The following article appeared on the Chess Goddess Blog ...

Friday, August 29, 2008
Pestaño: An unfair decision
By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

MY BARKADA and drinking buddy in college Rogelio “Tata” Morelos who, belongs to a family of chess players, just gave me a handwritten note criticizing the showdown between grandmasters Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio that was dubbed as the QC Chess Road Show.

“Dear Chessmoso, Just recently, two top Filipino grandmasters had a showdown with a reported P200,000 as prize money offered by the sponsors.

I was eagerly waiting for the result of the seven-game confrontation, which to my dismay ended in a draw.

What left a bad taste to my gin and tonic-watered mouth was that the two, who tied on the sixth game, did not play the tiebreak seventh game, but instead, decided by themselves to divide the pot money.

I find this to be beggarly and highly impolite for the GMs to do. It is like Pacquaio and De La Hoya stopping at the 10th round of a scheduled 12 rounds and deciding to call it a draw after being informed by the judges that both have the same scores.

Are the actions of the two GMs allowed in chess tournaments? If so, the people who drafted the rules should be made to swallow the chess pieces of that tournament and add the board as dessert. The tournament was supposed to be a showdown on who is the master of whom.”

I personally would like to know who the better player is, as I have been following their careers for a long time. Now, after much hype and publicity, there is no decision. I don’t know the inside story but isn’t it unfair to the chess-playing community?
*******************
Interesting. I wonder what the reaction of the "chess world" would have been if Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih had decided amongst themselves to stop playing and split the prize money at the 2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship - and declare themselves de facto "co-winners." Would that have generated as much screaming, hair-pulling and collective angst (mostly among male players, it seems) as the Armageddon play-off that actually place did?

I could not agree more! I would have felt robbed if Irina and Anna had drawn their playoff match for the US Women's Title (I've always had a Krush on Anna anyway.). No more bad jokes I promise (at least not for today). It's a shame that these two Filipino GMs decided not to play the final game of the match. If I were a sponsor I'd be very upset at watching my money go down the toilet.

While Chessbase continues its Simul Hunt I thought I'd share with readers an image from the article of Magnus Carlsen playing a Simultaneous Chess Exhibition at the age of 13 (back in 2004).

As I mentioned in a previous article I've been seeing more people start to follow me on twitter. One of those individuals happened to be Matt Fullerty. I hadn't heard of him until he started following me on Twitter but it wasn't long until I found out who this mysterious man actually was. It turns out that Matt is the author of a book called "Pride and Sorrow" which is essentially a dramatic retelling of the life story of the chess genius Paul Morphy.

I had at one point in my life contemplated writing a movie script for the life of Morphy but I think after this book I'll be beaten to the punch (which is just dandy)! The Book details from bookhabit make it sound so thrilling I'll have to pick me up a copy ... you can also download a copy of the first chapter.

Q: Is Kasparov more afraid of Putin or of you?

A: I don't think Kasparov is afraid of anyone. Just the act of raising his voice the way he has shows his courage and the conviction of his beliefs. Veselin Topalov is just another opponent on the other side of the chessboard.

Q: But you were the last player to defeat the Ogre of Baku. After losing to you, Kasparov retired.

A: That was in Linares, 2005. It's one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. It was very strange. Before we sat down at the table, I didn't know it was going to be his last game, that when he got up his brilliant career would be over. Later, he announced his retirement as a professional. Perhaps that's why he was nervous during our game. I only took advantage of the moment and waited for his mistake.

Q: Whatever the case, that game has become one of the peaks of your career.

A: I was also world champion in 2005. But the truth is that all the journalists ask me that question, [about] the famous game against Kasparov, the last great champion.

Q: We'll try to be a little more original, or at least ask something you've been asked fewer times before. I imagine you've come to Zaragoza to see the Expo?

A: Yes, it's really worth seeing. I haven't been able to explore it all. Of course I went by the pavilion of my country, Bulgaria. To be honest with you, I've gone to the pavilions that didn't have long lines to get in.

Q: But if the people line up to get in it must be because they are the most attractive pavilions.

A: Well, despite not having seen the most attractive ones, I really have enjoyed the Expo a lot.

Q: You're also visiting other places in Aragon.

