Very happy to see Anand retain his crown. He was scratchy and unprepared against Gelfand and never really settled down during the classical games. The only time he bared his fangs was the day after his loss in game 7, when he came back and smacked Gelfand in just 17 moves, a record for fastest win in a title match. It's not a surprise to see him win the rapids; he had a vastly superior record in them against Gelfand (and against pretty much everyone else).
Anand has now been the champion since 2007, and undisputed world champ since 2008 when he beat Kramnik in the unification match. Next championship will be in late 2013 or early 2014 against the winner of the Candidates tournament. Maybe this time he'll finally get to take on Carlsen and hopefully beat him in full length matchplay rather than a tournament format Carlsen does well at.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 30 May 2012 21:44
by Yayavar
Fantastic!! Rapid chess is his strong point
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 01:07
by Rahul M
really itching to see anand beat carlsen or aronian or whoever it is, comprehensively, come 2014.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 01:21
by Supratik
Would love to see Kasparov back and Anand beating him. That would settle who is the greatest.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 01:41
by KJo
Supratik wrote:Would love to see Kasparov back and Anand beating him. That would settle who is the greatest.
Even if Kasparov came back now, he would not be the super force he was earlier.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 01:48
by Rahul M
the time anand was challenger to kasparov the tournament format was a sham. now it doesn't mean anything. last time kasparov even helped anand with preparation against topalov.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 03:33
by negi
Rahul wasn't it Kramnik and not Kasparov who helped Anand ?
They say Kasparov is a master at intimidating others and playing mind games , he used to literally bang the stop watch after he had finished his move to rattle the opponent, his pre match interviews too have been very aggressive on the lines of a boxing match.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 03:44
by negi
Btw the more I follow chess Iget this impression that at highest level these folks are walking super computers they seem to already know all the permutation combinations once the opponent has chosen an opening and looks like they are big time into statistics I.e check if an opponent has had poor results against a certain opening and then simulate that over a super computer for n times before you actually go into a tournament , this sounds so tiring and gruesome physically I would say it's like playing against Borg or Nadal on clay.
Besides his team of seconds in Sofia, Viswanathan Anand was helped by some big names before or during his World Championship match against Veselin Topalov. Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik all contributed to Anand's victory in Sofia. The World Champion Monday revealed this in an interview on Playchess.
Vishy is very popular in the top circles, and it's no surprise they all came forward to help him.
I don't think Anand is over the hill, but he's matured. His results suggest that while his win ratio has fallen, he's still hard to beat. For example, at Tata (former Corus) Chess event at Wijk Aan Zee, while he hasn't won the event since the mid 2000s, he has not lost a game there since early 2009 - since then he's finished near the top but had no losses, a large number of draws and few wins, while the winner invariable had more wins, but also at least one loss.
As I said, he may do worse in a tournament format as a result, but he's better at matchplay because he can control bad games and draw, and then win when the opportunity presents. Whoever faces him in 2013-14 will have a really hard job unseating him, and if he wins again, he will probably go on to hold the title past the middle of the decade.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 12:55
by amit
negi wrote:Btw the more I follow chess Iget this impression that at highest level these folks are walking super computers they seem to already know all the permutation combinations once the opponent has chosen an opening and looks like they are big time into statistics I.e check if an opponent has had poor results against a certain opening and then simulate that over a super computer for n times before you actually go into a tournament , this sounds so tiring and gruesome physically I would say it's like playing against Borg or Nadal on clay.
Negi ji,
Nope the great players are not walking super computers who can do all the permutations in advance. In fact in an opening or middle game scenario, its humanly impossible to do permutations of all the combinations possible in say a three move sequence, the variables are too much. However, what great players do very well is recognise patterns and due to extensive research they can narrow down possibilities and then go for the kill. This coupled with phenomenal memory about chess games and extensive research does the trick.
You know this memory for chess games is kinda peculiar. Your's truly used to play a bit of chess at university level and played in all India varisity chess championships. Now at that time I used to be really into chess. The funny thing is, I've never been known for having a photographic memory but I recall then that I could replay a typical 40-50 move game even two weeks after I had played it and analyse exactly where I went wrong or where my opponent went wrong. Yet during exam time I couldn't mug for the life of me.
And the funny thing is I occasionally play chess now but I can't replay a game even right after playing it. I guess it has to do with training and being able to recognise the patterns as I said.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 13:23
by Rahul M
^^ natgeo or discovery did a program on the polgar sisters and it was found that susan uses the part of the brain used for face recognition to store chess patterns.
negi, they prepare a bunch of possible openings given favourite moves of the opponents. but that prep continues upto start of midgame at most. surya sekhar is a friend of a friend, who himself is a very enthusiastic amateur. one of mom's uncles used to be quite active in the amateur circuit and even trained dibyendu barua in his early days. got to know tidbits from them. of course, before computers this was much more difficult, people had to troll through books on specific openings.
meanwhile
In January 2011, Giri beat world number one Magnus Carlsen (Elo 2814) with Black in 22 moves at the Wijk Aan Zee chess tournament
so no friendly or such like either.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 13:35
by amit
Rahul M wrote:one of mom's uncles used to be quite active in the amateur circuit and even trained dibyendu barua in his early days. got to know tidbits from them. of course, before computers this was much more difficult, people had to troll through books on specific openings.
