players of all ages succeeding. Older players who seem to improve at any age are inspirational to competitors.

    Yet I didn't see anybody saying a real reason that this guy should be fighting for such a title, aside from 'he's been around a long time'. I guess Tom is trying to say there is a reason Gelfand is still around after so long. My point is that nobody here has been able to point out why. Unremarkable.

    Who here doesn't know about Nakamura's speed? Carlsen's ability to outplay his opponents in all sorts of positions? Kasparov's aggressiveness? Tal's love of complexity and tactical ability?

    Gelfand appears bullet proof, but I hope Anand wins the match.

    Mavros

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    • #32
      Re: Gelfand beats Grischuk in the Candidates

      well, there are two issues here.

      One is a view that Gelfand is not the "best" or a "good" winner because he is either allegedly too old, too uncharismatic, too unappealing to sponsors, too whatever. To me, this is all irrelevant. The winner is the winner is the winner. End of story. Nothing else is relevant.

      The other is the view that the format is flawed because of matches being too short, being intrinsically random, being decided by blitz games, etc. I do have some sympathy for that view but it is not a big surprise. These features have been explicitly evident since the first days of the World Cup. Think of Ponomariov or Khalifman, worthy players to be sure but not what one normally thinks of as World Champions.

      Incidentally, there have been views posted that Gelfand as a challenger is a problem because he is unattractive to sponsors. Not sure what the sponsorship knowledge expertise of those people is that they can make that statement but I haven't seen anyone comment on how long drawn out classical matches for quarter or semi finals might not be so attractive to sponsors either.

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      • #33
        Re: Gelfand beats Grischuk in the Candidates

        Originally posted by Mavros Whissell View Post
        Despite some supporters of Gelfand as a worthy challenger, nobody really has come up with a quality that they remember from his play.
        There is a summary by A.Shipov about Boris Gelfand http://www.chessintranslation.com/20...stbook-part-i/ It is not biased with a current win as a whole interview was done one year ago.
        Gelfand is an example of hard work and dedication to chess for our whole generation. He’s consistent and very strict with himself.

        His playing style, for me, is dynamic. He loves sharp lines where each move counts. He has a feel for the initiative. He grasps very well, on his fingertips, what you can get away with in complications, and what you can’t. Of course he’s a remarkable openings expert. He’s personally plumbed the depths of some set-ups. You can learn openings from his games. Boris doesn’t cut corners and he hardly ever bluffs. If he adopts something – then there’s serious analysis to back it up.
        The second part: http://www.chessintranslation.com/20...stbook-part-ii

        Mine is - he is a solid player.

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