Kamsky vs Topalov

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Today Gata Kamsky won game 4 of hist Candidates match against Topalov, evening out the score for the first half of the match. Whoever wins this match will face off against World Champion Vishwanathan Anand for the title this fall.

Who are you rooting for? Personally, I hope Kamsky wins, even though he is the underdog. We haven't had an American in the World Championship since Bobby Fischer.

I'm glad you mentioned Bobby Fisher; til then I had no idea what kind of competition you were talking about. No opinion on who I'd root for, since I obviously don't know anything about either .

Ah, so I'm about the only one here who follows chess.

Well, then, quick refresher course about these two competitors: Born in Russia, Kamsky's family moved to the US when he was young. He was a prodigy in the 90s, even defeating Anand (who is currently world champion) for the right to challenge Karpov in the FIDE tournament cycle. He gave up chess for several years, and upon coming back has not yet gotten back to the level of dominance he once had- he currently is ranked 17th in the world, whereas when he quit he was 4th.

Topalov: Bulgarian, a very strong player with an impressive tournament history. There has been some controversy surrounding him because of his behavior and the behavior of his manager (Danailov) in several incidents, including some baseless accusations that Vladamir Kramnik was using illegal computer analysis during the Kramnik-Topalov world championship match (which Kramnik won). Topalov himself has been accused of cheating, mostly due to some very suspicious behavior of Danailov that looked like hand signals during a few of his games.

Topalov won today's game after Kamsky blundered in a drawn endgame. With only 3 games left, Topalov will be trying to force quick draws in all of them to prevent a Kamsky comeback. It is likely that the remaining three games will be drawn, and it is almost impossible for Kamsky to actually win the match, which would require two victories in three games. Kamsky's best chance now is to win one of the remaining three games, draw the other two, and force the match into rapid tiebreaks, in which it is believed Kamsky would have a slight advantage, though neither player is known as an exceptionally good blitz player.

I hope your guy gets his tiebreaker

It's not likely. Topalov is rightfully regarded as a better player, even if he is not a better man. With any luck, Topalov will lose his match to Anand later this year–having someone like Topalov win a legitimate world championship (he has previously won the inconsequential FIDE world championship) would be a terrible thing for the chess world.

Well, the match is over after only 7 games out of the intended 8, with Topalov winning 4.5-2.5. Kamsky played better overall chess, but got himself into time trouble and consequently blundered away wins and draws, handing the match to Topalov.

Now that America's chances at the championship are blown, it's time to start rooting for the Indian... come on, Anand!! !

Seconded - come on Anand!

And I'm sorry about your guy, but it's good you hadn't deluded yourself about his chances - at least you weren't blindsided by his loss.