Rahul,
Just asking, was you're mom's uncle a bear of a man who looked more Russian than Indian by any chance?
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 13:39
by Rahul M
yes.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 13:49
by amit
Rahul M wrote:yes.
Small world.
Let's just say South Calcutta Chess Club had some quite promising players. And yes this man had a nick name: Bobbdavisky Royvisky, given to him by his friends and admirers. During a tournament, where he went as manager he was passed off as a Russian trainer - that was what you referred to as mind games. It was pretty effective the other team players were awed that SDRE In'juns like themselves had this "Russian" dude to train them!
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 19:14
by sum
^^ Was randomly surfing channels and checked into the Indo-Pak hockey match of Azlan Shah tourney...real nail biter and S.V.Sunil scored a superb field goal in the final minute to vanquish the Poaks 2-1...
Cant help but compare from earlier matches where the TSP-ians used to virtually terrorise the SDRE hockey team and the result was a foregone conclusion ( SDREs getting thrashed). How the times have changed and hunter has turned the hunted in all sports involving TSP and Desh
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 31 May 2012 22:56
by Supratik
sum wrote:^^ Was randomly surfing channels and checked into the Indo-Pak hockey match of Azlan Shah tourney...real nail biter and S.V.Sunil scored a superb field goal in the final minute to vanquish the Poaks 2-1...
Cant help but compare from earlier matches where the TSP-ians used to virtually terrorise the SDRE hockey team and the result was a foregone conclusion ( SDREs getting thrashed). How the times have changed and hunter has turned the hunted in all sports involving TSP and Desh
Yes, they beat Pak but have played very patchy hockey in bits and pieces. Saw parts of few games. Will get hammered in Olympics
if they play like this.
getting a black belt hard hand shake! check out Anand's thumb become slightly lose.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 01 Jun 2012 10:14
by sum
Supratik wrote:
Yes, they beat Pak but have played very patchy hockey in bits and pieces. Saw parts of few games. Will get hammered in Olympics
if they play like this.
No doubt in that..Oz etc will run rings around our current team. Was just comapring with TSP onlee whom we seem to have owned now.
Different matter with rest of the pack
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 01 Jun 2012 23:29
by SBajwa
IPOH, MALAYSIA: Pakistan, in its fourth defeat in the Azlan Shah Cup, lost to India 2-1 on Thursday, going right to the bottom of the table.
India’s Sandeep Singh scored the first goal before halftime. Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas, taking advantage of a penalty, scored the equalizer in the 60th minute. With 90 seconds remaining and the match coming to a draw, India’s SV Sunil scored the winning goal for his team.
Earlier, the Pakistan hockey team was given a rude awakening after it squandered a 2-0 lead to go down to a spirited Malaysian side 3-2 for their third successive defeat in the Azlan Shah Cup.
Seven hockey teams, including Pakistan, India, South Korea, Great Britain, New Zealand, Argentina and hosts Malaysia, are taking part in the 10-day event to get in shape ahead of the London Olympics in July.
Pakistan won the tournament in 2003, having also triumphed twice before as well. They finished second behind Australia in last year’s edition.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 02 Jun 2012 19:46
by SBajwa
India in a bronze medal match with Britain in Sultan Azlan shah cup
India ended a three-match losing streak against Great Britain by beating the Britons 3-1 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on Sunday to secure a bronze medal, which is exactly the kind of boost Michael Nobbs's men needed ahead of the Olympics in July-August.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 03 Jun 2012 21:33
by Suraj
Congrats to the Indian hockey team! On another note, the Kiwis are a surprise packet to me. I didn't realize they were so good - they beat us handily in the group stage. Did they import Australians or something ?
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 03 Jun 2012 22:02
by sum
^^ Again managed to catch the whole match..
The 3-1 scoreline is a bit misleading as it was very close fought match.We were trailing 1-0 in half time and a superb field goal by Sunil and a PC by Sandeep in the 2nd half made us lead 2-1 till the last minute when the Brits in their desperation to level the score removed their goalie to keep 11 field players wit no goalie ( first ever hockey match where i saw this).
This made 1 more goal possible with the open goal mouth staring and gave us 3-1 win!!
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 03 Jun 2012 22:08
by Rahul M
how was the defence ?
