Tuesday
Jun072011
Nakamura in the News
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 6:29PM
Here's an interesting article about American #1 Hikaru Nakamura from a local St. Louis newspaper. While it's in the "civilian" press, there's news for serious chess fans, too. For instance, did you know that he was invited to be on a national late night talk show in 2009, but refused to appear? Have a look to see why.
HT: Brian Karen
tagged Nakamura
Reader Comments (4)
"Short of a massive collapse, [Nakamura is] considered a lock to play in the next Candidates Tournament" - how can the author be THAT sure?
Apparently, (unless FIDE changes its mind), the next candidates tournament will include the loser of Anand-Gelfand, three players from the World Cup, three rating spots and an organizer wildcard. Nakamura's chances are
- top 3 at the World Cup, i.e. winning six matches and losing at most one: either the final or the semifinal following up with a win for third place. It can be done but there's no guarantee. In that case, he could even permit himself a massive collapse after the event - comparable to or worse than Kamsky's intermittent rating drop after winning the World Cup in 2007.
- for the rating spots, current contenders on the live rating list behind Anand are Carlsen (2815), Aronian (2804.8), Ivanchuk and Kramnik (2780.6), Nakamura (2777.2) and Karjakin (2776). This might change - actually it will change one way or another - after Bazna (with Nakamura and Karjakin) and Dortmund (with Kramnik and Nakamura). If Nakamura wins both events or at least does better than his competitors, one can _start_ to consider him a lock. Even then, a rather minor collapse (e.g. losing 5-10 rating points in Bilbao and/or London) might "unlock" him.
If things remain that close, it will become quite a lottery where the second number behind the digital point could matter. Fans/supporters/sponsors could arrange a match for one player hoping that he gains the required 2 or 3 rating points. If the decision had to be made next month, it would be best to have a qualifying event with Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Nakamura and Karjakin!!?
- this leaves one safe option, the wildcard if St. Louis or another US city (or maybe even London?) organizes the event. Then Nakamura is in, barring a very major collapse with his Elo dropping below 2700.
All that being said, I consider myself an objective observer rather than a Nakamura hater ... .
[DM: No argument here, except to say that you might be expecting too much of the civilian press.]
I do not like Nakamura's cockiness. I do not like how he has a complete lack of modesty. I don't like how he likes to present himself to "lay" people as unbeatable*. However, I have say it is admirable that he refused to denigrate the image of the game in a TV show. Most of us would've taken the chance to boost our image (i.e. marketability, etc) by going to the show. Admirable. I still would cheer for him if he played Topalov or Cheparinov!
Esteban
*This is in reference to a comment he made in an interview with a newspaper stating that preparing against him is impossible, so people are better of resting than trying to prepare for his opening repertoire.
[DM: In fairness to Nakamura, claiming to be difficult or even impossible to prepare for doesn't imply a claim that he's unbeatable.]
"His point is that he won't disparage the game to further his own fame." - bravo!
speaking of talk shows didn't Kasparov have a bizarre appearance on the Colbert Report playing monopoly or something? i though it was incredibly humourless.
I agree about Nakamura not claiming he is unbeatable. I do believe that he thinks the top echelon of the chess world are his equals, and not underneath him. THat, however, is not enough for him to be a "likeable" person. I have seen some interviews where he did show some hints of humility. I wonder if reading an interview and watching an interview can really make that much difference. THere is not tone in a newspaper, and you cannot see gestures or anything that would make a seemingly glamorous statement feel innocuous. I sure hope that I am completely wrong about him and that he is a very nice guy.