A: Yes. They invited me to the 2nd Alcubierre International Tournament. They've made a great effort in that little town in the Huesca province. [Population 437 according to Wikipedia.] I've also made an effort to come. Usually I only attend so-called super-tournaments. I will be at the closing and hand out the prizes. I will also face 25 players in a simultaneous exhibition that will take place at the town's community center.

Q: Your presence passes unnoticed in the streets of Spain. But in Bulgaria you are better known than [legendary Bulgarian footballer] Stoichkov. Either the Bulgarians hate Barça or passionately love chess...

A: So they say. There is a great fan following for chess in my country. The Sofia tournament [M-Tel], which is one of the best in the world along with Linares and Wijk aan Zee (Holland), was even attended by the president of the country, Georgi Purvanov.

Q: The Bulgarians would rather see you than Scarlett Johansson.

A: Okay, okay, when you put it like that...

Q: They say that during the filming of "The Black Dahlia," when Scarlett Johansson came into a hotel in Sofia the people barely looked at her because they were intently watching a game of yours on television.

A: That's true. I told you that chess has a great fan following in Bulgaria.

Q: Personally I like Scarlett Johansson more than the queen, and much more than the bishop or the knight...

A: Your attitude is understandable. In some ways I myself like Scarlett more in some ways. But my thing is chess. We've come to Aragon so people get into chess, to promote it. It's really admirable to organize a tournament the way they have in Alcubierre.

Q: What's more, you're at the top of your game.

A: Now they are going to hold the world championship in Bonn between Anand and Kramnik. I lost the crown in 2006 against Kramnik. I will challenge the world champion next year. To achieve that objective I have to beat the American Gata Kamsky in the candidates final.

Q: Topalov: an indomitable fighter. Is a top-level player born or bred?

A: Talent is one part, plus a lot of hard work.

Q: Does that remind you of the teenage Topalov who traveled with his manager 4,000 kilometers through Hungary, Germany, and France in an old Citroen to get to Spain?

A: Throughout my career there has been a great deal of sacrifice. I came to Spain because there are many tournaments here, because here I could better develop my career.

Q: They call you the "Bulgarian of Salamanca."

A: I live in Salamanca half the year, the other half in Bulgaria. The wife of my manager, Silvio Danailov, who's the person I came to Spain with, is from there.

Q: Very few earthlings can defeat you. Perhaps only machines can?

A: The computer programs are advancing more every day. They have evolved tremendously over the past 20 years. Their memory is limitless.

Q: Will the computer checkmate humankind?

A: The problem for man is time. In a game with unlimited time per move, man will still win.

There are several things I could point out in this article that Chessbase featured translated from the original Spanish article by mig greengard. I'm going to give you a few of the points that stand out to me.

First, the last quote from Topalov. "In a game with unlimited time per move, man will still win." Que?? I don't get this at all. Is he actually saying that a human can beat a computer despite the match results of the last several years? I don't believe it.

Secondly, the idea that talent and hard work leads to chess excellence. I, in many respects, disagree. The natural talent and elbow grease of the top chess masters is true but you could go completely wrong in your studying if you believed this straight out. You see, the natural talent of the masters is not in their skills. Rather, it's in their ability to assimilate the information from previous experiences and turn that into an improvement. For example, I know a Class B player who has lost three straight games to me in tournament play through playing the same erroneous move. He's not talented enough to see that the move is dubious even when confronted with clear evidence.

Think about it a moment. Fischer didn't start out World Champion ... he was a patzer from Brooklyn whose greatness lied in his ability to not make the same mistake twice (well, at least not four times). That's true talent. As a further example, I know a person rated 1600 who has studied as hard as the average Expert and yet he still can't improve. He's put in the time and effort but his mindset won't let him go farther. Sadly, he has no talent.

Back referring to the interview, Topalov did not mean to insinuate that talent AT PLAYING and elbow grease work together. Instead, he meant as I have said. Talent at learning from past mistakes and the elbow grease required to learn what kinds of moves could potentially replace the mistake ... that's the right combination for a top chess grandmaster. Perhaps that clears any confusion? (becuase, quite frankly, Topalov's answer looks like a 'non-answer answer' until you view it this way)