Watching Linares, I noticed a steady stream of comments about how boring
Kramnik is, about how he only draws, never plays exciting lines etc etc. But
when you look closely, so far in this tournament, Kramnik has:

Tried out a whole new opening repertoire.
Really pressed Kasparov with the Black pieces Round 5.
Uncorked a superb novelty against Topalov in Round 7 and crushed him.
Again introduced a novelty against Leko in Round 11, and later came up a
great tactical win.

Ok, so he hasn't beaten Radjabov or Vallejo Pons, but these guys are the
future elite of chess. In fact, nobody has managed to beat Vallejo Pons yet,
so we can hardly blame Kramnik for not rolling him over.

Kramnik's style may not be as sharp as the likes of Shirov, but when tactics
are needed, he is first class, and as a technician in endgames, he is
unsurpassed. He's an exceptional player. So why do so many people hate him?

I'm not sure.

I certainly do not feel any ill towards him as I don't judge a
chessplayer by his style but rather by how they analyze and perform
and Kramnik has very much impressed me.

Ever since Kasparov has made the statement: "Kramnik is going to be
the next world champion" I've noticed that he has been under scrutiny
and people tend to look for negatives in an individual either just to
prove Kasparov wrong or the in-crowd who gangs up against the
proverbial "know it all" or "is going to have it all". :-)

I haven't really done much research on the other chessplayers you've
mentioned though, Radjabov or Vallejo Pon.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Hurley"
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess.misc
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 11:38 AM
Subject: Kramnik's Undeserved Reputation


Watching Linares, I noticed a steady stream
of comments about how boring Kramnik is,
about how he only draws, never plays exciting
lines etc etc. But when you look closely, so far
in this tournament, Kramnik has:

Tried out a whole new opening repertoire.
Really pressed Kasparov with the Black
pieces Round 5. Uncorked a superb novelty
against Topalov in Round 7 and crushed him.
Again introduced a novelty against Leko in
Round 11, and later came up a great tactical
win.

Ok, so he hasn't beaten Radjabov or Vallejo
Pons, but these guys are the future elite of chess.
In fact, nobody has managed to beat Vallejo Pons
yet, so we can hardly blame Kramnik for not
rolling him over.

Kramnik's style may not be as sharp as the likes
of Shirov, but when tactics are needed, he is first
class, and as a technician in endgames, he is
unsurpassed. He's an exceptional player. So why
do so many people hate him?

"Ian Hurley" wrote in message
...


Kramnik's style may not be as sharp as the likes of Shirov, but when
tactics
are needed, he is first class, and as a technician in endgames, he is
unsurpassed. He's an exceptional player. So why do so many people hate
him?

How about that he phoned in the first four rounds? Each game was about a
20-mover.

Ian Hurley wrote:
Watching Linares, I noticed a steady stream of comments about how boring
Kramnik is, about how he only draws, never plays exciting lines etc etc. But
when you look closely, so far in this tournament, Kramnik has:

Tried out a whole new opening repertoire.
Really pressed Kasparov with the Black pieces Round 5.
Uncorked a superb novelty against Topalov in Round 7 and crushed him.
Again introduced a novelty against Leko in Round 11, and later came up a
great tactical win.

Ok, so he hasn't beaten Radjabov or Vallejo Pons, but these guys are the
future elite of chess. In fact, nobody has managed to beat Vallejo Pons yet,
so we can hardly blame Kramnik for not rolling him over.

Kramnik's style may not be as sharp as the likes of Shirov, but when tactics
are needed, he is first class, and as a technician in endgames, he is
unsurpassed. He's an exceptional player. So why do so many people hate him?


You see, his name doesn't start with "Fisc" so he is by definition an
inferior champion.

Dude. No one is saying he is not a great player. However he is
certainly not one of the top players ever. Leko had him on the ropes
and Leko blundered horribly. He is not the #1 player in the world.
He is in the top 5 but never thought he was the best player in the
world at any time. Right now the best player in the world is probably
Anand. Looking at these games at Linares Anand could probably have
won Linares if he wanted to go. He is going to play a match against
Leko. Leko deserves a shot at the title, I'm willing to give him that
but Leko isn't the best player in the world either.

EZoto

Am Wed, 03 Mar 2004 16:38:38 +0000 schrieb Ian Hurley:

He's an exceptional player. So why do so many people hate him?

This is not correct, I think, many people are not content with his style
of playing; but nobody hates him, of course. To speak for myself, I am
impressed by his profound mastership. He has played very entertaining
games too, e. g. Karmnik-Leko in the WDR-Match 2000. In Linares 2004 he
shows also an amazing combination in his game against Leko.

Best wishes,
Stephan

"Jon Ingellis" wrote in message
news:VJo1c.109978$4o.129357@attbi_s52...

"Ian Hurley" wrote in message
...


Kramnik's style may not be as sharp as the likes of Shirov, but when
tactics
are needed, he is first class, and as a technician in endgames, he is
unsurpassed. He's an exceptional player. So why do so many people hate
him?

How about that he phoned in the first four rounds? Each game was about a
20-mover.


Right, criticism against short draws is far away from hatred.
Anyway it`s the system of the tournament to blame not Kramnik for his short
draws. What is not forbidden that is allowed ;-) Of course it`s not a very
spectacular play by Kramnik.

Regards,
Jerzy

EZoto wrote in message ws.com...
Dude. No one is saying he is not a great player. However he is
certainly not one of the top players ever. Leko had him on the ropes
and Leko blundered horribly.

Is that so? It is true that Leko went astray with Rad7 and Qh3, but I
have yet to see analysis showing that Leko "had Kramnik on the ropes".

LT

He is not the #1 player in the world.
He is in the top 5 but never thought he was the best player in the
world at any time. Right now the best player in the world is probably
Anand. Looking at these games at Linares Anand could probably have
won Linares if he wanted to go. He is going to play a match against
Leko. Leko deserves a shot at the title, I'm willing to give him that
but Leko isn't the best player in the world either.

EZoto

The World Champion isn't always the best player in the world..
Post WW1 Lasker was weaker than Capablanca.
Alekhine was arguably weaker than Capablanca.
Euwe was weaker than Alekhine, and maybe Botvinnik
Smyslov, Tal and Petrosian could all be argued to be weaker than
Botvinnik, Bronstein and Keres..
Karpov Weaker than Fischer..
and up to today Kramnik weaker than Kasparov or Anand.

But Kramnik's chess sure is boring.. he makes Petrosian look
exciting..

" In fact, nobody has managed to beat Vallejo Pons yet"

At the time this message was written, Kasparov had already beaten
Vallejo-Pons.



"Ian Hurley" wrote in message
...
Watching Linares, I noticed a steady stream of comments about how boring
Kramnik is, about how he only draws, never plays exciting lines etc etc.
But
when you look closely, so far in this tournament, Kramnik has:

Tried out a whole new opening repertoire.
Really pressed Kasparov with the Black pieces Round 5.
Uncorked a superb novelty against Topalov in Round 7 and crushed him.
Again introduced a novelty against Leko in Round 11, and later came up a
great tactical win.

Ok, so he hasn't beaten Radjabov or Vallejo Pons, but these guys are the
future elite of chess. In fact, nobody has managed to beat Vallejo Pons
yet,
so we can hardly blame Kramnik for not rolling him over.

Kramnik's style may not be as sharp as the likes of Shirov, but when
tactics
are needed, he is first class, and as a technician in endgames, he is
unsurpassed. He's an exceptional player. So why do so many people hate
him?