Chess Buzz for July 11, 1997

This Week's Topic: Who Will Be the Next World Champion?

"Chess isn't a matter of life and death--I take it much more seriously than that... "
anonymous 1600 player

This week in the buzz: Who will be the next world champion?

Last week the buzz was about the proper format for a championship. Is it head to head? Round robin? Qualifying knockout events? What will keep the fans, the sponsors, the organizers, and the players happy?

Most organizers believe that combination events like the US Chess Federations upcoming 1997 Interplay Championship, which mix prequalifying rounds with lots of players with some kind of formal two player championship will provide the best mix. With that in mind, the buzz this week has turned back to something less theoretical, and yet harder to pin down--who among today's crop of great players is really going to be ready to take over from Kasparov and Karpov?

Karpov has commented that in the Deep Blue match, Kasparov did not appear to be playing like a champion. Yet who is?

On the world scene, five of the world's top young players, Anand (27), Kramnik (21), Polgar (21), Topalov (22), and Ivanchuk (27) all placed ahead of FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov at the prestigious Dortmund tournament. After Karpov, Kasparov, most analysts believe that the "2 young K's"--Kramnik and American Gata Kamsky--are the best bet to win a World title. Yet Kamsky recently retired from chess to pursue a career in medicine, while Kramnik's had two chanced in the last World Championship cycle without living up to his potential. But with several recent strong results and a clear first at Dortmund, Kramnik jumps right back to "first pick" status. Kramnik is also the only player other that Karpov or Kasparov to top the FIDE list in several years, a feat he accomplished late last year while Kasparov's connection to the PCA had affected his standings on the list.

Those in the know, though, point to Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria as a potential future champion. Topalov finished at the top in six very strong tournaments in 1996, including Dos Hermanas, and the Bulgarian player has shown none of the temperment and inconsistency problems that have plagued the better-known Ivanchuk and Kramnik. Topalov himself believes he can play better than Karpov and nearly equal with Kasparov now, and his results have backed him up. If, as many believe, he is still improving, this very young, very strong player may indeed go the distance.

Then there's Judit Polgar. Generally left out of most chess analysts' top lists, her accomplishments still can't be overlooked. Consistently in the top 20 in the world while under age 21, she holds the Hungarian championship and has done well at many tournaments, although she lacks the first and second place finishes of Kramnik and Topalov. She may be the biggest question mark in the group. Tactically very strong, she's still developing a style. If she can deepen her play and achieve some significant tournament victories on the superGM level, her youth and dedication should prove strong plus factors in the ultimate race to succeed Karpov and Kasparov.Of course, talking about successors to the two K's may be like talking about a new monarch for England--neither Karpov nor Kasparov is ready to step aside in favor of a new generation yet! It may be several years before we have a world champion who's earning that title for the first time, and by then even younger players like Leko of Hungary or even the 1997 US Junior Champion Tal Shaked may be in contention. Then, of course, there's Etienne Bacrot of France, the world's youngest current GM--some analysts are predicting that he will be the next new World Champion--but not until Kasparov is clearly eclipsed, perhaps in 6 to 8 years!

Well, that's the buzz for this week.

Have a hot story for us? A trend you want us to look into? An item only chessplayers can appreciate? Write webmaster@uschess.org

We welcome your feedback about our site! Please write to: feedback_uscf@juno.com

This page was last updated July 18, 1997