[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Kramnik vs. the Rest of the World?

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Kramnik vs. the Rest of the World?
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1220596010.shtml


   Nah, it's not that bad. But it's probably some concern for Vladimir
   Kramnik in his upcoming match with Viswanathan Anand that the latter's
   team of seconds not only includes Peter Heine-Nielsen, who has been
   helping the champ for quite some time, but Rustam Kasimdzhanov
   and...Magnus Carlsen. Uh oh. Actually, this might be an "uh oh"
   situation for everyone but Carlsen. Think back to Kramnik's work as a
   second for Garry Kasparov in the latter's match against Anand back in
   1995. Many, Kasparov included, believe that Kramnik gained at least as
   much from the experience as Kasparov did, and that it helped Kramnik
   considerably when the time came for him to challenge Kasparov for the
   title.
   Of course, Kramnik will no doubt amass an impressive team as well,
   though unless Vassily Ivanchuk can avoid playing in a tournament for
   more than two days at a time or Veselin Topalov experience the most
   amazing change of heart in history, there isn't anyone except
   Alexander Morozevich who could balance Carlsen in terms of strength.
   That isn't necessarily the most important factor though. It doesn't
   hurt, but a team of strong 2600-2700 players with great ideas and
   camaraderie and a strong work ethic should be able to do the job.
   Here's my list of possible Kramnik team members:
   Peter Svidler: Super strong and very good friends with Kramnik. On the
   other hand, he's friends with Anand too.
   Boris Gelfand: Same pluses as Svidler, and I'm not aware of his being
   chummy (or hostile to) Anand. Assuming he has the energy and the
   inclination, he could be a great choice.
   Evgeny Bareev: For many years an elite player, a former Kramnik second
   (in the Kasparov and Leko matches) and good friend of Kramnik's.
   Drawback: It's evident that he hates the burden of being a second in a
   world championship match, and he doesn't seem to be playing at the
   elite level anymore.
   Alexander Motylev: Young and strong, and he has worked as a Kramnik
   second before. I wouldn't be surprised if he's part of the team.
   Loek van Wely: A very good theoretician, who seconded Kramnik in
   Mexico City last year.
   Miguel Illescas: He has worked several times as a Kramnik second, and
   he seemed to make a very great contribution to team morale in
   Kramnik's earlier matches.
   Anyone out there with some other informed guesses?
   Returning to the start of this post, about the members of Anand's
   team: this information comes from a fairly wide-ranging interview with
   Kramnik in the Russian [1]Sport Express. (That's in Russian, but
   [2]here's a link to an online translator version of the page - give it
   a few seconds to work its wonders.) Some of the material will be
   familiar from other [3]recent interviews, but there's enough that's
   new to make it worth a couple of minutes of your time.
   HT: [4]Chess Today.

References

   1. http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?165592
   2. http://www.online-translator.com/url/wideTranslation.aspx?sid=e6744fff-632d-4ccb-8155-45a036b1d869&from=adv&direction=re&template=General&autotranslate=on&transliterate=&showvariants=&viewModeSelected=result&url=http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?165592
   3. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1219478568.shtml
   4. http://www.chesstoday.net/