Chess Training

This morning at approximately 11:00 AM EST, Vladimir Kramnik defeated Veselin Topalov in a decisive Game 4 Rapid Tie-break to become the Unified World Chess Champion. Congratulations To both players for a match well played. Topalov deserves alot of credit for the hard work he put into this match. He gave very little, but in the end, Kramnik's exceptional positional style won the day in a 2R+B vs. 2R+B endgame, in which Topalov dropped a Rook in complications. Tie-Breaks, Topalov, White: Game 1: 1/2 - 1/2 Game 2: Kramnik, 1-0 Game 3: Topalov, 1-0 Game 4: Kramnik, 1-0 It is interesting to note that the three decisive games were all won by white. Media Coverage: International Herald Tribune/Europe Games to follow...

Question:Vladimir, what is your score against Topalov in rapid chess, and will it affect the outcome of the tiebreak in any way? Vladimir Kramnik: The match booklet states it is +4 in my favor. However, it counts rapid and blindfold games together. Will the score matter? I hope it will, but actually the tiebreak is a lottery. A lot will depend on small details: luck, the night’s sleep, etc. It is impossible to predict the result. In principle, I have already won the match from my point of view, so I think this will make playing easier for me. What can you say about today’s [the 12th] game? It is a very interesting and combative game. I exerted pressure, but the opponent managed to create counterplay and made a draw. Maybe I could play more accurately, I cannot tell without detailed analysis. But the draw is generally logical. And yet, you had White, which means something at the WCC… Modern chess theory develops in such direction that it is very difficult to find sharp positions with a...