Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Super Second! or Not!


The following was published in Chess Today (www.ChessToday.net issue 3333):

Carlsen to help Anand

From an interview with Vishy Anand at Telegraphindia.com:

"On whether Surya Sekhar Ganguly will be one of his seconds this time too:

- He may be. I am not sure. Seconds are a very secretive thing. Even if I tell you that he will be one of my seconds, the rival camp will not believe me. But one thing is for sure, Magnus Carlsen will be one of the seconds."

[Most likely Carlsen will become the official world No 1 in January, and he may well keep this position until the Sofia match. The World number one as an assistant? Sounds unusual. Fans of long matches will certainly say that it adds an extra excitement... It is like Nadal helping Federer or vice versa. One way or another: if someone is unhappy, only the formula of the championship can be blamed, and not players and assistants.--MG].

What do you think about the idea of world's #1 Carlsen helping Anand?

Is it a good or bad idea for Magnus Carlsen to be Anand's second against Topalov?

Great idea! Both Anand and Carlsen will benefit.
Bad idea! Their styles are different.
I am not sure.
pollcode.com free polls
Update: Magnus just posted the following on FB: "Magnus Øen Carlsen: Is apparently not going to be a second for Anand after all. A shame, as I was really looking forward to that."

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great idea of course.

Anonymous said...

great idea, Topalov now must prepare for both players. Unless, it is just a ruse.

Anonymous said...

Kasparov should do it directly, it will cut out the middle men. Better yet, have Kasparov take the board for Vishy and let him revenge his last game loss against Topalov man-to-man.

Anonymous said...

Interesting, especially if Anand next plays Carlsen for the World Championship. Which is very likely.

Brit-Mate

Anonymous said...

is it a good idea to prepare with somebody that you will eventually be battling for the world title against in a few years? as players they will both benefit, but for Carlsen in the long run is this a good idea? Who knows...

Anonymous said...

Benefit for Carlsen:
- learn about Anand's secrets.
- get some match preparation experience.

He can use both for his own match which will come up sooner rather than later.

Benefit for Anand:
- be confident about his preparation -- play out lines against Carlsen.
- psychological scoring point over Topalov.
- get some ideas from Kasparov.

Cons for both:
- they will know each other's secrets.
- can be a hurdle for both, not just in a potential match, but also tournaments.
- Carlsen will have to keep his findings confidential -- he cannot use them in a tournament game against someone else.

Anonymous said...

This is like when Hulk Hogan joined up with Randy Savage. Greatest tag team ever. Topalov won't win once.

Anonymous said...

Its a great Idea and I'm sure its endorsed by Kasparov. Remember...Kramnik was Kasparovs second once....and he learned everything there is to know about Kasparovs repetoire...escellent experience for Magnus and it prepares him for his title shot in a great way! Plus! Anand wins witha great second! For now....

Mike Magnan

Anonymous said...

Finally! For the first time in chess history, the greatest human players are really collaborating with one another!!!

Anonymous said...

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091222/jsp/sports/story_11894927.jsp

Anand+Carlsen will surely make great team.
Interesting will be WCC 2012, when Carlsen will be most likely challenger probably against Anand himself.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting !
Carlsen,Anand and Kasparov
against TOPALOV !
they all must be very afraid of HIM !
It rings a bell,
all RUSSIANS against BOBBY FISCHER!
History seems to repeat itself.

Anonymous said...

This is great idea. Everyone know Topalov win in Sofia Bulgaria city capital. Carlsen maybe suggest few bad lines for Anand to play, like Karpov team notorious. Arnand not check the analysis go down in the flames massive loss. Then Carlsen prepare to play Topalov in 2012 direct maybe in Vikings capital Norseway. Is all a big joke on Kramnik anyways.

Anonymous said...

There is a good amount of confusion about Anand's seconds: See http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6005

Nielsen =/ Carlsen

Anonymous said...

Susan: He is not going to be Anand's second, it seems. Look at his Facebook profile...

Anonymous said...

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6005

Chessbase news update - the story that Carlsen will be Anands second is a misunderstanding (i.e. untrue).

Anonymous said...

I really hope these unconfirmed reports do no create bad blood between two good friends Anand and Carlsen.

Anonymous said...

He will be the only no. 1 who will be second. :)

A team-up of such top players is rarely successful. US Golf thought that a Woods-Mickelson pair would be unbeatable in Ryder Cup doubles, but has hardly won against the Europeans.

Gegga said...

Anonymous at 5:57: why would it? It was never said by Anand. He said Nielsen, not Carlsen! Carlsen was never asked, I bet. They are probably both laughing about this story!