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 03 Jun 2012 22:14
by sum
^^ Definitely seemed a lot tighter than earlier occasions ( like Oly qualifiers) but still shaky at times...just that Britannia didnt have good enough people to make use of it...lots of situations where opposing striker in the D finds himself unmarked when a long pass comes in and gets a shot at goal with no one to obstruct .
Would still say that better teams might still run circles...but am impressed with the speedy attacks by S.V.Sunil and Tushar/Danish duo from time to time. Finishing is still a concern though
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 04 Jun 2012 01:46
by SBajwa
Even as Sandeep Singh is a good drag flicker his defense is not upto international standards. Coach should only use him during penalty corners. We need a good defense players like Pargat singh from 1980s.
In 13 events, 56 men and 20 women have booked their Olympic berths and the number is expected to go up further as quite a few disciplines are still in the process of holding their qualifiers. Sports minister Ajay Maken expects it to be 85.
The Beijing number came down drastically because the Indian hockey team failed to qualify. This time around the eight times Olympic champions are through ad a 16-member squad has been named.
The expectations will be high from the 11 shooters, five wrestlers and eight boxers. Rifle shooter Abinav Bindra, who won India's first individual gold medal in Beijing, will be looking for an encore. Another rifle shooter Gagan Narang and shot-gun exponent Ronjan Singh Sodhi are also potential medal prospects.
List of athletes who have qualified so far:
Archery:
Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro and Jayanta Talukdar
Rowing: India has qualified two boats with up to three athletes in men's single sculls and lightweight double sculls
Shooting
Men's 50m rifle 3 positions: Sanjeev Rajput
Men's 50m rifle prone: Joydeep Karmakar
Men's 10m air rifle: Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang
Men's 25m rapid fire pistol: Vijay Kumar
Men's double trap: Ronjan Sodhi
Men's trap: Manavjit Singh Sandhu
Women's 25m pistol: Rahi Sarnobat, Heena Sidhu
Women's 10m air pistol: Annuraj Singh
Women's trap: Shagun Chowdhary
Swimming
Men's 100m freestyle: Virdhawal Khade
Men's 100m breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal
Men's 200m freestyle: Aaron D'Souza or Virdhawal Khade
Men's 200m breaststroke: Sandeep Sejwal
Men's 1500m freestyle: Saurabh Sangvekar
Table tennis
Men's singles: Soumyajit Ghosh
Women's singles: Ankita Das
Tennis
Mens' doubles: Leander Paes
Weightlifting:
Men's 69kg: Katulu Ravi Kumar
Women's 48kg: Ngangbam Soniya Chanu
Wrestling
Men's freestyle 55kg: Amit Kumar
Men's freestyle 60kg: Yogeshwar Dutt
Men's freestyle 66kg: Sushil Kumar
Men's freestyle 74kg: Narsingh Pancham Yadav
Women's freestyle 55kg: Geeta Phogat
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 13 Jun 2012 01:18
by SBajwa
good thing!! GO TEAM INDIA!!!!
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 13 Jun 2012 01:28
by Yayavar
Why does tennis only list one person (Leander Paes) for Men's doubles? Is there mixed doubles - Mirza/Bhupati have won two grand slam events in recent times.
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:04
by kshatriya
Only Leander is ranked within Top 10 in doubles ranking.. Only then u get an automatic entry in Olympics..Else you have to wait for the wild card (only 4 are there)
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 13 Jun 2012 18:24
by Lalmohan
looking forward to some boxing medals this time, especially mary
also pleased to see both rowing and swimming have qualified
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 15 Jun 2012 02:08
by SBajwa
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 17 Jun 2012 14:40
by sum
Saina Nehwal wins the Indonesia Open
Watched this match on TV. Saina came back from 2 match points down to win against the 4th seeded Chinese.What a player.
was having goosebumps watching her walking the court with the tricolor. Hope more such goosebump moments( national anthem playing in prize distribution ceremony) come when the Olympics comes around
Despite Mahesh Bhupathi lashing out at him in public over the selection of the men's doubles team for the London Olympics, Leander Paes refused to react and said he is ready to play with his former partner at the mega-event, starting next month.
Paes on Saturday said he had expressed his preference to play with Rohan Bopannaat the London Games when asked by the AITA, but despite that he is ready to play with Bhupathi and has no complaints with the selection.
Bhupathi had also slammed the AITA on Friday calling the selection of the doubles team as the "worst possible in the interest of the country".
He was also furious that the AITA chose not to send two teams for the mega event, saying the decision has something "more to it than meets the eye".
"The ship that I and Leander boarded has sailed long time ago. We have split four times, gone to the Olympics four times and returned empty-handed. For us going back to the Olympics (together) is worst possible in the interest of country," Bhupathi said.
Not sure who is wrong here but the country will certainly lose a medal chance ( if at all there was one)
Re: Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry
Posted: 17 Jun 2012 17:44
by Singha
most likely rohan bopanna and paes will be asked to pair up.
