Round 2 (February 29)
Khalifman-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Anand 1/2-1/2
Shirov-Leko 1/2-1/2
Standings
1-2. Kasparov & Kramnik 1.5
3-4. Anand & Leko 1.0
5-6. Khalifman & Shirov 0.5
Khalifman vs Kasparov
The long awaited clash of champions! A
lot of people chose to look upon this encounter as a grudge match, but these
guys actually seem to have a lot of respect for each other. In fact,
Kasparov was one of the few top players who refused to be suckered into making
derogatory remarks after Khalifman had won the FIDE KO in Las Vegas.
To be honest, I was expecting Kasparov to deck
Khalifman in record time. Apart from Kasparov's 200 point rating
advantage, Khalifman has consistently failed to impress since winning the FIDE
title. However, "Khalif" managed to rise to the occasion and go toe to
toe with the World no. 1 in an extremely sharp struggle.
View Khalifman-Kasparov
Shirov vs Leko
Clearly sensing that Shirov would be out for blood
after his round 1 accident against Kasparov, Leko opted for a solid opening
stance, perhaps hoping the Spaniard would overextend in a desperate
attempt to make things "right" again.
And sure enough: Shirov came at him like
a raging bull! The only problem was he didn't have to make any huge concessions
to gain the initiative. Leko eventually managed to neutralise Shirov's
attack, but he was still worse in the ending.
View Shirov-Leko
Kramnik vs Anand
What can I tell you? Instead of playing out an
interesting position, Vladimir and Vishy decided to call it a day after
only 20 moves, half of them known theory. I must say that if I were one of the
organisers, sponsors or spectators, I'd be more than a little insulted by
this sort of behaviour.
After all: These guys are getting paid big
bucks to provide entertainment. In a normal work situation, this kind of
attitude would get you fired so fast your head would spin.
View Kramnik-Anand
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