(Isidor Gunsberg) wrote in message
. com...
(Nick) wrote in message
. com...
(Isidor Gunsberg) wrote in message
. com...
Who was the WEAKEST ***WOMEN'S*** World Champion of Chess ever?
My opinion is that either L. Rudenko or Olga Rubtsova were the weakest.
Zhu Chen is also quite weak. Zsuzsa Polgar would crush Zhu if she played
her.

According to the Chessbase Player Encyclopaedia, GM Zsuzsa Polgar has a
current rating of 2565, which equals her peak rating in 1995 (she has not
played much in recent years). GM Zhu Chen has a current rating of 2495
and a peak rating of 2539 in 2000. The difference between their current
ratings is 70 points and that between their peak ratings is 26 points.

Doesn't matter: Zsuzsa Polgar would crush Zhu Chen if she played her in a
match.

Just like GM Ruslan Ponomariov "crush(ed)" GM Zhu Chen in their match (which
he lost), right? :-)

It's a *possibility* that "Zsuzsa Polgar would crush Zhu Chen if she played her
in a match", but it's *not a certainty*, contrary to Isidor Gunsberg's cocksure
assertion.

"It is hard to say if one person would crush another. I would definitely take
my chances against anyone. However, so many things can happen in a match."
--GM Zsuzsa Polgar

Perhaps Isidor Gunsberg knows more about that than GM Zsuzsa Polgar does.

Remember how Zhu Chen won the Women's Chess Championsip title? She beat
Sasha (Alexandra) Kosteniuk, but she had to do it in fast tie-break games.
Indeed, there were a couple of opportunities for Sasha to clinch the match.
Since Sasha was only about 2400 at the time, this should give you some idea
of how Zhu would be liable to perform against a Polgar.

Isidor Gunsberg prefers to emphasise one of GM Zhu Chen's comparatively
disappointing performances.

"A Polgar"? Any Polgar sister? Why not refer to them as individual players?
I have met Sofia Polgar, and I like her. Yet I do not regard her as a player
comparable in strength to Judit or Zsuzsa.

Ahh..."Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics"....

Isidor Gunsberg prefers to ignore or to dismiss evidence that would not support
his conclusion.

GM Zhu Chen has defeated some GMs who are high rated than GM Zsuzsa Polgar.
For example, GM Zhu Chen defeated GM Ruslan Ponomariov in a two game match
in 2002.

Even though the games were Rapid chess, it still is a notable result.
However, it is a result that tends to support my opinion that
Ruslan Ponomariov is the Weakest World Champion.

Isidor Gunsberg prefers to downplay one of GM Zhu Chen's best performances.

In my view, the evidence does not support Isidor Gunsberg's contention that
"Zsuzsa Polgar would *crush* (which implies an overwhelming victory) Zhu if
she played her".

Yeah, everybody thought that the match between Zsuzsa Polgar and Xie Jun
Xie Jun would be a real squeaker (based on statistics). However, Zsuzsa
Polgar crushed Xie Jun.

As far as I know, nearly every knowledgeable observer of that match, evidently
including GM Zsuzsa Polgar herself, would concur that GM Xie Jun then played
unusually poorly, for various reasons (some of which were given by GM Xie Jun
in her book, "Chess Champion from China").

The Chinese School of Chess creates players who are tactically oriented,
Fine, but Zsuzsa Polgar is simply a superior tactician to any of the
Chinese women.

As far as I know, it's a questionable assertion that "Zsuzsa Polgar is simply
a superior tactician" to Xie Jun.

They'll be inexorably outplayed at the critical moments.

"Inexorably outplayed", eh? That cocksure conclusion reminds me of some
equally certain past proclamations that no Chinese player could ever be
able to compete on equal terms with Western GMs.

I have no objection if Isidor Gunsberg wishes to write a public fan letter to
Zsuzsa Polgar, but he should not need to put down Zhu Chen, Xie Jun, and every
other Chinese woman chess-player simply in order to laud Zsuzsa Polgar.

"A talking man is no better than a barking dog."
--James Fenimore Cooper (The Prairie)

--Nick